A murmur ran through the crowd.
"Ah！" thought Gringoire，" this makes some doubt in my mind."But Master Philippe Lheulier， advocate extraordinary to the king， interposed once more.
"I will recall to these gentlemen， that in the deposition taken at his bedside， the assassinated officer， while declaring that he had a vague idea when the black man accosted him that the latter might be the surly monk， added that the phantom had pressed him eagerly to go and make acquaintance with the accused； and upon his， the captain's， remarking that he had no money， he had given him the crown which the said officer paid to la Falourdel. Hence， that crown is the money of hell."This conclusive observation appeared to dissipate all the doubts of Gringoire and the other sceptics in the audience.
"You have the documents， gentlemen，" added the king's advocate， as he took his seat； "you can consult the testimony of Phoebus de Chateaupers."At that name， the accused sprang up， her head rose above the throng. Gringoire with horror recognized la Esmeralda.
She was pale； her tresses， formerly so gracefully braided and spangled with sequins， hung in disorder； her lips were blue， her hollow eyes were terrible. Alas！
"Phoebus！" she said， in bewilderment； "where is he？ Omesseigneurs！ before you kill me， tell me， for pity sake， whether he still lives？""Hold your tongue， woman，" replied the president， "that is no affair of ours.""Oh！ for mercy's sake， tell me if he is alive！" she repeated， clasping her beautiful emaciated hands； and the sound of her chains in contact with her dress， was heard.
"Well！" said the king's advocate roughly， "he is dying.
Are you satisfied？"
The unhappy girl fell back on her criminal's seat， speechless， tearless， white as a wax figure.
The president bent down to a man at his feet， who wore a gold cap and a black gown， a chain on his neck and a wand in his hand.
"Bailiff， bring in the second accused."
All eyes turned towards a small door， which opened， and， to the great agitation of Gringoire， gave passage to a pretty goat with horns and hoofs of gold. The elegant beast halted for a moment on the threshold， stretching out its neck as though， perched on the summit of a rock， it had before its eyes an immense horizon. Suddenly it caught sight of the gypsy girl， and leaping over the table and the head of a clerk， in two bounds it was at her knees； then it rolled gracefully on its mistress's feet， soliciting a word or a caress； but the accused remained motionless， and poor Djali himself obtained not a glance.
"Eh， why--'tis my villanous beast，" said old Falourdel， "I recognize the two perfectly！"Jacques Charmolue interfered.
"If the gentlemen please， we will proceed to the examination of the goat." He was， in fact， the second criminal.
Nothing more ****** in those days than a suit of sorcery instituted against an animal. We find， among others in the accounts of the provost's office for 1466， a curious detail concerning the expenses of the trial of Gillet-Soulart and his sow， "executed for their demerits，" at Corbeil. Everything is there， the cost of the pens in which to place the sow， the five hundred bundles of brushwood purchased at the port of Morsant， the three pints of wine and the bread， the last repast of the victim fraternally shared by the executioner， down to the eleven days of guard and food for the sow， at eight deniers parisis each. Sometimes， they went even further than animals.
The capitularies of Charlemagne and of Louis le Débonnaire impose severe penalties on fiery phantoms which presume to appear in the air.
Meanwhile the procurator had exclaimed： "If the demon which possesses this goat， and which has resisted all exorcisms， persists in its deeds of witchcraft， if it alarms the court with them， we warn it that we shall be forced to put in requisition against it the gallows or the stake.