ey, and
take care of yourself!"

Then he made a show of taking an airy, insouciant tone.

"Oh, well!" he exclaimed, "I've always been drawn toward that kind of
life. A musket will be a little heavier than a gun, that's all; then I
shall see different countries, and that will change my ideas." He tried
to appear facetious, poking around the kitchen, and teasing the magpie,
which was following his footsteps with inquisitive anxiety. Finally,
he went up to the old man Vincart, who was lying stretched out in his
picture-lined niche. He took the flabby hand of the paralytic old man,
pressed it gently and endeavored to get up a little conversation with
him, but he had it all to himself, the invalid staring at him all the
time with uneasy, wide-open eyes. Returning to Reine, he lifted his
glass.

"To your health, Reine!" said he, with forced gayety, "next time we
clink glasses together, I shall be an experienced soldier--you'll see!"

But, when he put the glass to his lips, several big tears fell in, and
he had to swallow them with his wine.

"Well!" he sighed, turning away while he passed the back of his hand
across his eyes, "it must be time to go."

She accompanied him to the threshold.

"Adieu, Reine!"

"Adieu!" she murmured, faintly.

She stretched out both hands, overcome with pity and remorse. He
perceived her emotion, and thinking that she perhaps still loved him
a little, and repented having rejected him, threw his arms impetuously
around her. He pressed her against his bosom, and imprinted kisses, wet
with tears, upon her cheek. He could not leave her, and redoubled his
caresses with passionate ardor, with the ecstasy of a lover who suddenly
meets with a burst of tenderness on the part of the woman he has
tenderly loved, and whom he expects never to fold again in his arms.
He completely lost his self-control. His embrace became so ardent that
Reine, alarmed at the sudden outburst, was overcome with shame and
terror, notwithstanding the thought that the man, who was clasping her
in his arms with such passion, was her own brother.

She tore herself away from him and pushed him violently back.

"Adieu!" she cried, retreating to the kitchen, of which she hastily shut
the door.

Claudet stood one moment, dumfounded, before the door so pitilessly shut
in his face, then, falling suddenly from his happy state of illusion to
the dead level of reality, departed precipitately down the road.

When he turned to g