And Christophe knew that, in himself, in the secret hidden depths of his soul, he had an inaccessible and inviolable sanctuary where lay the shadow of Sabine. That the flood of life could not bear away.... Each of us bears in his soul as it were a little graveyard of those whom he has loved. They sleep there, through the years, untroubled. But a day cometh,--this we know,--when the graves shall reopen. The dead issue from the tomb and smile with their pale lips--loving, always--on the beloved, and the lover, in whose breast their memory dwells, like the child sleeping in the mother's womb. III ADA After the wet summer the autumn was radiant. In the orchards the trees were weighed down with fruit The red apples shone like billiard balls. Already some of the trees were taking on their brilliant garb of the falling year: flame color, fruit color, color of ripe melon, of oranges and lemons, of good cooking, and fried dishes. Misty lights glowed through the woods: and from the meadows there rose the little pink flames of the saffron. He was going down a hill. It was a Sunday afternoon. He was striding, almost running, gaining speed down the slope. He was singing a phrase, the rhythm of which had been obsessing him all through his walk. He was red, disheveled: he was walking, swinging his arms, and rolling his eyes like a madman, when as he turned a bend in the road he came suddenly on a fair girl perched on a wall tugging with all her might at a branch of a tree from which she was greedily plucking and eating purple plums. Their astonishment was mutual. She looked at him, stared, with her mouth full. Then she burst out laughing. So did he. She was good to see, with her round face framed in fair curly hair, which was like a sunlit cloud about her, her full pink cheeks, her wide blue eyes, her rather large nose, impertinently turned up, her little red mouth showing white teeth--the canine little, strong, and projecting--her plump chin, and her full figure, large and plump, well built, solidly put together. He called out: "Good eating!" And was for going on his road. But she called to him: "Sir! Sir! Will you be very nice? Help me to get down. I can't...." He returned and asked her how she had climbed up. "With my hands and feet.... It is easy enough to get up...." "Especially when there are tempting plums hanging above your head...." "Yes.... But when you have eaten your courage goes. You can't find the way to get down." He looked at her on her perch. He said: "You are all right there. Stay there quietly. I'll come and see you to-morrow. Good-night!" But he did not budge, and stood beneath her. She pretended to be afraid, and begged him with little glances not to leave her. They stayed looking at each other and laughing. She showed him the branch to which she was clinging and asked: "Would you like some?"