from them as do the stars. A young girl looked at me with
vague blue eyes. What could I do against that kind of sapphire?

They talked, but the noise left each one to himself, and deafened me,
as the light blinded me.

Nevertheless, at certain moments these people, because in the course of
conversation they thought of things they had at heart, revealed
themselves as if they were alone. I recognized the revelation of this
truth, and felt myself turning pale on remembering that other
revelation.

Some one spoke of money, and the subject became general. The assembly
was stirred by an ideal. A dream of grasping and touching shone
through their eyes, just as a little adoration had come into the eyes
of the servant when she found herself alone.

They recalled military heroes triumphantly, and some men thought, "Me,
too!" and worked themselves up into a fever, showing what they were
thinking of, in spite of their ridiculously low station and the slavery
of their social position. One young girl seemed dazzled, looked
overwhelmed. She could not restrain a sigh of ecstasy. She blushed
under the effect of an inscrutable thought. I saw the surge of blood
mount to her face. I saw her heart beaming.

They discussed the phenomena of occultism and the Beyond. "Who knows?"
some one said. Then they discussed death. Two diners, at opposite
ends of the table, a man and a woman who had not spoken to each other
and seemed not to be acquainted, exchanged a glance that I caught. And
seeing that glance leap from their eyes at the same time, under the
shock of the idea of death, I understood that these two loved each
other.

. . . . .

The meal was over. The young people went into the parlour. A lawyer
was telling some people around him about a murder case that had been
decided that day. The nature of the subject was such that he expressed
himself very cautiously, as though confiding a secret. A man had
injured and then murdered a little girl and had kept singing at the top
of his voice to prevent the cries of his little victim from being
heard. One by one the people stopped talking and listened with the air
of really not listening, while those not so close to the speaker felt
like drawing up right next to him. About this image risen in their
midst, this paroxysm so frightful to our timid instincts, the silence
spread in a circle in their souls like a terrific noise.

Then I heard the laugh of a woman, of an honest