“(‘Lucky fellow!’ said I; and I continued reading.)
“‘I admit that I found it fairly amusing; but, having plenty of time before me, I was curious enough to wish to know if you really did find them in the “Memoirs of M. de La Fère.” As I was living in Carcassonne, I wrote to one of my friends in Paris to go to the Bibliothèque Royale, and ask for these memoirs, and to write and let me know if you had really and truly borrowed your facts from them. My friend, whom I can trust, replied that you had copied them word for word, and that it is what you authors always do. So I give you fair notice, sir, that I have told people all about it at Carcassonne, and, if it occurs again, we shall cease subscribing to the Siècle.
“‘Yours sincerely,
“‘——.’
“I rang the bell.
“‘If any more letters come for me to-day,’ said I to the servant, ‘you will keep them back, and only give them to me sometime when I seem a bit too happy.’
“‘Manuscripts as well, sir?’
“‘Why do you ask that question?’
“‘Because some one has brought one this very moment.’
“‘Good! that is the last straw! Put it somewhere where it won’t be lost, but don’t tell me where.’
“He put it on the mantelpiece, which proved that my servant was decidedly a man of intelligence.