Um! How good! That smells like a walk! Things change so quickly one hasn't time to think. She's opened the door? Let's run! (_He dashes out_.) Well! well! the garden has got back its own color again! A warmish vapor moistens my rough-grained nose. I'm filled with the desire to jump and run. The grass is reeking, shining wet. Horned snails are feeling around in the pink gravel with the tips of their eyes, and speckled black and white slugs embroider the wall with a silver ribbon. Oh! what a beautiful green and gold beastie running out there in the wet! Shall I catch it? Shall I scratch its metallic shell, until it breaks with a little crackling sound? No. I'd rather stay near Her. She's leaning against the door, taking deep breaths and smiling quietly to herself. I'm _so_ happy! Something inside me feels grateful to the whole world. The light is beautiful, and I'm quite sure that there'll never, never be another storm. KIKI-THE-DEMURE I shan't wait any longer; I'm going out. I'll find dry places between the puddles for my dainty paws to step on. An imperceptible thrill runs through the streaming garden, making the jewels hung all about, tremble and sparkle.... The slanting rays of the setting sun find their reflection in my eyes which are spangled with green and gold. Down near the horizon, where the sky is still unsettled, a glittering sword leaps up and puts to flight the dark, fuming cloud-horses, that have been galloping over our heads. Now the odor of the daturas rises and perfumes all the air, mingled with that of lemon leaves, bruised by the hail. The roses are crowned with midges. Oh sudden springtime! An involuntary smile stretches the corners of my mouth. I'm going to play at tickling my nostrils with the point of a sweet-smelling blade of grass, carefully stretching my neck to avoid the falling drops. But I want Him to follow and admire me. Will He not come out and enjoy himself with us? (_A voice is heard humming the motif of the_ Regensbogen: _sol, si, re, sol, la, si,--all flats. A door opens and closes again_. HE _appears under the dripping foliage of vines and jasmine, framing the veranda, and at the same moment, a rainbow is seen in the sky_.) A CALLER (_A winter's afternoon, in Paris. The studio; a fire crackles gently in the tower-shaped stove_. TOBY-DOG _and_ KIKI-THE-DEMURE, _one on the floor, the other on his own particular cushion, proceed with the minute toilet which follows a long siesta. Peace reigns_.) TOBY-DOG My nails grow faster here than in the country. KIKI-THE-DEMURE It's the contrary, with mine. TOBY-DOG Really! KIKI-THE-DEMURE, (_bitterly_) Not to be wondered at! She clips them for the sake of the hangings ... Well! (_Magniloquently_), what can't be cured must be endured. TOBY-DOG What are you going to do to-day? KIKI-THE-DEMURE Why ... nothing. TOBY-DOG, (_ironically_) For a change I suppose.