e of honor. Here clustered the _elite_ of the swimmers; here they
discussed the great principles of their art, and passed judgment on the
performances of those less skilful than themselves. To the right of the
Amphitheatre rose a slender spiral staircase, like an openwork pillar of
iron, with a tiny circular platform on the top, half surrounded by a
light iron rail. This conspicuous perch, like the pillar of St. Simeon
Stylites, was every now and then surmounted by the gaunt figure of some
ambitious plunger who, after attitudinizing awhile in the pose of
Napoleon on the column Vendome, would join his hands above his head and
take a tremendous "header" into the gulf below. When this feat was
successfully performed, the _elite_ in the Amphitheatre applauded
graciously.

And now, what with swimming, and lounging, and looking on, some two
hours had slipped by, and we were both hungry and tired, Mueller proposed
that we should breakfast at the Cafe Procope.

"But why not here?" I asked, as a delicious breeze from the buffet came
wafting by "like a steam of rich distilled perfumes."

"Because a breakfast _chez_ Molino costs at least twenty-five francs
per head--BECAUSE I have credit at Procope--BECAUSE I have not a _sou_
in my pocket--and BECAUSE, milord Smithfield, I aspire to the honor of
entertaining your lordship on the present occasion!" replied Mueller,
punctuating each clause of his sentence with a bow.

If Mueller had not a _sou_, I, at all events, had now only one Napoleon;
so the Cafe Procope carried the day.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE RUE DE L'ANCIENNE COMEDIE AND THE CAFE PROCOPE.

The Rue des Fosses-Saint-Germain-des-Pres and the Rue de
l'Ancienne Comedie are one and the same. As the Rue des
Fosses-Saint-Germain-des-Pres, it dates back to somewhere about the
reign of Philippe Auguste; and as the Rue de l'Ancienne Comedie it takes
its name and fame from the year 1689, when the old Theatre Francais was
opened on the 18th of April by the company known as Moliere's
troupe--Moliere being then dead, and Lully having succeeded him at the
Theatre du Palais Royal.

In the same year, 1689, one Francois Procope, a Sicilian, conceived the
happy idea of hiring a house just opposite the new theatre, and there
opening a public refreshment-room, which at once became famous, not only
for the excellence of its coffee (then newly introduced into France),
but also for being the favorite resort of all the wits, dramatists, an