Page:The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter.djvu/39

them by, though his greatest suffering was having to eat them without salt. Another spent three days and three nights without food, whilst to do so for a couple of days was common. A third passed the bitter winter of 1838 without a shirt, and with only a blue cotton blouse over his waistcoat. One night, clad like this, without having tasted food all day, and without a shelter for his head, he walked up and down between the Madeleine and the Bastille till he dropped exhausted in the snow and fell asleep. Karol really lodged, as Rodolphe is said to have done, in a tree in the Avenue de Saint Cloud, whilst Nadar himself had to spend several days dressed as a Turk, being unable to redeem his own clothes, which he had pawned to obtain this costume for a fancy-ball.

The programme of the celebrated fête has been several times more than rivalled by such passages as—

“At midnight experiments in dissection on a voluntary subject. The future Dr. Nicol will demonstrate the utility of the liver.

“The matches will be found in the third gunpowder barrel to the left on the bottom shelf of the cupboard.

“Performers are requested to wipe their feet before playing on the piano.

“During the evening M. Alexandre Schanne will give an unconscious imitation of the actor Charles Pérey in the part of Schaunard.”