ondition. I must have fallen into
one of those cataleptic states that I had read of. As a child I had
suffered from syncopes which had lasted several hours, but surely my
heart would beat anew, my blood circulate and my muscles relax. Yes, I
should wake up and comfort Marguerite, and, reasoning thus, I tried to
be patient.

Time passed. Mme Gabin had brought in some breakfast, but Marguerite
refused to taste any food. Later on the afternoon waned. Through the
open window I heard the rising clamor of the Rue Dauphine. By and by a
slight ringing of the brass candlestick on the marble-topped table
made me think that a fresh candle had been lighted. At last Simoneau
returned.

"Well?" whispered the old woman.

"It is all settled," he answered; "the funeral is ordered for tomorrow
at eleven. There is nothing for you to do, and you needn't talk of these
things before the poor lady."

Nevertheless, Mme Gabin remarked: "The doctor of the dead hasn't come
yet."

Simoneau took a seat beside Marguerite and after a few words of
encouragement remained silent. The funeral was to take place at eleven!
Those words rang in my brain like a passing bell. And the doctor
coming--the doctor of the dead, as Mme Gabin had called him. HE could
not possibly fail to find out that I was only in a state of lethargy;
he would do whatever might be necessary to rouse me, so I longed for his
arrival with feverish anxiety.

The day was drawing to a close. Mme Gabin, anxious to waste no time, had
brought in her lamp shades and summoned Dede without asking Marguerite's
permission. "To tell the truth," she observed, "I do not like to leave
children too long alone."

"Come in, I say," she whispered to the little girl; "come in, and don't
be frightened. Only don't look toward the bed or you'll catch it."

She thought it decorous to forbid Dede to look at me, but I was
convinced that the child was furtively glancing at the corner where
I lay, for every now and then I heard her mother rap her knuckles and
repeat angrily: "Get on with your work or you shall leave the room, and
the gentleman will come during the night and pull you by the feet."

The mother and daughter had sat down at our table. I could plainly hear
the click of their scissors as they clipped the lamp shades, which
no doubt required very delicate manipulation, for they did not work
rapidly. I counted the shades one by one as they were laid aside, while
my anxiety grew more and more i