"It means, my dear, that we will take another glass of punch; that will make the second leg," said the pink domino, squeezing the Spaniard's arm with great force; and he, delighted to be squeezed, called at once:
"Waiter, more punch for these ladies!"
"Oh! if I should take any more, it would make me dizzy!"
"What an oyster!" whispered the pink domino in the shepherdess's ear.
"We need that kind," was the reply; "they're the attraction of the ball; I have always liked oysters myself."
More glasses of punch were brought, which the two women put out of sight as quickly as the first. Then Chamoureau lost no time in paying the bill and leading his companions away from the buffet, for fear they would express a wish to go on three legs.
Meanwhile, our Spaniard, thinking that the punch with which he had regaled the ladies entitled him to become enterprising, ventured, in the crowd, to place one hand on a spot where the pink domino might have worn hoops. She turned upon him instantly, saying:
"Have done with such pranks, false nose! What sort of behavior is that? what do you take me for?"
"Lovely masker, my hand went astray involuntarily."