"Oh! he'd been itching to go for a long while," said Balivan.
"Yes, ever since he changed his fetich."
"That's a very convenient dodge," observed Mouillot; "he had at least four hundred and fifty francs left of the change for his olive, and he's gone off with it.—Varinet, you have a fetich of very doubtful value."
Varinet calmly wrapped the olive in a piece of paper and put it back in his pocket.
"Do you think that that young man is capable of leaving this pledge in my hands?" he said. "I believe that he will come to my house to redeem it."
"Oh! he'll redeem it," said Albert; "I have no doubt of that."
But Célestin shook his head.
"Perhaps he will," he murmured; "but he's quite capable of forgetting his debt, and I fancy you'll have to remind him of it. Don't lose your fetich."
"For my part," said Mouillot, "I wouldn't give three francs for that olive."
The young men resumed their game, after saying good-night to Dupétrain, whom Balivan escorted to the landing, to make sure that he did not mistake his road and return to make another attempt to put his servant in a trance.