nd exclaimed with tears in his voice: "If you do not believe me,
look under the bed; the children are there; they are there, I tell you.
Look here, just look here."

He threw himself down, flat on his stomach, and actually pulled out one,
two, three, four children, who had hidden under the bed. I do not
exactly know whether they were boys or girls, but all, like the sleeping
woman, had white hair, the hair of an octogenarian.

Was I still drunk, like Ledantec, or was I mad? What was the meaning of
this strange hallucination? I hesitated for a moment, and shook myself
to be sure that it was I.

No, no, I had all my wits about me, and I in reality saw that horrible
lot of little brats; they all had their faces in their hands, and were
crying and squalling, and then suddenly one of them jumped onto the bed;
all the others followed his example, and the woman woke up.

And then we stood, while those five pairs of eyes, without eyebrows or
eyelashes, eyes with the dull color of pewter, and whose pupils had the
color of red water, were steadily fixed on us.

"Let us be off! let us be off!" Ledantec repeated, leaving go of me, and
at that time I paid attention to what he said, and, after throwing some
small change onto the floor, I followed him, to make him understand,
when he should be quite sober, that he saw before him a poor Albino
prostitute, who had several brothers and sisters.

COUNTESS SATAN

I

They were discussing dynamite, the social revolution, Nihilism, and even
those who cared least about politics, had something to say. Some were
alarmed, others philosophized, while others again, tried to smile.

"Bah!" N---- said, "when we are all blown up, we shall see what it is
like. Perhaps, after all, it may be an amusing sensation, provided one
goes high enough."

"But we shall not be blown up at all," G---- the optimist, said,
interrupting him. "It is all a romance."

"You are mistaken, my dear fellow," Jules de C---- replied. "It is like a
romance, but with that confounded Nihilism, everything seems like one,
but it would be a mistake to trust to it. Thus, I myself, the manner in
which I made Bakounine's acquaintance ..."

They knew that he was a good narrator, and it was no secret that his
life had been an adventurous one, so they drew closer to him, and
listened religiously. This is what he told them.

II

"I met Countess Nioska W----, that strange woman who was usually called
Countess Satan