"Without delay."
"But...."
"Instantly."
"Is your communication then of so pressing a nature?"
"It is so important that I shudder lest I be too late."
"Since Monsieur assures me...."
"Come, take me to him, take me to him quickly!"
The assistant did not wait to close the shop, but took Romieu through into an anteroom, where M. P—— was snoring like a bass-viol.
"M. P——! M. P——!..." shouted the shopboy.
"Well, what is it? Go to the devil with you! What do you want?"