explained by reason of the astonishment produced by such a first
meeting. And so the great man remained convinced that I had had
intercourse with a Salamander. I felt some scruples at deceiving
him, but I was compelled to do it and, besides, he deceived himself
to such a degree that it was hardly possible to add anything to his
illusions. So I ascended peacefully to my room, went to bed, and
blew the candle out at the end of the most glorious day of my life.




CHAPTER XVI

Jahel comes to my Room--What the Abbe saw on the Stairs--His
Encounter with Mosaide.


Jahel kept her word. On the second day after, she scratched at my
door. We were a great deal more comfortable in my room than we had
been in M. d'Asterac's study, and what had taken place at our first
meeting was but child's play in comparison to what love inspired us
at our second opportunity. She tore herself out of my arms at the
dawn with a thousand oaths to join me again very soon, calling me
her soul, her life, her dearest sweetheart.

That day I rose very late. When I reached the library, my master was
already sitting over the papyrus of Zosimus, his pen in one hand,
his magnifying-glass in the other, and worthy of the admiration of
anyone having due consideration for good literature.