y into despair, and a difficult
amputation was necessary. They lodged me in the house; I might say, they
almost locked me up, and I saw nobody but people in tears, who almost
deafened me with their lamentations; I operated on a man who appeared
to be in a moribund state, and who nearly died under my hands, and with
whom I remained two nights; and then, when I saw that there was a chance
of his recovery, I drove to the station. I had, however, made a mistake
in the trains, and I had an hour to wait, and so I wandered about the
streets, still thinking of my poor patient, when a man accosted me. I
do not know German, and he was totally ignorant of French, but at last I
made out that he was offering me some relics. I thought of Gilberte, for
I knew her fanatical devotion, and here was my present ready to hand,
so I followed the man into a shop where religious objects were for
sale, and I bought a small piece of a bone of one of the Eleven Thousand
Virgins.
"The pretended relic was inclosed in a charming old silver box, and that
determined my choice, and, putting my purchase into my pocket, I went to
the railway station, and so on to Paris.
"As soon as I got home, I wished to examine my purchase again, and on
taking hold of it, I found that the box was open, and the relic missing!
I searched in vain in my pocket, and turned it inside out; the small bit
of bone, which was no bigger than half a pin, had disappeared.
"You know, my dear little Abbe, that my faith is not very fervent, but,
as my friend, you are magnanimous enough to put up with my lukewarmness,
and to leave me alone, and to wait for the future, so you say. But I
absolutely disbelieve in the relics of secondhand dealers in piety, and
you share my doubts in that respect. Therefore, the loss of that bit
of sheep's carcass did not grieve me, and I easily procured a similar
fragment, which I carefully fastened inside my jewel-box, and then I
went to see my intended.
"As soon as she saw me, she ran up to me, smiling and eager, and, said
to me:
"'What have you brought me?'
"I pretended to have forgotten, but she did not believe me, and I made
her beg, and even beseech me. But when I saw that she was devoured by
curiosity, I gave her the sacred silver box. She appeared overjoyed.
"'A relic! Oh! A relic!'
"And she kissed the box passionately, so that I was ashamed of my
deception. She was not quite satisfied, however, and her uneasiness soon
turned to te
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