Toward the close of the month of September following, one fine day, about two o'clock in the afternoon, a gentleman was walking back and forth along the path in front of the monkey house at the Jardin des Plantes.

This gentleman was no other than our old acquaintance Monsieur Dupont, of whom we lost sight some time ago. We left him in the private dining-room, where he had dined with Georgette, who quitted him abruptly because he thought that he could easily triumph over a girl who had consented to dine with him alone at a restaurant; so that his bonne fortune was limited to the possession of a little striped petticoat which had been left in his hands.

Dupont had returned to his wife at Brives-la-Gaillarde. He had carried the little petticoat with him, but had been careful not to show it to his wife, who might have thought it strange that her husband should bring nothing back from Paris save a second-hand petticoat. However, Dupont had been much less inclined to sleep since his return; that was something in favor of the capital. From time to time, when he was alone, he took the grisette's little petticoat from its hiding place and gazed fondly at it, sighing as he remembered her who had worn it and to whom it was so becoming. On those days, Dupont was even less sleepy than usual, and his wife would say to him:

"My dear, it was an excellent idea for you to pass a few weeks in Paris; you came back much more wide awake; it did you good."

Finally, about the middle of September, Dupont received a letter thus conceived:

Dupont quivered with joy when he read this letter:

"The charming girl wants to see me again!" he thought "The petticoat is only a pretext; she regrets her ill treatment of me and means to reward my love at last. Yes, indeed; I will certainly keep the appointment she gives me."

He went to his wife, and said to her:

"My dear love, I must make another little trip to Paris. It is necessary for me to see Jolibois, and I believe that it will be good for my health too. I could hardly wake up this morning."

"Yes, my dear, yes, go to Paris," replied madame; "it can't help doing you good; but don't stay so long as you did the last time."

That is why our old acquaintance was walking in the Jardin des Plantes, on the designated avenue, on the 25th of September, feeling from time to time in the pocket of his full-skirted coat, in which he had bestowed the little striped petticoat he was requested to return.

Ere long Dupont noticed that he kept passing a person of mature years, but dressed with much elegance; this was no other than Monsieur de Mardeille, who had received the following note a few days before:

Monsieur de Mardeille was very careful not to miss that appointment, for he was consumed by a longing to see Georgette once more.

"Perhaps she means to return the twelve thousand francs I was stupid enough to give her," he said to himself.

And having made a neat parcel of the little black petticoat, he put it in his overcoat pocket and betook himself to the place indicated in the note.

After a little time, a third personage appeared on the same path; this was the young Vicomte Edward de Sommerston, who had received a letter of precisely the same tenor as Monsieur de Mardeille's, except that he was requested to bring with him a white petticoat. As our young dandy was not inclined to carry a petticoat in his pocket, he was accompanied by a very diminutive groom, who carried the garment in question under his arm and had an abundant supply of cigarettes in his hand.

As these three gentlemen were walking back and forth along the same path, they soon noticed one another.

"Anyone would say that those two dandies also have appointments here," said Dupont to himself.

"Those two fellows are evidently waiting here for someone," thought the viscount, as he puffed at his cigarette.

And Monsieur de Mardeille made a similar reflection as he passed the other two.

Before long there was a smart shower. Instantly all the promenaders and monkey fanciers disappeared, except the three gentlemen with the petticoats. They continued to walk to and fro on the same path; and as there was no one else left there save themselves and the little groom, they could not doubt that they were all there by appointment. They began to smile as they passed one another; it was easy to see that they divined one another's motives for being there, and that they had at their tongue's end some such words as:

"How tedious this waiting is! Gad! if it weren't for a charming woman, I'd have gone away long ago!"

Dupont had been tempted more than once to enter into conversation with his fellow promenaders, but he had not dared.

"The time wouldn't seem so long, if I were talking with these gentlemen," he said to himself; "that would divert my thoughts and make it easier to be patient; but perhaps they are not in a mood for talking."

Suddenly Edward stopped and drew his watch. Monsieur de Mardeille did the same; whereupon Monsieur Dupont walked up to them, drew his own watch, and ventured to say:

"I beg pardon, messieurs, but will you allow me to ask what time you make it? My watch may be a little fast, and I should like to be certain of the time. I say twenty-two minutes past two."

"Two twenty-two; that's my time, too," said Monsieur de Mardeille.

"Faith! messieurs, we go better than Charles the Fifth's clocks," said the viscount, after consulting his watch; "I agree with you exactly."

"Didn't Charles the Fifth's clocks go well?" inquired Dupont.

"Don't you know that that monarch, after abdicating, cultivated a passion for clockmaking? He amused himself mending and improving clocks; he had an enormous number of them, and they went so well together that sometimes, as a reward of his labors, he had the pleasure of hearing them strike twelve for a whole hour!"

They laughed heartily over Charles the Fifth's clocks; then Dupont observed:

"I had a rendezvous for two o'clock, here in this path."

"So had I."

"And I."

"But women are never on time!"

"No, never!"

"Especially when they are young and pretty; they know that we'll wait for them."

"Yes, they are too anxious to make us long for them to come."

"As for myself," said Edward, "I propose to wait just five minutes more; but if Mademoiselle Georgette hasn't arrived at the half-hour, I am going away!"

"Georgette!" cried Monsieur de Mardeille.

"Georgette!" muttered Monsieur Dupont. "On my word! this is strange; it's a Georgette I am waiting for, too!"

"And I."

"Pardieu! this is rather unique! A dark girl, medium height, but built like a Venus! And such a foot! and a leg! altogether enchanting!"

"That is the exact portrait of the person I am waiting for."

"It is the exact portrait of the Georgette who wrote to me."

"This becomes decidedly interesting!" said the viscount. "I have her letter here."

"So have I."

"And I."

"Let us compare them. Yes, it certainly is the same writing! Well, messieurs, I have a petticoat of hers here, which she left in my hands and asked me to bring back to her.—Tom! come here and show what you have under your arm."

The little groom drew near and unfolded the white petticoat; Monsieur de Mardeille and Dupont instantly took the petticoats out of their pockets, and exhibited them, saying:

"I also have brought her a petticoat."

"And so have I, as you see."

Thereupon the three gentlemen laughed so uproariously that the monkeys tried to imitate them. When their outburst of hilarity had subsided, the viscount said:

"Don't you believe that the girl has made fools of us by writing to us all to meet her at the same place?"

"I begin to think so," said Mardeille.

"And she made us come in front of the monkeys!" exclaimed Dupont. "She selected this place purposely."

"She certainly won't come; it is past the half-hour. I am going away."

"Wait a moment, monsieur; there's a lady coming in this direction."

"But she is with a gentleman."

"Mademoiselle Georgette didn't write us that she would come alone."

"I can't distinguish her features yet, for she has on a bonnet. But it isn't her figure at all. This one has an enormous funnel-shaped skirt."

"That's a hoopskirt—the latest fashion."

"Great God! how ugly she is! The Georgette I am expecting used to dress in such excellent taste! One could see how she was built."

"Still, the nearer she comes, the more I think that I recognize her."

"Why, yes, that's so! I would swear that it is she."

"It is she! it certainly is, messieurs. See, she's coming toward us! There's no doubt about it now."