Montparnasse burst into a laugh.
"Where the devil did you pick up those kids?"
"A barber made me a present of them."
In the mean while Montparnasse had become pensive.
"You recognized me very easily," he said.
He took from his pocket two small objects, which were quills wrapped in cotton, and thrust one into each nostril; they made him quite a different nose.
"That changes you," said Gavroche; "you are not so ugly now, and you ought to keep them in for good."
Montparnasse was a handsome fellow, but Gavroche was fond of a joke.
"Without any humbug," Montparnasse asked; "what do you think of me now?"
It was also a different sound of voice; in a second Montparnasse had become unrecognizable.