friend."

"And you will get over it," said La Mole, "if you will drink the other
two cups, and have no more ugly dreams."

An hour afterward La Mole, assuming the duties of a nurse, and
scrupulously carrying out the unknown doctor's orders, rose again,
poured a second dose into the cup, and carried it to Coconnas, who
instead of waiting for him with his poniard, received him with open
arms, eagerly swallowed the potion, and calmly fell asleep.

The third cup had a no less marvellous effect. The sick man's breathing
became more regular, his stiff limbs relaxed, a gentle perspiration
diffused itself over his burning skin, and when Ambroise Pare visited
him the next morning, he smiled complacently, saying:

"I answer for Monsieur de Coconnas now; and this will not be one of the
least difficult cures I have effected."

This scene, half-dramatic, half-burlesque, and yet not lacking in a
certain poetic touch when Coconnas's fierce ways were taken into
consideration, resulted in the friendship which the two gentlemen had
begun at the Inn of the _Belle Etoile_, and which had been so violently
interrupted by the Saint Bartholomew night's occurrences, from that time
forth taking on a new vigor and soon surpassing that of Orestes and
Pylades by five sword-thrusts and one pistol-wound exchanged between
them.

At all events, wounds old and new, slight or serious, were at last in a
fair way of cure. La Mole, faithful to his duties as nurse, would not
forsake the sick-room until Coconnas was entirely well. As long as
weakness kept the invalid on the bed, he lifted him, and when he began
to improve he helped him to walk; in a word, he lavished on him all the
attentions suggested by his gentle and affectionate disposition, and
this care, together with the Piedmontese's natural vigor, brought about
a more rapid convalescence than would have been expected.

However, one and the same thought tormented both the young men. Each had
in his delirium apparently seen the woman he loved approach his couch,
and yet, certainly since they had recovered their senses, neither
Marguerite nor Madame de Nevers had entered the room. However, that was
perfectly comprehensible; the one, wife of the King of Navarre, the
other, the Duc de Guise's sister-in-law, could not have publicly shown
two simple gentlemen such a mark of evident interest, could they? No! La
Mole and Coconnas could not make any other reply to this question. But
still the absence