poor girl had taken diphtheria. After giving directions as to the treatment to be followed, he said he would return late in the evening, or would send M. Leconte.
"It was Raoul who came.
"A great pang went through him."
"With horror he saw that the case was already grave, and a great pang went through him as he spoke to Mme. D'Alcourt of the possibility of its being necessary to perform tracheotomy in the morning. When morning came, in fact, all next day, Jeanne was a little better, and the young man hoped with a deep, longing, passionate hope.
"The day after, however, it was evident that nothing could save the girl but the operation, and it was quickly decided to try this last chance.
"The rest is soon told. In that supreme moment, as Raoul made ready for the work, the two young people told all their hearts' secret to each other in one long greeting of the eyes, that was at once a 'Hail'! and a 'Farewell'!
"The operation was successful.
"All went well with Jeanne, and in two days she was declared out of danger.
"But Raoul, unmindful of everything except Jeanne's danger, had not been careful for himself, and had received some of the subtle poison from her throat."
In the cemetery of Caen, high up where the sun first strikes, can be seen a gravestone with the inscription:—
Ci-gít
Raoul Leconte,
Décédé le 18 Juillet, 1869.
⁂
And this is why Sister Gabrielle never married.
