'I dare you to touch her, hey!'
'You dare! hey!'
'Yes, I do! hey!'
'Now then,' exclaimed the gentleman from the travelling coach; 'I insist on a cessation of this wrangling. Loose the wheels at once.'
'Allow me,' said the gentleman from the Parisian barouche. He leaped out of his conveyance, caught the lantern from the postboy, and suddenly, with such abruptness as not to give the other traveller time to withdraw his head, he turned the full blaze of the lamp upon his face.
His hat was off immediately, and he bowed low.
Grégoire touched Lindet on the arm, and pointed to the illumined face. It was that of Necker.
'Look at the top of the coach,' whispered the abbé; 'it is laden with boxes. He is dismissed.'
Lindet looked. The light was immediately averted.