“Yes, yes! I know all about it, it has made noise enough; no one is talking about anything else all over the country. Besides, I arrived just as you fell on top of poor Droguet; you knocked out three of his teeth!”
“Two!”
“Three! he found there was another one missing when he got home.”
“It isn’t my fault; why did he happen to be under me when I fell?”
“That’s so; hum! hum! hum! When I go to bed so late, it makes my cough worse.”
“You know that I am to fight with Monsieur Edmond Didier, neighbor?”
“I know that he struck you, but I didn’t know whether you were going to fight or not.”
“Do you think that I will swallow that blow? Wouldn’t you fight if you were in my place, you who have been a corporal in the National Guard?”
“I? hum! hum! Sapredié! hum! hum! Oh! but I’m a swordsman, I am! It isn’t safe to look askance at me!—Hum! hum! I’ve got a horrid lump in my throat!”
“Do you think that I’ll let anyone tread on my toes?”