THE MAYFLIES 91 



open mind), yet possibly our conception 

 of this word is ultra-delicate, for when we 

 say tabac we do not mean cigars. To us 

 the pipe seems sound, a very honest fellow. 

 The cigarette may be more finikin and 

 perchance less moral, still its inhalation 

 bespeaks the true lover of tobacco. It 

 shows an unfeigned, ring-wreathed satis- 

 faction. True the cigar can puff a smug 

 blue round, but one that partakes only of 

 vainglory, and seems to fail in real affec- 

 tion. You know the pose of most cigars, 

 their lack of modesty and all the finer 

 feelings. Their air of protruding ostenta- 

 tion between the teeth, provocative, pre- 

 sumptuous ? Of course, all this is quite 

 unreasonable. We can only take refuge 

 in a saying of Jean Pierre's. " Cigars," 

 says he, " are not for true lovers of tobacco. 

 They are only for milords and commis- 

 voyageiirs, who sometimes fish and always 

 play the fool. Besides, cigars are an 

 extravagance. In Brittany they cost, at 

 least, two sous, and smell like nothing that 

 the Bon Dieu made." And here, to save 

 my friend, I must explain. The word 

 milord figures constantly in Jean Pierre's 



