verdure, standing out against the background of the sky, bordered
above. To the left opened the gorges of the Seille, great yellow
stones that had broken away from the soil, and lay in the midst of
blood-colored fields, dominated by an immense band of rocks like the
wall of a gigantic fortress; while to the right, at the very entrance
to the valley through which flowed the Viorne, rose, one above
another, the discolored pink-tiled roofs of the town of Plassans, the
compact and confused mass of an old town, pierced by the tops of
ancient elms, and dominated by the high tower of St. Saturnin,
solitary and serene at this hour in the limpid gold of sunset.

"Ah, my God!" said Clotilde slowly, "one must be arrogant, indeed, to
imagine that one can take everything in one's hand and know
everything!"

Pascal had just mounted on the chair to assure himself that not one of
his packages was missing. Then he took up the fragment of marble, and
replaced it on the shelf, and when he had again locked the press with
a vigorous turn of the hand, he put the key into his pocket.

"Yes," he replied; "try not to know everything, and above all, try not
to bewilder your brain about what we do not know, what we shall
doubtless never know!"

Martine again approached Clotilde, to lend her her support, to show
her that they both had a common cause. And now the doctor perceived
her, also, and felt that they were both united in the same desire for
conquest. After years of secret attempts, it was at last open war; the
_savant_ saw his household turn against his opinions, and menace them
with destruction. There is no worse torture than to have treason in