The brotherhoods of men were no less numerous; penitents of all colours, but especially the grey penitents in dark linen suits, wearing cowls, and whose emblems made a great sensation--a large cross, with a wheel, to which were attached the instruments of the Passion.
Angelique exclaimed with tenderness when the children came by: "Oh, the blessed darlings! Do look at them all!" One, no higher than a boot, scarcely three years of age, proudly tottered along on his little feet, and looked so comical that she plunged her hands into her basket and literally covered him with flowers.

He quite disappeared under them for an instant; he had roses in his hair and on his shoulders.

The exquisite little laughing shout he uttered was enjoyed on every side, and flowers rained down from all the windows as the cherub passed.

In the humming silence of the street one could now only hear the deafened sound of the regular movement of feet in the procession, while flowers by the handful still continued to fall silently upon the pavement.

Very soon there were heaps of them.
But now, reassured upon the good order of the laymen, the Abbe Cornille grew impatient and disturbed, inasmuch as the procession had been stationary for nearly two minutes, and he walked quickly towards the head of it, bowing and smiling at the Huberts as he passed.
"What has happened?
What can prevent them from continuing ?" said Angelique, all feverish from excitement, as if she were waiting for some expected happiness that was to come to her from the other end that was still in the church.
Hubertine answered her gently, as usual: "There is no reason why they should run." "There is some obstruction evidently; perhaps it is a _reposoir_ that is still unfinished," Hubert added.
The young girls of the Society of the Blessed Virgin, the "daughters of Mary," as they are called, had already commenced singing a canticle, and their clear voices rose in the air, pure as crystal.