But this lulled him and occupied him mechanically.

He never knew afterward where he had been; it seemed as if he had dragged himself round and round in a circle for hours.

One reminiscence only was very distinctly retained by him.

Without his being able to explain how it came about he found himself with his face pressed close against the gate at the end of the Passage des Panoramas and his two hands grasping the bars.

He did not shake them but, his whole heart swelling with emotion, he simply tried to look into the passage.