xhaust the earth of its atmosphere, or if we could fish the air as we
fish the depths of the sea, we should discover the existence of a
multitude of strange animals. And then, he would add in his reverie,
many things would be made clear.

Reverie, which is thought in its nebulous state, borders closely upon
the land of sleep, by which it is bounded as by a natural frontier. The
discovery of a new world, in the form of an atmosphere filled with
transparent creatures, would be the beginning of a knowledge of the vast
unknown. But beyond opens up the illimitable domain of the possible,
teeming with yet other beings, and characterised by other phenomena. All
this would be nothing supernatural, but merely the occult continuation
of the infinite variety of creation. In the midst of that laborious
idleness, which was the chief feature in his existence, Gilliatt was
singularly observant. He even carried his observations into the domain
of sleep. Sleep has a close relation with the possible, which we call
also the _invraisemblable_. The world of sleep has an existence of its
own. Night-time, regarded as a separate sphere of creation, is a
universe in itself. The material nature of man, upon which philosophers
tell us that a column of air forty-five miles in height continually
presses, is wearied out at night, sinks into lassitude, lies down, and
finds repose. The eyes of the flesh are closed; but in that drooping
head, less inactive than is supposed, other eyes are opened. The unknown
reveals itself. The shadowy existences of the invisible world become
more akin to man; whether it be that there is a real communication, or
whether things far off in the unfathomable abyss are mysteriously
brought nearer, it seems as if the impalpable creatures inhabiting space
come then to contemplate our natures, curious to comprehend the denizens
of the earth. Some phantom creation ascends or descends to walk beside
us in the dim twilight: some existence altogether different from our
own, composed partly of human consciousness, partly of something else,
quits his fellows and returns again, after presenting himself for a
moment to our inward sight; and the sleeper, not wholly slumbering, nor
yet entirely conscious, beholds around him strange manifestations of
life--pale spectres, terrible or smiling, dismal phantoms, uncouth
masks, unknown faces, hydra-headed monsters, undefined shapes,
reflections of moonlight where there is no moon, vague fragme