"Come nearer the fireplace."
"I haven't the slightest objection, but how will that help me? There's no fire."
"No fire! Gad! that's so. I remember now that I didn't find a single stick this morning in that trunk that I use as a woodbox; indeed, that's why I stayed in bed, because it was warmer here. Will you get into bed with me, without ceremony?"
"No, thanks; I prefer to be cold. But, tell me, Balloquet, what in the deuce has happened to you since I saw you last? Then you had a very pretty little suite of rooms, handsomely furnished; you had everything you wanted, and a fellow didn't freeze in your room; and to-day you are perched on a sixth floor, in a single room; for I don't see any other than the one I entered, and this is evidently the whole apartment."
"Yes; but how beautifully it's decorated, eh? Fresh paint, and this wall paper, and that ceiling with a centre-piece!"
"Yes, yes, it's all fresh and new; for all that, I should think that you'd need some furniture."
"Do you think so? For my part, when an apartment has pretty wall paper and fresh paint, it seems to me that very little furniture is required."
"Very little, possibly, but some; and I didn't see a single piece in the outer room."
"Furniture would make it look smaller, and it's none too large."
I began to laugh, and Balloquet followed suit, rolling himself up in the bedclothes.