"Good!" he exclaimed.
He took a pen, signed, threw sand over my writing and over his; then, giving me back the epistle, which was for a simple inspector,—as, at first, they did not risk confiding more than that to my inexperienced hand,—he said—
"Do you know how to fold a letter?"
I looked at him with astonishment.
"I ask you if you know how to fold a letter. Answer me!"
"Yes, yes ... at least, I believe so," I replied, astonished at the fixed stare his little grey eyes had assumed.
"You believe? Is that all? You are not sure?"
"Monsieur, I am not yet sure about anything, as you see, not even about the folding of a letter."
"And there you are right, for there are ten ways of folding a letter, according to the rank of the person to whom it is addressed. Fold this one."
I began to fold the letter in four.