ris remain
open late at night,--later than the cafes and the wineshops? That fact
puzzles me very much," said Gazonal.

"In the first place, our shops are much finer when lighted up than they
are in the daytime; next, where we sell ten hats in the daytime we sell
fifty at night."

"Everything is queer in Paris," said Leon.

"Thanks to my efforts and my successes," said Vital, returning to
the course of his self-laudation, "we are coming to hats with round
headpieces. It is to that I tend!"

"What obstacle is there?" asked Gazonal.

"Cheapness, monsieur. In the first place, very handsome silk hats can be
built for fifteen francs, which kills our business; for in Paris no one
ever has fifteen francs in his pocket to spend on a hat. If a beaver hat
costs thirty, it is still the same thing--When I say beaver, I ought to
state that there are not ten pounds of beaver skins left in France. That
article is worth three hundred and fifty francs a pound, and it takes an
ounce for a hat. Besides, a beaver hat isn't really worth anything; the
skin takes a wretched dye; gets rusty in ten minutes under the sun, and
heat puts it out of shape as well. What we call 'beaver' in the trade is
neither more nor less than hare's-skin. The best qualities are made from
the back of the animal, the second from the sides, the third from the
belly. I confide to you these trade secrets because you are men of
honor. But whether a man has hare's-skin or silk on his head, fifteen
or thirty francs in short, the problem is always insoluble. Hats must be
paid for in cash, and that is why the hat remains what it is. The honor
of vestural France will be saved on the day that gray hats with round
crowns can be made to cost a hundred francs. We could then, like the
tailors, give credit. To reach that result men must resolve to wear
buckles, gold lace, plumes, and the brims lined with satin, as in the
days of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. Our business, which would then enter
the domain of fancy, would increase tenfold. The markets of the world
should belong to France; Paris will forever give the tone to women's
fashions, and yet the hats which all Frenchmen wear to-day are made in
every country on earth! There are ten millions of foreign money to be
gained annually for France in that question--"

"A revolution!" cried Bixiou, pretending enthusiasm.

"Yes, and a radical one; for the form must be changed."

"You are happy after the manner of Luther in dream