CHAPTER XI

Sometimes on a Sunday, when the weather was fine, Camille forced Therese to go out with him, for a walk in the Champs Elysees. Às vezes, num domingo, quando o tempo estava bom, Camilo obrigava Teresa a sair com ele, para um passeio nos Campos Elísios. The young woman would have preferred to remain in the damp obscurity of the arcade, for the exercise fatigued her, and it worried her to be on the arm of her husband, who dragged her along the pavement, stopping before the shop windows, expressing his astonishment, making reflections, and then falling into ridiculous spells of silence. A jovem teria preferido permanecer na obscuridade úmida da arcada, pois o exercício a cansava e a preocupava estar de braços dados com o marido, que a arrastava pela calçada, parando diante das vitrines, expressando sua espanto, fazendo reflexões e depois caindo em ridículos silêncios.

But Camille insisted on these Sunday outings, which gave him the satisfaction of showing off his wife. Mas Camille insistia nessas saídas dominicais, o que lhe dava a satisfação de exibir a mulher. When he met a colleague, particularly one of his chiefs, he felt quite proud to exchange bows with him, in the company of Madame. Quando encontrava um colega, em particular um de seus chefes, sentia-se bastante orgulhoso de trocar reverências com ele, na companhia de Madame. Besides, he walked for the sake of walking, and he did so almost in silence, stiff and deformed in his Sunday clothes, dragging along his feet, and looking silly and vain. Além disso, caminhava por caminhar, e o fazia quase em silêncio, rígido e disforme em suas roupas domingueiras, arrastando os pés e parecendo tolo e vaidoso. It made Therese suffer to be seen arm in arm with such a man. Therese sofreu por ser vista de braços dados com um homem assim.

On these walking-out days, Madame Raquin accompanied her children to the end of the arcade, where she embraced them as if they were leaving on a journey, giving them endless advice, accompanied by fervent prayers. Nestes dias de passeio, a senhora Raquin acompanhava os seus filhos até ao fundo da arcada, onde os abraçava como se fossem de partida, dando-lhes conselhos sem fim, acompanhados de fervorosas orações.

"Particularly, beware of accidents," she would say. "Especialmente, cuidado com os acidentes", dizia ela. "There are so many vehicles in the streets of Paris! "Há tantos veículos nas ruas de Paris! Promise me not to get in a crowd." Prometa-me não entrar no meio da multidão." At last she allowed them to set out, but she followed them a considerable distance with her eyes, before returning to the shop. Por fim, ela permitiu que eles partissem, mas os seguiu por uma distância considerável com os olhos, antes de voltar para a loja. Her lower limbs were becoming unwieldy which prohibited her taking long walks. Seus membros inferiores estavam ficando pesados, o que a proibia de fazer longas caminhadas.

On other occasions, but more rarely, the married couple went out of Paris, as far as Saint-Ouen or Asnieres, where they treated themselves to a dish of fried fish in one of the restaurants beside the river. Noutras ocasiões, mas mais raramente, os esposos saíam de Paris, até Saint-Ouen ou Asnières, onde se deliciavam com um prato de peixe frito num dos restaurantes à beira do rio. These were regarded as days of great revelry which were spoken of a month beforehand. Estes eram considerados dias de grande folia, dos quais se falava um mês antes. Therese engaged more willingly, almost with joy, in these excursions which kept her in the open air until ten or eleven o'clock at night. Teresa empenhava-se com mais boa vontade, quase com alegria, nessas excursões que a mantinham ao ar livre até as dez ou onze horas da noite. Saint-Ouen, with its green isles, reminded her of Vernon, and rekindled all the wild love she had felt for the Seine when a little girl. Saint-Ouen, com suas ilhas verdes, lembrou-a de Vernon e reacendeu todo o amor selvagem que ela sentia pelo Sena quando era uma garotinha.

She seated herself on the gravel, dipped her hands in the water, feeling full of life in the burning heat of the sun, attenuated by the fresh puffs of breeze in the shade. Sentou-se no cascalho, mergulhou as mãos na água, sentindo-se cheia de vida no calor escaldante do sol, atenuado pelas lufadas frescas da brisa na sombra. While she tore and soiled her frock on the stones and clammy ground, Camille neatly spread out his pocket-handkerchief and sank down beside her with endless precautions. Enquanto ela rasgava e sujava o vestido nas pedras e no chão úmido, Camille estendeu cuidadosamente o lenço de bolso e afundou-se ao lado dela com infinitas precauções. Latterly the young couple almost invariably took Laurent with them. Ultimamente, o jovem casal quase invariavelmente levava Laurent com eles. He enlivened the excursion by his laughter and strength of a peasant. Ele animou a excursão com seu riso e a força de um camponês.

One Sunday, Camille, Therese and Laurent left for Saint-Ouen after breakfast, at about eleven o'clock. Num domingo, Camille, Therese e Laurent partiram para Saint-Ouen depois do café da manhã, por volta das onze horas. The outing had been projected a long time, and was to be the last of the season. A saída havia sido projetada há muito tempo e seria a última da temporada. Autumn approached, and the cold breezes at night, began to make the air chilly. O outono se aproximava e as brisas frias da noite começavam a esfriar o ar.

On this particular morning, the sky maintained all its blue serenity. Nesta manhã em particular, o céu manteve toda a sua serenidade azul. It proved warm in the sun and tepid in the shade. Mostrou-se quente ao sol e morno à sombra. The party decided that they must take advantage of the last fine weather. A festa decidiu que eles deveriam aproveitar o último bom tempo.

Hailing a passing cab they set out, accompanied by the pitiful expressions of uneasiness, and the anxious effusions of the old mercer. Chamando um táxi que passava, eles partiram, acompanhados pelas lamentáveis expressões de inquietação e pelas ansiosas efusões do velho mercador. Crossing Paris, they left the vehicle at the fortifications, and gained Saint-Ouen on foot. Atravessando Paris, eles deixaram o veículo nas fortificações e chegaram a Saint-Ouen a pé. It was noon. Era meio-dia. The dusty road, brightly lit up by the sun, had the blinding whiteness of snow. A estrada poeirenta, iluminada pelo sol, tinha a alvura ofuscante da neve. The air was intensely warm, heavy and pungent. O ar estava intensamente quente, pesado e pungente. Therese, on the arm of Camille, walked with short steps, concealing herself beneath her umbrella, while her husband fanned his face with an immense handkerchief. Teresa, de braço dado com Camilo, caminhava com passos curtos, escondendo-se sob o guarda-chuva, enquanto o marido abanava o rosto com um imenso lenço. Behind them came Laurent, who had the sun streaming fiercely on the back of his neck, without appearing to notice it. Atrás deles vinha Laurent, que tinha o sol batendo forte na nuca, sem parecer notar. He whistled and kicked the stones before him as he strolled along. Ele assobiou e chutou as pedras à sua frente enquanto caminhava. Now and again there was a fierce glint in his eyes as he watched Therese's swinging hips. De vez em quando havia um brilho feroz em seus olhos enquanto observava os quadris balançando de Therese. On reaching Saint-Ouen, they lost no time in looking for a cluster of trees, a patch of green grass in the shade. Ao chegarem a Saint-Ouen, não perderam tempo em procurar um aglomerado de árvores, um pedaço de grama verde à sombra. Crossing the water to an island, they plunged into a bit of underwood. Atravessando a água para uma ilha, eles mergulharam em um pedaço de matagal. The fallen leaves covered the ground with a russety bed which cracked beneath their feet with sharp, quivering sounds. As folhas caídas cobriam o chão com uma cama avermelhada que estalava sob seus pés com sons agudos e trêmulos. Innumerable trunks of trees rose up erect, like clusters of small gothic columns; the branches descended to the foreheads of the three holiday makers, whose only view was the expiring copper-like foliage, and the black and white stems of the aspens and oaks. Inumeráveis troncos de árvores erguiam-se eretos, como aglomerados de pequenas colunas góticas; os galhos desciam até a testa dos três veranistas, cuja única visão era a folhagem acobreada que morria e os caules pretos e brancos dos álamos e carvalhos. They were in the wilderness, in a melancholy corner, in a narrow clearing that was silent and fresh. Eles estavam no deserto, em um canto melancólico, em uma clareira estreita, silenciosa e fresca. All around them they heard the murmur of the Seine. Ao redor deles, eles ouviram o murmúrio do Sena.

Camille having selected a dry spot, seated himself on the ground, after lifting up the skirt of his frock coat; while Therese, amid a loud crumpling of petticoats, had just flung herself among the leaves. Camille tendo escolhido um lugar seco, sentou-se no chão, depois de levantar a saia de sua sobrecasaca; enquanto Therese, em meio a um ruidoso amassar de anáguas, acabava de se jogar entre as folhas. Laurent lay on his stomach with his chin resting on the ground. Laurent estava deitado de bruços com o queixo apoiado no chão.

They remained three hours in this clearing, waiting until it became cooler, to take a run in the country before dinner. Ficaram três horas nessa clareira, esperando esfriar, para dar uma volta no campo antes do jantar. Camille talked about his office, and related silly stories; then, feeling fatigued, he let himself fall backward and went to sleep with the rim of his hat over his eyes. Camille falou sobre seu escritório e contou histórias bobas; depois, sentindo-se cansado, deixou-se cair para trás e adormeceu com a aba do chapéu sobre os olhos. Therese had closed her eyelids some time previously, feigning slumber. Therese fechara as pálpebras algum tempo antes, fingindo sono.

Laurent, who felt wide awake, and was tired of his recumbent position, crept up behind her and kissed her shoe and ankle. Laurent, que se sentia bem acordado e cansado de sua posição reclinada, aproximou-se dela e beijou-lhe o sapato e o tornozelo. For a month his life had been chaste and this walk in the sun had set him on fire. Por um mês sua vida foi casta e esta caminhada ao sol o incendiou. Here he was, in a hidden retreat, and unable to hold to his breast the woman who was really his. Ali estava ele, escondido num esconderijo, e incapaz de segurar no peito a mulher que era realmente sua. Her husband might wake up and all his prudent calculations would be ruined by this obstacle of a man. Seu marido poderia acordar e todos os seus cálculos prudentes seriam arruinados por esse obstáculo de homem. So he lay, flat on the ground, hidden by his lover's skirts, trembling with exasperation as he pressed kiss after kiss upon the shoe and white stocking. Então ele se deitou no chão, escondido pelas saias de seu amante, tremendo de exasperação enquanto dava beijo após beijo no sapato e na meia branca. Therese made no movement. Therese não fez nenhum movimento. Laurent thought she was asleep. Laurent pensou que ela estava dormindo.

He rose to his feet and stood with his back to a tree. Ele se levantou e ficou de costas para uma árvore. Then he perceived that the young woman was gazing into space with her great, sparkling eyes wide open. Então ele percebeu que a jovem estava olhando para o espaço com seus grandes olhos brilhantes bem abertos. Her face, lying between her arms, with her hands clasped above her head, was deadly pale, and wore an expression of frigid rigidity. Seu rosto, deitado entre os braços, com as mãos cruzadas acima da cabeça, estava mortalmente pálido e tinha uma expressão de frígida rigidez. Therese was musing. Therese estava meditando. Her fixed eyes resembled dark, unfathomable depths, where naught was visible save night. Seus olhos fixos pareciam profundezas escuras e insondáveis, onde nada era visível exceto a noite. She did not move, she did not cast a glance at Laurent, who stood erect behind her. Ela não se mexeu, não lançou um olhar para Laurent, que estava ereto atrás dela.

Her sweetheart contemplated her, and was almost affrighted to see her so motionless and mute. Seu namorado a contemplou e quase se assustou ao vê-la tão imóvel e muda. He would have liked to have bent forward, and closed those great open eyes with a kiss. Teria gostado de se inclinar para a frente e fechar com um beijo aqueles grandes olhos abertos. But Camille lay asleep close at hand. Mas Camille dormia por perto. This poor creature, with his body twisted out of shape, displaying his lean proportions, was gently snoring. Essa pobre criatura, com o corpo torcido e deformado, exibindo suas proporções esguias, roncava baixinho. Under the hat, half concealing his face, could be seen his mouth contorted into a silly grimace in his slumber. Sob o chapéu, meio escondendo seu rosto, via-se sua boca contorcida em uma careta tola em seu sono. A few short reddish hairs on a bony chin sullied his livid skin, and his head being thrown backward, his thin wrinkled neck appeared, with Adam's apple standing out prominently in brick red in the centre, and rising at each snore. Alguns pelos curtos e avermelhados em um queixo ossudo manchavam sua pele lívida, e sua cabeça sendo jogada para trás, seu pescoço fino e enrugado apareceu, com o pomo de Adão destacando-se proeminentemente em vermelho tijolo no centro, e subindo a cada ronco. Camille, spread out on the ground in this fashion, looked contemptible and vile. Camille, estendida no chão dessa maneira, parecia desprezível e vil.

Laurent who looked at him, abruptly raised his heel. Laurent, que olhou para ele, levantou abruptamente o calcanhar. He was going to crush his face at one blow. Ele ia esmagar o rosto com um só golpe.

Therese restrained a cry. Therese conteve um grito. She went a shade paler than before, closed her eyes and turned her head away as if to avoid being bespattered with blood. Ela ficou um pouco mais pálida do que antes, fechou os olhos e virou a cabeça como se para evitar ser salpicada de sangue.

Laurent, for a few seconds, remained with his heel in the air, above the face of the slumbering Camille. Laurent, por alguns segundos, permaneceu com o calcanhar no ar, acima do rosto da adormecida Camille. Then slowly, straightening his leg, he moved a few paces away. Então, lentamente, esticando a perna, ele se afastou alguns passos. He reflected that this would be a form of murder such as an idiot would choose. Ele refletiu que essa seria uma forma de assassinato que um idiota escolheria. This pounded head would have set all the police on him. Esta cabeça espancada teria colocado toda a polícia sobre ele. If he wanted to get rid of Camille, it was solely for the purpose of marrying Therese. Se ele queria se livrar de Camille, era apenas para se casar com Therese. It was his intention to bask in the sun, after the crime, like the murderer of the wagoner, in the story related by old Michaud. Era sua intenção tomar sol, depois do crime, como o assassino do carroceiro, na história contada pelo velho Michaud.

He went as far as the edge of the water, and watched the running river in a stupid manner. Ele foi até a beira da água e observou o rio correndo de uma maneira estúpida. Then, he abruptly turned into the underwood again. Então, ele virou abruptamente para a floresta novamente. He had just arranged a plan. Ele tinha acabado de traçar um plano. He had thought of a mode of murder that would be convenient, and without danger to himself. Ele havia pensado em um modo de assassinato que seria conveniente e sem perigo para si mesmo.

He awoke the sleeper by tickling his nose with a straw. Ele acordou o dorminhoco fazendo cócegas em seu nariz com um canudo. Camille sneezed, got up, and pronounced the joke a capital one. Camille espirrou, levantou-se e disse que a piada era capital. He liked Laurent on account of his tomfoolery, which made him laugh. Gostava de Laurent por causa de sua tolice, que o fazia rir. He now roused his wife, who kept her eyes closed. Ele agora acordou sua esposa, que manteve os olhos fechados. When she had risen to her feet, and shaken her skirt, which was all crumpled, and covered with dry leaves, the party quitted the clearing, breaking the small branches they found in their way. Quando ela se levantou e sacudiu a saia, que estava toda amassada e coberta de folhas secas, o grupo saiu da clareira, quebrando os galhos que encontraram no caminho.

They left the island, and walked along the roads, along the byways crowded with groups in Sunday finery. Saíram da ilha e caminharam pelas estradas, pelos atalhos apinhados de grupos em trajes domingueiros. Between the hedges ran girls in light frocks; a number of boating men passed by singing; files of middle-class couples, of elderly persons, of clerks and shopmen with their wives, walked the short steps, besides the ditches. Entre as sebes corriam garotas em vestidos leves; vários barqueiros passaram cantando; Filas de casais de classe média, de idosos, de balconistas e lojistas com suas esposas percorriam as escadinhas, ao lado das valas. Each roadway seemed like a populous, noisy street. Cada estrada parecia uma rua movimentada e barulhenta. The sun alone maintained its great tranquility. Só o sol mantinha sua grande tranquilidade. It was descending towards the horizon, casting on the reddened trees and white thoroughfares immense sheets of pale light. Descia em direção ao horizonte, lançando sobre as árvores avermelhadas e as avenidas brancas imensos lençóis de pálida luz. Penetrating freshness began to fall from the quivering sky. Um frescor penetrante começou a cair do céu trêmulo.

Camille had ceased giving his arm to Therese. Camille tinha parado de dar o braço a Therese. He was chatting with Laurent, laughing at the jests, at the feats of strength of his friend, who leapt the ditches and raised huge stones above his head. Ele estava conversando com Laurent, rindo das piadas, das façanhas de força do amigo, que saltava as valas e levantava enormes pedras acima de sua cabeça. The young woman, on the other side of the road, advanced with her head bent forward, stooping down from time to time to gather an herb. A jovem, do outro lado da estrada, avançava com a cabeça inclinada para a frente, abaixando-se de vez em quando para colher uma erva. When she had fallen behind, she stopped and observed her sweetheart and husband in the distance. Quando ela ficou para trás, ela parou e observou seu namorado e marido à distância.

"Heh! "Ei! Aren't you hungry?" Você não está com fome?" shouted Camille at her. gritou Camille para ela.

"Yes," she replied. "Sim", ela respondeu. "Then, come on!" "Então, vamos!" said he. disse ele.

Therese was not hungry; but felt tired and uneasy. Teresa não estava com fome; mas se sentia cansado e inquieto. She was in ignorance as to the designs of Laurent, and her lower limbs were trembling with anxiety. Ela desconhecia os desígnios de Laurent e seus membros inferiores tremiam de ansiedade.

The three, returning to the riverside, found a restaurant, where they seated themselves at table on a sort of terrace formed of planks in an indifferent eating-house reeking with the odour of grease and wine. Os três, voltando à beira do rio, encontraram um restaurante, onde se sentaram à mesa numa espécie de terraço feito de tábuas numa indiferente casa de comer que cheirava a gordura e vinho. This place resounded with cries, songs, and the clatter of plates and dishes. Este lugar ressoava com gritos, canções e barulho de pratos e pratos. In each private room and public saloon, were parties talking in loud voices, and the thin partitions gave vibrating sonority to all this riot. Em cada sala privada e salão público, havia festas falando em voz alta, e as finas divisórias davam uma sonoridade vibrante a todo esse tumulto. The waiters, ascending to the upper rooms, caused the staircase to shake. Os garçons, subindo aos quartos superiores, faziam tremer a escada.

Above, on the terrace, the puffs of air from the river drove away the smell of fat. Em cima, no terraço, as lufadas de ar do rio afastavam o cheiro a gordura. Therese, leaning over the balustrade, observed the quay. Teresa, debruçada sobre a balaustrada, observava o cais. To right and left, extended two lines of wine-shops and shanties of showmen. À direita e à esquerda estendiam-se duas filas de tabernas e barracos de espectáculos. Beneath the arbours in the gardens of the former, amid the few remaining yellow leaves, one perceived the white tablecloths, the dabs of black formed by men's coats, and the brilliant skirts of women. Sob os caramanchões dos jardins do primeiro, entre as poucas folhas amarelas que restavam, percebiam-se as toalhas de mesa brancas, as manchas pretas formadas pelos casacos dos homens e as saias brilhantes das mulheres. People passed to and fro, bareheaded, running, and laughing; and with the bawling noise of the crowd, was mingled the lamentable strains of the barrel organs. As pessoas passavam de um lado para o outro, de cabeça descoberta, correndo e rindo; e com o barulho berrante da multidão, misturavam-se os lamentáveis acordes dos realejos. An odour of dust and frying food hung in the calm air. Um cheiro de poeira e comida frita pairava no ar calmo.

Below Therese, some tarts from the Latin Quarter were dancing in a ring on a patch of worn turf singing an infantine roundelay. Abaixo de Therese, algumas prostitutas do Quartier Latin dançavam em roda em um pedaço de relva gasta cantando uma roda infantil. With hats fallen on their shoulders, and hair unbound, they held one another by the hands, playing like little children. Com os chapéus caídos sobre os ombros e os cabelos soltos, seguravam-se pelas mãos, brincando como crianças. They still managed to find a small thread of fresh voice, and their pale countenances, ruffled by brutal caresses, became tenderly coloured with virgin-like blushes, while their great impure eyes filled with moisture. Eles ainda conseguiram encontrar um pequeno fio de voz fresca, e seus semblantes pálidos, enrugados por carícias brutais, tornaram-se ternamente coloridos com rubores virgens, enquanto seus grandes olhos impuros se encheram de umidade. A few students, smoking clean clay pipes, who were watching them as they turned round, greeted them with ribald jests. Alguns alunos, fumando cachimbos de barro limpos, que os observavam enquanto eles se viravam, cumprimentaram-nos com piadas obscenas.

And beyond, on the Seine, on the hillocks, descended the serenity of night, a sort of vague bluish mist, which bathed the trees in transparent vapour. E mais além, sobre o Sena, sobre os outeiros, descia a serenidade da noite, uma espécie de vago nevoeiro azulado, que banhava as árvores com um vapor transparente.

"Heh! "Ei! Waiter!" Garçom!" shouted Laurent, leaning over the banister, "what about this dinner?" gritou Laurent, inclinando-se sobre o corrimão, "que tal este jantar?" Then, changing his mind, he turned to Camille and said: Então, mudando de ideia, voltou-se para Camille e disse:

"I say, Camille, let us go for a pull on the river before sitting down to table. "Eu digo, Camille, vamos dar uma tragada no rio antes de nos sentarmos à mesa. It will give them time to roast the fowl. Isso lhes dará tempo para assar a ave. We shall be bored to death waiting an hour here." Estaremos morrendo de tédio esperando uma hora aqui." "As you like," answered Camille carelessly. "Como quiser", respondeu Camille descuidadamente. "But Therese is hungry." "Mas Therese está com fome." "No, no, I can wait," hastened to say the young woman, at whom Laurent was fixedly looking. "Não, não, posso esperar", apressou-se a dizer a jovem, para quem Laurent olhava fixamente. All three went downstairs again. Os três desceram novamente. Passing before the rostrum where the lady cashier was seated, they retained a table, and decided on a menu, saying they would return in an hour. Passando diante da tribuna onde estava sentada a senhora caixa, reservaram uma mesa e decidiram um cardápio, dizendo que voltariam em uma hora. As the host let out pleasure boats, they asked him to come and detach one. Laurent selected a skiff, which appeared so light that Camille was terrified by its fragility.

"The deuce," said he, "we shall have to be careful not to move about in this, otherwise we shall get a famous ducking." The truth was that the clerk had a horrible dread of the water. At Vernon, his sickly condition did not permit him, when a child, to go and dabble in the Seine. Whilst his schoolfellows ran and threw themselves into the river, he lay abed between a couple of warm blankets. Laurent had become an intrepid swimmer, and an indefatigable oarsman. Camille had preserved that terror for deep water which is inherent in women and children. He tapped the end of the boat with his foot to make sure of its solidity.

"Come, get in," cried Laurent with a laugh, "you're always trembling." Camille stepped over the side, and went staggering to seat himself at the stern. When he felt the planks under him, he was at ease, and joked to show his courage.

Therese had remained on the bank, standing grave and motionless beside her sweetheart, who held the rope. He bent down, and rapidly murmured in an undertone:

"Be careful. I am going to pitch him in the river. Obey me. I answer for everything." The young woman turned horribly pale. She remained as if riveted to the ground. She was rigid, and her eyes had opened wider.

"Get into the boat," Laurent murmured again. She did not move. A terrible struggle was passing within her. She strained her will with all her might, to avoid bursting into sobs, and falling to the ground.

"Ah! ah!" cried Camille. "Laurent, just look at Therese. It's she who is afraid. She'll get in; no, she won't get in." He had now spread himself out on the back seat, his two arms on the sides of the boat, and was showing off with fanfaronade. The chuckles of this poor man were like cuts from a whip to Therese, lashing and urging her on. She abruptly sprang into the boat, remaining in the bows. Laurent grasped the skulls. The skiff left the bank, advancing slowly towards the isles.

Twilight came. Huge shadows fell from the trees, and the water ran black at the edges. In the middle of the river were great, pale, silver trails. The boat was soon in full steam. There, all the sounds of the quays softened; the singing, and the cries came vague and melancholy, with sad languidness. The odour of frying and dust had passed away. The air freshened. It turned cold.

Laurent, resting on his skulls, allowed the boat to drift along in the current.

Opposite, rose the great reddish mass of trees on the islands. The two sombre brown banks, patched with grey, were like a couple of broad bands stretching towards the horizon. The water and sky seemed as if cut from the same whitish piece of material. Nothing looks more painfully calm than an autumn twilight. The sun rays pale in the quivering air, the old trees cast their leaves. The country, scorched by the ardent beams of summer, feels death coming with the first cold winds. And, in the sky, there are plaintive sighs of despair. Night falls from above, bringing winding sheets in its shade.

The party were silent. Seated at the bottom of the boat drifting with the stream, they watched the final gleams of light quitting the tall branches. They approached the islands. The great russety masses grew sombre; all the landscape became simplified in the twilight; the Seine, the sky, the islands, the slopes were naught but brown and grey patches which faded away amidst milky fog.

Camille, who had ended by lying down on his stomach, with his head over the water, dipped his hands in the river.

"The deuce! How cold it is!" he exclaimed. "It would not be pleasant to go in there head foremost." Laurent did not answer. For an instant he had been observing the two banks of the river with uneasiness. He advanced his huge hands to his knees, tightly compressing his lips. Therese, rigid and motionless, with her head thrown slightly backward, waited.

The skiff was about to enter a small arm of the river, that was sombre and narrow, penetrating between two islands. Behind one of these islands could be distinguished the softened melody of a boating party who seemed to be ascending the Seine. Up the river in the distance, the water was free.

Then Laurent rose and grasped Camille round the body. The clerk burst into laughter.

"Ah, no, you tickle me," said he, "none of those jokes. Look here, stop; you'll make me fall over." Laurent grasped him tighter, and gave a jerk. Camille turning round, perceived the terrifying face of his friend, violently agitated. He failed to understand. He was seized with vague terror. He wanted to shout, and felt a rough hand seize him by the throat. With the instinct of an animal on the defensive, he rose to his knees, clutching the side of the boat, and struggled for a few seconds.

"Therese! Therese!" he called in a stifling, sibilant voice.

The young woman looked at him, clinging with both hands to the seat. The skiff creaked and danced upon the river. She could not close her eyes, a frightful contraction kept them wide open riveted on the hideous struggle. She remained rigid and mute.

"Therese! Therese!" again cried the unfortunate man who was in the throes of death.

At this final appeal, Therese burst into sobs. Her nerves had given way. The attack she had been dreading, cast her to the bottom of the boat, where she remained doubled up in a swoon, and as if dead.

Laurent continued tugging at Camille, pressing with one hand on his throat. With the other hand he ended by tearing his victim away from the side of the skiff, and held him up in the air, in his powerful arms, like a child. As he bent down his head, his victim, mad with rage and terror, twisted himself round, and reaching forward with his teeth, buried them in the neck of his aggressor. And when the murderer, restraining a yell of pain, abruptly flung the clerk into the river, the latter carried a piece of his flesh away with him.

Camille fall into the water with a shriek. He returned to the surface two or three times, uttering cries that were more and more hollow.

Laurent, without losing a second, raised the collar of his coat to hide his wound. Then seizing the unconscious Therese in his arms, he capsized the skiff with his foot, as he fell into the Seine with the young woman, whom he supported on the surface, whilst calling in a lamentable voice for help.

The boating party he had heard singing behind the point of the island, understanding that an accident had happened, advanced with long, rapid strokes of the oars, and rescued the immerged couple. While Therese was laid on a bench, Laurent gave vent to his despair at the death of his friend. Plunging into the water again, he searched for Camille in places where he knew he was not to be found, and returned in tears, wringing his hands, and tearing his hair, while the boating party did their best to calm and console him.

"It is all my fault," he exclaimed. "I ought never to have allowed that poor fellow to dance and move about as he did. At a certain moment we all three found ourselves on one side of the boat, and we capsized. As we fell into the water, he shouted out to me to save his wife." In accordance with what usually happens under similar circumstances, three or four young fellows among the boating party, maintained that they had witnessed the accident.

"We saw you well enough," said they. "And, then, hang it all, a boat is not so firm as a dancing floor. Ah! the poor little woman, it'll be a nice awakening for her." They took their oars, and towing the capsized skiff behind them, conducted Therese and Laurent to the restaurant, where the dinner was ready to be served.

The restaurant keeper and his wife were worthy people who placed their wardrobe at the service of the drenched pair. When Therese recovered consciousness, she had a nervous attack, and burst into heartrending sobs. It became necessary to put her to bed. Nature assisted the sinister comedy that had just been performed.

As soon as the young woman became calmer, Laurent entrusting her to the care of the host and his wife, set out to return to Paris, where he wished to arrive alone to break the frightful intelligence to Madame Raquin, with all possible precautions. The truth was that he feared the nervous feverish excitement of Therese, and preferred to give her time to reflect, and learn her part.

It was the boating men who sat down to the dinner prepared for Camille.