will give her great pleasure."--"What flower girl?" says the lady. "I haven't ordered any bouquet. Where is the flower girl's stand?"--"Faith! madame, the young man didn't tell me; but it's paid for; my orders are not to take any money."'--'The devil take you!' cried I, as I dismissed him; 'I shall know you again, and I'll never send you to carry another bouquet.'--And, as it turned out, that brute was the cause of a terrible scene between my little lady and her husband, which led to a rupture between us. Moral: good messengers are rare in Paris. They try to show so much intelligence that, if you hand them an unaddressed letter, and say: 'You are to take this letter,'--they begin by grabbing it and running off; and you have to call them back to tell them where to carry it." "I have another charge to make, messieurs," said Célestin. "Monsieur Tobie Pigeonnier is stuffing truffles into his pocket. I'm not surprised that they disappear from his plate so fast." "Mon Dieu! just because I've taken two or three.--Come, waiter! The lobster--and the asparagus. Hot! hot!" "At what time do you go to your rendezvous?" asked Balivan. "Half-past eight." "You have time enough." "None too much; you see, I should like some dessert too." "Oh! I see that you don't propose to abandon your share of anything." "When a man has a good stomach, he ought to make use of it. If you play bouillotte this evening, I'll come back and join you." "If we play!" cried Mouillot; "I rather think so--eh, Albert?" "Oh, yes! I want my revenge." "Bouillotte to the death!" said Balivan, absent-mindedly eating asparagus at the wrong end. "And afterward, messieurs," said Dupétrain, "I will magnetize you all." "Oh! he'll drive us mad with his nonsense! I say, Dupétrain, do you magnetize your mistresses, when you have any?" "Certainly; I put myself in communication with them at once." "He communicates his magnetic fluid to them." "And as they confess, in the somnambulistic state, that they deceive him, that vexes him, and he goes off and puts others to sleep." "Laugh as much as you please, messieurs!" rejoined Dupétrain, assuming a solemn expression and resting his elbows on the table; "but if I should tell you all the extraordinary things that have been disclosed to me by the power of magnetism, you would shudder from head to foot." "_Fichtre!_" exclaimed Tobie, returning to the lobster. "Faith! they give you a good dinner here.--Is this story of yours very interesting?" "Well, well!" said Albert; "here's Tobie burning with the desire to shudder from head to foot!" "I'll tell you a single incident," replied Dupétrain, delighted to find that Tobie paid some attention to what he said.--"A young woman, whose husband was travelling----" At that moment, the waiter opened the door of the salon and said: "A messenger is here, asking for Monsieur Célestin de Valnoir." "Very well," said Célestin, rising; "I'll go and speak to him."