sed by; the winged name of a poet followed as a pale man with a flat,
common face approached. A living wave was rising from this crowd in the
even, colourless light when suddenly a flash of sunshine, from behind
the clouds of a final shower, set the glass panes on high aflame, making
the stained window on the western side resplendent, and raining down
in golden particles through the still atmosphere; and then everything
became warm--the snowy statues amid the shiny green stuff, the soft
lawns parted by the yellow sand of the pathways, the rich dresses
with their glossy satin and bright beads, even the very voices, whose
hilarious murmur seemed to crackle like a bright fire of vine shoots.
Some gardeners, completing the arrangements of the flower-beds, turned
on the taps of the stand-pipes and promenaded about with their pots, the
showers squirting from which came forth again in tepid steam from the
drenched grass. And meanwhile a plucky sparrow, who had descended from
the iron girders, despite the number of people, dipped his beak in the
sand in front of the buffet, eating some crumbs which a young woman
threw him by way of amusement. Of all the tumult, however, Claude
only heard the ocean-like din afar, the rumbling of the people rolling
onwards in the galleries. And a recollection came to him, he remembered
that noise which had burst forth like a hurricane in front of his
picture at the Salon of the Rejected. But nowadays people no longer
laughed at him; upstairs the giant roar of Paris was acclaiming
Fagerolles!

It so happened that Sandoz, who had turned round, said to Claude:
'Hallo! there's Fagerolles!'

And, indeed, Fagerolles and Jory had just laid hands on a table near by
without noticing their friends, and the journalist, continuing in his
gruff voice a conversation which had previously begun, remarked:

'Yes, I saw his "Dead Child"! Ah! the poor devil! what an ending!'

But Fagerolles nudged Jory, and the latter, having caught sight of his
two old comrades, immediately added:

'Ah! that dear old Claude! How goes it, eh? You know that I haven't yet
seen your picture. But I'm told that it's superb.'

'Superb!' declared Fagerolles, who then began to express his surprise.
'So you lunched here. What an idea! Everything is so awfully bad. We two
have just come from Ledoyen's. Oh! such a crowd and such hustling, such
mirth! Bring your table nearer and let us chat a bit.'

They joined the two tables together.