ss, in a tone full of unction.
I surmise that he is a devotee. He added, 'As a Pole, I am for Turkey.'

"'I believed,' said I, 'that the Poles had sympathy with all the
oppressed.'

"'Poles,' he replied, 'cannot like those who like their oppressors, and
they cannot forget that the Osmanlis are their natural allies, and, on
occasions, their refuge.'

"I gave him Antoinette's letter to read. I was very glad, at any hazard,
to prove to him that she could write four pages without asking about
him. He read it with extreme attention: but when he came to the famous
passage--'If I were a man, I would go and fight for them!'--he smiled,
and returned me the letter, saying, in a disdainful and rather a dry
tone:

"'Write for me to Mlle. Moriaz that I believe I am a man, yet that
I will not fight for the Bosnians, and that the Turks are my greatest
friends.'

"'She is foolish,' I said. 'Fortunately, she changes her folly with
every new moon!'

"'What would you have?' he replied; 'in order not to be insipid, it is
well to be a little foolish. My poor mother used often to say: "My
son, youth should be employed in laying by a great store of extravagant
enthusiasm; otherwise, at the end of life's journey the heart will be
void, for much is left on the road."'

"Calm, _seigneur_, your excited fears, no one has designs on your
daughter; we evidently find her charming, but are by no means in love
with her. With much precaution and circumlocution I gently proceeded
to question Count Larinski on the state of his affairs, about which
he never has opened his mouth. He frowned. I did not lose courage. I
offered him this place of professor of the Slavonian languages of which
the abbe had again spoken. I saw in an instant that his sensitive pride
had taken alarm. However, upon reflection, he softened, thanked me,
declined my kind offer, and announced--guess what! How much is my news
worth? what will you give for it? He announced, I tell you, that in two
weeks--you understand me--he will return to Vienna, where he has been
promised a post in the archives of the Minister of War. I did not dare
to ask what was the salary; after all, if he is satisfied, it is not for
us to be harder to please than he. When I affirm that Count Larinski is
a good, worthy man!--In two weeks! you understand me perfectly.

"My dear friend, I am enchanted to know that the water of Saint Moritz
and the air of the Engadine have entirely re-established your health;