“The next day I was in Cologne.  It was a case of a terrible accident, which had plunged a whole family into despair, and a difficult amputation was necessary.  They lodged me in the house; I might say, they almost locked me up, and I saw nobody but people in tears, who almost deafened me with their lamentations; I operated on a man who appeared to be in a moribund state, and who nearly died under my hands, and with whom I remained two nights; and then, when I saw that there was a chance of his recovery, I drove to the station.  I had, however, made a mistake in the trains, and I had an hour to wait, and so I wandered about the streets, still thinking of my poor patient, when a man accosted me.  I do not know German, and he was totally ignorant of French, but at last I made out that he was offering me some relics.  I thought of Gilberte, for I knew her fanatical devotion, and here was my present ready to hand, so I followed the man into a shop where religious objects were for sale, and I bought a small piece of a bone of one of the Eleven Thousand Virgins.

“The pretended relic was inclosed in a charming old silver box, and that determined my choice, and, putting my purchase into my pocket, I went to the railway station, and so on to Paris.

“As soon as I got home, I wished to examine my purchase again, and on taking hold of it, I found that the box was open, and the relic missing!  I searched in vain in my pocket, and turned it inside out; the small bit of bone, which was no bigger than half a pin, had disappeared.

“You know, my dear little Abbe, that my faith is not very fervent, but, as my friend, you are magnanimous enough to put up with my lukewarmness, and to leave me alone, and to wait for the future, so you say.  But I absolutely disbelieve in the relics of secondhand dealers in piety, and you share my doubts in that respect.  Therefore, the loss of that bit of sheep’s carcass did not grieve me, and I easily procured a similar fragment, which I carefully fastened inside my jewel-box, and then I went to see my intended.

“As soon as she saw me, she ran up to me, smiling and eager, and, said to me: 

“‘What have you brought me?’

“I pretended to have forgotten, but she did not believe me, and I made her beg, and even beseech me.  But when I saw that she was devoured by curiosity, I gave her the sacred silver box.  She appeared overjoyed.

“‘A relic!  Oh!  A relic!’

“And she kissed the box passionately, so that I was ashamed of my deception.  She was not quite satisfied, however, and her uneasiness soon turned to terrible fear, and looking straight into my eyes, she said: 

“‘Are you sure-that it is genuine?’

“‘Absolutely certain.’

“‘How can you be so certain?’

“I was trapped; for to say that I had bought it of a man in the streets would be my destruction.  What was I to say?  A wild idea struck me, and I said, in a low, mysterious voice: