e if in the state of anxiety which oppressed me I had not good
reason for alarm and for fearing some fatal misfortune."

His eyes again sought Derues. "Towards the middle of last night I at
length fell asleep, but, interrupted every moment, this sleep was more a
fatigue than a rest; I seemed to hear confused noises all round me. I
saw brilliant lights which dazzled me, and then sank back into silence
and darkness. Sometimes I heard someone weeping near my bed; again
plaintive voices called to me out of the darkness. I stretched out my
arms, but nothing met them, I fought with phantoms; at length a cold hand
grasped mine and led me rapidly forward. Under a dark and damp vault a
woman lay on the ground, bleeding, inanimate--it was my wife! At the
same moment, a groan made me look round, and I beheld a man striking my
son with a dagger. I cried out and awoke, bathed in cold perspiration,
panting under this terrible vision. I was obliged to get up, walk about,
and speak aloud, in order to convince myself it was only a dream. I
tried to go to sleep again, but the same visions still pursued me. I saw
always the same man armed with two daggers streaming with blood; I heard
always the cries of his two victims. When day came, I felt utterly
broken, worn-out; and this morning, you, my father, could see by my
despondency what an impression this awful night had made upon me."

During this recital Derues' calmness never gave way for a single moment,
and the most skilful physiognomist could only have discovered an
expression of incredulous curiosity on his countenance.

"Monsieur le cure's story," said he, "impressed me much; yours only
brings back my uncertainty. It is less possible than ever to deliver any
opinion on this serious question of dreams, since the second instance
contradicts the first."

"It is true," answered the cure, "no possible conclusion can be drawn
from two facts which contradict each other, and the best thing we can do
is to choose a less dismal subject of conversation."

"Monsieur Derues;" asked Monsieur de Lamatte, "if you are not too tired
with your journey, shall we go and look at the last improvements I have
made? It is now your affair to decide upon them, since I shall shortly
be only your guest here."

"Just as I have been yours for long enough, and I trust you will often
give me the opportunity of exercising hospitality in my turn. But you are
ill, the day is cold and damp; if you do not