d; they seemed to be dancing and all came forward at
the same time, with the same graceful motion of the head. They were all
dressed alike, in pale blue robes, which left their shoulders bare. With
the same harmonious movement of their bare arms, bending their bodies
forward, they offered him from their elevation, six shining silver
goblets. Then, at the same moment, all withdrew from the balustrade, to
reappear again simultaneously, on the six flights of stairs, down which
they came with uniform swiftness, and reaching the landings they again
offered him the six shining goblets, bending their bodies forward
gracefully, and gazing at him with a strange gravity. No word fell from
their lips, but nevertheless he knew that the six maidens were offering
him, in those six silver goblets, an elixir of life, of health, of
pleasure.

He felt a distressing, mortal fear of them; still he could not remove
his glance from the shining goblets, from the lovely, grave faces
bending over them. He strove to close his eyes, and could not; strove
to cry out to God, and could not. At last the six dancing-girls inclined
the goblets towards him, and six flowing ribbons of liquor streamed
through the air. "Just as I did, at Praglia!" the sleeper thought,
confusing persons in his clouded, mind. Then everything disappeared, and
he saw Jeanne before him. Holding herself erect, wrapped in her green
cloak lined with fur, her face shadowed by the great black hat, she
gazed at him as she had done at Praglia, at the moment of their first
meeting. But this time the sleeper perceived a resemblance between the
gravity of that look and the gravity of the dancing-girls' faces. In his
spirit he read the silent word of the seven souls: Unhappy man, you now
recognise your grievous error; you now know that God is not! The gravity
of the glances was only the sadness of pity. The goblets of life, of
health, of pleasure, were offered him discreetly, and without joy, as to
one in mourning, who has lost all he held dearest; offered as the only
poor comfort left him. Thus Jeanne offered her love. And the sleeper was
filled with what seemed to him fresh evidence that God is not! It was,
indeed, a real physical sensation, a chill creeping over all his limbs,
moving slowly to the heart. He began to tremble violently, and awoke.
Mayda was bending over him, the thermometer in his hand. Benedetto
murmured, with straining eyes: "Father!--Father!--Father!" The sister
sugge