The Parisians, Book 4.

h; and remarkably so, I believe, when the amusement or accomplishment has been that of the amateur stage-player. Certainly I have known persons of very grave pursuits,

ng to raise and to join in a laugh at their exp

oyful excitement I describe, as, in his way to the cafe Jean Jacques, he meditated the role he had undertaken; and the joyousness was heightened beyond the mere holiday se

tes past nine when he a

missed the fiac

e, Graham passed thither at once. A tall man, who might be seven-and-forty, with a long black beard, slightly grizzled, was at play with a young man of perhaps twenty-eight, who gave him odds,-as better players of twenty-eight ought to give odds to a player, t

No man who can make a cannon there should accept odds." The bearded man made a cannon; the bearded man continued to make cannons; the bearded man did not stop till he had won the game. The gallery of spectators was enthusiastic. Takin

player in his day, and is so proud that he always takes less odds than he ought of a younger man. It is not once in a

! Do you kn

buried my father, my

and more British in his ac

, you are

nfess

r to the Faubo

ru

of M. Giraud, the livel

funerals. They are go

lf haphazard at one of the small tables. Glancing round the room, h

tables, men older, better dressed, probably shop-keepers, were playing dominos. Graham scrutinized these last, but among them all could detect no one corresponding to his ideal of the Vicomte de Mauleon. "Probably," thought he, "I am too late, or perhaps he will not be here this evening. At all events, I will wait a quarter of an hour." Then, the garcon approaching his

a pale gray,-no beard, no mustache. He was dressed with the scrupulous cleanliness of a sober citizen,-a high white neckcloth, with a large old-fashioned pin, containing a little knot of hair covered with glass or crystal, and bordered with a black framework, in which were inscribed letters,- evidently a mourning pin, hal

is neighbour, insomuch

ered him a cigar, l

our refuse

mpted, it would be by, an English cigar. Ah, how you English beat us i

there was something in the man's manner, in his smile, in his courtesy, which did not strike Graham as

rowing no tobacco, had tobacco much better than France, which did grow it, a rosy middle-aged monsieur made his appearance, saying h

eur Georges. Garc

ying at billiards?

two

succ

fect of my eyesight; the game depended on a stroke w

n shuffling them; the other turned to Graham

o comprehend why it is said

me; but M. Georges, my opponent, has the

guessed. Yet, now examining his neighbour with more attentive eye, he wondered at his stupidity in not having recognized at once the ci-devant gentilhomme and beau garcon. It happens frequently that our imagination plays us this trick; we form to ourselves an idea of some one eminent for go

y. Above all, as M. Lebeau moved his dominos with one hand, not shielding his pieces with the other (as M. Georges warily did), but allowing it to rest carelessly on the table, he detected the hands of the French aristocrat,-hands that had never done work; never (like those of the English noble of equal birth) been embrowned or freckled, or roughened or enlarged by early practice in ath

o him its complications as it proceeded; though the explanatio

Georges said, "By the way, Monsieur Lebeau, you promised to

Petites Affiches.' You ask too much for the habitue

nd well too, and has four rooms.

n, Monsieur," he said, "have you an a

ming one. Are you in s

Paris, and I have business which may keep me here a few weeks. I do but require

Georges, "though I could not well divide my loge

ress, I will call and see the rooms,-say the day after to-morrow. Between t

ry one who lets furnished apartments. The house, too, has a concierge, with a handy wife who will arrange your rooms and provide you with co

raham, rising. "I presume there is a restaurant in

d if you are at Paris on business, and want any letters written in private, I can also recommend to you m

tment I occupy; and it is only to the respect due to his antecedents, and on the score of a few letters of recommendation which I bring from Lyons, that I can attribute the confidence shown to me, a stranger in this neighbourhood. Still I have some knowledge of the world

ess. To say truth, I am a very poor French scholar, as you must have seen, and am awfully bother-headed how to manage some corresp

case a card, which Graham took and pocketed. Then he paid for his coffee a