extraordinary before!"

He was waving his arms, beside himself, overflowing with the emotion of
an artist.

"Father dear," said Marie, tenderly, "since you have come back you ought
to go to bed. It is nearly eleven o'clock, and you know that you have to
start at two in the morning." Then, to render him compliant, she added:
"I am so pleased that you are going to make that excursion! Only, come
back early to-morrow evening, because you'll see, you'll see--" She
stopped short, not daring to express her conviction that she would be
cured.

"You are right; I will go to bed," replied M. de Guersaint, quite calmed.
"Since Pierre will be with you I sha'n't feel anxious."

"But I don't wish Pierre to pass the night out here. He will join you
by-and-by after he has taken me to the Grotto. I sha'n't have any further
need of anybody; the first bearer who passes can take me back to the
hospital to-morrow morning."

Pierre had not interrupted her, and now he simply said: "No, no, Marie, I
shall stay. Like you, I shall spend the night at the Grotto."

She opened her mouth to insist and express her displeasure. But he had
spoken those words so gently, and she had detected in them such a
dolorous thirst for happiness, that, stirred to the depths of her soul,
she stayed her tongue.

"Well, well, my children," replied her father, "settle the matter between