"Where is he now?"
"He went away again. Marie and I tried to hold him, but we weren't strong enough."
"It would be easier to hold the devil," interpolated Marie.
"But you," asked the girl,—"I was afraid you had met with an accident."
"I?" he cried. "I was asleep—asleep like a drunken lout."
"All yesterday—all last night?" she asked in astonishment.
"Yes," he admitted, as though it were an accusation.
"Ah, that is good," she replied. "You needed the rest."
"Needed rest, and you in this danger?" he exclaimed contemptuously. "It was unpardonable of me."
"No! No! Don't say that. You could have done nothing had you been here."