PROMETHEUS
ILLBOUND
Eagle, vulture or dove.
VICTOR HUGO.
In the month of May 189..., at two o’clock in the afternoon, this
occurred which might appear strange:
On the boulevard leading from the Madeleine to the Opéra, a stout
gentleman of middle age, with nothing remarkable about him but uncommon
corpulence, was approached by a thin gentleman, who smilingly, thinking
no harm, we believe, gave him back a handkerchief that he had just
dropped. The corpulent gentleman thanked him briefly and was going his
way when he suddenly leant towards the thin man and must have asked
for information, which must have been given, for he produced from his
pocket a portable inkpot and pens, which without more ado he handed to
the thin gentleman, and also an envelope which up to this minute he had
been holding in his hand. And those who passed could see the thin man
writing an address upon it.--But here begins the strange part of the
story, which no newspaper, however, reported: the thin gentleman, after
having given back the pen and the envelope, had not even the time to
smile adieu when the fat gentleman, in form of thanks, abruptly struck
him on the face, then jumped in a cab and disappeared, before any of
the spectators, stupefied with surprise (I was there), thought of
stopping him.