olute insanity, and to nothing else; and
I did so accordingly, alarmed for the safety of the unfortunate
professor, and marvelling what unheard-of act would next be perpetrated,
rendering it incumbent upon society to lock the lunatic up for life.
Why, his lips were hardly relieved of the pollution which had fallen
from them in my presence; and could he in his senses, with his reason
not unhinged, dare to offend his Maker doubly by the mockery of such
prayers as _he_ could offer up! What was his motive--what his end? That
he was anxious for concealment was evident. Had he courted observation,
I might have supposed him actuated by some far-sighted scheme of policy;
and yet his rash and straightforward temperament rendered him incapable
of any stratagem whatever. No, no--look at the thing as I would, there
was no accounting for this most perplexing anomaly except on the ground
of mental infirmity. Alas, poor baron!

When the service was at an end, I took up a position in the street near
the church, in order to observe the next movement of the devotee, quite
prepared for any thing that might happen. I was disappointed. The baron,
looking very cheerful and very happy, made his appearance from the
temple which he had so recently profaned, and walked steadily and
quietly away. I followed him, and in the excitement of the moment was
about to approach and accost him, when he suddenly turned into a narrow
lane, and I lost sight of him.

Before I saw the baron again, I had made up my mind to keep my own
counsel, and to give him no hint of my having discovered and watched
him. The reasons for silence were twofold. First, I hoped, by keeping my
eye upon the professor, to learn more of his character than I yet knew;
and, in the second place, I did not wish to be regarded as a spy by an
individual of violent passions, whom I could not conscientiously
consider responsible for his actions.

It so happened that, on the evening of this very day, the baron held a
_conversazione_ in his rooms, to which the first people of Paris, both
in rank and talent, were invited. I, who had the _entree_, was present
of course, and I was likewise amongst the first of the arrivals. With
me, the chief physician of the Hotel Dieu entered the _salon_.

The surgeon and the physician shook hands; and, after a word or two, the
latter asked abruptly--

"By the way, baron, what were you doing at St Sulpice this morning? I
saw you quitting the church."

"Oh