"Not a word," said the intruder, "or you are a dead man."
"What do you want, sir?" stammered the turnkey.
Even in '93, there were moments when, renouncing their idea of universal equality, they forgot to address each other as "Citizen."
"I wish," said the Citizen Théodore, "to be allowed to go down there."
"What for?"
"Never mind."
The turnkey regarded the person who had proffered this request with the most profound astonishment; but in the mean time his interlocutor fancied he detected in the man's look a ray of intelligence.
He lowered the pistol.
"Would you refuse to make your fortune?"