ABSTRACT

It was only natural that, seeing no possibility of escape from the plague-ridden town, the younger members of the community should be seized by a desire for distraction, for some means of shaking off, at least for a while, the consciousness of the troubles and misery around them. In preparation for the party, the apartment had undergone some peculiar transformations. A number of candles diffused a quietly flickering light in the room, casting a strange glamour over the whole scene. Of course, everybody had undertaken to bring some contribution—something to eat or drink—to the communal feast, and everyone had brought what he could: one a tin of sardines he had held in reserve for weeks; another a pound of butter obtained with difficulty in exchange for an article of clothing; a third a bottle of pure spirit from the medicine-chest. But there was very much more than that.