"Oh! don't call me Seringat—I don't want to be Seringat again!"
"To be sure—you are Miflorès. All right! My dear friend, I shall be obliged to resort to your purse once more. I am going to make my début at the Quimper-Corentin theatre, in Joconde, nothing less! And I must have a costume for the rôle, a rich and elegant costume; Joconde is Count Robert's friend, you know?"
"I will reply in the words of Monsieur Prudhomme, in La Famille Improvisée: 'You would be wrong if you could.'—How much do I owe you now?"
"Two thousand francs, which I have lent you at four different times."
"That's right—five hundred francs each time; well, lend me a thousand at once to-day. Then I shall owe you three thousand. But my old aunt can't last much longer; and then, too, I am going to make a great success on the stage, and tenors are paid fabulous prices now! I can easily pay you three thousand francs, when I am earning fifty thousand a year."
Monsieur Seringat took his wallet from his pocket and took from it a thousand-franc note, which he handed to Dodichet, saying:
"This is for keeping my secret!"
"Thanks, my dear friend; you have unpleasant moments, but some very agreeable quarter-hours. Will you come to Quimper to see my début?"
"No, I don't want to leave Paris; one can lose one's self better here, in the crowd. I have discovered a small hotel, at the rear of a courtyard, at the farther end of Rue Saint-Jacques, and I am going to take refuge there."