Page:The Revolt of the Angels v2.djvu/57



EXT morning Monsieur Sariette entered Monsieur René d’Esparvieu’s study without knocking. He raised his arms to the heavens, his few hairs were standing straight up on his head. His eyes were big with terror. In husky tones he stammered out the dreadful news. A very old manuscript of Flavius Josephus; sixty volumes of all sizes; a priceless jewel, namely, a Lucretius adorned with the arms of Philippe de Vendôme, Grand Prior of France, with notes in Voltaire’s own hand; a manuscript of Richard Simon, and a set of Gassendi’s correspondence with Gabriel Naudé, comprising two hundred and unpublished letters, had disappeared. This time the owner of the library was alarmed.

He mounted in haste to the abode of the philosophers and the globes, and there with his own eyes confirmed the magnitude of the disaster.

There were yawning gaps on many a shelf. He searched here and there, opened cupboards, dragged out brooms, dusters, and rattled