The strangers, under the guidance of
the chauffeur, who maintained a supercilious disdain for these "stupid
Brittany pigs," took their position at the apex of the cliff, where they
could see everything to advantage. The Gilbert girl kodaked the kneeling
throng, which distressed Milly; she thought the people might resent it,
but they paid no attention to the Americans.
Her own eyes were filled with unaccountable tears. The symbols of the
Catholic religion always affected her in this way; while Nettie Gilbert
stared rather disapprovingly at the superstitious ceremony. In spite of
its quaint mediaevalism, it seemed to Milly quite human,--the gathering
together of suffering, sinning human beings around the gray chapel on
the storm-beaten coast--"Our Lady of the Guard"--their prayers, the
absolution granted by the robed priests, and the going forth to another
year of trials and temptations, efforts and sins.... Just below the
chapel, withdrawn only a few feet from the religious ceremony, was a
cluster of tents, sheltering hurdy-gurdys, merry-go-rounds, cook-shops,
and cider--plenty of cider. A few indifferent males, bedecked in their
short coats brightly trimmed with yellow braid, were already feasting,
even while the host was being elevated above the kneeling throng. But
most of the people, with reverently bent heads and murmuring lips,
received the sacrament, kneeling around the gray chapel.
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