breaking into my habitation to rob me. So why should I be jealous of the
brownstone-house dwellers? I am a philosopher, gentlemen. I tell you,
philosophy is the thief of jealousy, and I had the good-luck to find it
out early in life."

"There is much in what you say," said Confucius. "But there's another
side to the matter. If a man is an aristocrat by nature, as I was, his
neighborhood never could run down. Wherever he lived would be the swell
section, so that really your last argument isn't worth a stewed icicle."

"Stewed icicles are pretty good, though," said Baron Munchausen, with an
ecstatic smack of his lips. "I've eaten them many a time in the polar
regions."

"I have no doubt of it," put in Doctor Johnson. "You've eaten fried
pyramids in Africa, too, haven't you?"

"Only once," said the Baron, calmly. "And I can't say I enjoyed them.
They are rather heavy for the digestion."

"That's so," said Ptolemy. "I've had experience with pyramids myself."

"You never ate one, did you, Ptolemy?" queried Bonaparte.

"Not raw," said Ptolemy, with a chuckle. "Though I've been tempted many
a time to call for a second joint of the Sphinx."

There was a laugh at this, in which all but Baron Munchausen joined.

"I think it is too bad," said the Baron, as the laughter subsided--"I