“We beseech Thee, O beloved and only Son of God, by the merits of Thy sacred Passion, Thy Cross and Thy Death, to deliver this Thy servant from the pains of Hell, and to lead him to that happy place whither Thou didst vouchsafe to lead the thief, who, with Thee, was bound upon the Cross:  Thou, who art God, living and reigning with the Father and the Holy Ghost.”

“Amen,” repeated those present.  Derues now took up the prayer, and his voice mingled with the dying gasps of the sufferer.

“And there was a darkness over all the earth——­

“To Thee, O Lord, we commend the soul of this Thy servant, that, being dead to the world, he may, live to Thee:  and the sins he hath committed through the frailty of his mortal nature, do Thou in Thy most merciful goodness, forgive and wash away.  Amen.”

After which all present sprinkled holy water on the body....

When the priest had retired, shown out by Madame Martin, Derues said to her husband—­

“This unfortunate young man has died without the consolation of beholding his mother....  His last thought was for her....  There now remains the last duty, a very painful one to accomplish, but my poor nephew imposed it on me.  A few hours ago, feeling that his end was near, he asked me, as a last mark of friendship, not to entrust these final duties to the hands of strangers.”

While he applied himself to the necessary work in presence of the cooper, who was much affected by the sight of such sincere and profound affliction, Derues added, sighing—­

“I shall always grieve for this dear boy.  Alas! that evil living should have caused his early death!”

When he had finished laying out the body, he threw some little packets into the fire which he professed to have found in the youth’s pockets, telling Martin, in order to support this assertion, that they contained drugs suitable to this disgraceful malady.

He spent the night in the room with the corpse, as he had done in the case of Madame de Lamotte, and the next day, Sunday, he sent Martin to the parish church of St. Louis, to arrange for a funeral of the simplest kind; telling him to fill up the certificate in the name of Beaupre, born at Commercy, in Lorraine.  He declined himself either to go to the church or to appear at the funeral, saying that his grief was too great.  Martin, returning from the funeral, found him engaged in prayer.  Derues gave him the dead youth’s clothes and departed, leaving some money to be given to the poor of the parish, and for masses to be said for the repose of the soul of the dead.

He arrived at home in the evening, found his wife entertaining some friends; and told them he had just come from Chartres, where he had been summoned on business.  Everyone noticed his unusual air of satisfaction, and he sang several songs during supper.