"I'm not sure even that he's an unlicensed broker."[J]
"It's so easy in Paris to pretend to be what you are not!"
"There are many people who go so far as to assume names that don't belong to them."
"And who often succeed in making dupes, under the shelter of an honorable name."
"What is there that is never stolen in Paris?"
Meanwhile, Monsieur Varinet, desiring to satisfy his mind on the subject, sent the waiter for a business directory; they consulted the bulky volume, but they sought in vain the name of Tobie Pigeonnier, and the tall young man with white eyebrows began to frown as he looked at his olive.
"Listen, messieurs," said Albert; "we must not allow Monsieur Varinet to fall a victim to his confidence in a person to whom he was introduced by us. I don't say that Tobie intends to deny his debt, nor do I think so; but, lest he forget it, I make this proposition—that we beat up Monsieur Pigeonnier, we four, who know the city pretty well. I will take the Chaussée d'Antin, the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and the Champs-Élysées."
"I, the Marais and the Palais-Royal quarter," said Balivan.
"I will look out for the Faubourg Saint-Germain and the boulevards," said Célestin.
"And I," cried Mouillot, "I go everywhere, in all directions, and I will take care of the rest. The first one who sees Tobie must capture him and take him to Varinet's house, or bring him here: this will be our general rendezvous. We will come here every morning to report the result of our search."