attended by huge contempt for
everything that was not art--contempt for fortune, contempt for the
world at large, and, above all, contempt for politics. What was the good
of all such rubbish? Only a lot of incapables meddled with it. A warped
view of things, magnificent in its very injustice, exalted them; an
intentional ignorance of the necessities of social life, the crazy dream
of having none but artists upon earth. They seemed very stupid at times,
but, all the same, their passion made them strong and brave.

Claude became excited. Faith in himself revived amidst the glow of
common hopes. His worry of the morning had only left a vague numbness
behind, and he now once more began to discuss his picture with Sandoz
and Mahoudeau, swearing, it is true, that he would destroy it the next
day. Jory, who was very short-sighted, stared at all the elderly ladies
he met, and aired his theories on artistic work. A man ought to give his
full measure at once in the first spurt of inspiration; as for himself,
he never corrected anything. And, still discussing, the four friends
went on down the boulevard, which, with its comparative solitude, and
its endless rows of fine trees, seemed to have been expressly designed
as an arena for their disputations. When they reached the Esplanade,
the wrangling became so violent that they stopped in the middle of that
large open space. Beside himself, Claude called Jory a numskull; was it
not better to destroy one's work than to launch a mediocre performance
upon the world? Truckling to trade was really disgusting. Mahoudeau
and Sandoz, on their side, shouted both together at the same time. Some
passers-by, feeling uneasy, turned round to look, and at last gathered
round these furious young fellows, who seemed bent on swallowing each
other. But they went off vexed, thinking that some practical joke had
been played upon them, when they suddenly saw the quartette, all good
friends again, go into raptures over a wet-nurse, dressed in light
colours, with long cherry-tinted ribbons streaming from her cap. There,
now! That was something like--what a tint, what a bright note it set
amid the surroundings! Delighted, blinking their eyes, they followed the
nurse under the trees, and then suddenly seemed roused and astonished
to find they had already come so far. The Esplanade, open on all
sides, save on the south, where rose the distant pile of the Hotel des
Invalides, delighted them--it was so vast, so q