iests and their ghosts in
consequence of the apparition, that a short time after his wife had
left purgatory for the last time in order to talk with him, he turned
Protestant.

[1] Arise!

WAS IT A DREAM?

"I had loved her madly!

"Why does one love? Why does one love? How queer it is to see only one
being in the world, to have only one thought in one's mind, only one
desire in the heart, and only one name on the lips--a name which comes
up continually, rising, like the water in a spring, from the depths of
the soul to the lips, a name which one repeats over and over again,
which one whispers ceaselessly, everywhere, like a prayer.

"I am going to tell you our story, for love only has one, which is
always the same. I met her and loved her; that is all. And for a whole
year I have lived on her tenderness, on her caresses, in her arms, in
her dresses, on her words, so completely wrapped up, bound, and
absorbed in everything which came from her, that I no longer cared
whether it was day or night, or whether I was dead or alive, on this
old earth of ours.

"And then she died. How? I do not know; I no longer know anything. But
one evening she came home wet, for it was raining heavily, and the next
day she coughed, and she coughed for about a week, and took to her bed.
What happened I do not remember now, but doctors came, wrote, and went
away. Medicines were brought, and some women made her drink them. Her
hands were hot, her forehead was burning, and her eyes bright and sad.
When I spoke to her, she answered me, but I do not remember what we
said. I have forgotten everything, everything, everything! She died,
and I very well remember her slight, feeble sigh. The nurse said: 'Ah!'
and I understood, I understood!

"I knew nothing more, nothing. I saw a priest, who said: 'Your
mistress?' and it seemed to me as if he were insulting her. As she was
dead, nobody had the right to say that any longer, and I turned him
out. Another came who was very kind and tender, and I shed tears when
he spoke to me about her.

"They consulted me about the funeral, but I do not remember anything
that they said, though I recollected the coffin, and the sound of the
hammer when they nailed her down in it. Oh! God, God!

"She was buried! Buried! She! In that hole! Some people came--female
friends. I made my escape and ran away. I ran, and then walked through
the streets, went home, and the next day started on a journey."

*