s were succeeded by Monsieur Planton and
Monsieur Carapin, a civilian master and a military one. Monsieur Planton
was very little, and Monsieur Carapin immensely stout. One would have
thought that the first thrust would have reduced his volume like that of
a balloon. People laughed. Monsieur Planton skipped about like a monkey:
Monsieur Carapin, only moved his arm, the rest of his frame being

paralyzed by fat. He lunged every five minutes with such heaviness and
such effort that it seemed to need the most energetic resolution on his
part to accomplish it, and then had great difficulty in recovering
himself. The connoisseurs pronounced his play very steady and close, and
the confiding public appreciated it as such.

Then came Monsieur Porion and Monsieur Lapalme, a master and an amateur,
who gave way to exaggerated gymnastics; charging furiously at one
another, obliging the judges to scuttle off with their chairs, crossing
and re-crossing from one end of the platform to the other, one advancing
and the other retreating, with vigorous and comic leaps and bounds. They
indulged in little jumps backwards that made the ladies laugh, and long
springs forward that caused them some emotion. This galloping assault
was aptly criticized by some young rascal, who sang out: "Don't burst
yourselves over it; it is a time job!" The spectators, shocked at this
want of taste, cried "Ssh!" The judgment of the experts was passed
around. The fencers had shown much vigor, and played somewhat loosely.

The first half of the entertainment was concluded by a very fine bout
between Jacques Rival and the celebrated Belgian professor, Lebegue.
Rival greatly pleased the ladies. He was really a handsome fellow, well
made, supple, agile, and more graceful than any of those who had
preceded him. He brought, even into his way of standing on guard and
lunging, a certain fashionable elegance which pleased people, and
contrasted with the energetic, but more commonplace style of his
adversary. "One can perceive the well-bred man at once," was the remark.
He scored the last hit, and was applauded.

But for some minutes past a singular noise on the floor above had
disturbed the spectators. It was a loud trampling, accompanied by noisy
laughter. The two hundred guests who had not been able to get down into
the cellar were no doubt amusing themselves in their own way. On the
narrow, winding staircase fifty men were packed. The heat down below was
getting te