All three at once uttered a piercing cry.

The two ladies threw themselves on their knees, and kissed her hands, which they bedewed with tears.

Before they could speak to her she read in their faces that she no longer possessed a son.

At that instant her large eyes, opening wildly, seemed to wander.

Her face grew pale, her features changed, her lips lost their colour, she struggled to speak, but uttered only inarticulate sounds, accompanied by piercing cries.