“I should like to stop here a month, unknown to my four travelling companions—why, I will tell you later.”
“Nothing is easier. They will leave to-morrow.”
“I want a very humble lodging, which I expect I shall occupy for a month. But what I want more than all is your silence.”
“I am as mute as my conscience, and I have a room that will suit you to a nicety.” And Ali flattered himself that he had virtually let the lumber-room which had so distrusted Porc-en-Truie.
He retired for an instant, then returned with a light, and once more ascended the stairs, followed this time by Maragougnia. He opened the door, entered first, and putting his hand behind the flame to throw a good light on the scene, turned and said, with the tone of a man who feels he had done the right thing, “There—that’s the article for you.”
[Original Size] -- [Medium-Size]
The sudden appearance of the light put to flight a myriad of little black specks, that, hustling, scrambling, and running to and fro over the walls, finally disappeared in the hangings and wainscot.