"Monsieur," I said to him, "I am one of the supernumeraries, of whom you may perhaps have heard."
"Ah yes! M. Alexandre Dumas," he exclaimed; "the son of General Alexandre Dumas, recommended by General Foy?"
I saw he knew all about me.
"I am the same," I said.
"Come in," he said, going in before me and opening the door of a small room, with one window in it and three desks. "See," he continued, "you are expected; here is your seat. Everything is ready—paper, pens, ink; you have but to sit down and to draw up your chair to your desk."
"Have I the pleasure of talking to one of those with whom I am destined to spend my days?" I asked.
"Yes.... I have just been promoted as ordinary clerk at eighteen hundred francs; I am giving up my place as copying-clerk, and that place will be yours, after a longer or shorter probationary period."
"And who is our third companion?"
"He is our deputy head clerk, Lassagne."