“Ah, diable! take care, monsieur; don’t come near me till I have well shaken myself.”
“What for? Flour or dust only whiten.”
“No, no; what you see on my arms is arsenic.”
“Arsenic?”
“Yes; I am taking my precautions against rats.”
“Ay, I suppose in an establishment like this, rats play a conspicuous part.”
“It is not with this establishment I concern myself, monsieur le comte. The rats have robbed me of more here than they will ever rob me of again.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why, you may have observed, monsieur, my inventory is being taken.”
“Are you leaving trade, then?”