ned, simply asked them to follow him.

They entered the new building, and Patissot, who was quite enthusiastic,
was panting as he climbed a stairway of ancient style which led to the
second story.

At the same time he was trying to picture to himself this man whose
glorious name echoes at present in all corners of the earth, amid the
exasperated hatred of some, the real or feigned indignation of society,
the envious scorn of several of his colleagues, the respect of a mass of
readers, and the frenzied admiration of a great number. He expected to
see a kind of bearded giant, of awe-inspiring aspect, with a thundering
voice and an appearance little prepossessing at first.

The door opened on a room of uncommonly large dimensions, broad and
high, lighted by an enormous window looking out over the valley. Old
tapestries covered the walls; on the left, a monumental fireplace,
flanked by two stone men, could have burned a century-old oak in one
day. An immense table littered with books, papers and magazines stood in
the middle of this apartment so vast and grand that it first engrossed
the eye, and the attention was only afterward drawn to the man,
stretched out when they entered on an Oriental divan where twenty
persons could have slept. He took a few steps toward them, bowed,
motioned to two seats, and turned back to his divan, where he sat with
one leg drawn under him. A book lay open beside him, and in his right
hand he held an ivory paper-cutter, the end of which he observed from
time to time with one eye, closing the other with the persistency of a
near-sighted person.

While the journalist explained the purpose of the visit, and the writer
listened to him without yet answering, at times staring at him fixedly,
Patissot, more and more embarrassed, was observing this celebrity.

Hardly forty, he was of medium height, fairly stout, and with a
good-natured look. His head (very similar to those found in many Italian
paintings of the sixteenth century), without being beautiful in the
plastic sense of the word, gave an impression of great strength of
character, power and intelligence. Short hair stood up straight on the
high, well-developed forehead. A straight nose stopped short, as if
cut off suddenly above the upper lip which was covered with a black
mustache; over the whole chin was a closely-cropped beard. The dark,
often ironical look was piercing, one felt that behind it there was
a mind always actively at work ob