"I must go to see my confrères, and find out whether they also saw this person."
"That is right," said the broker; "we must go to the bottom of this; for it seems to me as if someone had made up his mind to play a practical joke on you. I'll go with you."
They soon learned that Cherami had visited four shops; but they also satisfied themselves that he had been to no more. The dealers in feathers took counsel together, and those who had not received a call from the jocose gentleman said to one another:
"Perhaps the fellow will begin again to-morrow night; we must prepare to give him a warm reception."
The tradesmen, at whose establishments he had asked for caps, a coat, shirts, and a ham, said to their confrères:
"Allow us to come to your shops to-night and wait for this man, so that we can have our share in the reception you propose to give him."
Everything being agreed upon, in the evening they divided up into groups and waited impatiently for the party of the night before to appear.
Our hunter of feather-makers entered Rue Saint-Denis, far from suspecting all that had been plotted against him; he waved his switch about, looked to right and left, then said to himself:
"I went in there—and there. I recognize the shops perfectly. Ah! there's my number three. There's only one more—the fourth—there it is; yes, I recognize the forewoman, who had a very amiable expression, laughing as she did with all the rest of them. Now, I will go into the next one I see, and we'll have a little laugh. Oh! the question I am going to ask will be so laughable! the girls will fairly howl. I won't even answer for it that I can keep a serious face myself.—Ah! there's a feather-shop. A fine place—forward!"
Cherami made but one bound to the shop he had discovered; he entered, struck a graceful attitude, and ogled the workgirls, not noticing several young men who had stepped behind the doors when he entered.