This singular countenance was like
a cheese, with a bright, red cherry stuck in the middle of it; and to
finish the portrait it would only be necessary to add two apple seeds,
placed a little obliquely, for the eyes, and a wide gash for a mouth.
Such was Malartic--the intimate friend, the Pylades, the Euryalus,
the "fidus Achates" of Jacquemin Lampourde; who certainly was not
handsome--but his mental and moral qualities made up for his little
physical disadvantages. Next to Lampourde--for whom he professed the
most exalted admiration and respect--he was accounted the most skillful
swordsman in Paris; he was always lucky at cards, and could drink to any
extent without becoming intoxicated. For the rest, he was a man of
great delicacy and honour, in his way--ready to run any risk to help or
support a friend, and capable of enduring any amount of torture rather
than betray his comrades--so that he enjoyed the universal and unbounded
esteem of his circle.
Malartic went straight to Lampourde's table, sat down opposite to him,
silently seized the glass the other had promptly filled, and drained it
at a single draught; evidently his method differed from his friend's,
but that it was equally efficacious his nose bore indisputable witness.
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