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And he closed the book violently

He passed his hand over his brow, as though to brush away the idea which assailed him; then he took from the table a nail and a small hammer, whose handle was curiously painted with cabalistic letters

"For some time," he said with a bitter smile, "I have failed in all my experiments! one fixed idea possesses me, and sears my brain like fire I have not even been able to discover the secret of Cassiodorus, whose lamp burned without wick and without oil A simple matter, nevertheless--"

"The deuce!" muttered Jehan in his beard

"Hence," continued the priest, "one wretched thought is sufficient to render a man weak and beside hih at me She who could not turn Nicholas Flareat work! What! I hold in ic hammer of Zéchiélé! at every blow dealt by the formidable rabbi, from the depths of his cell, upon this nail, that one of his eneues aas buried a cubit deep in the earth which sed hi inconsiderately knocked at the door of the therh the paveo Well! I possess the hammer and the nail, and in my hands they are utensils no e tools And yet all that is required is to find the ic hich Zéchiélé pronounced when he struck his nail"

"What nonsense!" thought Jehan

"Let us see, let us try!" resumed the archdeacon briskly "Were I to succeed, I should behold the blue spark flash from the head of the nail Eéani! May this nail open the tomb to any one who bears the name of Phoebus! A curse upon it! Always and eternally the sae Then he sank down so deeply on the arm-chair and the table, that Jehan lost hireat pile of manuscripts For the space of several minutes, all that he saas his fist convulsively clenched on a book Suddenly, Doraved in silence upon the wall in capital letters, this Greek word ~ANArKH~

"My brother is mad," said Jehan to himself; "it would have been far ed to know Greek"