Still the bald man made no reply, but raised his eyes and examined the hat which its owner had hung on a hook. He scrutinized it so carefully that Cherami lost patience, and said to himself:
"Well, well! what's the matter with this creature! How much longer is he going to stare at my hat and cane? He's beginning to make me very weary."
XXVII
THE CANE AND THE HAT
At last, the little man made up his mind to speak:
"That cane, monsieur—with that agate head; it's very singular!"
"You find that my cane has a singular look? Distinguished, you mean, I doubt not?"
"Why, monsieur, the fact is, that that cane—the more I look at it—a rattan—exactly!—and the hat, too—the same kind of a band—very broad——"
"Tell me, monsieur—when you have finished, will you very kindly explain yourself?" said Cherami. He began to suspect who his companion was, but he did not choose to let it appear.
"This is how it is, monsieur: I had a cane exactly like this one—so much like it that I could swear it was the same one."
"We see canes that look just alike, every day, monsieur; there's nothing extraordinary in that; there are many men who are mistaken for one another, and yet there is an expression, an animation, on a man's face which you would seek in vain on the head of a cane."