Another doctor, however, at once took his place, and this one expressed a decided opinion.

He could hear nothing at all, that woman could never have suffered from phthisis.

Then others followed him; in fact, with the exception of five or six whose smiling faces remained impenetrable, they all joined the _defile_.

And the confusion now attained its apogee; for each gave an opinion sensibly differing from that of his colleagues, so that a general uproar arose and one could no longer hear oneself speak.

Father Dargeles alone retained the calmness of perfect serenity, for he had scented one of those cases which impassion people and redound to the glory of Our Lady of Lourdes.