ENVOI
From my window this morning the world goes by. The vieux marcheur and the young cocotte, a patisserie boy with a truffled duck, and the smart coupé of Elise.
Bright shines the sun, the asphalt steams, and the gutters flash in ripples. The narrow street is blocked to the doors of expensive boutiques, whose windows hold treasures of jewels, of lace and a million things from the frailest peignoir to the latest chapeau, at ridiculous prices that open the eyes of the vieux monsieur, and half close those of Cora—in a satisfied smile.
“Come, come, mon cher! how about my chapeau?”
“Si tu veux,” he consents, and the bargain is made.
At the bend of the byway an acre of roses in white paper jackets flame in the sun, and gay boutonnières of fragrant posies are tucked in lapels of passing gallants.
A hearse crawls by—poor Ninette! you have gone. Can you still hear, I wonder, the crash of the band, the swinging waltz in the whirling room? It is François, dear, who has sent you the roses—the drooping roses that cover your tomb.
It is noon and the bells are ringing.
“Why do they toll, monsieur?... For Ninette?”
“A marriage, you say? Ah! thank you.”
“I’ll wager some Count will espouse for a dot.
“Come, Marie and Gaston, Pierre and Paulette, let us go to the wedding. Ten sous’ worth of wine. To the health of the bride!
“What say you, Harlequin, you who have known this Paris of Pleasure, this Paris of Leisure, this Paris of Fun? Is it true, my surmise?”
“Mon vieux,” cries Marie, “stop and think. Don’t you know why they’re ringing? Mimi La Belle is to marry the Duke!”
Racy sketches of the innermost life and characters of the famous Bohemia of Paris—its grisettes, students, models, balls, studios, cafes, etc.
John W. Alexander: “It is the real thing.”
Frederick Remington: “You have left nothing undone.”
Ernest Thompson Seton: “A true picture of the Latin Quarter as I knew it.”
Frederick Dielman, President National Academy of Design: “Makes the Latin Quarter very real and still invests it with interest and charm.”
Evening Telegraph, Philadelphia: “A captivating book.”
Boston Times: “A genuine treat.”
The Argonaut, San Francisco: “A charming volume. Mr. Smith does not fail to get at the intimate secrets, the subtle charm of the real Latin Quarter made famous by Henry Merger and Du Maurier.”
The Mail and Express, New York: “When you have read this book you know the ‘Real Latin Quarter’ as well as you will ever come to know it without living there yourself.”
Boston Herald: “It pictures the Latin Quarter in its true light.”
Water-Color Frontispiece by F. Hopkinson Smith. About 100 original drawings and camera snap shots by the Author, and two caricatures in color by the celebrated French caricaturist Sancha, Ornamental Covers, 12mo. Cloth, Price, $1.20, net. Postage, 13 Cents.
Transcriber's Note
Some presumed printer's errors have been corrected, including normalizing punctuation. This book contains many French words with incorrect accents and/or ligatures. When at least one instance of a word occurs in the book in which accents and/or ligatures are correctly used, all incorrect versions of the same word have been corrected. When the word was consistently spelled incorrectly or when it appeared only once, no correction was made. Further corrections are listed below with the printed text (top) and corrected text (bottom):