"Yes, monsieur, a party of foreigners arrived this morning, to climb the mountain; there are Englishmen and Frenchmen and Russians, a whole party of sightseers, in fact. But that isn't what distresses us so. You see, monsieur, this morning before breakfast all these gentlemen were together, and they began to talk about tables d'hôte. One man said that he liked them because he ate very fast; another declared that he was a better eater than any of the rest, and that he'd eat six eggs before breakfast and, even then, eat faster than anyone; they laughed at him, so he bet ten louis, and an Englishman took the bet. The poor man ordered hard-boiled eggs; he ate them, and then began his breakfast; oh! he went at it in fine style, I tell you! and so he won his ten louis. But just after, he turned yellow, red, and blue; they had to put him to bed, and instead of climbing the mountain he's likely to die on our hands." "It's an Englishman, of course, who undertook that pretty trick?" "No, monsieur; a Frenchman." "A Frenchman!" "If you want to see him, everybody's standing round his bed; everyone has some remedy to save his life." I was curious to see the fellow. I left Nicette and bade the girl show me to the dying man's room. As I entered, he breathed his last, as a result of his wager. I glanced at his face, and recognized my neighbor Raymond. * * * * * Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: interrupting her converversation=> interrupting her conversation {pg 78} which I was detemined=> which I was determined {pg 198} Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: even though one act wretchedly=> even though one acts wretchedly {pg 287} * * * * * End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My Neighbor Raymond (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume XI), by Charles Paul de Kock