hich the plumpest geese in Bretagne had been invalids
all their days, and, if gossip be true, submitted in the end to a slow
roasting alive--introduced the fish, which, by the then reformed
Parisian mode, must appear after, not before, the _entree_.

A _sole au vin blanc_ gave way to a regal _mackerel au sauce
champignon_, and after this dish came confections and fruits _ad
libitum_, ending with the removal of the cloth, the introduction of
cigars, and a _marquise_ or punch of pure champagne.

It was a pleasant evening within and without; the windows were raised,
and they could see the people in the gardens strolling beneath the lime
trees; the starlight falling on the plashing fountain and the gray,
motionless statues; the pearly light of the lines of lamps, shining down
the long arcades; the glitter of jewelry and precious merchandise in the
marvellous _boutiques_; the groups which sat around the cafe beneath
with _sorbets_ and _glaces_, and sparkling wines; the old women in
Normandie caps and green aprons, who flitted here and there to take the
hire of chairs, and break the hum of couples, talking profane and sacred
love; around and above all, the Cardinal's grand palace lifting its
multitudinous pilasters, and seeming to prop up the sky.

It was Mr. Simp and his lady who saw these more particularly, as they
had withdrawn from the table, to exchange a memory and a sentiment, and
Hugenot had joined them with his most recent mistress; for the latter
was particularly unfortunate in love, being cozened out of much money,
and yet libelled for his closeness.

All the rest sat at the table, talking over the splendor of the supper,
and proposing to hold a second one at the famous Philippe's, in the Rue
Montorgueil. But Mr. Freckle, being again emboldened by wine, and
affronted at the subordinate position assigned him, repeatedly cried
that, for his part, he preferred the "old Latin Quarter," and challenged
the chairman to produce a finer repast than Magny's in the Rue
Counterscarp.

Pisgah, newly clothed _cap-a-pie_, was drinking absinthe, and with his
absent eyes, worn face and changing hairs, looked like the spectre of
his former self. Now and then he raised his head to give unconscious
assent to something, but immediately relapsed to the worship of his
nepenthe; and, as the long potations sent strong fumes to his temples,
he chuckled audibly, and gathered his jaws to his eyes in a vacant grin.
The gross, coarse woman