“Not at first; they were afraid.”

“And later?”

“They came.”

“Many of them?”

“In crowds. We have had more than forty in a day. One finds hardly any more drowned bodies in the Seine.”

“Who was the first?”

“A club member.”

“As a sacrifice to the cause?”

“I don't think so. A man who was sick of everything, a 'down and out' who had lost heavily at baccarat for three months.”

“Indeed?”