nd would intertwine in her soft
silky fur. I felt its warm body against my cheek, trembling with its
eternal purring, and occasionally a paw would reach out and place on my
mouth, or my eyelid, five unsheathed claws which would prick my eyelids,
and then be immediately withdrawn.

Sometimes we would go out on what we called our escapades. They were
very innocent, however. They consisted in taking supper at some inn in
the suburbs, or else, after dining at her house or at mine, in making
the round of the cheap cafes, like students out for a lark.

We would go into the common drinking places and take our seats at the
end of the smoky den on two rickety chairs, at an old wooden table. A
cloud of pungent smoke, with which blended an odor of fried fish from
dinner, filled the room. Men in smocks were talking in loud tones as
they drank their petits verres, and the astonished waiter placed before
us two cherry brandies.

She, trembling, charmingly afraid, would raise her double black veil as
far as her nose, and then take up her glass with the enjoyment that one
feels at doing something delightfully naughty. Each cherry she swallowed
made her feel as if she had done something wrong, each swallow of
the burning liquor had on her the affect of a delicate and forbidden
enjoyment.

Then she would say to me in a low tone: "Let us go." And we would leave,
she walking quickly with lowered head between the drinkers who watched
her going by with a look of displeasure. And as soon as we got into the
street she would give a great sigh of relief, as if we had escaped some
terrible danger.

Sometimes she would ask me with a shudder:

"Suppose they, should say something rude to me in those places, what
would you do?" "Why, I would defend you, parbleu!" I would reply in a
resolute manner. And she would squeeze my arm for happiness, perhaps
with a vague wish that she might be insulted and protected, that she
might see men fight on her account, even those men, with me!

One evening as we sat at a table in a tavern at Montmartre, we saw an
old woman in tattered garments come in, holding in her hand a pack of
dirty cards. Perceiving a lady, the old woman at once approached us and
offered to tell my friend's fortune. Emma, who in her heart believed in
everything, was trembling with longing and anxiety, and she made a place
beside her for the old woman.

The latter, old, wrinkled, her eyes with red inflamed rings round them,
and her mou