As they shook hands, Deronda said, "You don't look much as if you had been in the country, old fellow. Is it Cambridge you have been to?"
"No," said Hans, curtly, throwing down his palette with the air of one who has begun to feign by mistake; then pushing forward a chair for Deronda, he threw himself into another, and leaned backward with his hands behind his head, while he went on, "I've been to I-don't-know-where--No man's land--and a mortally unpleasant country it is."
"You don't mean to say you have been drinking, Hans," said Deronda, who had seated himself opposite, in anxious survey.
"Nothing so good. I've been smoking opium. I always meant to do it some time or other, to try how much bliss could be got by it; and having found myself just now rather out of other bliss, I thought it judicious to seize the opportunity. But I pledge you my word I shall never tap a cask of that bliss again. It disagrees with my constitution."

As they shook hands, Deronda said, "You don't look well, old fellow. Is it Cambridge you have been to?"
"No," said Hans curtly, throwing himself into a chair. "I've been to No man's land - and a mortally unpleasant country it is."
"Have you been drinking, Hans?" said Deronda, in anxious survey.
"I've been smoking opium. I always meant to try it some time or other, when I was feeling low. But I shall never do it again. It disagrees with me."
