The Count returned almost an hour later. "Aha!" he said. "Still working at your books? Good! But you must not always work. Come! I am told that your supper is ready." He took my arm, and we went into the next room. There I found an excellent supper ready on the table. The Count did not eat, this time because he had eaten while he was away from home. But he sat with me, as he had the night before, and chatted with me while I ate. After supper I had a cigarette. The Count stayed with me as he had done the night before. He chatted and asked questions about almost everything, so that we talked for many hours.

I felt that the night was getting very late indeed. I did not say anything, becuase I felt that a guest should do as the host wanted. I was not sleepy, because I had slept for such a long time yesterday. Still, I could not help getting that feeling of cold that you get as the dawn comes. In a way it feels like when the tide changes. They say that people who are near death often die at around these times. Anyone who has felt this change in the air and in their feelings can believe this, especially if they are tired, and still working. Suddenly we heard the sound of a cock greeting the morning with a loud 'cock-a-doodle-doo' which came to us clearly in the morning air.