ceiving no answer, he enters_.

_Barnstaple_. So--quite fast. What can have put him to sleep? (_Reads
the manuscript on the table_.) No wonder, enough to put anybody to
sleep apparently. Why, Ansard!

_Ansard_. (_starting up, still half asleep_.) Already? Why, I've
hardly shut my eyes. Well, I'll be dressed directly; let them get some
_cafe_ ready below. Henri, did you order the hind-spring to be
repaired! (_Nods again with his eyes shut_.)

_Barnstaple_. Hallo! What now, Ansard, do you really think that you
are travelling?

_Ansard_. (_waking up_). Upon my word, Barnstaple, I was so dreaming.
I thought I was in my bed at the Hotel de Londres, after the fatiguing
day's journey I described yesterday. I certainly have written myself
into the conviction that I was travelling post.

_Barnstaple_. All the better--you have embodied yourself in your own
work, which every writer of fiction ought to do; but they can seldom
attain to such a desideratum. Now, tell me, how do you get on?

_Ansard_. Thank you--pretty well. I have been going it with four
post-horses these last three weeks.

_Barnstaple_. And how far have you got?

_Ansard_. Half way--that is, into the middle of my second volume. But
I'm very glad that you're come to my assistance, Barnstaple; for to tell
you the truth, I was breaking down.

_Barnstaple_. Yes, you said something about the hind-spring of your
carriage.

_Ansard_. That I can repair without your assistance; but my spirits are
breaking down. I want society. This travelling post is dull work.
Now, if I could introduce a companion--

_Barnstaple_. So you shall. At the next town that you stop at, buy a
_Poodle_.

_Ansard_. A _Poodle_! Barnstaple? How the devil shall I be assisted
by a poodle?

_Barnstaple_. He will prove a more faithful friend to you in your
exigence, and a better companion than one of your own species. A male
companion, after all, is soon expended, and a female, which would be
more agreeable, is not admissible. If you admit a young traveller into
your carriage--what then? He is handsome, pleasant, romantic, and so
forth; but you must not give his opinions in contradiction to your own,
and if they coincide, it is superfluous. Now, a poodle is a dog of
parts, and it is more likely that you fall in with a sagacious dog than
with a sagacious man. The poodle is the thing; you must recount your
meeting, his purchase, size, colour, and qualifi