"He retires on his pension."
She grew furious, and her cap slid down on her shoulder, and she continued:
"There is nothing more to be done in that shop now. And what is the name of the new commissioner?"
"Bonassot."
She took up the Naval Year Book, which she always kept close at hand, and looked him up.
"'Bonassot—Toulon. Born in 1851. Student-Commissioner in 1871. Sub-Commissioner in 1875.' Has he been to sea?" she continued, and at that question Caravan's looks cleared up, and he laughed until his sides shook.
"Just like Balin—just like Balin, his chief." And he added an old office joke, and laughed more than ever:
"It would not even do to send them by water to inspect the Point-du-Jour, for they would be sick on the penny steamboats on the Seine."
But she remained as serious as if she had not heard him, and then she said in a low voice, while she scratched her chin:
"If only we had a Deputy to fall back upon. When the Chamber hears everything that is going on at the Admiralty, the Minister will be turned out..."