little person, hse pushed my pen about in the ink-bottle, backward
and forward, like an oar, and then suddenly threw it at my nose,
point first.

I rubbed by face, and felt it all covered with ink. She had
disappeared. My lamp was extinguished. A ray of moonlight streamed
down through a window and descended upon the "Cosmography of Munster."
A strong cool wind, which had arisen very suddenly without my
knowledge, was blowing my papers, pens, and wafers about. My table
was all stained with ink. I had left my window open during the storm.
What an imprudence!




Chapter III


I wrote to my housekeeper, as I promised, that I was safe and sound.
But I took good care not to tell her that I had caught a cold from
going to sleep in the library at night with the window open; for the
good woman would have been as unsparing in her remonstrances to me
as parliaments to kings. "At your age, Monsieur," she would have
been sure to say, "one ought to have more sense." She is simple
enough to believe that sense grows with age. I seem to her an
exception to this rule.

Not having any similar motive for concealing my experiences from
Madame de Gabry, I told her all about my vision, which she seemed
to enjoy very much.