, when he saw the two
women coming, stretched out a wand, as though to prevent them from going
farther, and asked what they wanted.

"To consult the spirit," replied the woman of the sweet and tremulous
voice.

"Come in and wait," returned the dwarf, lifting a panel of tapestry and
ushering the two women into a waiting-room.

The women obeyed, and remained for about half an hour, seeing and hearing
nothing. At last a door, concealed by the tapestry, was suddenly opened;
a voice uttered the word "Enter," and the two women were introduced into
a second room, hung with black, and lighted solely by a three-branched
lamp that hung from the ceiling. The door closed behind them, and the
clients found themselves face to face with the sibyl.

She was a woman of about twenty-five or twenty-six, who, unlike other
women, evidently desired to appear older than she was. She was dressed
in black; her hair hung in plaits; her neck, arms, and feet were bare;
the belt at her waist was clasped by a large garnet which threw out
sombre fires. In her hand she held a wand, and she was raised on a sort
of platform which stood for the tripod of the ancients, and from which
came acrid and penetrating fumes; she was, moreover, fairly handsome,
although her features were common, the eyes only excepted, and these, by
some trick of the toilet, no doubt, looked inordinately large, and, like
the garnet in her belt, emitted strange lights.

When the two visitors came in, they found the soothsayer leaning her
forehead on her hand, as though absorbed in thought. Fearing to rouse
her from her ecstasy, they waited in silence until it should please her
to change her position. At the end of ten minutes she raised her head,
and seemed only now to become aware that two persons were standing before
her.

"What is wanted of me again?" she asked, "and shall I have rest only in
the grave?"

"Forgive me, madame," said the sweet-voiced unknown, "but I am wishing to
know----"

"Silence!" said the sibyl, in a solemn voice. "I will not know your
affairs. It is to the spirit that you must address yourself; he is a
jealous spirit, who forbids his secrets to be shared; I can but pray to
him for you, and obey his will."

At these words, she left her tripod, passed into an adjoining room, and
soon returned, looking even paler and more anxious than before, and
carrying in one hand a burning chafing dish, in the other a red paper.
The three flames of the l