"No. And you will never know. I came out, I looked--and there
Philipp was sitting at his door. I wasn't surprised--Philipp often
roamed about at night ever since--"

He stops irresolutely. Mariet asks harshly:

"Since when? You said 'since.'"

Silence. Desfoso replies frankly and heavily:

"Since your Haggart came. Go ahead, Thomas, tell us about it."

"So I said to him: 'Why did you knock, Philipp? Do you want
anything?' But he was silent."

"And he was silent?"

"He was silent. 'If you don't want anything, you had better go to
sleep, my friend,' said I. But he was silent. Then I looked at him
--his throat was cut open."

Mariet shudders and looks at the speaker with aversion. Silence.
Another fisherman enters, looks at the curtain and silently forces
his way into the crowd. Women's voices are heard behind the door;
the abbot stops.

"Eh, Lebon! Chase the women away," he says. "Tell them, there is
nothing for them to do here."

Lebon goes out.