"True, I forgot where we are. I had told those ladies, but they would not listen to me. If my prescriptions had been followed instead of those of that ass, Ambroise Paré, you would by this time have been in a condition to go in pursuit of adventures together, or exchange another sword-thrust if such had been your good pleasure; but we shall see. Does your friend listen to reason?"
"Scarcely."
"Hold out your tongue, my dear gentleman."
Coconnas thrust out his tongue to La Mole, making such a hideous grimace that the practitioner shook his head a second time.
"Oho!" he muttered, "contraction of the muscles. There's no time to be lost. This evening I will send you a potion ready prepared; you must make him take it three times: once at midnight, once at one o'clock, and once at two."
"Very well."
"But who will make him take it?"
"I will."
"You?"
"Yes."