Suddenly they were surrounded by thirty or more men, who seemed to have come from out of the very rocks. They stood around them, gesticulating and talking vehemently, but in very low voices. They too had no eyes, but their ears were developed to a surprising size. On each of their hands they had ten fingers, and they had ten toes to each foot. As they came into the glare of the electric light, they held their hands up to their red snouts, as if they had smelled a disagreeable odor. They all mumbled in half-audible tones: “Lady Jane de Montfort, Demoiselle de Coucy,” and it was easy to see that they referred to the ladies who had been disturbed. As they passed they felt the faces of the two men. They just touched them lightly, and in doing so moved away in an apologetic way. It seemed as if they were curiosities. They felt their eyes, their noses, and their ears, and some of them even put their fingers down their ears. It was evident they could not understand the smallness of their features. Then one of them addressed M. Mifroid, and while apologizing for their curiosity, said he was astonished at their want of beauty. By this time Lady Jane de Montfort and Demoiselle de Coucy were dressed, and M. Mifroid and M. Théophraste were presented to them. The two men begged a thousand pardons for their intrusion, and were about to explain their intrusion, when Demoiselle de Coucy took Théophraste by the arm, and Lady Jane took M. Mifroid, and they were conducted through the vaults surrounded by the crowd of men. It was difficult for them to prevent the men from poking their eyes out as they fumbled over their faces. They had been forty-eight hours without food, and their hunger was extreme, and now they were to be taken away from where there was food. The two women had taken possession of their lamps under the pretext of being troubled by the odor. They tried to tell the people that they were exhausted, but so many questions were put to them that no opportunity presented itself. They had by this time reached a large chamber. There was a dull light, and they felt the presence of thousands of people. M. Mifroid managed to get one of the lamps, and quickly pressing the button, lit up the vast hall, in which were crowded thousands of these weird men, all with the large noses and ears, but with no eyes. Some of them walked on all fours, and some had such long noses that they looked like pelicans. Finally they were informed that they were at the entrance to the meeting hall. CHAPTER XXXIV _M. Mifroid Performs on the Stage_ |ONE would never have expected to drop from one of the numberless ways in the catacombs into a city of twenty thousand inhabitants. However, upon reflection, one would wonder why men, taken out of their natural environment, would not be susceptible to the same natural changes as the animals.