"The devil take you with your gymnastics! There's two cups smashed! What sort of a crazy idea is it—to make a child walk on his head; and in a salon, too!"
"Bless my soul! don't lose your temper over two cups; and see, here's one of them that has only the handle broken."
"It takes away all its value, none the less."
"Oh, yes! people say that, but no one ever replaces anything. Do you propose sending your son to the circus, that you make him do such tricks as that?"
"No; I am going to make a lawyer of him."
"Do you expect him to try cases, walking on his hands?"
"My dear friend, gymnastics is always a good thing, in every station of life. A lawyer may have occasion to show how a thief went to work to climb into a window; he'll make a poor fist at it if he doesn't know anything about gymnastics."
The ladies appeared in the salon, accompanied by Madame Trichon.
"What has happened?" inquired Aldegonde; "I heard my husband shouting."