RECORDS OF A BACHELORS' CLUB.

SESSION THE SECOND.

During which, among other things, it is shown that a man may blunder upon a wife and a fortune at the same moment, and not prove to be the

individual he is taken for.

'It is libelous, in the extreme,' said the tall member.

'It is the truth!' responded the little fat man. 'It cannot be shown!' returned the other. 'Then will I eat my hat!' reiterated the fat

man.

'Like Saul then you would slay your thousands!' said the beauty.

'And like Samson,' cried the doctor,' with the jaw bone of

An immodest conceit!' interrupted the student; is it not sir barrister?'

'De gustibus non est disputandum!' said the lawyer, smiling.

'Lor! no massa!' cried Sambo, who was just entering, 'dere is no disputin but de gust

hab bust open de winder ob de poor nigger and his children will freeze wid de cole!'

'Where are they Sambo?'

In de entry down stair.'

'Bring them up! bring them up!' said half a dozen at once, and Sambo disappeared as quick as thought, ejaculating, with tears in his eyes, God bress you God bress your libin

souls!'

'Gentlemen!' said the student, 'that prayer has gone up to heaven as pure as the whitewinged snow flakes that have their birth there!'

'I would give more for it,' added the tall man, than for ten thousand of your formal, pharisaic petitions, that fall from the lips of fat-salaried churchmen.'

'The verb is improperly emphasized,' said the fat man.

'They must live,' said the doctor, and should be paid for their services.'

"'T will do on earth,' said the tall man, 'but for my part I should dislike to meet my prayers recorded in heaven, with the notation, ' paid for,' against them.'

6

'Order- gentlemen must observe order!' said the President; 'the question is, upon the assertion of the fleshy member, that, a man may as well marry at first sight, as after years of courtship.''

'My tall friend has pronounced it 'libelous in the extreme," pursued that gentleman, 'but if leave be granted, I will translate, as I read, from a French journal, a story that will illustrate my position.'

• Go on go on!-read it!' were sentences reiterated by various members. Just then Sambo entered, followed by his three children, and his wife, whose ebon faces shone only the more beautifully, as they were contrasted with the pure snow that covered their scanty clothing. club rose simultaneously, to give the group the nearest place to the fire, and when the bustle was over and the motley group were again seated, the fat gentleman read aloud his illustration.

The

MARRIED FOR A DINNER.

Late one evening in mid-summer, a young artist of Paris, of some degree of eminence in his profession, threw himself upon his chair, as he entered his lodging, and fell into a deep reverie. After a while he suddenly arose, began to undress, and said aloud to himself,

'Yes! yes! I have it! I will sleep tonight, start before day in the diligence for Lyons,

unknown to any one, and travel incognito. I shall meet with merry adventures, see something of France, and return with my head full of beautiful thoughts!'

Accordingly, before sunrise the next morning, he left his apartment with his portmanteau in his hand, and upon the top of a diligence left Paris behind him. As the sun went down that evening, he might have been seen entering the town of Chalons-sur-Saone, with a traveling cap carelessly upon his head, a dark grey blouse for a coat, and an elegant, fine-setting pair of pants, that contrasted strongly with the negligence too plainly visible in the arrangement of his boots and gaiters.

The young man was the first to enter the grand hotel of Chevreuil, and taking his place with the party at a table richly furnished with substantial meats, he began to dispose of them to his advantage, making no marked preference, when he heard some one behind him ask,

'Is there not here a traveler from Paris, called Bremond?'

At this name the young Parisian arose, and turning himself round, saw in the doorway a little groom in blue livery. He surveyed his traveling companions to discover if the question had been addressed to any one of them, and as no person replied, he said to the inquirer,

'It appears that there is no other Bremond here than myself. Groom, my friend, is it me that you are inquiring for?'

'It is a Monsieur Bremond arrived this evening from Paris, by the diligence.'

Parisian. identity.

'In Laffitte and Caillard's line?' added the 'In that case, I cannot deny my own What do you wish of me, young groom? I declare to you at the outset that the city of Chalons-sur-Saone is entirely unknown to me, although there may be twelve thousand inhabitants in it.'

'I know all that,' said the young lackey, with a respectful smile, ' and it is on that very account that they have sent me for you.'

'They have sent you for me!' repeated Bremond in astonishment; and who, then, if you please, facetious groom?'

If the gentleman will take the trouble to follow me, I will explain,' said the fellow. 'I am commanded to speak with you alone!'

Ah ha!' said Bremond, getting up, 'not a bad joke! Gentlemen!' added he, turning to his companions, 'if one of you is the author of this spiritual mystification, I challenge him, in the name of a stomach the most worthy of compassion in the world, to avow the charge while holding session, and leave me to put to use the