took my place in Salle No. 4, immediately below the high desk at
which the auctioneer Boulouze and the expert Polizzi were to sit.
I saw the hall gradually fill with familiar faces. I shook hands
with several old booksellers of the quays; but that prudence which
any large interest inspires in even the most self-assured caused me
to keep silence in regard to the reason of my unaccustomed presence
in the halls of the Hotel Bullion. On the other hand, I questioned
those gentlemen at the auction sale; and I had teh satisfaction of
finding them all interested about matters in no wise related to my
affair.

Little by little the hall became thronged with interested or merely
curious spectators; and, after half an hour's delay, the auctioneer
with his ivory hammer, the clerk with his bundle of memorandum-papers,
and the crier, carrying his collection-box fixed to the end of a
pole, all took their places on the platform in the most solemn
business manner. The attendants ranged themselves at the foot of the
desk. The presiding officer having declared the sale open, a partial
hush followed.

A commonplace series of Preces dia, with miniatures, were first sold
off at mediocre prices. Needless to say, the illuminations of these
books were in perfect condition!

The lowness of the bids gave courage to the gathering of second-hand
booksellers present, who began to mingle with us, and become more
familiar. The dealers in old brass and bric-a-brac pressed forward
in their tun, waiting for the doors of an adjoining room to be
opened; and the voice of the auctioneer was drowned by the jests of
the Auvergnats.