And when he saw the advocate, who was much
such a man as himself, he told him that he had completed his
business, and had nothing further to do, except it were to
find a good breakfast. The advocate made answer that they
could find breakfasts enough and to spare, provided they had
some one to defray the cost, and, taking the other under the
arm, he said to him, 'Come, gossip, we may perhaps find some
fool who will pay the reckoning for us both.' Now behind
them was an apothecary's man, an artful and inventive
fellow, whom this advocate was always plaguing," &c.--L.
He went out from his shop into a street whither all repaired on needful
occasions, (2) and there found a large lump of ordure standing on end,
and so well frozen that it looked like a small loaf of fine sugar.
Forthwith he wrapped it in handsome white paper, in the manner he was
wont to use for the attraction of customers, and hid it in his sleeve.
2 In olden time, as shown in the _Memoires de l'Academie de
Troyes_, there were in most French towns streets specially
set aside for the purpose referred to. At Alencon, in Queen
Margaret's time, there was a street called the Rue des
Fumiers, as appears from a report dated March 8, 1564
(Archives of the Orne, Series A).
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