Paul made no reply, but took his crochets and carried them some fifty yards away, toward the house where Elina worked; and there he took his stand.
Jean Ficelle went up to Sans-Cravate, who pretended to look in the direction of the boulevard, and said:
"You did well to give that sneak his walking ticket! What a fool he looked when you asked him who he went to see; he couldn't answer. Pardi! I guess not; he'd have to own up that he'd done wrong. I'll give you a comparison: it's just the same as if you saw me opening your trunk, and you says: 'What are you looking in there for?' and I says: 'I can't tell you what I'm looking for;' and you says: 'Tell me!' and I——"
"All right! enough of that! you're never done with your comparisons, and they don't amuse me."
"That's all right! Look here, I'm going to suggest something better. The sight of your rival has put you in a bad humor—that's natural; if I had someone in front of me as had turned my girl away from me, I wouldn't be satisfied till I'd given him a good licking; that would be rather hard, to be sure, as I don't happen to have any girl just now. As I was saying, you're out of sorts, but you've got some chink. That fat woman who's owed you a long while for moving her, and came and paid you this morning—you didn't expect that, so it's just the same as money found; and when you find money, you must spend it right away, or it'll bring you bad luck! So, let's not work to-day; let's go and take something. I know all the good places, you know; we'll just fold up our crochets and enjoy our youth. How does that strike you?"
Sans-Cravate hesitated.
"Not work to-day," he muttered, "in the middle of the week, when everybody's at work——"
"Ouiche! everybody—who feels like it! I'll show you a lot of good fellows to-day, who know how to enjoy themselves! Besides, can't a man take a good dinner once in a while, and loaf a bit if he feels like it? There's days when you can't help it. Anyway, it's getting late."
"Late! it's only half-past nine."
"Well, you see there's no business doing; we won't get anything to do to-day; it's the dead season; no one's doing anything."