“What news, Monsieur Sauvageon! Peste! we have some very peculiar, very interesting people in town!”
“Tell me about them, my friend; go on!”
“Those two strangers, those doctors who arrived at the Tête-Noire last night, have been making experiments already.”
“Indeed?”
“It’s an absolute fact; I got it from Jérôme, the servant at the inn, who saw it and heard it.”
“The devil.”
“The somnambulist began his nocturnal expeditions last night.”
“Nocturnal expeditions at night! Are these somnambulists nyctalopes?”
“Yes, monsieur, they’re nycta—What do you call it, Monsieur Sauvageon?”
“Nyctalopes, my friend.”