s mother had left
him, Cecile had deserted him. The faces of these two women haunted him
day and night. When Charlotte's gay and indifferent smile faded away,
the delicate features of Cecile appeared before him, veiled in the
mystery of her strange refusal; and the youth lay there incapable of a
word or a gesture, while his pulses beat with accelerated force, and his
hollow cough shook him from head to foot.

The day after this conversation at Jack's bedside, Madame Belisaire
was much startled, on entering the room, to find him, tall and gaunt,
sitting in front of the fire. "Why are you out of your bed?" she asked
with severity.

"I am going to the hospital, my kind friend; it is impossible for me to
stay here any longer. Do not attempt to detain me, for go I will."

"But, Mr. Jack, you cannot walk there, weak as you are."

"Yes, I can, if your husband will give me the help of his arm."

It was useless to resist such determination, and Jack said farewell to
Madame Belisaire, and descended the stairs with one sad look of farewell
at the humble home which had been illuminated by so many fair dreams and
hopes. How long the walk was! They stopped occasionally, but dared not
linger long, for the air was sharp. Under the lowering December skies
the sick youth looked worse even than when he lay in his bed. His hair
was wet with perspiration, the hurrying crowds made him dizzy and
faint. Paris is like a huge battlefield where mere existence demands a
struggle; and Jack seemed like a wounded soldier borne from the field by
a comrade.

It was still early when they reached the hospital. Early as it was,
however, they found the huge waiting-room filled with persons. An
enormous stove made the air of the room almost intolerable, with its
smell of hot iron. When Jack entered, assisted by Belisaire/all eyes
were turned upon him. They were awaiting the arrival of the physician,
who would give, or refuse, a card of admittance. Each one was describing
his symptoms to some indifferent hearer, and endeavoring to show that
he was more ill than any one else. Jack listened to these dismal
conversations, seated between a stout man who coughed violently, and a
slender young girl whose thin shawl was so tightly drawn over her head
that only her wild and affrighted eyes were to be seen. Then the door
opened, and a small, wiry man appeared; it was the physician. A profound
silence followed all along the benches. The doctor warmed his hands a