man&rsquo;s body in the cellar of an empty house; the inquest; some arrests; many surmises&mdash;then silence&mdash;the usual end for many obscure martyrs and confessors. The fact is, he was not enough of an optimist. You must be a savage, tyrannical, pitiless, thick-and-thin optimist, like Horne, for instance, to make a good social rebel of the extreme type. </p> <p> &ldquo;He rose from the table. A waiter hurried up with his overcoat; another held his hat in readiness. </p> <p> &ldquo;But what became of the young lady?&rdquo; I asked. </p> <p> &ldquo;Do you really want to know?&rdquo; he said, buttoning himself in his fur coat carefully. &ldquo;I confess to the small malice of sending her Sevrin&rsquo;s diary. She went into retirement; then she went to Florence; then she went into retreat in a convent. I can&rsquo;t tell where she will go next. What does it matter? Gestures! Gestures! Mere gestures of her class.&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;He fitted on his glossy high hat with extreme precision, and casting a rapid glance round the room, full of well-dressed people, innocently dining, muttered between his teeth: </p> <p> &ldquo;And nothing else! That is why their kind is fated to perish.&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;I never met Mr. X again after that evening. I took to dining at my club. On my next visit to Paris I found my friend all impatience to hear of the effect produced on me by this rare item of his collection. I told him all the story, and he beamed on me with the pride of his distinguished specimen. </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;Isn&rsquo;t X well worth knowing?&rsquo; he bubbled over in great delight. &lsquo;He&rsquo;s unique, amazing, absolutely terrific.&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;His enthusiasm grated upon my finer feelings. I told him curtly that the man&rsquo;s cynicism was simply abominable. </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, abominable! abominable!&rsquo; assented my friend, effusively. &lsquo;And then, you know, he likes to have his little joke sometimes,&rsquo; he added in a confidential tone. </p> <p> &ldquo;I fail to understand the connection of this last remark. I have been utterly unable to discover where in all this the joke comes in.&rdquo; </p> <p> <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> <br /><br /><br /><br /> </div> <h2> THE BRUTE </h2> <h3> AN INDIGNANT TALE </h3> <p> Dodging in from the rain-swept street, I exchanged a smile and a glance with Miss Blank in the bar of the Three Crows. This exchange was effected with extreme propriety. It is a shock to think that, if still alive, Miss Blank must be something over sixty now.