, caused him to be challenged. The opposing counsel, likewise a
Creole, was a great dandy. He appeared in an immaculate white suit and
boiled shirt, but the weather was warm, and after he had spoken for
perhaps half an hour his shirt was wilted, and he asked an adjournment.
The adjournment over, he reappeared in a fresh shirt, but this too
wilted presently, whereupon another adjournment was taken. At the end of
this he again reappeared wearing a third fresh shirt, and in it managed
to complete his plea.

It now became the other lawyer's turn. He arose and, speaking with the
utmost gravity, addressed the jury.

"Gentlemen," he said (Professor Matthews tells it in French), "I shall
divide my speech into three shirts." He then announced: "First
shirt"--and made his first point. This accomplished, he paused briefly,
then proclaimed: "Second shirt," and followed with his second point.
Then: "Third and last shirt," and after completing his argument sat
down. The delighted jury gave him the verdict, but his witticism
involved him in a duel with the worsted advocate. The result of this
duel Professor Matthews does not tell, but if the wag's _colichemarde_
was as swift and penetrating as his wit, we may surmise that his
opponent of the Code Napoleon and the code duello had a fourth shirt
spoiled.

CHAPTER LVIII

FROM ANTIQUES TO PIRATES

The numerous antique shops of the French quarter, with their gray,
undulating floors and their piled-up, dusty litter of old furniture,
plate, glass, and china, and the equally numerous old book stores, with
their piles of French publications, their shadowy corners, their
pleasant ancient bindings and their stale smell, are peculiarly
reminiscent of similar establishments in Paris.

That Eugene Field knew these shops well we have reason to know by at
least two of his poems. In one, "The Discreet Collector," he tells us
that:

Down south there is a curio shop
Unknown to many men;
Thereat do I intend to stop
When I am South again;
The narrow street through which to go--
Aha! I know it well!
And maybe you would like to know--
But no--I will not tell!

But later, when filled with remorse over his extravagance in "blowing
twenty dollars in by nine o'clock A.M.," he reveals the location of his
favorite establishment, saying:

In Royal Street (near Conti) there's a lovely curio shop,
And there, one balmy fateful morn, it was my chance to s