! Froloff! The sword broken over your head! The
gallows! Ach! I am not a nihilist--heaven forbid!--but I have
displeased the Czar. And to displease the Czar--Brr! Imagine the open
square-Odessa-No, no, don't let us talk of it any more!" glancing
suddenly about him, as if he feared the platoon of Cossacks were there,
in the restaurant, come to drag him away in the name of the Emperor.
"Oh! by the way, Prince," he exclaimed abruptly--"why don't you ever
come to Maisons-Lafitte?"

He must, indeed, have been drunk to address such a question to the
Prince.

Zilah looked him full in the face; but Vogotzine's eyes blinked
stupidly, and his head fell partially forward on his breast. Satisfied
that he was not responsible for what he was saying, Andras rose to leave
the restaurant, and the General with difficulty stumbled to his feet,
and instinctively grasped Andras's arm, the latter making no resistance,
the mention of Maisons-Lafitte interesting him, even from the lips of
this intoxicated old idiot.

"Do you know," stuttered Vogotzine, "I, myself, should be glad--very
glad--if you would come there. I am bored-bored to death! Closed
shutters--not the least noise. The creaking of a door--the slightest bit
of light-makes her ill. The days drag--they drag--yes, they do. No one
speaks. Most of the time I dine alone. Shall I tell you?--no--yes, I
will. Marsa, yes, well! Marsa, she is good, very good--thinks only of
the poor-the poor, you know! But whatever Doctor Fargeas may say about
it, she is mad! You can't deceive me! She is insane!--still insane!"

"Insane?" said Andras, striving to control his emotion.

The General, who was now staggering violently, clung desperately to the
Prince. They had reached the boulevard, and Andras, hailing a cab, made
Vogotzine get in, and instructed the coachman to drive to the Bois.

"I assure you that she is insane," proceeded the General, throwing his
head back on the cushions. "Yes, insane. She does not eat anything;
she never rests. Upon my word, I don't know how she lives. Once--her
dogs--she took walks. Now, I go with them into the park--good
beasts--very gentle. Sometimes, all that she says, is: 'Listen! Isn't
that Duna or Bundas barking?' Ah! if I wasn't afraid of Froloffyes,
Froloff--how soon I should return to Russia! The life of Paris--the life
of Paris wearies me. You see, I come here today, I take up a
newspaper, and I see what? Froloff! Besides, the life of Paris--at
Maisons-La