ning, to that he was then, at the moment of
writing, and practically therefore for the next forty-eight hours--at
least; so it would be with any ordinary individual--in Edinburgh.
But DAUBINET is not an ordinary individual, and the ordinary laws of
motion to and from any given point do not apply to him. He is a Flying
Frenchman--here, there, and everywhere; especially everywhere. So
mercurial, that he will be in advance of Mercury himself, and having
written a letter in the morning to say he is coming, it is not
unlikely that he will travel by the next train, arrive before the
letter, and then wonder that you weren't prepared to receive him.
Such, in a brief sketch, is _mon ami_ DAUBINET.

[Illustration: "He is a Flying Frenchman."]

"Aha! _me voici!_" he cries, shaking my hand warmly. Then he sings,
waving his hat in his left hand, and still grasping my right with his,
"_Voici le sabre de mon pere!_" which reminiscence of OFFENBACH has
no particular relevancy to anything at the present moment; but it
evidently lets off some of his superfluous steam. He continues, always
with my hand in his, "_J'arrive! inattendu! Mais, mon cher_,"--here
he turns off the French stop of his polyglot organ, and, as it were,
turns on the English stop,--continuing his address to me in very
distinctly-pronounced English, "I wrote to you to say I would be
here," then pressing the French stop, he concludes with, "_ce matin,
n'est-ce pas?_"

"_Parfaitement, mon cher_," I reply, giving myself a chance of airing
a little French, being on perfectly safe ground, as he thoroughly
understands English; indeed, he understands several languages, and, if
I flounder out of my depth in foreign waters, one stroke will bring
me safe on to the British rock of intelligibility again; or, if I
obstinately persist in floundering, and am searching for the word as
for a plank, he will jump in and rescue me. Under these circumstances,
I am perfectly safe in talking French to him "_Mais je ne vous
attendais ce matin_"--I've got an idea that this is something
uncommonly grammatical--"_a cause de votre lettre que je viens de
recevoir_"--this, I'll swear, is idiomatic--"_ce matin. La voila!_" I
pride myself on "_La_," as representing my knowledge that "_lettre_,"
to which it refers, is feminine.

"_Caramba!_" he exclaims--an exclamation which, I have every reason
to suppose, from want of more definite information, is Spanish.
"_Caramba!_ that letter is from Edinbur