st, and Saniel followed him, giving a hasty glance at the
rooms through which they passed. They reached a door at which Balzajette
knocked twice.

"Enter," replied a feminine voice in a firm tone.

This was the decisive moment; the day was everything that could be
wished, neither too light nor too dark. What would Madame Dammauville's
first glance mean?

"My confrere, Doctor Saniel," Balzajette said on going toward Madame
Dammauville, and taking her hand.

She was lying on the little bed of which Phillis had spoken, but not
against the windows, rather in the middle of the room, placed there
evidently after the experience of a sick person who knows that to be
examined she must be easily seen.

Profiting by this arrangement, Saniel immediately passed between the bed
and the windows in such a way that the daylight was behind him, and
consequently his face was in shadow. This was done naturally, without
affectation, and it seemed that he only took this side of the bed because
Balzajette took the other.

Directed by Saniel, the examination commenced with a clearness and a
precision that pleased Balzajette. He did not lose himself in idle words,
the young 'confrere', any more than in useless details. He went straight
to the end, only asking and seeking the indispensable; and as Madame
Dammauville's replies were as precise as his questions, while listening
and putting in a word from time to time he said to himself that his
dinner would not be delayed, which was the chief point of his
preoccupation. Decidedly, he understood life, the young 'confrere'; he
might be called in consultation with his heavy appearance and careless
toilet, there was no danger of rivalry.

However, when Madame Dammauville began to speak of being sensitive to
cold, Balzajette found that Saniel let her lose herself in minute
details.

"Have you always been sensitive to cold?"

"Yes; and with a deplorable disposition to take cold if the temperature
is lowered one or two degrees."

"Did you exercise in the open air?"

"Very little."

"Were you ever advised to try shower-baths of cold water?"

"I should not have been able to bear it."

"I must tell you," Balzajette interrupted, "that before occupying this
house that belongs to her, Madame Dammauville lived in a more modern
apartment which was heated by a furnace, and where consequently it was
easier to maintain an even temperature to which she was accustomed."

"On coming to live in this