te's victories in Egypt, and when Berthier received the
commission, he could think of no more fitting facade than the
reproduction of a house at Karnac. He fondly remembered his youthful
excursion to the land of Pharaohs, and at the same time the image of
Bouginier uprose before him. That is why the presentment of the latter
may be seen up to this day on the frieze of a building in the frowsiest
part of Paris.

[Footnote 1: The "lettre de faire part" is an intimation of a
birth, marriage, or death sent to the friends, and even mere
acquaintances, of a family.--EDITOR.]

[Footnote 2: The lithographers were almost the first in France
to form a co-operative society, but not in the sense of the
Rochdale pioneers, which dates from about the same period. The
Lacrampe Association was for supplying lithographic work. It
began in the Passage du Caire with ten members, and in a short
time numbered two hundred workmen.--EDITOR.]

If I have dwelt somewhat longer on Bouginier than the importance of the
subject warranted, it was mainly to convey an idea of the spirit of
mischief, of the love of practical joking, that animated most of the
inmates of "La Childebert." As a rule their devilries were innocent
enough. The pictorial persecution of Bouginier is about the gravest
thing that could be laid to their charge, and the victim, like the
sensible fellow he was, rather enjoyed it than otherwise. Woe, however,
to the starched bourgeois who had been decoyed into their lair, or even
to the remonstrating comrade with a serious turn of mind, who wished to
pursue his studies in peace! His life was made a burden to him, for the
very building lent itself to all sorts of nocturnal surprises and of
guerilla sorties. Elsewhere, when a man's door was shut, he might
reasonably count upon a certain amount of privacy; the utmost his
neighbours could do was to make a noise overhead or by his side. At the
"Childebert" such privacy was out of the question. There was not a door
that held on its hinges, not a window that could be opened or shut at
will, not a ceiling that did not threaten constantly to crush you
beneath its weight, not a floor that was not in danger of giving way
beneath you and landing you in the room below, not a staircase that did
not shake under your very steps, however light they might be; in short,
the place was a wonderful illustration of "how the ro