make an effort, but he unbraced his
limbs of steel, and condensed all his strength in one supreme, mad leap.
His chest, under its pearl-gray tights, hardly rose, and there was not a
drop of perspiration on his forehead, among the light curls which framed
it, like a golden halo.

"He had an almost disdainful manner of smiling at the public, as if he
had been working like an artist, who loves his profession, and who is
amused at danger, rather than like an acrobat who is paid to amuse
people after dinner; and during his most difficult feats he often
uttered a shrill cry, like that of some wild beast which defies the
sportsman, as it falls on its prey. But that sportsman is always on the
alert, and he is the _Invisible_, which closes the brightest eyes, and
the most youthful lips for ever.

"And in spite of oneself, one was excited by it, and could have wished,
from a superstitious instinct, that he would not continually have that
defiant cry, which seemed to give him pleasure, on his lips. James
Stirling watched over him like the mother of an actress does, who knows
that she is in some corner, and fears dangerous connections, in which
the strongest are entangled and ruined, and they lived together in a
boarding-house near the _Arc de Triumph_.

"It was a very simple apartment, with immense posters of every color and
in every language pinned to the wall, on which the name of Stirling
appeared in large, striking letters; photographs with inscriptions, and
tinsel wreaths, though there were two of real laurel, that were covered
with dust, and were gradually falling to pieces.

"One night, the young fellow for the first time did not come home, and
only returned in time for rehearsal, tired, with blue rims under his
eyes, his lips cracked with feverish heat, and with pale cheeks, but
with such a look of happiness, and such a peculiar light in his eyes,
that _Mamma Stirling_ felt as if he had been stabbed, and had not the
strength to find fault with him; and emboldened, radiant, longing to
give vent to the mad joy which filled his whole being, to express his
sensations, and recount his happiness, like a lad talking to his elder
brother, he told James Stirling his love intrigue from beginning to end,
and how much in love he was with the light-haired girl who had clasped
him in her arms, and initiated him into the pleasures of the flesh.

"It had been coming for some time, he said. She went to every
performance, and always oc