"That doesn't matter; you will drink, and I will eat and drink with you; we will play cards, we will sing, we will pass a delightful evening.—Lean upon me—steady now, and forward!"
Cédrille suffered himself to be led away, and, his companion almost carrying him, they soon reached the Loup de Mer.
It would have been useless in those days to seek in taverns the blaze of light which dazzles our eyes to-day when we enter a café; a smoky lamp or two lighted but dimly the room and the drinkers; but the latter, being accustomed to nothing better, found the place where they assembled very much to their liking, so there was always a numerous company at the Loup de Mer; it was not so select as the Chevalier Passedix had tried to persuade Cédrille; but, by way of compensation, it was very hilarious and animated, and, above all, exceedingly noisy.
Almost all the tables were occupied, and covered with pewter pots and goblets; they were not so pretty to look at as our bottles and glasses, but they were less fragile.
Not without difficulty did Passedix succeed in finding an unoccupied end of a table and in obtaining two stools. Although an habitué of the place, the chevalier did not seem to be greeted with great cordiality, and the first words of the waiter to whom he applied were:
"There's no more room, monsieur le chevalier; it isn't worth while for you to come in."
But the Gascon, pushing aside the waiter, who was standing in front of him, glared savagely around the room and cried:
"Ah! there's no room, eh?—Capédébious! we will see about that! There must always be room for me and my friends! and, at need, Roland will find a way to make room!"
"Let Monsieur de Passedix come in," said a woman of uncertain age, who sat at the desk; and she added, with a slight shrug of her shoulders: "if you don't, you know that he will make a scene, pick a quarrel with someone, and end by bringing the watch here."
"Well! I only said what the master ordered me to say," muttered the waiter, sulkily.