“These remarks, which had been already made to me at Toulouse, but which I had gladly forgotten, were too conclusive not to convince me. I returned home, with death in my soul. “What could now be done? We had applied to the most distinguished physicians both of Toulouse and Bordeaux, and all had been unavailing. The fatal evidence was before my eyes; our poor child was condemned, and that without appeal. “But, monsieur, such cruel conclusions cannot easily remain in a father’s heart. I still tried to deceive myself; my wife and I continued to consult; I was thinking of hydropathy. “It was in this desperate state of things that Jules said to his mother, with an air of confidence and absolute certitude which strongly impressed her: “‘Mamma, neither Dr. Gintrac nor any other doctor can do anything for my trouble. It is the Holy Virgin who will cure me. Send me to the Grotto of Lourdes, and you will see that I shall be cured. I am sure of it.’ “My wife reported this proposal to me. “‘We must not hesitate!’ cried I. ‘He must go to Lourdes. And that as soon as possible.’ “It was not, sir, that I was full of faith. I did not believe in miracles, and I hardly considered such extraordinary interventions of divine power as possible. But I was a father, and any chance, no matter how insignificant, seemed to me not to be slighted. Besides, I hoped that, without any supernatural occurrence, the possibility of which I did not wish to admit, this journey might have a salutary moral effect on the child. As for a complete cure, I did not entertain the slightest idea of such a thing. “It was in winter, at the beginning of February; the weather was bad, and I wished to wait for a fine day, on Jules’s account. “Since he had read the little notice, eight months before, at St. Jean-de-Luz, the idea which he had just expressed to us had never left him. Having expressed it once without any attention being paid to it, he had not introduced the subject again; but the thought had remained in him, and worked there while he was undergoing all the medical treatment with a patience that had to be seen to be appreciated. “This faith, so full and complete, was the more extraordinary because we had not brought up the child to any unusual practices of piety. My wife attended to her religious duties, but that was all; and, as for myself, I had, as you have just heard, philosophic ideas tending 105 quite the other way. “On the 12th of February, the weather promised to be magnificent. We took the train for Tarbes. “During the whole journey, Jules was gay, and full of the most positive faith that he would be cured; his faith was overpowering. “As for myself, I encouraged, but did not share, this confidence; it was so great that I should call it exaggerated, did I not fear to be wanting in respect for the God who inspired it.