monsieur," he groaned. "The associations are much more 'arrowing than
that--I was the 'Johnnie in the Stalls'!"



TRICOTRIN ENTERTAINS

One night when Pitou went home, an unaccustomed perfume floated to
meet him on the stairs. He climbed them in amazement.

"If we lived in an age of miracles I should conclude that Tricotrin was
smoking a cigar," he said to himself. "What can it be?"

The pair occupied a garret in the rue des Trois Freres at this time,
where their window, in sore need of repairs, commanded an unrivalled
view of the dirty steps descending to the passage des Abbesses.
To-night, behold Tricotrin pacing the garret with dignity, between
his lips an Havannah that could have cost no less than a franc. The
composer rubbed his eyes.

"Have they made you an Academician?" he stammered. "Or has your uncle,
the silk manufacturer, died and left you his business?"

"My friend," replied the poet, "prepare yourself forthwith for 'a New
and Powerful Serial of the Most Absorbing Interest'! I am no longer the
young man who went out this evening--I am a celebrity."

"I thought," said the composer, "that it couldn't be you when I saw the
cigar."