CHAPTER XI.
There was something so absurd in the association of Madame Fontaine's charms with the extinction of Mr.Engelman's pipe, that I burst out laughing.

My good old friend looked at me in grave surprise.
"What is there to laugh at in my forgetting to keep my pipe alight ?" he asked.

"My whole mind, David, was absorbed in that magnificent woman the instant I set eyes on her.

The image of her is before me at this moment--an image of an angel in moonlight.

Am I speaking poetically for the first time in my life?
I shouldn't wonder.