And yet all the unknown forces that had sprung from that sequestered village, from that nook of greenery where superstition and poverty of intelligence prevailed, were still making themselves felt, disturbing the brains of men, disseminating the contagion of the mysterious.

It was remembered that a shepherd of Argeles, speaking of the rock of Massabielle, had prophesied that great things would take place there.

Other children, moreover, now fell in ecstasy with their eyes dilated and their limbs quivering with convulsions, but these only saw the devil.

A whirlwind of madness seemed to be passing over the region.
An old lady of Lourdes declared that Bernadette was simply a witch and that she had herself seen the toad's foot in her eye.

But for the others, for the thousands of pilgrims who hastened to the spot, she was a saint, and they kissed her garments.