"i will spare you, my dear friends," continued gabriel, "the arguments and remarks which i used to see if i could not calm telesforo, for they are the same, precisely the same, which you are preparing now to advance to prove that there is nothing supernatural or superhuman in my story. you will even go further; you will say that my friend was half crazy; that he always was so; that, at least, he suffered from that moral disease which some call 'panic terror,' and others 'emotional insanity'; that, even granting the truth of what i have related about the tall woman, it must all be referred to chance coincidences of dates and events; and, finally, that the poor old creature could also have been crazy, or a thief, or a beggar, or a procuress—as the hero of my story said to himself in a lucid interval."

"a very proper supposition," exclaimed gabriel's comrades; "that is just what we were going to say."

"well, listen a few minutes longer, and you will see that i was mistaken at the time, as you are mistaken now. the one who unfortunately made no mistake was telesforo. it is much easier to speak the word 'insanity' than to find an explanation for some things that happen on the earth."

"speak, speak!"

"i am going to; and this time, as it is the last, i will pick up the thread of my story without first drinking a glass of wine."