Zeen jerked himself up, put his hands under the clothes and fumbled with them; then he lay still.
“He’s packing up,” whispered Barbara.
“He’s going,” one of the others thought.
Virginie dipped the palm-branch into the holy water and sprinkled the bed and the bystanders; then she read on:
“Go forth, O Christian soul, out of this world, in the name of God the Father Almighty, Who created thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, Who suffered for thee; in the name of the Holy Ghost, Who sanctified thee.”
“Hurry, hurry, Virginie: he’s almost stopped breathing!”
The cat jumped between Zalia and Treze on to the bed and went making dough with its front paws on the clothes; it looked surprised at all those people and purred softly. Warten drove it away with his cap.
“Receive, O Lord, Thy servant Zeen into the place of salvation which he hopes to obtain through Thy mercy.”
“Amen,” they all answered.
“Deliver, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant from all danger of hell and from all pain and tribulation.”