"Messieurs, we four, born at Troyes——"
"The home of hashed veal," said Dodichet.
"Oh! Dodichet, you are not going to keep interrupting Adhémar, are you?"
"Not I; I simply desired to confirm his statement that we were all born at Troyes.—Go on, Adhémar."
"Five years ago, we four happened to meet in this same café. I was then twenty-four years old, and I had been in Paris for some time; but Philémon Dubotté and Lucien had just arrived, and Dodichet had run through the inheritance of only one of his uncles. We were old schoolfellows. Do you know what we said when we met here?"
"Perfectly. Each one of us declared: 'I intend to succeed; to make a name and station for myself; and I ask only five years to do it in.'"
"Exactly; and we agreed then to meet again here at the end of five years, in order to find out whether we had succeeded and had reached our respective goals."
"Very good."
"Now, let each of us in turn tell where he stands, and whether he has arrived at the goal which he had in view.—Begin, Philémon."
"Oh, yes! it's Dubotté's place to begin, because he's the dean in years. Go on, fascinating blond."