"But he is coming back?"
"In an hour."
"May I wait for him, monsieur?"
"Certainly, if you take something."
"Give me some brandy-cherries," said Dubois. "I never drink wine except with meals."
The two guards exchanged a contemptuous smile.
The host hastened to bring the cherries.
"Ah!" said Dubois; "only five! At St. Germain-en-Laye they give six."
"Possibly, monsieur; for at St. Germain-en-Laye they have no excise to pay."
"Yes, I forgot that," and he began to eat a cherry, which he could not, however, accomplish without a grimace.