And there the two stood, stare confronting smirk,
A while uncertain which should yield the pas.
In vain the Chevalier beat brain for quirk
To help in this conjuncture; at length, "Bah!
Boh! Since I've made myself a fool, why shirk
The punishment of folly? Ha, ha, ha,
Let me return your handshake!" Comic sock
For tragic buskin prompt thus changed La Roque.
CXXXI
"I'm nobody—a wren-like journalist;