of his meditations. In attempting _des oeufs a la Princesse_, he had
unfortunately perpetrated an _omelette a la Reine_; the discovery of a
principle in ethics had been frustrated by the overturning of a stew;
and last, not least, he had been thwarted in one of those admirable
bargains which he at all times took such especial delight in bringing
to a successful termination. But in the chafing of his mind at these
unaccountable vicissitudes, there did not fail to be mingled some
degree of that nervous anxiety which the fury of a boisterous night is
so well calculated to produce. Whistling to his more immediate
vicinity the large black water-dog we have spoken of before, and
settling himself uneasily in his chair, he could not help casting a
wary and unquiet eye toward those distant recesses of the apartment
whose inexorable shadows not even the red fire-light itself could more
than partially succeed in overcoming. Having completed a scrutiny
whose exact purpose was perhaps unintelligible to himself, he drew
close to his seat a small table covered with books and papers, and
soon became absorbed in the task of retouching a voluminous
manuscript, intended for publication on the morrow.

He had been thus occupied for some minutes, when "I am in no hurry,
Monsieur Bon-Bon," suddenly whispered a whining voice in the
apartment.

"The devil!" ejaculated our hero, starting to his feet, overturning
the table at his side, and staring around him in astonishment.

"Very true," calmly replied the voice.

"Very true!--what is very true?--how came you here?" vociferated the
metaphysician, as his eye fell upon something which lay stretched at
full length upon the bed.

"I was saying," said the intruder, without attending to the
interrogatories,--"I was saying that I am not at all pushed for
time--that the business, upon which I took the liberty of calling, is
of no pressing importance--in short, that I can very well wait until
you have finished your Exposition."

"My Exposition!--there now!--how do _you_ know?--how came _you_ to
understand that I was writing an Exposition--good God!"

"Hush!" replied the figure, in a shrill undertone; and, arising
quickly from the bed, he made a single step toward our hero, while an
iron lamp that depended overhead swung convulsively back from his
approach.

The philosopher's amazement did not prevent a narrow scrutiny of the
stranger's dress and appearance. The outlines of his figure,
excee