"Do you explain it to me, if you can; for my part, I have no idea. I knew that ladies had a way of using their eyes which was bolder than that of a courtesan, and at the same time more contemptuous than that of a nun. Yes, I had noticed that; and that blending of seduction and pride drove me wild when I happened, against my will, to touch elbows with any of them in a crowd. And that is why I hated great ladies. But this one has a glance which resembles no other woman's. I could not undertake to say whether it is voluptuous languor or good-humored torpor; but no woman ever looked at me so, and ---- what can you expect, Magnani? I am young and impressionable, and it gave me the vertigo; that is all. I am not intoxicated with vanity, I swear, for I am perfectly certain that she would have looked at you in the same way if chance had placed your face before her instead of mine." "I don't believe it," replied Magnani, pensively. He had dropped his hammer and seated himself on a bench. He seemed to be struggling painfully to solve a problem. "Ah! young men!" exclaimed old Pier-Angelo, as he passed them; "you are chattering and not working; only the old men know how to work fast." Touched by the rebuke, Michel hastened to assist his father, after whispering to his new friend that they would resume their conversation later. "Your best course," said Magnani, in an undertone, with a strange expression, "will be to think as little as possible about it." Michel loved his father fervently, and with good reason. Pier-Angelo was a man of spirit, of courage, and of sound sense. An artist in his way, he followed the good old traditions in his work, and was not irritated by the innovations that he saw all about him. On the contrary, he very quickly assimilated such progressive ideas as he was made to understand. He was an easy-going, jovial mortal, optimistic in general, tolerant in particular cases, almost never ascribing evil intentions, but never paltering with them when it was no longer possible for him to entertain his generous illusions. A straightforward, simple, unselfish soul, content with little, entertained by everything, loving work for himself, and money for others, that is to say, living from day to day, and unable to deny his neighbor anything.