"Your three aces amount to nothing, as we're not playing the brelan."
"Oh! mon Dieu! I had quite forgotten that; I never thought of it! It's a mistake, messieurs; the hand ought to be thrown out."
"Not at all," said Albert; "you must pay attention; besides, you might have won with your three aces, if you hadn't run against a misty. Come, pay up, my dear fellow. Parbleu! you're not so badly off! you're less than thirty francs to the bad."
"Thirty francs fifty, and now I've lost my stake again! This is very fine!"
"Ingrate! after being so lucky in love, not to be willing to be unlucky at play."
"I don't see the necessity of losing all the time."
"Think of Madame Plays, and complain if you dare!"
Young Tobie made a wry face every time Madame Plays was mentioned, and he looked furtively at Albert, muttering between his teeth. After feeling in all his pockets, he feigned an air of astonishment, saying:
"Well, well! I haven't any more money."
"You must have discovered that before," suggested Balivan, "as you have already taken some from the pool."