"And the one you have there, monsieur,--which treats of French confectionery and the sixty ways of cooking eggs,--is it the angel with the book and the scythe? Is it the vine cluster? Is it the Minerva and the olive tree? Is it the buffalo head? Is it the siren? Is it the head of Medusa? Is it the garland of hollyhocks? Or is it the crown and two swords?" "This one, monsieur, is the rarest of all. I found it, this evening, as I was coming here. Just think how I have argued with that idiot of a Bérard over this Elzevir, for three years; he thinks himself a great savant, and is not even half instructed." "And, without seeming too inquisitive, monsieur, may I ask what was the object of the discussion?" "He would have it that _le Pastissier françois_ was printed in 1654, and contained only four preliminary leaves; whilst I maintained, and with reason, as you see, that it was printed in 1655 and that it had five preliminary leaves and a frontispiece. Now here is the very date, 1655; here are the five preliminary leaves; here is the very frontispiece." "Upon my word, so it is." "Ah! ah! how sheepish, how utterly foolish my friend Bérard will look now!" "But, monsieur," I suggested timidly, "did you not tell me that you had argued over this little volume for the past three years?" "Yes, indeed, for more than three years." "Well, it seems to me that if the discussion no longer amused you, you had a very simple remedy at hand to stop it." "What?" "Does not one of the ancient philosophers prove the incontestability of movement to another philosopher who denies movement, by walking before him?" "Well?" "Well, then, you must prove to M. Bérard the superiority of your knowledge over his, by showing him the Elzevir you have there, and unless he is more incredulous than St. Thomas...." "But, to show it, monsieur, it was necessary to possess it, and I had it not." "This little volume is, then, very rare?" "It is the rarest of the lot! There are probably only ten examples of it left in Europe." "And why is this particular volume rarer than the others? Were there fewer copies printed?" "On the contrary, Techener declares that there were five thousand five hundred copies issued, and I maintain that there were more than ten thousand printed." "The deuce! was the edition burnt, then, with the library of Alexandria?" "No; but it was lost, spoilt, torn up in kitchens. You can quite understand that chefs and cookmaids are indifferent bibliomaniacs: they served the _Pastissier françois_ as they served _Carême_ or the _Cuisinier royal_; hence the rarity of the book." "So rare that, as you say, you have not found one before to-night?" "Oh, I knew of it six weeks ago. I told Frank to keep it for me, as I was not well enough off to buy it." "What! You were not rich enough to buy it, not rich enough to buy that little old book?" The bibliomaniac smiled disdainfully.