I went quickly into the sitting-room, where I found Taylor caught in his bath-tub like a tiger in his den, a gentleman near him reading a tragedy called _Hécube._ This gentleman had forced his entrance, no matter what was said to him. He had surprised Taylor as Charlotte Corday had surprised Marat when she stabbed him in his bath; but the agony that the King's Commissary endured was more prolonged than that of the Tribune of the People. The tragedy was two thousand four hundred lines long! When the gentleman caught sight of me, he realised that his victim was to be snatched away from him; he clutched hold of the bath, exclaiming-- "There are only two more acts, monsieur,--there are only two more acts!" "Two sword-cuts, two stabs with a knife, two thrusts with a dagger! Select from among the arms round about--there are all kinds here--choose the one that will slice the best and kill me straight off!" "Monsieur," replied the author of _Hécube_, "the Government appointed you _commissaire du roi_ on purpose to listen to my play; it is your duty to listen to my play--you shall hear my play!" "Ah! that is just where the misfortune comes in!" cried Taylor, wringing his hands. "Yes, monsieur, to my sorrow I am _commissaire du roil_ ... But you and such people as you will make me hand in my resignation; you and your like will force me to give it up and leave France. I have had an offer to go to Egypt, I will accept it; I will explore the sources of the Nile as far as Nubia, right to the Mountains of the Moon,--and I will go at once and get my passport." "You can go-to China, if you like," replied the gentleman, "but you shall not go until you have heard my play." Taylor gave one long moan, like a vanquished athlete, made a sign to me to go into his bedroom and, falling back into his bath-tub, he bowed his head in resignation upon his breast. The gentleman went on. Taylor's precaution of putting a door between him and his reader and me was quite useless; I heard every word of the last two acts of _Hécube._ The Almighty is great and full of compassion--may He bestow peace on that author! At last, when the play was finished, the gentleman got up and, at Taylor's earnest entreaty, consented to depart. I heard the old woman double lock the door after him. The bath-water had made good use of the time spent on the reading to grow cold, and Taylor came back into his bedroom shivering. I would have sacrificed a month's pay for him to have found a warmed bed to creep into. And the reason is not far to seek; for, naturally, a man who is half frozen, after just listening to five acts, is not in a favourable mood to hear five more acts. "Alas! monsieur," I said to him, "I have happened upon a most unsuitable time, and I fear you will not be in the least disposed to listen to me, at least with the patience I could desire."