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The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
page 173 of 502 (34%)

Upon passing under the Arch, which greatly intensified the echo of their
footsteps, they came to a standstill. The night breeze had a wintry
chill as it whistled past, and the curved masses seemed melting into the
diffused blue of space. Instinctively the three turned to glance back
at the Champs Elysees. They saw only a river of shadow on which were
floating rosaries of red stars among the two long, black scarfs formed
by the buildings. But they were so well acquainted with this panorama
that in imagination they mentally saw the majestic sweep of the avenue,
the double row of palaces, the place de la Concorde in the background
with the Egyptian obelisk, and the trees of the Tuileries.

"How beautiful it is!" exclaimed Tchernoff who was seeing something
beyond the shadows. "An entire civilization, loving peace and pleasure,
has passed through here."

A memory greatly affected the Russian. Many an afternoon, after lunch,
he had met in this very spot a robust man, stocky, with reddish beard
and kindly eyes--a man who looked like a giant who had just stopped
growing. He was always accompanied by a dog. It was Jaures, his friend
Jaures, who before going to the senate was accustomed to taking a walk
toward the Arch from his home in Passy.

"He liked to come just where we are now! He loved to look at the
avenues, the distant gardens, all of Paris which can be seen from this
height; and filled with admiration, he would often say to me, 'This is
magnificent--one of the most beautiful perspectives that can be found in
the entire world.' . . . Poor Jaures!"

Through association of ideas, the Russian evoked the image of his
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