“He is staying here too,” said Manon with stubborn composure.
Bibi shrugged. He had learnt something more.
“You are more lucky than I am, madame; you have a partner.”
“Yes; it is an excellent arrangement. We have come to see what can be done—but all this is rather hopeless, is it not?”
She nodded at the ruined hotel. Bibi inflated himself, spat, smiled at her.
“I shall have that up in no time. Pst!—just like that! The bigger the job, the bigger I feel.”
And Manon smiled on him.
“You always were a man of resources, monsieur. I shall have to be content with a shanty, a couple of rooms,—what we can knock together. And now I have the fire to attend to; the blankets are damp; Monsieur Paul discovered them in a cottage. Au revoir, monsieur.”
Bibi’s hat swaggered to her.
“Be very careful of those blankets,” he said.