Page:The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter.djvu/79

“Very well; come down,” replied the landlord. “Have a little patience, I beg of you,” he continued to the young man. “My porter will bring down to the cellar the furniture in the room of my defaulting tenant, and you may take possession in half an hour. Beside, your furniture has not come yet.”

“But it has,” answered the young man quietly.

Monsieur Bernard looked around, and saw only the large screens which had already mystified his porter.

“How is this?” he muttered. “I don’t see anything.”

“Behold!” replied the youth, unfolding the leaves of the frame, and displaying to the view of the astonished landlord a magnificent interior of a palace, with jasper columns, bas-reliefs, and paintings of old masters.

“But your furniture?” demanded Monsieur Bernard.

“Here it is,” replied the young man, pointing to the splendid furniture painted in the palace, which he had bought at a sale of second-hand theatrical decorations.

“I hope you have some more serious furniture than this,” said the landlord. “You know I must have security for my rent.”

“The deuce! is a palace not sufficient security for the rent of a garret?”

“No, sir; I want real chairs and tables in solid mahogany.”

“Alas! neither gold nor mahogany make us happy, as the ancient poet well says. And I can’t bear mahogany: it’s too common a word; everybody has it.”

“But surely, sir, you have some sort of furniture.”

“No, it takes up too much room. You are stuck full of chairs, and have no place to sit down.”

“But, at any rate, you have a bed. What do you sleep on?”

“On a good conscience, sir.”