"Let that teach you to pinch me! I'm going to bed—I won't come into your studio again, monsieur; your friends are too enterprising."
Crevette vanished; Tobie put his hand to his nose and seated himself in a corner, muttering:
"I won't fool with her any more; there's no feeling in my nose."
"Poor Tobie! but he can't seem to get enough. He comes here fresh from a delicious tête-à-tête with a charming woman, and he must needs begin at once on a servant! What an omnibus seducer!"
"What would he do, I wonder," said Balivan, "if he should see my little neighbor overhead?"
"You have a pretty neighbor, have you?" queried Albert.
"Charming! Seventeen years old at most, I judge; a fascinating figure! and a saucy, mischievous face—with innocence, grace, and modesty in her glance. Seriously, she's one of the prettiest grisettes I ever saw."
"Send for her!" cried the young men in chorus.
"Make her come down, Balivan."
"Shall I go up and fetch her?" asked Tobie, taking his hand from his nose, which was badly swollen by the blow he had received.