Cartier gave me his hands.
"What the devil have you come in such an equipage as that for?"
I related the story of old Levasseur, then all that had happened in Paris.
It was now half-past eight; I had only two hours and a half in which to reach Soissons, and there were still nine long leagues to travel. The probability of succeeding was getting less and less, but I would not give in. I asked M. Labbé for horses; he brought me them immediately, and in five minutes time they were harnessed.
"My goodness," said Cartier to Labbé, "I mean to go along with them. I am curious to know how it will end." And he got in with us.
"Remember me to the postillion," I said to M. Labbé.
And he nodded his head.
"Jean-Louis," he said to the postillion.
"Yes, governor."
"You know old Levasseur?"