"They have the palsy," said one of the clerks.
"What is the palsy?"
"They get it by working in the mines."
"Do many of them get it?"
"All of them," said the doctor, who had heard the question. "Mercurial palsy attacks all who work in the mines."
"And why do they work there, then?" asked the girl, with much simplicity.
"It is their mania!" said the doctor, with a peculiar smile.
"For my part I think the fresh air up here is much better to breathe than the foul air down below."
"Why, of course. I would be anything rather than a miner."
They came out at length on a small open space, where some workmen were busy erecting an artistic pedestal of marble.