“She paused. She was trembling.
“‘But I cannot see what he carries. It seems to float on the wind, like a robe, or a woman’s dress. Ah! mon Dieu! how fast he rides!’
“She stared before her as if fascinated, and following with her eyes some rapidly-moving object. Suddenly she shut her eyes.
“‘He’s gone!’ she said.
“‘And now—mademoiselle sees?’ said Tahar.
“She opened her eyes.
“‘Nothing.’
“‘Yet the mirage is still there,’ he said.
“‘Valérie,’ cried her sister, ‘are you mad that you see what no one else can see, and cannot see what all else see?”
“‘Am I mad, Tahar?’ she said gravely, almost timidly, to the dragoman.