awakening, the quack gave him a sign that this part of his lesson was
ended, and following the direction of the thumb which he threw over his
shoulder towards Pepeeta's tent, he eagerly took his way thither.

Before the door stood several groups of young men and maidens, talking
under their breath as if in the presence of some august deity. Now and
then a couple disentangled itself from the crowd, and with visible
trepidation entered. As they reappeared, their friends gathered about
them and besought them to disclose the secrets they had discovered.

Some of them giggled and simpered, others laughed boisterously and
skeptically, while others still, looked scared and anxious. It was
evident that even those who tried to make light of what they had seen
and heard were moved by something awe-inspiring.

David listened to their silly talk, observed their bold demeanor and
their vulgar manners, while the impression of weakness, of stupidity, of
the lowness and beastiality of humanity made upon his mind by the aged
and the mature, was intensified by his observation of the young and
callow.

He did not anywhere see a spark of true nobility. He did not hear a word
of wisdom. Everything was moving on a low, material and animal plane. He
felt that manhood and womanhood was not what he had believed it to be.

From the outside of the gypsy's tent, he could make but few discoveries
of her method; and he waited impatiently until the last curious couple
had departed. When they had disappeared, he entered.

At the opposite side of the tent and reclining upon a low divan was the
gypsy. Above her head a tallow candle was burning dimly. Before her was
a rough table covered with a shawl, upon which were scattered cups of
tea with floating grounds, ivory dice, cards, coins and other implements
of the "Black Art."

Pepeeta sprang to her feet when she saw who her visitor was, and
exhibited the clearest signs of agitation. David's own emotions were not
less violent, for although the gypsy's surroundings were poor and mean,
they served rather to enhance than to diminish her exquisite beauty. Her
shoulders and arms were bare, and on her wrists were gold bracelets of
writhing serpents in whose eyes gleamed diamonds. On her fingers and in
her ears were other costly stones. Her dress was silk, and rustled when
she moved, with soft and sibilant sounds.

"The doctor has sent me here to study the methods by which you do your
work," said David