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"Optimism was a virtue; and the despair, the terror I often felt -- it was a sin As for the ghosts I saw, ift from God Maybe there would be a use for it

"As for the er, he would be apprehended Or he would ar Devil Island to some other out-of-the-way place

"I kno melodramatic that sounds, but I didn't fully understand my panic, and I don't now

"Of course, Goblin was at the funeral -- just as he had been at Sweetheart's funeral -- he knelt beside ht at my side when others would per as we stood before the little family mortuary chapel

"What I ca more and more reflective of coeneral he looked blank and a

"What I remember from the funeral was that he seeled confusion and wonder and a sharp attention to others present, his eyes roa on Fr Kevin Mayfair

"Watching Goblin's eyeshim

take the measure of the crypt, all this had a hypnotic fascination for me And when he looked back at me, to see that I watched, he smiled in a rather sad and sophisticated fashion

"That's what it was -- a sophisticated fashion And when had Goblin ever seemed more than a clown? Out there in the Metairie Cemetery he didn't look like a clown at all, and he seemed also rather detached from me and my emotions

"I didn't think too much more about it

"But before we leave the funeral, let me dwell on Fr Kevin Mayfair Fr Kevin Mayfair was superb He was an inspiration He looked too young to be a priest, as I've more or less already noted, and on that day he didn't look any older

"And for the first time I noticed how really handsoreen eyes and his good build I'd say he's six feet tall about And hisThat he believed Pops had gone to Heaven was beyond doubt

"And a young priest that strong -- well, it's an inspiration I felt drawn to hio to Confession to hi with me

"After the funeral we returned to Blackwood Manor for a huge reception to which dozens of the country folk came The buffets overfloith casserole dishes of food which the neighbors had brought, and fabulous dishes which Big Rauests we had on the premises were honored to be asked to join in with us

"Big Raone out into the world, as ays said -- George, a dentist in Shreveport, and Yancy, a lawyer in New Orleans -- were there with their wives, lending us all a hand with the food And there were some half dozen or more of the black cousins there too