de of which the people are named Don Lopez
and Don Alvar; and the tenors call their mistresses 'angel,' or
'demon.'"

"How shocking!" cried the Bohemians, in chorus.

"But otherwise," said Colline, "literature apart, what is your opinion
of him?"

"A very nice young man. You can judge for yourselves; Carolus means to
treat us all in turn; he invites Schaunard to breakfast with him
tomorrow. Only look out for the closet with the manuscripts in it."

Schaunard was punctual and went to work with the minuteness of an
auctioneer taking an inventory, or a sheriff levying an execution.
Accordingly he came back full of notes; he had studied Carolus chiefly
in respect of movables and worldly goods.

"This Barbemuche," he said, on being asked his opinion, "is a lump of
good qualities. He knows the names of all the wines that were ever
invented, and made me eat more nice things than my aunt ever did on her
birthday. He is on very good terms with the tailors in the Rue
Vivienne, and the bootmakers of the Passage des Panoramas; and I have
observed that he is nearly our size, so that, in case of need, we can
lend him our clothes. His habits are less austere than Colline chose to
represent them; he went wherever I pleased to take him, and gave me
breakfast in two acts, the second of which went off in a tavern by the
fish market where I am known for some Carnival orgies. Well, Carolus
went in there as any ordinary mortal might, and that's all. Marcel goes
tomorrow."

Carolus knew that Marcel was the one who had made the most objections to
his reception. Accordingly, he treated him with particular attention,
and especially won his heart by holding out the hope of procuring him
some sitters in the family of his pupil. When it came to Marcel's turn
to make his report, there were no traces of his original hostility to
Carolus.

On the fourth day, Colline informed Barbemuche that he was admitted, but
under conditions. "You have a number of vulgar habits," he said, "which
must be reformed."

"I shall do my best to imitate you," said Carolus.

During the whole time of his noviciate the Platonic philosopher kept
company with the Bohemians continually, and was thus enabled to study
their habits more thoroughly, not without being very much astonished at
times. One morning, Colline came to see him with a joyful face.

"My dear fellow," he said, "it's all over; you are now definitely one of
us. It only remains to fix the day and the p