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Statistics
Second
Edition
Incorporating the latest R packages as well as new case studies and applica-
tions, Using R and RStudio for Data Management, Statistical Analysis, and
K23166
Nicholas J. Horton and Ken Kleinman
w w w. c rc p r e s s . c o m
Using R and
RStudio
for Data Management,
Statistical Analysis,
and Graphics
Second Edition
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R and
Using
RStudio
for Data Management,
Statistical Analysis,
and Graphics
Second Edition
Nicholas J. Horton
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Amherst College
Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Ken Kleinman
Department of Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School and
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
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CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2015 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been
made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the valid-
ity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright
holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this
form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may
rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or uti-
lized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopy-
ing, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the
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and the CRC Press Web site at
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Contents
v
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vi CONTENTS
2 Data management 11
2.1 Structure and metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1.1 Access variables from a dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1.2 Names of variables and their types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1.3 Values of variables in a dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1.4 Label variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1.5 Add comment to a dataset or variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2 Derived variables and data manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2.1 Add derived variable to a dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.2 Rename variables in a dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.3 Create string variables from numeric variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.4 Create categorical variables from continuous variables . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.5 Recode a categorical variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.6 Create a categorical variable using logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.7 Create numeric variables from string variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.8 Extract characters from string variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.9 Length of string variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.10 Concatenate string variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.11 Set operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.12 Find strings within string variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.13 Find approximate strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.14 Replace strings within string variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.15 Split strings into multiple strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.16 Remove spaces around string variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.17 Convert strings from upper to lower case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.18 Create lagged variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.19 Formatting values of variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2.20 Perl interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2.21 Accessing databases using SQL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.3 Merging, combining, and subsetting datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3.1 Subsetting observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3.2 Drop or keep variables in a dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3.3 Random sample of a dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.3.4 Observation number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.3.5 Keep unique values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.3.6 Identify duplicated values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.3.7 Convert from wide to long (tall) format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3.8 Convert from long (tall) to wide format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3.9 Concatenate and stack datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.3.10 Sort datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.3.11 Merge datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4 Date and time variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.4.1 Create date variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.4.2 Extract weekday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4.3 Extract month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4.4 Extract year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4.5 Extract quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4.6 Create time variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5 Further resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.6 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.6.1 Data input and output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
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CONTENTS vii
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viii CONTENTS
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CONTENTS ix
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x CONTENTS
6.6.8 Contrasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
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CONTENTS xi
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xii CONTENTS
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CONTENTS xiii
10 Simulation 155
10.1 Generating data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
10.1.1 Generate categorical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
10.1.2 Generate data from a logistic regression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
10.1.3 Generate data from a generalized linear mixed model . . . . . . . . . 156
10.1.4 Generate correlated binary data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
10.1.5 Generate data from a Cox model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
10.1.6 Sampling from a challenging distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
10.2 Simulation applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
10.2.1 Simulation study of Student’s t-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
10.2.2 Diploma (or hat-check) problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
10.2.3 Monty Hall problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
10.2.4 Censored survival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
10.3 Further resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
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xiv CONTENTS
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CONTENTS xv
C References 243
D Indices 255
D.1 Subject index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
D.2 R index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
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List of Tables
11.1 Bayesian modeling functions available within the MCMCpack package . . . . 175
12.1 Weights, volume, and values for the knapsack problem . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
xvii
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List of Figures
5.1 Density plot of depressive symptom scores (CESD) plus superimposed his-
togram and normal distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.2 Scatterplot of CESD and MCS for women, with primary substance shown as
the plot symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.3 Graphical display of the table of substance by race/ethnicity . . . . . . . . 63
5.4 Density plot of age by gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.1 Scatterplot of observed values for age and I1 (plus smoothers by substance)
using base graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6.2 Scatterplot of observed values for age and I1 (plus smoothers by substance)
using the lattice package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.3 Scatterplot of observed values for age and I1 (plus smoothers by substance)
using the ggplot2 package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.4 Regression coefficient plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
6.5 Default diagnostics for linear models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.6 Empirical density of residuals, with superimposed normal density . . . . . . 84
6.7 Interaction plot of CESD as a function of substance group and gender . . . 85
6.8 Boxplot of CESD as a function of substance group and gender . . . . . . . 86
6.9 Pairwise comparisons (using Tukey HSD procedure) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.10 Pairwise comparisons (using the factorplot function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8.1 Plot of InDUC and MCS vs. CESD for female alcohol-involved subjects . . 135
8.2 Association of MCS and CESD, stratified by substance and report of suicidal
thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
8.3 Lattice settings using the mosaic black-and-white theme . . . . . . . . . . . 137
8.4 Association of MCS and PCS with marginal histograms . . . . . . . . . . . 138
8.5 Kaplan–Meier estimate of time to linkage to primary care by randomization
group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
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xx LIST OF FIGURES
8.6 Receiver operating characteristic curve for the logistical regression model pre-
dicting suicidal thoughts using the CESD as a measure of depressive symp-
toms (sensitivity = true positive rate; 1-specificity = false positive rate) . . 140
8.7 Pairs plot of variables from the HELP dataset using the lattice package . 141
8.8 Pairs plot of variables from the HELP dataset using the GGally package. . 142
8.9 Visual display of correlations (times 100) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
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Software systems such as R evolve rapidly, and so do the approaches and expertise of
statistical analysts.
In 2009, we began a blog in which we explored many new case studies and applications,
ranging from generating a Fibonacci series to fitting finite mixture models with concomitant
variables. We also discussed some additions to R, the RStudio integrated development
environment, and new or improved R packages. The blog now has hundreds of entries and
according to Google Analytics has received hundreds of thousands of visits.
The volume you are holding is a larger format and longer than the first edition, and
much of the new material is adapted from these blog entries, while it also includes other
improvements and additions that have emerged in the last few years.
We have extensively reorganized the material in the book and created three new chap-
ters. The firsts, “Simulation,” includes examples where data are generated from complex
models such as mixed-effects models and survival models, and from distributions using
the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm. We also explore interesting statistics and probability
examples via simulation. The second is “Special topics,” where we describe some key fea-
tures, such as processing by group, and detail several important areas of statistics, including
Bayesian methods, propensity scores, and bootstrapping. The last is “Case studies,” where
we demonstrate examples of useful data management tasks, read complex files, make and
annotate maps, show how to “scrape” data from the web, mine text files, and generate
dynamic graphics.
We also describe RStudio in detail. This powerful and easy-to-use front end adds in-
numerable features to R. In our experience, it dramatically increases the productivity of R
users, and by tightly integrating reproducible analysis tools, helps avoid error-prone “cut
and paste” workflows. Our students and colleagues find RStudio an extremely comfortable
interface.
We used a reproducible analysis system (knitr) to generate the example code and
output in the book. Code extracted from these files is provided on the book website. In
this edition, we provide a detailed discussion of the philosophy and use of these systems. In
particular, we feel that the knitr and markdown packages for R, which are tightly integrated
with RStudio, should become a part of every R user’s toolbox. We can’t imagine working
on a project without them.
The second edition of the book features extensive use of a number of new packages
that extend the functionality of the system. These include dplyr (tools for working with
dataframe-like objects and databases), ggplot2 (implementation of the Grammar of Graph-
ics), ggmap (spatial mapping using ggplot2), ggvis (to build interactive graphical displays),
httr (tools for working with URLs and HTTP), lubridate (date and time manipulations),
markdown (for simplified reproducible analysis), shiny (to build interactive web applica-
tions), swirl (for learning R, in R), tidyr (for data manipulation), and xtable (to cre-
ate publication-quality tables). Overall, these packages facilitate ever more sophisticated
analyses.
xxi
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Finally, we’ve reorganized much of the material from the first edition into smaller, more
focused chapters. Readers will now find separate (and enhanced) chapters on data input
and output, data management, statistical and mathematical functions, and programming,
rather than a single chapter on “data management.” Graphics are now discussed in two
chapters: one on high-level types of plots, such as scatterplots and histograms, and another
on customizing the fine details of the plots, such as the number of tick marks and the color
of plot symbols.
We’re immensely gratified by the positive response the first edition elicited, and hope
the current volume will be even more useful to you.
On the web
The book website at http://www.amherst.edu/~nhorton/r2 includes the table of contents,
the indices, the HELP dataset in various formats, example code, a pointer to the blog, and
a list of errata.
Acknowledgments
In addition to those acknowledged in the first edition, we would like to thank J.J. Allaire
and the RStudio developers, Danny Kaplan, Deborah Nolan, Daniel Parel, Randall Pruim,
Romain Francois, and Hadley Wickham, plus the many individuals who have created and
shared R packages. Their contributions to R and RStudio, programming efforts, comments,
and guidance and/or helpful suggestions on drafts of the revision have been extremely
helpful. Above all, we greatly appreciate Sara and Julia as well as Abby, Alana, Kinari,
and Sam, for their patience and support.
Amherst, MA
October 2014
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R (R development core team, 2009) is a general purpose statistical software package used
in many fields of research. It is licensed for free, as open-source software. The system is
developed by a large group of people, almost all volunteers. It has a large and growing user
and developer base. Methodologists often release applications for general use in R shortly
after they have been introduced into the literature. While professional customer support is
not provided, there are many resources to help support users.
We have written this book as a reference text for users of R. Our primary goal is to
provide users with an easy way to learn how to perform an analytic task in this system,
without having to navigate through the extensive, idiosyncratic, and sometimes unwieldy
documentation or to sort through the huge number of add-on packages. We include many
common tasks, including data management, descriptive summaries, inferential procedures,
regression analysis, multivariate methods, and the creation of graphics. We also show some
more complex applications. In toto, we hope that the text will facilitate more efficient use
of this powerful system.
We do not attempt to exhaustively detail all possible ways available to accomplish a
given task in each system. Neither do we claim to provide the most elegant solution. We
have tried to provide a simple approach that is easy to understand for a new user, and have
supplied several solutions when it seems likely to be helpful.
The book has two indices, in addition to the comprehensive table of contents. These
include: 1) a detailed topic (subject) index in English; 2) an R command index, describing
R syntax.
Extensive example analyses of data from a clinical trial are presented; see Table B.1
(p. 237) for a comprehensive list. These employ a single dataset (from the HELP study),
described in Appendix B. Readers are encouraged to download the dataset and code from
the book website. The examples demonstrate the code in action and facilitate exploration
by the reader.
xxiii
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In addition to the HELP examples, a case studies and extended examples chapter uti-
lizes many of the functions, idioms and code samples introduced earlier. These include
explications of analytic and empirical power calculations, missing data methods, propensity
score analysis, sophisticated data manipulation, data gleaning from websites, map making,
simulation studies, and optimization. Entries from earlier chapters are cross-referenced to
help guide the reader.
Where to begin
We do not anticipate that the book will be read cover to cover. Instead, we hope that the
extensive indexing, cross-referencing, and worked examples will make it possible for readers
to directly find and then implement what they need. A new user should begin by reading
the first chapter, which includes a sample session and overview of the system. Experienced
users may find the case studies to be valuable as a source of ideas on problem solving in R.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Rob Calver, Kari Budyk, Shashi Kumar, and Sarah Morris for
their support and guidance at Informa CRC/Chapman and Hall. We also thank Ben Cowl-
ing, Stephanie Greenlaw, Tanya Hakim, Albyn Jones, Michael Lavine, Pamela Matheson,
Elizabeth Stuart, Rebbecca Wilson, and Andrew Zieffler for comments, guidance and/or
helpful suggestions on drafts of the manuscript.
Above all we greatly appreciate Julia and Sara as well as Abby, Alana, Kinari, and Sam,
for their patience and support.
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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
vengeance. Maintenant que te voici ramené à Dieu, as-tu
complètement dépouillé le vieil homme ?
Lorsque tu profères cette redoutable demande, es-tu bien assuré
de pardonner aux autres le mal qu’ils te firent ? En un mot, leur
remets-tu leur dette comme tu supplies notre Père de te remettre la
tienne ? Je dois te demander cela car songe quelle serait ta faute si,
lorsque tu invoques la miséricorde divine, tu gardais, au fond de ton
cœur, du mauvais vouloir à l’égard d’autrui !
Il y eut un silence. Chériat, les mains jointes, s’interrogeait lui-
même. Cependant Robert remarqua que Charles attendait la
réponse. Il s’était à demi-tourné vers le lit et, le sourcil froncé, il
observait Chériat comme pour juger de son état d’esprit.
— Je sais, dit enfin Chériat, que je serais indigne de la bonté de
Dieu si, quand je le supplie de me pardonner mes égarements, je
conservais de l’animosité contre ceux qui les partagèrent. Les
souffrances méritées que j’endure m’apprirent que la douleur est la
loi du monde. Les illusionnés qui croient s’en affranchir en festoyant
leur égoïsme au dépens de leur semblables, je les haïssais naguère.
Aujourd’hui, je les plains car je n’ignore pas que, tôt ou tard, dans
cette vie ou dans l’autre, ils pâtiront en proportion du mal qu’ils
auront commis ou approuvé.
Non, poursuivit-il, les yeux pleins de larmes et la voix tremblante,
je ne puis plus haïr personne. J’ai trop besoin de l’indulgence divine
pour ne pas concevoir que quiconque vit dans le péché en a besoin
autant que moi. N’est-ce pas, ami, que mon orgueil est bien mort
puisque Dieu me fait cette grande grâce de pouvoir dire avec
sincérité : Pardonnez-nous nos offenses comme nous pardonnons à
ceux qui nous ont offensés ? C’est pourquoi je lui témoignerai ma
reconnaissance en employant le peu de jours qui me restent non
seulement à Lui demander qu’Il me reçoive à merci mais aussi qu’Il
éclaire les malheureux qui fuient sa Face adorable…
Robert se transfigurait d’allégresse pieuse à recueillir ces paroles
par où s’avérait le salut du pauvre malade.
— Ah ! se disait-il, si elles pouvaient toucher le cœur de
Charles !…
Mais, celui-ci avait eu un mouvement de colère en entendant
Chériat proclamer la défaite de son orgueil. Il se détourna du lit et
fixa le plancher, devant lui, d’un air farouche.
Robert s’était agenouillé au chevet de Chériat.
L’un et l’autre se signèrent et, d’une inspiration spontanée, se
mirent à prier, à voix basse, pour leur ami perdu dans les ténèbres.
Tandis qu’ils appelaient sur lui la miséricorde du Seigneur,
Charles récapitulait, avec amertume et dérision, les propos des deux
croyants. Il tendait toutes les forces de son âme pour qu’elle rejetât
cette leçon de fraternité à l’égard d’autrui, d’humilité devant Dieu
qu’il venait de recevoir. Un instant, il avait été sur le point de fléchir ;
à présent encore, l’écho de l’Oraison Dominicale résonnait dans son
cœur. Mais il voulait que ce fût un bruit importun qu’il fallait se hâter
d’étouffer.
L’Évangile était près de lui, sur la table, ouvert au XIe chapitre de
Saint-Matthieu. Son regard s’y porta et il lut ceci :
Aimez vos ennemis, faites du bien à ceux qui vous haïssent et
priez pour ceux qui vous persécutent et vous calomnient, afin que
vous soyez les enfants de votre Père qui est dans les cieux, qui fait
lever son soleil sur les bons et les méchants et qui fait pleuvoir sur
les justes et les injustes.
— Encore le pardon ! murmura Charles qui sentait un étrange
courroux l’envahir de plus en plus. Il feuilleta quelques pages et
s’arrêta sur ce verset :
« Pierre, s’approchant du Seigneur, lui dit :
— Seigneur, combien de fois pardonnerai-je à mon frère, lorsqu’il
aura péché contre moi ? Sera-ce jusqu’à sept fois ?
Jésus lui dit :
— Je ne te dis pas jusqu’à sept fois, mais jusqu’à soixante-dix
fois sept fois… »
Charles ferma le livre d’un geste de mépris, et le repoussa loin
de lui.
— Voilà donc leur religion, pensa-t-il — et sa bouche se crispait
de dédain — : Souffrir avec patience, se résigner, se soumettre et,
par surcroît, faire du bien à ceux qui vous outragent… Morale
d’esclaves ! Et à supposer que leur Dieu existe, n’y aurait-il pas de la
grandeur à braver les préceptes de servilité qu’il impose aux cœurs
assez lâches pour lui obéir ?
Il se leva. Il lui semblait que son âme entière se raidissait en une
attitude de révolte, cependant que les clairons de l’orgueil lui
chantaient aux oreilles une furieuse fanfare.
D’une voix éclatante il cria :
— Je ne servirai pas !…
Ah ! c’était le non serviam de Lucifer, le sombre entêtement de
l’archange déchu, lorsque, précipité dans l’abîme, il releva sa tête où
fumait encore la marque de la foudre et refusa de se courber sous la
Main qui le châtiait…
A cette clameur, Abry et Chériat tressaillirent. Ils se tournèrent du
côté de Charles et l’envisagèrent avec une stupéfaction craintive.
— Mon Dieu, que t’arrive-t-il ? demanda Robert.
Charles eut un rire sarcastique :
— Si je te le dis, tu ne me comprendras sans doute pas. Et
pourtant, je veux que tu le saches : je ne pardonne pas à mes
ennemis moi ; je ne m’incline pas devant ton Dieu, moi ; je hais ceux
qui consentent à subir sa tyrannie. Ah ! je cherchais qui frapper. Eh
bien, ce sera justement les adorateurs de ton Dieu, les serviles qui,
comme toi, maintiennent, par leur douceur exécrable, une société
que je voudrais faire voler en éclats…
Robert frémit. Mais ces phrases forcenées, si elles le terrifiaient,
ne le firent pas reculer. Il sentait l’âme de son ami en proie au plus
extrême péril et il n’eut qu’une idée : l’arrêter sur la pente effroyable
où il roulait.
Il fit un pas en avant :
— Charles je t’en supplie, reviens à toi. Écoute-moi…
Mais l’autre, d’un geste coupant, le cloua sur place :
— Ne m’approche pas… Il y a un fossé entre nous, et ce fossé je
veux le remplir de sang… Ne m’approche pas, dis-je, je porte la
mort !
Et ce disant, il étreignait la bombe sur sa poitrine.
Chériat devina tout. Dressé d’épouvante, il s’écria :
— La bombe ! Il va jeter la bombe ; retiens-le…
Mais Charles avait gagné la porte. Du seuil, il se retourna et,
versant le feu par ses prunelles, il proféra : Oui, je vais jeter la
bombe.
Et savez-vous en quel endroit ? Sur l’autel même de ce Dieu dont
vous vous fabriquez un épouvantail. Nous verrons qui, de lui ou de
moi, sera le plus fort !…
Il sortit et, la seconde d’après, ils l’entendirent descendre
l’escalier quatre à quatre. Robert allait le suivre, le rattraper, lui
disputer l’engin, fût-ce au prix de sa propre existence. Mais Chériat,
tout suffoquant, venait de retomber sur l’oreiller. Une hémoptysie se
déclarait.
Robert courut au malade et lui prodiguant ses soins, tremblant
d’horreur et de désolation, il ne pouvait que répéter : Seigneur,
Seigneur, retenez son bras… Éclairez ce malheureux, il ne sait ce
qu’il fait !…
Et, à travers les hoquets lugubres qui lui soulevaient la poitrine,
Chériat disait :
— Mon Dieu, prenez-moi en rançon pour l’âme de cet infortuné ;
ne permettez pas que cette chose affreuse s’accomplisse…
CHAPITRE XIV
Fin
Note. — L’auteur croit devoir rappeler que pour l’explosion qui termine le livre
par la mort de Charles, il n’a rien inventé.
En effet, les choses se passèrent exactement telles quelles à l’église de la
Madeleine en 1894.
L’auteur n’a fait que transposer l’événement à Notre-Dame.
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.