"What is the matter with you?"
"Somebody has broken my other leg for me, M'sieu."
"Who did it, old fellow?"
"Why, a female."
Everybody was listening. The girls in their dressing gowns, with their mouths still greasy from their interrupted dinner, the mistress of the house furious, the master nervous.
"This will be a bad job," the doctor said. "You know that the municipal authorities look upon you with very unfavorable eyes, so we must try and hush the matter up."
"How can it be managed?" the master of the place asked.
"Why the best way would be to send him back to the hospital, from which he has just come out, and to pay for him there."
"I would rather do that," the master of the house replied, "than have any fuss made about the matter."
So half an hour later, Pavilly returned drunk and groaning to the ward which he had left an hour before. The Superior lifted up her hands in sorrow, for she liked him, and with a smile, for she was glad to have him back.