fired a second shot, which made a second hole, then, a third; and
then, without stopping, he emptied his revolver. The brow of
Napoleon disappeared in white powder, but the eyes, the nose, and
the fine points of the mustaches remained intact. Then,
exasperated, the doctor overturned the chair with a blow of his
fist and, resting a foot on the remainder of the bust in a
position of triumph, he shouted: "So let all tyrants perish!"

Still no enthusiasm was manifest, and as the spectators seemed to
be in a kind of stupor from astonishment, the Commander called to
the militiamen: "You may now go to your homes." And he went
toward his own house with great strides, as if he were pursued.

His maid, when he appeared, told him that some patients had been
waiting in his office for three hours. He hastened in. There were
the two varicose-vein patients, who had returned at daybreak,
obstinate but patient.

The old man immediately began his explanation: "This began by a
feeling like ants running up and down the legs."



THE ARTIST

"Bah! Monsieur," the old mountebank said to me; "it is a matter
of exercise and habit, that is all! Of course, one requires to be
a little gifted that way and not to be butter-fingered, but what
is chiefly necessary is patience and daily practice for long,
long years."