will murder me, and seize my treasure." "If this be so," said I,
"why did you build your house in the midst of this forest, and why
are there no shutters to the windows? Are you mad, or a fool, that
you do not know every one can see from without into your lighted
rooms?" He looked at me with stupid despair. "I never thought
of the shutters," said he.

As we stood talking, the robbers outside congregated in great numbers,
and the old man fled from the room with his treasure bags into another
apartment. But this also was brilliantly illuminated within, and
the windows were shutterless. The robbers followed his movements
easily, and so pursued him from room to room all round the house.
Nowhere had he any shelter. Then came the sound of gouge and mallet
and saw, and I knew the assassins were breaking into the house,
and that before long, the owner would have met the death his folly
had invited, and his treasure would pass into the hands of the robbers.

--Paris, Aug. 3, 1877





VII. The Forest Cathedral




I found myself--accompanied by a guide, a young man of Oriental
aspect and habit--passing through long vistas of trees which, as