The pale face of the other coloured, and he was unable to restrain a slight movement.
"I forgot," repeated Moulin; "that carriage must not leave. Do not put it on the 6.40 express this morning."
A short silence ensued before Roubaud, in a very natural voice said:
"Indeed! Why is that?"
"Because," replied Moulin, "a coupé has been booked for the express of this evening. We are not sure that one will come in during the day, so we may just as well keep this one."
"Certainly," replied Roubaud, staring at his colleague.
But he was absorbed by another thought, and all at once, flying into a rage, he exclaimed:
"It's disgusting! Just see how those fellows do the cleaning! That carriage looks as if it had the accumulated dust of a week on it."
"Ah!" resumed Moulin. "When trains arrive after eleven o'clock at night, there is no fear of the men giving the coaches a brush up. It's as much as they will do to cast a glance inside of them. The other night, they overlooked a passenger asleep on one of the seats, and he only awoke the next morning."
Then, stifling a yawn, he said he was going up to bed. But as he went off, an abrupt feeling of curiosity brought him back.