“A queer business that shipwreck, wasn’t it?” he said amiably. “But there was no miracle about it, I assure you. And there was no luck about it either. That you may know better how to act in the future, you must know that I never rely on miracles or on luck, but solely on myself. So—but I hope that my little sermon is not boring you? Perhaps you’d rather go to sleep. No? Well, to continue—I had scarcely left Aurelie on the terrace when I turned anxious. Was it quite prudent to leave her like that? Can one ever be sure that some blackguard is not prowling about—that some pomade-pot of a lady-killer is not sneaking about the neighborhood? Intuitions like that form part of my system. I always act on them. So I went back. And what do I see? Rudolph, the infamous ravisher and faithless policeman, plunging into the valley on the track of his prey. Thereupon I fall from Heaven, I kick you into a cold bath, I carry off Aurelie, and there we are! The pool, the forest, the grottoes, that way lay liberty. Off we go! Then you whistle and two ugly-looking customers spring up at your call! What to do? An insoluble problem, if ever there was one. No: A pleasing thought. Suppose I let myself be swallowed up by the gulf? At that very moment a revolver spits a bullet at me. I howl; I let go the oars; I pretend to be dead at the bottom of the boat. I explain my action to Aurelie, and bang we go headfirst into the abyss!” Ralph tapped Marescal’s thigh. “Don’t shudder, old chap, I beg you: we did not run any risk at all. All the countryside knows that, if you make use of that tunnel which the stream has cut through the chalk, you land two hundred yards lower down on a nice little sandy beach from which you mount by a short staircase cut in the cliff. On Sundays dozens of boys make the journey and drag their skiff back and make it again. There is no fear of as much as a scratch. And in that way we were able to observe from a distance your flabbergastedness and see you go off, with bowed head, crushed by remorse. Then I took Aurelie back to the convent garden. Her step-father came to fetch her in a carriage in time to catch the train. As for me, I went to look for my suit-case, bought the cart and cloak and cap from a peasant and started off, gently, with no other object in view than to cover the retreat of Aurelie.” Ralph rested his head on Marescal’s shoulder. “I needn’t tell you that this business has tired me a little and that a short nap seems to be in order. Watch over my dreams, Rudolph darling, and do not worry. Everything is for the best in the best of worlds. Every one in it occupies the place he deserves; and blockheads serve as pillows for intelligent people like me.” He went to sleep. Twilight came and then the night fell. Now and again Ralph awoke and said a few words about the shining stars or the clear light of the moon. Then he went to sleep again.