“We should be our expenses out of pocket!”
“Bah! that won’t make any difference, if your damsel is really pretty; there’s always room for a new love in the human heart. At eighteen years and a half, I could have loved all four quarters of the globe.—Attention! I think the flock is coming out.”
As he spoke, several young women in little caps and modest aprons came from the dark passage; some of them were soon joined by young men who were waiting for them; others walked away alone. Daréna and Poterne, stationed on the other side of the street, let them all pass. The last of all leaped the gutter with agility and walked up to Poterne, who tried to impart an amiable tone to his voice as he said:
“Did you recognize me, Mademoiselle Chichette?”
“I should say so; you look like a coal man with your big hat.”
Daréna laughed aloud, and the girl stepped back, saying:
“Ah! there’s someone with you, Messié Globeski?”
“Yes, an intimate friend of mine, who is employed to manage the affair I spoke to you about. We will go somewhere and talk it over.”
“Yes, my dear child,” said Daréna, taking the girl’s arm and passing it through his, “we will go and have a chat and a glass of punch. Do you like punch?”
“Oh, yes! ever so much!” the Alsatian replied, looking at Daréna.