; mirrors all round
the walls a set of hanging shelves; an ormolu time piece that struck all
kinds of miscellaneous hours at unexpected times; an abundance of vases
filled with faded artificial flowers; insecure chairs of white and gold;
and a round table that had a way of turning over suddenly like a table
in a pantomime, if you ventured to place anything on any part but the
inlaid star in the centre. Above all, there was a balcony big enough for
a couple of chairs, and some flower-pots, overlooking the street.

I was delighted with everything. In imagination I beheld my balcony
already blooming with roses, and my shelves laden with books. I admired
the white and gold chairs with all my heart, and saw myself reflected in
half a dozen mirrors at once with an innocent pride of ownership which
can only be appreciated by those who have tasted the supreme luxury of
going into chambers for the first time.

"Shall I conclude for Monsieur at twenty francs a week?" murmured the
sagacious Brunet.

"Of course," said I, laying the first week's rent upon the table.

And so the thing was done, and, brimful of satisfaction, I went off to
the hotel for my luggage, and moved in immediately.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XII.

BROADCLOTH AND CIVILIZATION.

Allowing for my inexperience in the use of the language, I prospered
better than I had expected, and found, to my satisfaction, that I was by
no means behind my French fellow-students in medical knowledge. I passed
through my preliminary examination with credit, and although Dr. Cheron
was careful not to praise me too soon, I had reason to believe that he
was satisfied with my progress. My life, indeed, was now wholly given up
to my work. My country-breeding had made me timid, and the necessity for
speaking a foreign tongue served only to increase my natural reserve; so
that although I lived and studied day after day in the society of some
two or three hundred young men, I yet lived as solitary a life as
Robinson Crusoe in his island. No one sought to know me. No one took a
liking for me. Gay, noisy, chattering fellows that they were, they
passed me by for a "dull and muddy-pated rogue;" voted me
uncompanionable when I was only shy; and, doubtless, quoted me to each
other as a rare specimen of the silent Englishman. I lived, too, quite
out of the students' colony. To me the _Quartier Latin_ (except as I
went to and fro between the Hotel Dieu and the E