"Aid my memory, captain. I have unfortunately forgotten."
"I told you that if I had an affair like this to manage, things would go better. I added that I would speak to you of it again. I do so now."
"What the devil are you talking about, captain?"
"A simple matter, chevalier. We made a first attempt together, which failed. Then you changed batteries: you thought you could do without me, and you failed again. The first time you failed at night, and without noise: we each went our own way, and there was nothing known about it. The second time, on the contrary, you failed in broad daylight, and with an éclat which has compromised all; so that if you do not save yourselves by a bold stroke, you are all lost, as Dubois has your names; and to-morrow—to-night perhaps—you may be all arrested, knights, barons, dukes, and princes. Now, there is in the world one man, and one only, who can free you from your troubles—that man is Captain Roquefinette, and you offer him the same place he held before! Fie, chevalier!—you wish to bargain with him. Remember, pretensions increase with the services to be rendered. I am now an important personage. Treat me as such, or I put my hands in my pockets, and leave Dubois to do as he likes."
D'Harmental bit his lips, but he understood that he had to treat with a man who was accustomed to sell his services as dear as possible; and as what the captain said of their necessity was literally true, he restrained his impatience and his pride.
"Then you wish to be a colonel?"
"That is my idea."
"But suppose I make you this promise, who can answer that I have influence enough to ratify it?"
"Oh, chevalier, I reckon on managing my little affairs myself."
"Where?"