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 in the distance. Below was the roar of the water falling from a dam of the Elbe.

The doctor stopped: “But do tell me, Jiří, how can a man do so? Is your relation to that girl really so pure, let us say, platonic?”

“Yes,” said Jiří, sharply and confidently.

The doctor burst out: “Do you know, my dear fellow, forgive me for saying it, but I think you’re an ass!”

“A-ass, a-ass!” he added, accentuating the words with a tune from the “Troubadours,” sung in a dry, rasping bass.