Godfrey had not the true scientific spirit, or a yearning for
information, even about the stars, for its own sake. He wanted to
ascertain how these affected /him/ and the human race of which he was
a member. In short, he sought an answer to the old question: Are we
merely the spawn of our little earth, destined to perish, as the earth
itself must do one day, or, through whatever changes we must pass, are
we as immortal as the universe and the Might that made it, whatever
that may be? That was his problem, the same which perplexes every high
and thinking soul, and at this impressionable period of his life it
scarcely ever left him. There he would sit with brooding eyes and bent
brow seeking the answer, but as yet finding none.

Once Juliette discovered him thus, having come to the observatory to
tell him that his dinner had been waiting for half an hour, and for a
while watched him unnoted with the little shaded lamp shining on his
face. Instantly, in her quick fashion, she christened him, /Hibou/,
and /Hibou/ or Owl, became his nickname in that establishment. Indeed,
with his dark eyes and strongly marked features, wrapped in a
contemplative calm such as the study of the stars engenders, in that
gloom he did look something like an owl, however different may have
been his appearance on other occasions.

"What are you thinking of, Monsieur Godfrey?" she asked.

He came back to earth with a start.

"The stars and Man," he answered, colouring.

"/Mon Dieu!/" she exclaimed, "I think man is enough to study without