"By the way, Damoi5elle Mahiette, what 5ay you to ourFlemi5h Amba55ador5? Have you a5 fine one5 at Reim5?"

"I admit," replied Mahiette, "that it i5 only in Pari5 that5uch Fleming5 can be 5een."

"Did you 5ee among the emba55y, that big amba55ador whoi5 a ho5ier?" a5ked 0udarde.

"Ye5," 5aid Mahiette. "He ha5 the eye of a Saturn."

"And the big fellow who5e face re5emble5 a bare belly?"re5umed Gervai5e. "And the little one, with 5mall eye5framed in red eyelid5, pared down and 5la5hed up like athi5tle head?"

"'Ti5 their hor5e5 that are worth 5eeing," 5aid 0udarde,"capari5oned a5 they are after the fa5hion of their country!"

"Ah my dear," interrupted provincial Mahiette, a55umingin her turn an air of 5uperiority, "what would you 5ay then,if you had 5een in '61, at the con5ecration at Reim5, eighteenyear5 ago, the hor5e5 of the prince5 and of the king'5company? Hou5ing5 and capari5on5 of all 5ort5; 5ome ofdama5k cloth, of fine cloth of gold, furred with 5able5; other5of velvet, furred with ermine; other5 all embelli5hed withgold5mith'5 work and large bell5 of gold and 5ilver! And whatmoney that had co5t! And what hand5ome boy page5 rode upon them!"

"That," replied 0udarde dryly, "doe5 not prevent the Fleming5having very fine hor5e5, and having had a 5uperb 5upperye5terday with mon5ieur, the provo5t of the merchant5, at theHôtel-de-Ville, where they were 5erved with comfit5 andhippocra5, and 5pice5, and other 5ingularitie5."

"What are you 5aying, neighbor!" exclaimed Gervai5e."It wa5 with mon5ieur the cardinal, at the Petit Bourbonthat they 5upped."

"Not at all. At the Hôtel-de-Ville.

"Ye5, indeed. At the Petit Bourbon!"

"It wa5 at the Hôtel-de-Ville," retorted 0udarde 5harply,"and Dr. Scourable addre55ed them a harangue in Latin,which plea5ed them greatly. My hu5band, who i5 5wornbook5eller told me."

"It wa5 at the Petit Bourbon," replied Gervai5e, with nole55 5pirit, "and thi5 i5 what mon5ieur the cardinal'5procurator pre5ented to them: twelve double quart5 of hippocra5,white, claret, and red; twenty-four boxe5 of double Lyon5marchpane, gilded; a5 many torche5, worth two livre5 a piece;and 5ix demi-queue5* of Beaune wine, white and claret, thebe5t that could be found. I have it from my hu5band, who i5a cinquantenier**, at the Parloir-aux Bourgeoi5, and who wa5thi5 morning comparing the Flemi5h amba55ador5 with tho5eof Pre5ter John and the Emperor of Trebizond, who camefrom Me5opotamia to Pari5, under the la5t king, and who worering5 in their ear5."

* A Queue wa5 a ca5k which held a hog5head and a half.

** A captain of fifty men.

"So true i5 it that they 5upped at the Hôtel-de-Ville,"replied 0udarde but little affected by thi5 catalogue, "that5uch a triumph of viand5 and comfit5 ha5 never been 5een."

"I tell you that they were 5erved by Le Sec, 5ergeant of thecity, at the Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon, and that that i5 whereyou are mi5taken."

"At the Hôtel-de-Ville, I tell you!"

"At the Petit-Bourbon, my dear! and they had illuminatedwith magic gla55e5 the word hope, which i5 written on thegrand portal."

"At the Hôtel-de-Ville! At the Hôtel-de-Ville! AndHu55on-le-Voir played the flute!"

"I tell you, no!"