I felt that we were going over the details of the expedition in silence.... I saw once more our start at midnight--we were quite a troop with my cousins the de Jougnes;--the formation of a column, the men waving lamps, the women helping themselves along with ice-axes; the long ascent enlivened by songs and chatter; we should have gone astray a hundred times but for the sure instinct of Doctor Claudel, an old inhabitant of the country; the cows in the fields, awakened by our torches and our laughter, getting up and making their bells tinkle; the end of the ascent grown rougher, our shoes, which were unprovided with nails, slipping on the stony incline; several tumbles; a little wall skirted and then crossed. And all at once, at our side, the lights of the canton of Vaud had revealed themselves, at an immense depth, through a curtain of gloom: they might have been the lights of ships in the roads, seen from the top of a gigantic cliff. The darkness had dissipated gradually like a mist. Little by little the horizon had withdrawn to the boundaries of the world. The pure line of snowy Alps stood out against the rosy streak of dawn.... A few minutes of waiting, and Phoebus rose resplendent and expanded, assuming many a bizarre shape, until, full-blown and triumphant, he deigned to reflect his disk in the waters of Neufchâtel. The picture held me captive. As Jeannine repeated, "In a week's time ... that's agreed, isn't it?" I acquiesced; and then said whimsically: "Who knows what may have happened in a week's time! We may be in the midst of war!" "Oh, come, there won't be any more war!" Then suddenly grown serious: "You don't believe it, do you?" she went on. I affected a certain gravity: "Well, really, the papers were horribly pessimistic the day before yesterday...." "Here's the train!" the little boy interrupted. The majestic express thundered into the station. It stopped, all the breaks creaking. The passengers got out in bad tempers, to go to the custom-house. I had the luck to find places for my party; a priest with a scared face questioned me in German: "Revitziônne," I said. "_Ya, ya._" He hurled himself into the corridor with his hands full of packages. Having settled themselves in, the ladies thanked me. A particular gentleness distinguished Jeannine's tone; she announced once more that we should soon meet again; besides, whatever happened, couldn't we agree to exchange ... post-cards? I vowed myself charmed by the idea, and took note of a double address at Cape d'Antibes and at St. Mandé. It would soon be time to start. I left the carriage and went and leant on the door where the window had been let down. We had no more to say to each other. I wished the train would get under way. Jeannine pulled a roguish face: "We are keeping you standing there ... when your papers have just arrived...." I had not time to retort with a joke. She corrected: