“The laws of honor force me to do so.”
“I will fight,” said Eusebe, resolutely; “but may the devil fly away with me if I can comprehend what you call the laws of honor!”
CHAPTER XXXIV.
After a long discussion, during which Clamens talked a great deal and Eusebe comprehended very little, the necessity for securing another second for the duel occurred to them, and the provincial started to hunt up his old friend Paul Buck, the painter. Paul had broken up his modest establishment some time previous, and it was not without extreme difficulty and much wearisome search that Eusebe found him, located in a wretched garret in the Rue Neuve Coquenard.
Alas! Paul Buck was sadly changed. He was no longer the joyous artist with a contented heart and merry countenance. His woebegone features, neglected hair, ragged garments, and ventilated boots made him a sorry shadow of his former self.
“Ah!” he exclaimed, upon seeing Eusebe, “I was thinking of you this morning. I said to myself, ‘If I knew the address of the barbarian, I would go to him and borrow ten francs?’”
“Here are twenty,” said Eusebe. “Are you ill?”
“Not at all. You find me much changed, do you not?”
“Yes.”