father only left me an income of a
mouldy four hundred thousand francs. Now, I ask you, how can a man live
decently on that? If a man wants to do honour to his nation, he must,
before all things, cut a decent figure abroad. I keep going one of the
first houses in Paris; I have my own meute and ecurie; my mistresses are
the most famous dancers and singers. I have travelled in Egypt. In
Morocco I abducted the most beautiful damsel of the Bey from his harem.
I spend the season in Italy. I have an elegant villa on the shores of
the Lake of Como. I have whole folios written of my travels by the best
French authors, and I publish them as if I had written them myself. The
Academie des Sciences has elected me a member in consequence. At Homburg
I have lost half a million francs at a sitting without moving a muscle
of my face. And so my mouldy four hundred thousand francs have all gone,
interest and capital alike--where?"

And here, with hand and mouth, he intimated in pantomime that it had all
dissolved itself into thin air.

Master Jock continued to regard the juvenile _roue_ with a look that
grew stonier and stonier, and involuntarily, unconsciously, a deep sigh
escaped from his breast.

"Nevertheless, that was nothing," continued the young dandy, with a
self-satisfied voice. "So long as a man has a million he can easily
spend two millions; 'tis a science readily learnt. All at once ces
fripons de creanciers, those villainous creditors of mine, took it into
their heads to ask me for money, and when one began the others were not
slow in following. I cursed them; but that did not satisfy them, so they
went to the courts about it, and I had to leave Paris. C'est pour bruler
la cervelle! It was enough to make me blow my brains out. Mais v'la!
Fortune favoured me. It chanced that a kinsman of my father's, a certain
John Karpathy, who was very much richer than my father----"

"Aha!"

"A mad, doating old fellow, of whom I could tell you a thousand
follies."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. He never budges from his native village; but he has a theatre
in his castle, in which they play his own comedies; he sends for the
leading prima donnas, simply that they may sing boorish peasant ditties
to him; and he keeps a whole palace for his dogs, who eat with him from
the same table."

"Anything else?"

"Then he has a whole harem of farmyard wenches, and _betyars_ similar to
himself dance with them and him till dawn. Then he sets the whole