"Give me two hundred thousand francs and you will never see me again!"
Laisangy answered with a certain dignity:
"I never give alms to strangers."
"Bless my soul!" cried Fagiano, "your manners are improving. You do not know my name, but I know yours, Monsieur Danglars!"
At this name the banker started back.
"You are mad!" he cried.
"Very well; but what would you say if at the Tuileries you heard yourself announced by your real name, Monsieur Danglars?"
Danglars, for it was he, drew a pistol from his pocket and presented it to Fagiano's breast. He with a quick blow struck it from the banker's hand. It fell on the floor and fortunately did not go off. Fagiano picked it up and drew the charge.
"Dangerous playthings and sad interruptions in a conversation," he said. "We can understand each other without this. And now, having gotten through with this melodramatic scene, I tell you that I shall not be content with less than five hundred thousand francs."
Danglars was utterly confounded. But presently, gathering himself together, he said: