"Oh! oh! an ode!" said M. Bichet.
"Well, then, now for the ode," said M. Parseval. "What is it on, young man?"
"You may remember that, for some time past, people have been much taken up with la Peyrouse? The papers have even lately been announcing that traces of the shipwreck have been found...."
"Is that so?" asked M. Bichet.
"Yes, it is," said M. Pieyre.
"I knew la Peyrouse well," said M. Parseval de Grandmaison.
"I, too," said M. Pieyre.
"I did not know her," said M. Bichet, "but I knew Piron."
"That is not the same thing," said M. Parseval.
"Let us have your ode, young man," said M. Pieyre.