man, coming to a sudden
halt, said to me,

"Could you not, monsieur, point out to us a short walk, nice and easy,
if that is possible? and excuse my intrusion on you."

I offered to show them the way towards the valley through which the
little river flowed, a deep valley forming a gorge between two tall
craggy, wooded slopes.

They gladly accepted my offer.

And we talked naturally about the virtues of the waters.

"Oh!" he said, "My daughter has a strange malady, the seat of which is
unknown. She suffers from incomprehensible nervous disorders. At one
time, the doctors think she has an attack of heart disease, at another
time, they imagine it is some affection of the liver, and at another
time they declare it to be a disease of the spine. To-day, her
condition is attributed to the stomach, which is the great caldron and
regulator of the body, that Protean source of diseases with a thousand
forms and a thousand susceptibilities to attack. This is why we have
come here. For my part, I am rather inclined to think it is the
nerves. In any case it is very sad."

Immediately the remembrance of the violent spasmodic movement of his
hand came back to my mind, and I asked him.

"But is this not the result of heredity? Are not your own nerves
somewhat affected?"

He replied calmly:

"Mine? Oh! no--my nerves have always been very steady."

Then suddenly, after a pause, he went on:

"Ah! You were alluding to the spasm in my hand every time I want to
reach for anything? This arises from a terrible experience which I
had. Just imagine! this daughter of mine was actually buried alive?"

I could only give utterance to the word "Ah!" so great were my
astonishment and emotion.

* * * * *

He continued:

"Here is the story. It is simple. Juliette had been subject for some
time to serious attacks of the heart. We believed that she had disease
of that organ, and we were prepared for the worst.

"One day she was carried into the house cold, lifeless, dead. She had
fallen down unconscious in the garden. The doctor certified that life
was extinct. I watched by her side for a day and two nights. I laid
her with my own hands in the coffin, which I accompanied to the
cemetery, where she was deposited in the family vault. It is situated
in the very heart of Lorraine.

"I wished to have her interred with her jewels, bracelets, necklaces,
rings, all presents which she had got from me, and with