And then, my readers are confined within a radius of forty leagues, and the result is of real advantage to an author.' "'Ah! And why do you not abandon your razor ?' I enquired of this singular poet.

'What would you have ?' he said.

'The Muses are most capricious; to-day they give gold, to-morrow they refuse bread.

The razor secures me soup, and perhaps a bottle of Bordeaux.

Besides, my salon is a little literary circle, where all the young people of the town assemble.