The man took from under his blouse a weapon extremely rare at that period in Europe. It was a revolver.
The weapon was new and bright. The two strangers examined it. The one who seemed to know the house, and whom the man in the blouse had called “the gunsmith,” tried the mechanism. He passed the weapon to the other, who appeared less at home there, and kept his back turned to the light.
The gunsmith continued—
The man in the blouse replied—
“I have just brought it from America. Some people bring monkeys, parrots, and other animals, as if the French people were savages. For myself I brought this. It is a useful invention.”
“How much?” inquired the gunsmith again.
“It is a pistol which turns and turns.”
“How much?”
“Bang! the first fire. Bang! the second fire. Bang! the third fire. What a hailstorm of bullets! That will do some execution.”