Fortunately he was saved from having to decide this delicate question immediately by the reëntry of Paul into the room.
The young footman was carrying a bundle of papers, which he respectfully presented to M. Joseph on a silver tray. The great man looked at Paul somewhat puzzled, rubbed his chin, and contemplated the papers with a thoughtful eye.
"What are these?" he asked.
"The petitions, M. Joseph," replied the young man.
"Oh! Ah, yes!" quoth the other airily. "Quite so; but—I have no time to read them now. You may glance through them, Paul, and let me know if any are worthy of my consideration."
M. Joseph was born in an epoch when reading was not considered an indispensable factor in a gentleman's education. Whether the petitions of the thirty aspirants to the new post of Comptroller of Finance would subsequently be read by M. Paul or not it were impossible to say; for the present he merely took up the papers again, saying quite respectfully:
"Yes, M. Joseph."
"Stay! you may take cards, dice, and two flagons of Bordeaux into my boudoir."
"Yes, M. Joseph."
"Have you dismissed every one from the ante-chamber?"