I couldn't understand it. At last, in the further edge of that town I saw a small funeral procession - just a family and a few friends following a coffin - no priest; a funeral without bell, book, or candle; there was a church there close at hand, but they passed it by weeping, and did not enter it; I glanced up at the belfry, and there hung the bell, shrouded in black, and its tongue tied back.

9