"You'll see if he isn't cunning," said Grain-of-Salt, holding out his full glass.
Palikare stretched out his neck, thinned his lips and quickly drank the half glass of wine.
But this feat did not give La Rouquerie any particular satisfaction.
"I don't want him to drink my wine, but to drag my cart with the rabbit skins," she said.
"Didn't I just tell you that he came from Greece, draggin' a wagon the whole way?"
"Ah, that's another thing!"
The strange looking woman carefully examined the animal; then she gave the greatest attention to every detail; then asked Perrine how much she wanted for him. The price which Perrine had arranged with her landlord beforehand was one hundred francs. This was the sum that she asked.
La Rouquerie gave a cry of amazement. One hundred francs! Sell a donkey without any guarantee for that sum! Were they crazy? Then she began to find all kind of faults with the unfortunate Palikare.
"Oh, very well," said Grain-of-Salt, after a lengthy discussion; "we'll take him to the Market."
Perrine breathed. The thought of only getting twenty francs had stunned her. In their terrible distress what would twenty francs be? A hundred francs even was not sufficient for their pressing needs.