Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres
CHAPTER I SAINT MICHIEL DE LA MER DEL PERIL The Archangel loved heights. Standing on the summit of the tower that crowned his church, wings upspread, sword uplifted, the devil crawling beneath, and the cock, symbol of eternal vigilance, perched on his mailed foot, Saint Michael held a place of his own in heaven and on earth which seems, in the eleventh century, to leave hardly room for the Virgin of the Crypt at Chartres, still less for the Beau Christ of the thirteenth century at Amiens. The Archangel stands for Church and State, and both militant. He is the conqueror of Satan, the mightiest of all created spirits, the nearest to God. His place was where the danger was greatest; therefore you find him here. For the same reason he was, while the pagan danger lasted, the patron saint of France. So the Normans, when they were converted to Christianity, put themselves under his powerful protection. So he stood for centuries on his Mount in Peril of the Sea, watching across the tremor of the immense ocean,-immensi tremor oceani,-as Louis XI, inspired for once to poetry, inscribed on the collar of the Order of Saint Michael which he created. So soldiers, nobles,
"Well," said the little girl, "I will." So she went to a cupboard at the
side of the room, and took down a tin mug. She poured out some coffee
from a coffee-pot, and put in some milk and sugar, and then brought it
to Jonas, and asked him if he wouldn't like a little coffee. Jonas
thanked her, and took the coffee; and he liked it very much.
After this, Jonas harnessed his horses again, and went on. He traveled
until nearly noon, and then he arrived at the town where he was to leave
his load. He had a letter to a merchant, who had bought the produce of
the farmer, and, in a very short time, his load was taken out, and the
other articles put in, which he was to carry back in exchange. He had
some money given him by the merchant, in part payment for his load of
produce. It was in bank-notes, and he put it into his waistcoat pocket,
and pinned it in.
Then he set out on his return. His load was light, the road was smooth,
and his horses, though they had traveled fast, had been driven
carefully, and they carried him rapidly over the ground. It was the
middle of the afternoon, however, before he set out, and the days were
then so short, that the sun soon began to go down. He had to ride quite
into the evening, before he reached the place where he was to stop for
the night.
He put up his horses, and then went into the house. He called for some
supper, for his own provisions had long since been exhausted. After
supper, he carried out something for Franco, whom he had left in the
CHAPTER I SAINT MICHIEL DE LA MER DEL PERIL The Archangel loved heights. Standing on the summit of the tower that crowned his church, wings upspread, sword uplifted, the devil crawling beneath, and the cock, symbol of eternal vigilance, perched on his mailed foot, Saint Michael held a place of his own in heaven and on earth which seems, in the eleventh century, to leave hardly room for the Virgin of the Crypt at Chartres, still less for the Beau Christ of the thirteenth century at Amiens. The Archangel stands for Church and State, and both militant. He is the conqueror of Satan, the mightiest of all created spirits, the nearest to God. His place was where the danger was greatest; therefore you find him here. For the same reason he was, while the pagan danger lasted, the patron saint of France. So the Normans, when they were converted to Christianity, put themselves under his powerful protection. So he stood for centuries on his Mount in Peril of the Sea, watching across the tremor of the immense ocean,-immensi tremor oceani,-as Louis XI, inspired for once to poetry, inscribed on the collar of the Order of Saint Michael which he created. So soldiers, nobles,