Chapter 13 - Page 2

were privileged by rank, or those who were able to
buy honors with the vulgar medium; while humbler preparations for the less
fortunate completed the three sides of a space that was in the form of a
parallelogram, and which was intended to receive the actors in the coming
scene. The side next the water was unoccupied, though a forest of latine
spars, and a platform of decks, more than supplied the deficiency of
scaffolding and room. Music was heard, from time to time, intermingled or
relieved by those wild Alpine cries which characterize the songs of the
mountaineers. The authorities of the town were early afoot, and, as is
customary with the important agents of small concerns, they were
exercising their municipal function with a bustle, which of itself
contained reasonable evidence that they were of no great moment, and a
gravity of mien with which the chiefs of a state might have believed it
possible to dispense.

The estrade, or stage, erected for the superior class of spectators was
decorated with flags, and a portion near its centre had a fair display of
tapestry and silken hangings. The chateau-looking edifice near the bottom
of the square, and whose windows, according to a common Swiss and German
usage, showed the intermingled stripes that denoted it to be public
property, were also gay in colors, for the ensign of the Republic floated
over its pointed roofs, and rich silks waved against the walls. This was
the official residence of Peter Hofmeister, the functionary whom we have
already introduced to the reader.

An hour later, a shot gave the signal for the various _troupes_ to appear,
and soon after, parties of the different actors arrived in the square. As
the little processions approached to the sound of the trumpet or horn,
curiosity became more active and the populace was permitted to circulate
in those portions of the square that were not immediately required for
other purposes. About this time, a solitary individual appeared on the
stage. He seemed to enjoy peculiar privileges, not only from his
situation, but by the loud salutations and noisy welcomes with which he
was greeted from the crowd below. It was the good monk of St. Bernard,
who, with a bare head and a joyous contented face, answered to the several
calls of the peasants, most of whom had either bestowed hospitality on the
worthy Augustine, in his many journeyings among the charitable of the
lower world, or had received it at his hands in their frequent passages
of the mountain. These recognitions and greetings spoke well for humanity;
for in every instance they wore the air of cordial good-will, and a
readiness to do honor to the benevolent character of the religious
community that was represented in the person of its clavier or