THE HANDSOME MODEL. 95 



enough." Pray, my friend, who sent you to me?" said M. de Francornard 

 to Rossignol. " No one sent me ; I came of my own accord, because 

 I choose." " Oh, I understand ; you have heard mention of my dinners ; 

 and you called to offer yourself for the first I may give." " Your dinners ! 

 devil take me if ever any one mentioned them to me ! but no matter, if you 

 please, I shall taste them with the greatest pleasure, and you will see a chap 

 who will make no wry faces." " He taste them !" said M. le Comte to 

 Champagne ; " he means, I suppose, that he will let me taste them. This 

 man must be very clever indeed, for he seems extremely confident." " I am 

 precisely of that way of thinking, M. le Comte."" But, after all, M. Ros- 

 signol, who told you my name ?" " Parblcau ! why, the little fellow whom 

 I met some time back." " The little fellow ! ah, the little fellow who is 

 in my kitchen, no doubt?" " I don't know whether he is in your kitchen 

 but I shouldn't wonder, for I found him in right good case." "Yes, yes," said 

 the chef to his master; " no doubt it was my little turnspit, who gave M. le 

 Comte's address."" M. Rossignol, 1 shall have the greatest pleasure in 

 putting your abilities to the test." " Is M. le Comte a brother artiste, or 



does he amuse himself en amateur?" " Oh I am a professor; M. le 



Chef here will tell you how I discuss my three courses." " Three courses ! 

 I have never sat for that." " Is your head adapted to an important posi- 

 tion ?" " My head ! is it my head, then, that you wish ? " " To be sure." 

 " Because, generally, I am only taken for my body." " What ! are you 

 master of the body also ?" " To be sure I am that is what I pique myself 

 upon, But no matter ; if you consider my head a V antique, you may com- 

 mand me for five francs a-sitting." "Five francs!" said M- le Comte, 

 looking first at Champagne, and then at his chef: " upon my word, it is not 

 dear." " It may be dear enough, for all that," said the cook to himself." 

 " And you assure me, M. Rossignol, that I shall have a fine calf s-head r" 

 rejoined M. le Francornard. 



At these words the model started up suddenly, and angrily slapping his hat 

 down over his head, exclaimed, " Who do you call calf s-head ? It be- 

 comes you, indeed, miserable model of Vulcan, thus to insult a man who is 

 every day made a Jupiter or on Achilles !" " What does all this mean?" 

 said M. le Comte, who, alarmed at M. Rossignol's movement, shoved back 

 his chair suddenly, and set Caesar barking again, whilst the model held out 

 his stick to the dog as if distrusting him. " I entreat you, sir, to explain 

 yourself; what brought you here ? " " Not to see you, you may be depeiid 

 upon it." " Did not you come to offer your services to dress calves'-heads 

 after a new fashion?" " Here is a good one! pretty humbug, upon my 

 soul ! tell me, my old buck, who has been quizzing you at this rate ?" 

 " What the devil do you want then ?" cried M. le Comte, angrily." " Mbr- 

 bleu ! I wish to see Andrew, my friend, my old colleague at M. Dermilly's, 

 a boy that I love, and whom you are bringing up gratis. 'Tis to speak to 

 him I came." " What, rascal ! you have had the audacity to introduce 

 yourself, to penetrate my very closet !" " How did 1 know it was your 

 closet ? don't I tell you, it was Andrew I was looking for ?" " Impertinent 

 scoundrel ! and to dare strike Csesar ! So you are the friend of the little 

 Savoyard a handsome specimen this of his friends." " More handsome 

 than you, I hope, you one-eyed Polyphemus." " This conies of Madame 

 la Comtesse's countenancing these vagabonds Lafleur, Jasmin turn this 

 rascal out of doors throw him out of the window if he is impertinent." 

 " What do you say !" cried Rossignol, flourishing his stick over his head. 

 " The first who dares lay hand on me will bitterly repent it. As for you, 

 you old one-eyed sinner take care I don't qualify you for a Belisarius." 



M. le Comte screamed out, and sheltered himself behind Champagne and 

 the cook ; Caesar made a fresh attack on Rossignol, who, with one blow of 

 his bludgeon, stretched him at his feet. The servants ran at the noise, but 



