"He is still alive, then?
"He is still alive."
"You might be deceiving me. He may have died years ago."
"That might have been, but it is not so. Would you care to convince yourself? Come down and see him. He might recognize you."
"No," said M. Felix, with a shudder. "I will take your word."
"Do you not wish to know how he is?"
"How is he?"
"In bodily health, better than you would suppose; but his mind"--Dr. Peterssen did not complete the sentence, but watched with some curiosity the effect of his words upon his companion.
"He is really mad?" exclaimed M. Felix, eagerly.
"By no means. It is merely that he is plunged into a chronic melancholy. He passes days in silence, speaking not a word. I give him books, and sometimes he reads, but I am not sure whether he understands what he reads."