"Dubat!"
"Monsieur?"
"Take this idiot to the post. I'll enter a complaint against him before the Correctionnelle in the morning. He shall forfeit his license for this amusement. Gentlemen, pardon me for this unnecessary intrusion. Either this fool Perriot has lied or has led us to the wrong number. I'll give him time to decide which. Allons!"
Led by the irate official the squad departed, Monsieur Perriot being hustled unceremoniously between two agents.
The young men left behind looked at each other for a minute without speaking, then broke into a chorus of laughter.
It was such a good one on the police.
"Ah!" exclaimed Villeroy, "if we only had that stiff here for a fact!"
"This joke on the agents must be got into the newspapers," said Lerouge. "It's too good to keep all to ourselves."
"Fact!" cried Massard, who had thrown himself on the cot.
"The joke is on Monsieur Perriot, I think," observed Villeroy.