whose curve suggested a woman's breast.

'Dip your hands in,' cried Albine; 'the water is icy cold at the
bottom.'

They were indeed able to refresh their hot hands. They threw water over
their faces too, and lingered there amidst the spray which rose up from
the streaming springs.

'Look,' cried Albine; 'look, there is the garden, and there are the
meadows and the forest.'

For a moment they looked at the Paradou spread out beneath their feet.

'And you see,' she added, 'there isn't the least sign of any wall. The
whole country belongs to us, right up to the sky.'

By this time, almost unawares, they had slipped their arms round each
other's waist. The coolness of the springs had soothed their feverish
disquietude. But just as they were going away, Albine seemed to recall
something and led Serge back again, saying:

'Down there, below the rocks, a long time ago, I once saw the wall.'

'But there is nothing to be seen,' replied Serge, turning a little pale.

'Yes, yes; it must be behind that avenue of chestnut trees on the other
side of those bushes.'

Then, on feeling Serge's arm tremble, she added: 'But perhaps I am
mistaken.... Yet I seem to remember that I suddenly came upon it as I
left the avenue. It stopped my way, and was so high that I felt a little
afraid. And a few steps farther on, I came upon another surprise. There
was a huge hole in it, through which I could see the whole country
outside.'

Serge looked at her with entreaty in his eyes. She gave a little shrug
of her shoulders to reassure him, and went on: 'But I stopped the hole
up; I have told you that we are quite alone, and we are. I stopped it up
at once. I had my knife with me, and I cut down some brambles and
rolled up some big stones. I would defy even a sparrow to force its way
through. If you like, we will go and look at it one of these days, and
then you will be satisfied.'

But he shook his head. Then they went away together, still holding each
other by the waist; but they had grown anxious once more. Serge gazed
down askance at Albine's face, and she felt perturbed beneath his
glance. They would have liked to go down again at once, and thus escape
the uneasiness of a longer walk. But, in spite of themselves, as though
impelled by some stronger power, they skirted a rocky cliff and reached
a table-land, where once more they found the intoxication of the full
sunlight. They no longer inhaled the soft languid perfumes of aromatic