orably indifferent faces of the six
clerks. Accustomed, no doubt, to gauge men, he very politely addressed
the gutter-jumper, hoping to get a civil answer from this boy of all
work.

"Monsieur, is your master at home?"

The pert messenger made no reply, but patted his ear with the fingers of
his left hand, as much as to say, "I am deaf."

"What do you want, sir?" asked Godeschal, swallowing as he spoke a
mouthful of bread big enough to charge a four-pounder, flourishing his
knife and crossing his legs, throwing up one foot in the air to the
level of his eyes.

"This is the fifth time I have called," replied the victim. "I wish to
speak to M. Derville."

"On business?"

"Yes, but I can explain it to no one but--"

"M. Derville is in bed; if you wish to consult him on some difficulty,
he does no serious work till midnight. But if you will lay the case
before us, we could help you just as well as he can to----"

The stranger was unmoved; he looked timidly about him, like a dog who
has got into a strange kitchen and expects a kick. By grace of their
profession, lawyers' clerks have no fear of thieves; they did not
suspect the owner of the box-coat, and left him to study the place,
where he looked in vain for a chair to sit on, for he was evidently
tired. Attorneys, on principle, do not have many chairs in their
offices. The inferior client, being kept waiting on his feet, goes away
grumbling, but then he does not waste time, which, as an old lawyer once
said, is not allowed for when the bill is taxed.

"Monsieur," said the old man, "as I have already told you, I cannot
explain my business to any one but M. Derville. I will wait till he is
up."

Boucard had finished his bill. He smelt the fragrance of his chocolate,
rose from his cane armchair, went to the chimney-piece, looked the old
man from head to foot, stared at his coat, and made an indescribable
grimace. He probably reflected that whichever way his client might be
wrung, it would be impossible to squeeze out a centime, so he put in a
few brief words to rid the office of a bad customer.

"It is the truth, monsieur. The chief only works at night. If your
business is important, I recommend you to return at one in the morning."
The stranger looked at the head clerk with a bewildered expression, and
remained motionless for a moment. The clerks, accustomed to every
change of countenance, and the odd whimsicalities to which indecision or
absence of mind gives