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"'Whether true or not, she said that she had never felt such pleasure all her life. Anyhow, the cure I effected was a wonderful one, for she shortly afterwards quite recovered the use of her legs. Even Nn was proud of me. It is to her and to my arms that I owe my position as a masseur.'
"'Well, and that jewel?' said I.
"'Yes, I was quite forgetting it. The summer came, so she had to leave town and go to a watering-place, where I had no wish to follow her; she consequently made me swear that I'd not have a single woman during her absence. I, of course, did so with an easy conscience and a light heart.
"'When she came back, she made me take my oath again, after which she unbuttoned my trousers, dragged out Sir Priapus, and in due form crowned him as a Rosière.
"'I may say, however, that he was not at all stiff-necked and uppish; nay, he seemed so overcome—perhaps he thought he did not deserve this honour—that he bowed down his head quite meekly. I used to wear that jewel on my chain,
