"You have only to ask, and you'll find out."
The tall clown was on the point of returning to the clerks, but he was pushed aside by the man who had gone to get a glass of beer, and who returned to the office with a joyous air, saying:
"Ah! this time I think I haven't been long; is my La Villette 'bus coming?"
"La Villette!—it's just started, monsieur."
"Oh! that is too much. Why couldn't you make it wait?"
"They never wait, monsieur."
"When will there be another one now?"
"In about ten minutes."
"Oh! then I have time enough to get a cup of coffee—and a glass of liqueur to wash down the beer."
With that, he returned to the café, followed by the tall youth, who shouted to him from afar: