[Original]
BOOK XI.
L. The Ruins of the Abbey of St. John the Baptist LI. The
Calvary LII. The Council LIII. Happiness LIV. Duty LV. The
Improvised Hospital LVI. Hydrophobia LVII. The Guardian
Angel LVIII. Ruin LIX. Memories LX. The Ordeal LXI. Ambition
LXII. To a Socius, a Socius and a Half LXIII. Faringhea’s
Affection LXIV. An Evening at St. Colombe’s LXV. The Nuptial
Bed LXVI. A Duel to the Death LXVII. A Message LXVIII. The
First of June
EPILOGUE.
I. Four Years After II. The Redemption
CHAPTER L. THE RUINS OF THE ABBEY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.
The sun is fast sinking. In the depths of an immense piny wood, in the midst of profound solitude, rise the ruins of an abbey, once sacred to St. John the Baptist. Ivy, moss, and creeping plants, almost entirely conceal the stones, now black with age. Some broken arches, some walls pierced with ovals, still remain standing, visible on the dark background of the thick wood. Looking down upon this mass of ruins from a broken pedestal, half-covered with ivy, a mutilated, but colossal statue of stone still keeps its place. This statue is strange and awful. It represents a headless human figure. Clad in the antique toga, it holds in its hand a dish and on that dish is a head. This head is its own. It is the statue of St. John the Baptist and Martyr, put to death by wish of Herodias.