Such total silence ensued that Phileas had a spasm of colic.
“What must I say, Simon?” he whispered.
“Well, well!” exclaimed Achille Pigoult.
“Messieurs,” said Simon, goaded by the sarcastic interjection of the little notary, “the honor which you have done to Monsieur le Maire may take him unawares, but it cannot surprise him.”
“That’s it,” said Beauvisage; “I am too sensible of this attention on the part of my fellow-citizens not to be excessively flattered by it.”
“Bravo!” cried the notary alone.
“The devil take me!” thought Beauvisage, “if I am ever caught haranguing again.”
“Will Messieurs Fromaget and Marcelin accept the functions of inspectors of the ballot?”
“It would be more regular,” said Achille Pigoult, rising, “if the meeting itself nominated those officers,—following, of course, the parliamentary forms of the Chamber.”
“That is best,” said the huge Monsieur Mollot, clerk of the court; “otherwise what is here taking place would be a mere farce; we should not be free in our action, in which case we might as well continue to do the will of Monsieur Simon Giguet.”