“Do you know that this is a magnificent affair—this fête of Monsieur and Madame de Belleville’s?”
“Yes, it will cost them a pile.”
“What did you say?”
“I say that this is famous madeira, ten thousand bouffardes!”
“As I am not afraid of getting a little started, I am going to fill up again.”
“Cristi! damn the odds! I’ll take another glass, too.”
“It’s no use for you to try to hold back, my buck,” thought Freluchon, as he refilled Croque’s glass; “I mean for you to be as agreeable to-night as you were last night.”
Seizing an opportunity when the conversation flagged a little, Doctor Antoine took the floor.
“This charming banquet,” he began, “which recalls the famous feasts of Lucullus, so often cited for their sumptuousness, this superb banquet, I say, is to be made still more memorable by the announcement of a scientific discovery—a most interesting discovery—which our host has made, and which he has promised to communicate to us.”
“Hear! hear!” cried Freluchon, “we call for the discovery; it concerns the age of trees, I understand.”