ng up those three old cognacs, a bottle of ordinary brandy,
and some liqueur-glasses."

In a few minutes a dozen little glasses made their appearance on a
tray, together with four bottles of brandy, three unlabelled, while the
fourth bore the label of a well-known brand.

"It is not generally known, I think, that one cannot test brandy with
any degree of accuracy by the palate," he said, removing his cigar.

"I wasn't aware of that," I said.

"Well, I'll show you," he went on, and taking four glasses in a row he
poured a little spirit out of each of the bottles into the bottoms of
the glasses. This done, he twisted each glass round in order to wet the
inside with the spirit, and the surplus he emptied into his finger-bowl.
Then, handing me two, he said: "Just hold one in each hand till they're
warm. So."

And taking the remaining two he held one in the hollow of each hand.

For a couple or three minutes we held them thus while he chatted about
the various vintages. Then we placed them in a row.

"Now," he said, "take up each one separately and smell it."

I did so, and found a most pleasant perfume--each, however, quite
separate and distinct, as different as eau-de-Cologne is from lavender
water.

"This," he said, after sniffing at one glass, "is 1815--Waterloo year--a
magnificent vintage. And this," he went on, handing me the second glass,
"is 1829--very excellent, but quite a distinct perfume, you notice. The
third is 1864--also good. Of the 1815 I very fortunately have two
bottles. Bellamy, in Pall Mall, has three bottles, and there are perhaps
four bottles in all Paris. That is all that's left of it. The
fourth--smell it--is the ordinary brandy of commerce."

I did so, but the odour was nauseating after the sweet and distinct
perfume of the other three.

"Just try the 1815," he urged, carefully pouring out about a third of a
glass of the precious pale gold liquid and handing it to me.

I sipped it, finding it exceedingly pleasant to the palate. So old was
it that it seemed to have lost all its strength. It was a really
delicious liqueur--the liqueur of a gourmet, and assuredly a fitting
conclusion to that excellent repast.

"I think I'll have the '64," he said, pouring out a glass and swallowing
it with all the gusto of a man whose chief delight was the satisfaction
of his stomach.

I took a cigarette from the big silver box he handed me, and I stretched
out my hand for the matches.... Beyond that,