me
time;... they look at each other....

MARTHA.

Oh! oh! my poor little sister!... I shall cry too!...
[_She stifles her sobs on her sister's shoulder._

THE STRANGER.

He must be knocking again.... The father looks at the clock. He rises.

MARTHA.

Sister, sister, I want to go in too.... They cannot be alone any
longer....

MARY.

Martha! Martha!...
[_She holds her back._

THE STRANGER.

The father is at the door.... He draws the bolts.... He opens the door
prudently....

MARTHA.

Oh!... you do not see the...

THE STRANGER.

What?

MARTHA.

Those who bear....

THE STRANGER.

He hardly opens it.... I can only see a corner of the lawn; and the
fountain.... He does not let go the door;... he steps back.... He
looks as if he were saying: "Ah, it's you!"... He raises his arms....
He shuts the door again carefully.... Your grandfather has come into
the room....

[The crowd has drawn nearer the windows. Martha and Mary half rise
at first, then draw near also, clasping each other tightly. The
old man is seen advancing into the room. The two sisters of the
dead girl rise; the mother rises as well, after laying the child
carefully in the armchair she has just abandoned; in such a way
that from without the little one may be seen asleep, with his head
hanging a little to one side, in the centre of the room. The
mother advances to meet the old man and extends her hand to him,
but draws it back before he has had time to take it. One of the
young girls offers to take off the visitor's cloak and the other
brings forward a chair for him; but the old man makes a slight
gesture of refusal. The father smiles with a surprised look. The
old man looks toward the windows.]

THE STRANGER.

He dares not tell them.... He has looked at us....
[_Rumors in the crowd._

THE STRANGER.

S ... t!...

[The old man, seeing their faces at the windows, has quickly
turned his eyes away. As one of the young girls continues to offer
him the same armchair, he ends by sitting down and passes his
right hand across his forehead several times.]

THE STRANGER.

He sits down....

[The other people in the room sit down also, while the father
talks volubly. At last the old man opens his mouth, and the tone
of his voi