"Where are your pens?"
"There,—on the table; the knife is in the drawer. Wait until I light my taper, for it begins to grow dusk."
"Yes, I shall see better how to mend the pen."
"And I how to tie my cap."
Rigolette lighted a lucifer-match, and lighted a wax-end in a small bright candlestick.
"The deuce,—a wax-light! Why, neighbour, what extravagance!"
"Oh, what I burn costs but a very small trifle more than a candle, and it's so much cleaner!"
"Not much dearer?"
"Indeed, they are not! I buy these wax-ends by the pound, and a half a pound lasts nearly a year."
"But," said Rodolph, who was mending the pen very carefully, whilst the grisette was tying on her cap before the glass, "I do not see any preparations for your dinner."