mortal his gift for conversation, his profound
knowledge, his easy gestures, his freedom of manners, that familiarity
with which he could treat women! His beauty was plastic!

I felt within myself that such ought a man to be in life, if he would be
happy.

The only thing I did not like in him was that he was always paying
compliments to Melanie: he might have desisted from that. He surely must
have remarked on what terms I was with her.

His custom was, in the quadrille, when the solo-dancing gentlemen
returned to their lady partners, to anticipate me and dance the turn
with Melanie. He considered it a very good joke, and I scowled at him
several times. But once, when he wished to do the same, I seized his
arm, and pushed him away; I was only a grammar-school boy, and he was a
first-year law student; still I did push him away.

With this heroic deed of mine not only myself but my cousin Melanie also
was contented. That evening we danced right up till nine o'clock. I
always with Melanie, and Lorand with her mother.

When the company dispersed, we went down to Lorand's room on the ground
floor, Pepi accompanying us.

I thought he was going to pick a quarrel with me, and vowed inwardly I
would thrash him.

But instead he merely laughed at me.

"Only imagine," he said, throwing himself on Lorand's bed, "this boy is
jealous of me."

My brother laughed too.

It was truly ridiculous: one boy jealous of another.

Yes, I was surely jealous, but chivalrous too. I think I had read in
some novel that it was the custom to reply in some such manner to like
ridicule:

"Sir, I forbid you to take that lady's name in vain."

They laughed all the more.

"Why, he is a delightful fellow, this Desi," said Pepi. "See, Lorand, he
will cause you a deal of trouble. If he learns to smoke, he will be
quite an Othello."

This insinuation hit me on a sensitive spot. I had never yet tasted that
ambrosia, which was to make me a full-grown man; for as every one knows,
it is the pipe-stem which is the dividing line between boyhood and
manhood; he who could take that in his mouth was a man. I had already
often been teased about that.

I must vindicate myself.

On my brother's table stood the tobacco-box full of Turkish tobacco, so
by way of reply I went and filled a church warden, lit and began to
smoke it.

"Now, my child, that will be too strong," sneered Pepi, "take it away
from him, Lorand. Look how pale he is getting: remov