, flying off a tangent,
stood up on end, and shrieked in the farthest corner of the apartment.

Not so the philosopher: he was too much a man of the world either to
laugh like the dog, or by shrieks to betray the indecorous trepidation
of the cat. It must be confessed, he felt a little astonishment to see
the white letters which formed the words "_Rituel Catholique_" on the
book in his guest's pocket, momently changing both their colour and
their import, and in a few seconds, in place of the original title,
the words "_Registre des Condamnes_" blaze forth in characters of red.
This startling circumstance, when Bon-Bon replied to his visitor's
remark, imparted to his manner an air of embarrassment which probably
might not otherwise have been observed.

"Why, sir," said the philosopher, "why, sir, to speak sincerely--I
believe you are--upon my word--the d--dest--that is to say, I think--I
imagine--I _have_ some faint--some _very_ faint idea--of the
remarkable honour--"

"Oh!--ah!--yes!--very well!" interrupted his Majesty; "say no more--I
see how it is." And hereupon, taking off his green spectacles, he
wiped the glasses carefully with the sleeve of his coat, and deposited
them in his pocket.

If Bon-Bon had been astonished at the incident of the book, his
amazement was now much increased by the spectacle which here presented
itself to view. In raising his eyes, with a strong feeling of
curiosity to ascertain the colour of his guest's, he found them by no
means black, as he had anticipated--nor grey, as might have been
imagined--nor yet hazel nor blue--nor indeed yellow nor red--nor
purple--nor white--nor green--nor any other colour in the heavens
above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. In
short, Pierre Bon-Bon not only saw plainly that his Majesty had no
eyes whatsoever, but could discover no indications of their having
existed at any previous period--for the space where eyes should
naturally have been was, I am constrained to say, simply a dead level
of flesh.

It was not in the nature of the metaphysician to forbear making some
inquiry into the sources of so strange a phenomenon; and the reply of
his Majesty was at once prompt, dignified, and satisfactory.

"Eyes! my dear Bon-Bon--eyes! did you say?--oh!--ah!--I perceive! The
ridiculous prints, eh, which are in circulation, have given you a
false idea of my personal appearance. Eyes!--true. Eyes, Pierre
Bon-Bon, are very well in their