"Has Garofoli returned?" I asked.
The old man looked at me without replying, then began to cough. I could see that he would not tell me anything unless I let him know that I knew all about Garofoli.
"You don't mean to say he is still in prison?" I exclaimed. "Why, I thought he'd got out long ago."
"No, he's got another three months yet."
Garofoli three more months in prison! Mattia could breathe. I left the horrible yard as quickly as possible and hurried off to the Hotel du Cantal. I was full of hope and joy and quite disposed to think kindly of Barberin; if it had not been for Barberin, I might have died of cold and hunger when I was a baby. It was true he had taken me from Mother Barberin to sell me to a stranger, but then he had no liking for me and perhaps he was forced to do it for the money. After all it was through him that I was finding my parents. So now I ought not to harbor any bitterness against him.
I soon reached the Hotel du Cantal which was only a hotel in name, being nothing better than a miserable lodging house.
"I want to see a man named Barberin; he comes from Chavanon," I said to a dirty old woman who sat at a desk. She was very deaf and asked me to repeat what I had said.
"Do you know a man named Barberin?" I shouted.
Then she threw up her hands to heaven so abruptly that the cat sleeping on her knees sprang down in terror.
"Alas! Alas!" she cried, then she added: "Are you the boy he was looking for?"