ulties.

"It was not like the dreams caused by haschich or the somewhat sickly
visions that come from opium; it was an amazing acuteness of
reasoning, a new way of seeing, judging, and appreciating the things
of life, and with the certainty, the absolute consciousness that this
was the true way.

"And the old image of the Scriptures suddenly came back to my mind. It
seemed to me that I had tasted of the Tree of Knowledge, that all the
mysteries were unveiled, so much did I find myself under the sway of a
new, strange, and irrefutable logic. And arguments, reasonings,
proofs, rose up in a heap before my brain only to be immediately
displaced by some stronger proof, reasoning, argument. My head had in
fact, become a battle-ground of ideas. I was a superior being, armed
with invincible intelligence, and I experienced a huge delight at the
manifestation of my power.

"It lasted a long, long time. I still kept inhaling the ether from the
opening of my flagon. Suddenly I perceived that it was empty."

The four men exclaimed at the same time:

"Doctor, a prescription at once for a liter of ether!"

But the doctor, putting on his hat, replied:

"As for that, certainly not; go and get poisoned by others!"

And he left them.

Ladies and gentlemen, what is your idea on the subject?

MOONLIGHT

Madame Julie Roubere was awaiting her elder sister, Madame Henriette
Letore, who had just returned after a trip to Switzerland.

The Letore household had left nearly five weeks ago. Madame Henriette
had allowed her husband to return alone to their estate in Calvados,
where some matters of business required his attention, and come to
spend a few days in Paris with her sister. Night came on. In the quiet
parlor, darkened by twilight shadows, Madame Roubere was reading, in
an absent-minded fashion, raising her eyes whenever she heard a sound.

At last, she heard a ring at the door, and presently her sister
appeared, wrapped in a traveling cloak. And immediately without any
formal greeting, they clasped each other ardently, only desisting for
a moment to begin embracing each other over again. Then they talked,
asking questions about each other's health, about their respective
families, and a thousand other things, gossiping, jerking out hurried,
broken sentences and rushing about while Madame Henriette was removing
her hat and veil.

It was now quite dark. Madame Roubere rang for a lamp, and as soon as
it was brought in