were inside, the old gentleman, removing his cap and passing his thin
fingers through his white hair, looked around him, and addressing some
of the others, who were bringing in small round tables and placing them
about the hall, said: "No, no; let us sup this evening where we can look
at the sky."

The tables were immediately taken away.

Now some of those who were in the hall or who came in with the tables
had not attended the funeral, and these were all astonished on seeing
me. They did not stare at me, but I, of course, saw the expression on
their faces, and noticed that the others who had made my acquaintance at
the grave-side whispered in their ears to explain my presence. This made
me extremely uncomfortable, and it was a relief when they began to go
out again.

One of the men was seated near me; he was of those who had assisted in
carrying the corpse, and he now turned to me and remarked: "You have
been a long time in the open air, and probably feel the change as much
as we do."

I assented, and he rose and walked away to the far end of the hall,
where a great door stood facing the one by which we had entered. From
the spot where I was--a distance of forty or fifty feet, perhaps--this
door appeared to be of polished slate of a very dark gray, its surface
ornamented with very large horse-chestnut leaves of brass or copper, or
both, for they varied in shade from bright yellow to deepest copper-red.
It was a double door with agate handles, and, first pressing on one
handle, then on the other, he thrust it back into the walls on either
side, revealing a new thing of beauty to my eyes, for behind the