Dumas tells the story of the excellent cake called madeleine, an entremets which all who have been in France will remember. Is it a flower of the Vosges, indigenous to Alsace, that has been transplanted across the border?--it must have been the invention of the German _Kuchenkunst_. This is the account of the madeleine as it appears in the "Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine": "A tourist-friend who was at Strassburg, and who started out on his travels a little late, expecting to reach the next village before dark, was unsuccessful in finding a shelter until nearly midnight, when he perceived the spire of a distant church, and soon afterwards the welcome rays of a light that seemed to emerge from some subterranean abode. Knocking at the door, a gruff voice demanded: "'Who is it, and what do you want?' "'I am a traveller, weary and worn, and well-nigh starved. For heaven's sake, let me in.' "With this the door was unbarred by a man of savage aspect whose hair and beard were covered with flour, and who was naked to the waist. "'Come in, and make haste,' he said in a cavernous voice; and a large room was disclosed to the traveller the interior of which was lighted by the fires of an immense oven. The door was then re-barred by the forbidding-looking occupant. "'Pardon, Monsieur,' said the traveller, little at ease. 'I have just completed sixteen or eighteen leagues with scarcely a mouthful; cannot I buy something to appease my hunger, and have a couch to lie on?' "'I have only my own bed,' replied the man, in his gruff voice; 'as to something to eat, that is not wanting--it remains to be seen if it will please you.' "And opening a cupboard, he produced a basket containing a dozen or so of oval-shaped cakes of a fine golden hue. "'Try these,' he said to the traveller, 'and tell me what you think of them.' "When the basket was emptied, he asked, 'What do you think of my madeleines?' "'Something to drink first,' muttered the traveller in a strangled voice. "The cupboard was opened anew, and uncorking a bottle covered with dust, the baker filled two glasses, passing one to the stranger. "'Drink,' he said; 'I don't wish my cakes to choke you.' "The glass was emptied at a draught, when the visitor passed it to be refilled,--it was an excellent Bordeaux. "'Your health, my friend; you have given me one of the most delicious repasts that I have ever had. But tell me what do you call these lovely cakes?' "'What! don't you know the madeleines of Commercy?' "'You mean to say I am at Commercy?' "'Yes, and, without knowing it, you have eaten the best cakes in the world.'"