“They are quick, you see, at Paris. It would have taken a week at Trevisa.”
“Trevisa, my dear fellow, is not Paris.”
As I said this, the Abbé de la Coste was announced. I did not know the name, but I gave orders for him to be admitted; and there presently appeared the same little priest with whom I had dined at Versailles after leaving the Abbé de la Ville.
After the customary greetings he began by complimenting me on the success of my lottery, and then remarked that I had distributed tickets for more than six thousand francs.
“Yes,” I said, “and I have tickets left for several thousands more.”
“Very good, then I will invest a thousand crowns in it.”
“Whenever you please. If you call at my office you can choose the numbers.”
“No, I don’t think I’ll trouble to do so; give me any numbers just as they come.”
“Very good; here is the list you can choose from.”
He chose numbers to the amount of three thousand francs, and then asked me for a piece of paper to write an acknowledgment.