"It is charming, on my word!"
"Is it not? Nothing more convenient. The droll fellow is capable of giving that as an excuse. Happily, the law knows no such accomplices."
"After all, you are only accused of an abuse of confidence, is it not, my general?"
"Certainly! Do you take me for a thief, Master Bourdin?"
"Oh! general. I meant to say there was nothing serious in all this; after all, there is not enough to whip a cat."
"Have I a despairing look, my good fellow?"
"Not at all; I never saw you look more cheerful. Indeed, if you are condemned, you will only have two or three months' imprisonment, and twenty-five francs fine. I know my code."
"And these two or three months I shall be allowed, I am sure, to pass at my ease in a lunatic asylum. I have one deputy under my thumb."
"Oh! then your affair is sure."
"Hold, Bourdin, I can hardly keep from laughing; these fools who have sent me here will gain much by it! They shall never see a sou of the money they claim. They force me to sell my commission—all the same. I am aware of the duty I owe my predecessor. You see it is these muffs who will be the geese of the farce, as Robert Macaire says."