Bargaining
The _table d'hôte_ was noisy that evening at the Hotel Splendid.
The blasting of the hillock and the discovery of the new spring
gave a brisk impetus to conversation. The diners were not numerous,
however,--a score all told,--people usually taciturn and quiet,
patients who, after having vainly tried all the well-known waters, had
now turned to the new stations. At the end of the table occupied by
the Ravenels and the Andermatts were, first, the Monecus, a little man
with white hair and face and his daughter, a very pale, big girl, who
sometimes rose up and went out in the middle of a meal, leaving her
plate half full; fat M. Aubry-Pasteur, the ex-engineer; the Chaufours,
a family in black, who might be met every day in the walks of the
park behind a little vehicle which carried their deformed child, and
the ladies Paille, mother and daughter, both of them widows, big and
strong, strong everywhere, before and behind. "You may easily see,"
said Gontran, "that they ate up their husbands; that's how their
stomachs got affected." It was, indeed, for a stomach affection that
they had come to the station.
Further on, a man of extremely red complexion, brick-colored, M.
Riquier, whose digestion was also very indifferent, and then other
persons with bad complexions, travelers of that mute class who usually
enter the dining-rooms of hotels with slow steps, the wife in front,
the husband behind, bow as soon as they have passed the door, and then
take their seats with a timid and modest air.
All the other end of the table was empty, although the plates and the
covers were laid there for the guests of the future.
Andermatt talked in an animated fashion. He had spent the afternoon
chatting with Doctor Latonne, giving vent in a flood of words to vast
schemes with reference to Enval. The doctor had enumerated to him, with
burning conviction, the wonderful qualities of his water, far superior
to those of Chatel-Guyon, whose reputation nevertheless had been
definitely established for the last ten years. Then, at the right, they
had that hole of a place, Royat, at the height of success, and at the
left, that other hole, Chatel-Guyon, which had lately been set afloat.
What could they not do with Enval, if they knew how to set about it
properly?
He said, addressing the engineer: "Yes, Monsieur, there's where it all
is, to know the way to set about it. It is all a matter of skill, of
tact, of opportunism, and of audacity. In order to establish a spa,
it is necessary to know how to launch it, nothing more, and in order
to launch it, it is necessary to interest the great medical body of
Paris in the matter. I, Monsieur, always succeed in what I undertake,
because I always seek the practical method, the only one that should
determine success in every particular case with which I occupy myself;
and, as long as I have not discovered it, I do nothing--I wait. It is
not enough to have the water, it is necessary to get people to drink
it; and to get people to drink it, it is not enough to get it cried up
as unrivaled in the newspapers and elsewhere; it is necessary to know
how to get this discreetly said by the only men who have influence on
the public that will drink it, on the invalids whom we require, on
the peculiarly credulous public that pays for drugs--in short, by the
physicians. You can only address a Court of Justice through the mouths
of advocates; it will only hear them, and understands only them. So you
can only address the patient through the doctors--he listens only to
them."
The Marquis, who greatly admired the practical common sense of his
son-in-law, exclaimed:
"Ah! how true this is! Apart from this, my dear boy, you are unique for
giving the right touch."
Andermatt, who was excited, went on: "There is a fortune to be made
here. The country is admirable, the climate excellent. One thing
alone disturbs my mind--would we have water enough for a large
establishment?--for things that are only half done always miscarry. We
would require a very large establishment, and consequently a great deal
of water, enough of water to supply two hundred baths at the same time,
with a rapid and continuous current; and the new spring added to the
old one, would not supply fifty, whatever Doctor Latonne may say about
it----"
M. Aubry-Pasteur interrupted him. "Oh! as for water, I will give you as
much as you want of it."
Andermatt was stupefied. "You?"
"Yes, I. That astonishes you? Let me explain myself. Last year, I
was here about the same time as this year, for I really find myself
improved by the Enval baths. Now one morning, I lay asleep in my
own room, when a stout gentleman arrived. He was the president of
the governing body of the establishment. He was in a state of great
agitation, and the cause of it was this: the Bonnefille Spring had
lowered so much that there were some apprehensions lest it might
entirely disappear. Knowing that I was a mining engineer, he had come
to ask me if I could not find a means of saving the establishment.
"I accordingly set about studying the geological system of the country.
You know that in each stratum of the soil original disturbances have
led to different changes and conditions in the surface of the ground.
The question, therefore, was to discover how the mineral water came--by
what fissures--and what were the direction, the origin, and the nature
of these fissures. I first inspected the establishment with great care,
and, noticing in a corner an old disused pipe of a bath, I observed
that it was already almost stopped up with limestone. Now the water, by
depositing the salts which it contained on the coatings of the ducts,
had rapidly led to an obstruction of the passage. It would inevitably
happen likewise in the natural passages in the soil, this soil being
granitic. So it was that the Bonnefille Spring had stopped up. Nothing
more. It was necessary to get at it again farther on.
"Most people would have searched above its original point of egress. As
for me, after a month of study, observation, and reasoning, I sought
for and found it fifty meters lower down. And this was the explanation
of the matter: I told you before that it was first necessary to
determine the origin, nature, and direction of the fissures in the
granite which enabled the water to spring forth. It was easy for me
to satisfy myself that these fissures ran from the plain toward the
mountain and not from the mountain toward the plain, inclined like a
roof undoubtedly, in consequence of a depression of this plain which
in breaking up had carried along with it the primitive buttresses of
the mountains. Accordingly, the water, in place of descending, rose up
again between the different interstices of the granitic layers. And I
then discovered the cause of this unexpected phenomenon.
"Formerly the Limagne, that vast expanse of sandy and argillaceous
soil, of which you can scarcely see the limits, was on a level with
the first table-land of the mountains; but owing to the geological
character of its lower portions, it subsided, so as to tear away the
edge of the mountain, as I explained to you a moment ago. Now this
immense sinking produced, at the point of separating the earth and the
granite, an immense barrier of clay of great depth and impenetrable by
liquids. And this is what happens: The mineral water comes from the
beds of old volcanoes. That which comes from the greatest distance gets
cooled on its way, and rises up perfectly cold like ordinary springs;
that which comes from the volcanic beds that are nearer gushes up still
warm, at varying degrees of heat, according to the distance of the
subterranean fire.
"Here is the course it pursues. It is expelled from some unknown
depths, up to the moment when it meets the clay barrier of the Limagne.
Not being able to pass through it, and pushed on by enormous pressure,
it seeks a vent. Finding then the inclined gaps of granite, it gets in
there, and reascends to the point at which they reach the level of the
soil. Then, resuming its original direction, it again proceeds to flow
toward the plain along the ordinary bed of the streams. I may add that
we do not see the hundredth part of the mineral waters of these glens.
We can only discover those whose point of egress is open. As for the
others, arriving as they do at the side of the fissures in the granite
under a thick layer of vegetable and cultivated soil, they are lost in
the earth, which absorbs them.
"From this I draw the conclusion: first, that to have the water, it is
sufficient to search by following the inclination and the direction of
the superimposed strips of granite; secondly, that in order to preserve
it, it is enough to prevent the fissures from being stopped up by
calcareous deposits, that is to say, to maintain carefully the little
artificial wells by digging; thirdly, that in order to obtain the
adjoining spring, it is necessary to get at it by means of a practical
sounding as far as the same fissure of granite below, and not above,
it being well understood that you must place yourself at the side of
the barrier of clay which forces the waters to reascend. From this
point of view, the spring discovered to-day is admirably situated
only some meters away from this barrier. If you want to set up a new
establishment, it is here you should erect it."
When he ceased speaking, there was an interval of silence.
Andermatt, ravished, said merely: "That's it! When you see the curtain
drawn, the entire mystery vanishes. You are a most valuable man, M.
Aubry-Pasteur."
Besides him, the Marquis and Paul Bretigny alone had understood what
he was talking about. Gontran had not heard a single word. The others,
with their ears and mouths open, while the engineer was talking,
were simply stupefied with amazement. The ladies Paille especially,
being very religious women, asked themselves if this explanation of a
phenomenon ordained by God and accomplished by mysterious means had
not in it something profane. The mother thought she ought to say:
"Providence is very wonderful." The ladies seated at the center of the
table conveyed their approval by nods of the head, disturbed also by
listening to these unintelligible remarks.
M. Riquier, the brick-colored man, observed: "They may well come from
volcanoes or from the moon, these Enval waters--here have I been taking
them ten days, and as yet I experience no effect from them!"
M. and Madame Chaufour protested in the name of their child, who was
beginning to move the right leg, a thing that had not happened during
the six years they had been nursing him.
Riquier replied: "That proves, by Jove, that we have not the same
ailment; it doesn't prove that the Enval water cures affections of
the stomach." He seemed in a rage, exasperated by this fresh, useless
experiment.
But M. Monecu also spoke in the name of his daughter, declaring that
for the last eight days she was beginning to be able to retain food
without being obliged to go out at every meal. And his big daughter
blushed, with her nose in her plate. The ladies Paille likewise thought
they had improved.
Then Riquier was vexed, and abruptly turning toward the two women said:
"Your stomachs are affected, Mesdames."
They replied together: "Why, yes, Monsieur. We can digest nothing."
He nearly leaped out of his chair, stammering: "You--you! Why, 'tis
enough to look at you. Your stomachs are affected, Mesdames. That is to
say, you eat too much."
Madame Paille, the mother, became very angry, and she retorted: "As for
you, Monsieur, there is no doubt about it, you exhibit certainly the
appearance of persons whose stomachs are destroyed. It has been well
said that good stomachs make nice men."
A very thin, old lady, whose name was not known, said authoritatively:
"I am sure everyone would find the waters of Enval better if the hotel
chef would only bear in mind a little that he is cooking for invalids.
Truly, he sends us up things that it is impossible to digest."
And suddenly the entire table agreed on the point, and indignation
was expressed against the hotel-keeper, who served them with crayfish,
porksteaks, salt eels, cabbage, yes, cabbage and sausages, all the most
indigestible kinds of food in the world for persons for whom Doctors
Bonnefille, Latonne, and Honorat had prescribed only white meats, lean
and tender, fresh vegetables, and milk diet.
Riquier was shaking with fury: "Why should not the physicians inspect
the table at thermal stations without leaving such an important thing
as the selection of nutriment to the judgment of a brute? Thus, every
day, they give us hard eggs, anchovies, and ham as side-dishes----"
M. Monecu interrupted him: "Oh! excuse me! My daughter can digest
nothing well except ham, which, moreover has been prescribed for her by
Mas-Roussel and Remusot."
Riquier exclaimed: "Ham! ham! why, that's poison, Monsieur."
And an interminable argument arose, which each day was taken up afresh,
as to the classification of foods. Milk itself was discussed with
passionate warmth. Riquier could not drink a glass of claret and milk
without immediately suffering from indigestion.
Aubry-Pasteur, in answer to his remarks, irritated in his turn,
observed that people questioned the properties of things which he
adored:
"Why, gracious goodness, Monsieur, if you were attacked with dyspepsia
and I with gastralgia, we would require food as different as the glass
of the spectacles that suits short-sighted and long-sighted people,
both of whom, however, have diseased eyes."
He added: "For my part I begin to choke when I swallow a glass of red
wine, and I believe there is nothing worse for man than wine. All
water-drinkers live a hundred years, while we----"
Gontran replied with a laugh: "Faith, without wine and without
marriage, I would find life monotonous enough."
The ladies Paille lowered their eyes. They drank a considerable
quantity of Bordeaux of the best quality without any water in it, and
their double widowhood seemed to indicate that they had applied the
same treatment to their husbands, the daughter being twenty-two and the
mother scarcely forty.
But Andermatt, usually so chatty, remained taciturn and thoughtful. He
suddenly asked Gontran: "Do you know where the Oriols live?"
"Yes, their house was pointed out to me a little while ago."
"Could you bring me there after dinner?"
"Certainly. It will even give me pleasure to accompany you. I shall not
be sorry to have another look at the two lassies."
And, as soon as dinner was over, they went off, while Christiane, who
was tired, went up with the Marquis and Paul Bretigny to spend the rest
of the day in the drawing-room.
It was still broad daylight, for they dine early at thermal stations.
Andermatt took his brother-in-law's arm.
"My dear Gontran, if this old man is reasonable, and if the analysis
realizes Doctor Latonne's expectations, I am probably going to try a
big stroke of business here--a spa. I am going to start a spa!"
He stopped in the middle of the street, and seized his companion by
both sides of his jacket.
"Ha! you don't understand, fellows like you, how amusing business is,
not the business of merchants or traders, but big undertakings such as
we go in for! Yes, my boy, when they are properly understood, we find
in them everything that men care for--they cover, at the same time,
politics, war, diplomacy, everything, everything! It is necessary to
be always searching, finding, inventing, to understand everything, to
foresee everything, to combine everything, to dare everything. The
great battle to-day is being fought by means of money. For my part,
I see in the hundred-sou pieces raw recruits in red breeches, in the
twenty-franc pieces very glittering lieutenants, captains in the notes
for a hundred francs, and in those for a thousand I see generals. And
I fight, by heavens! I fight from morning till night against all the
world, with all the world. And this is how to live, how to live on a
big scale, just as the mighty lived in days of yore. We are the mighty
of to-day--there you are--the only true mighty ones!
"Stop, look at that village, that poor village! I will make a town
of it, yes, I will, a lovely town full of big hotels which will be
filled with visitors, with elevators, with servants, with carriages,
a crowd of rich folk served by a crowd of poor; and all this because
it pleased me one evening to fight with Royat, which is at the right,
with Chatel-Guyon, which is at the left, with Mont Doré, La Bourboule,
Châteauneuf, Saint Nectaire, which are behind us, with Vichy, which
is facing us. And I shall succeed because I have the means, the only
means. I have seen it in one glance, just as a great general sees the
weak side of an enemy. It is necessary too to know how to lead men, in
our line of business, both to carry them along with us and to subjugate
them.
"Good God! life becomes amusing when you can do such things. I have now
three years of pleasure to look forward to with this town of mine. And
then see what a chance it is to find this engineer, who told us such
interesting things at dinner, most interesting things, my dear fellow.
It is as clear as day, my system. Thanks to it, I can smash the old
company, without even having any necessity of buying it up."
He then resumed his walk, and they quietly went up the road to the left
in the direction of Chatel-Guyon.
Gontran presently observed: "When I am walking by my brother-in-law's
side, I feel that the same noise disturbs his brain as that heard in
the gambling rooms at Monte Carlo--that noise of gold moved about,
shuffled, drawn away, raked off, lost or gained."
Andermatt did, indeed, suggest the idea of a strange human machine,
constructed only for the purpose of calculating and debating about
money, and mentally manipulating it. Moreover, he exhibited much
vanity about his special knowledge of the world, and plumed himself on
his power of estimating at one glance of his eye the actual value of
anything whatever. Accordingly, he might be seen, wherever he happened
to be, every moment taking up an article, examining it, turning it
round, and declaring: "This is worth so much."
His wife and his brother-in-law, diverted by this mania, used to
amuse themselves by deceiving him, exhibiting to him queer pieces
of furniture and asking him to estimate them; and when he remained
perplexed, at the sight of their unexpected finds, they would both
burst out laughing like fools. Sometimes also, in the street at Paris,
Gontran would stop in front of a warehouse and force him to make a
calculation of an entire shop-window, or perhaps of a horse with a
jolting vehicle, or else again of a luggage-van laden with household
goods.
One evening, while seated at his sister's dinner-table before
fashionable guests, he called on William to tell him what would be the
approximate value of the Obelisk; then, when the other happened to name
some figure, he would put the same question as to the Solferino Bridge,
and the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile. And he gravely concluded: "You
might write a very interesting work on the valuation of the principal
monuments of the globe." Andermatt never got angry, and fell in with
all his pleasantries, like a superior man sure of himself.
Gontran having asked one day: "And I--how much am I worth?" William
declined to answer; then, as his brother-in-law persisted, saying:
"Look here! If I should be captured by brigands, how much would you
give to release me?" he replied at last: "Well, well, my dear fellow, I
would give a bill." And his smile said so much that the other, a little
disconcerted, did not press the matter further.
Andermatt, besides, was fond of artistic objects, and having fine
taste and appreciating such things thoroughly, he skillfully collected
them with that bloodhound's scent which he carried into all commercial
transactions.
They had arrived in front of a house of a middle-class type. Gontran
stopped him and said: "Here it is." An iron knocker hung over a heavy
oaken door; they knocked, and a lean servant-maid came to open it.
The banker asked: "Monsieur Oriol?"
The woman said: "Come in."
They entered a kitchen, a big farm-kitchen, in which a little fire was
still burning under a pot; then they were ushered into another part of
the house, where the Oriol family was assembled.
The father was asleep, seated on one chair with his feet on another.
The son, with both elbows on the table, was reading the "Petit Journal"
with the spasmodic efforts of a feeble intellect always wandering; and
the two girls, in the recess of the same window, were working at the
same piece of tapestry, having begun it one at each end.
They were the first to rise, both at the same moment, astonished at
this unexpected visit; then, big Jacques raised his head, a head
congested by the pressure of his brain; then, at last, Père Oriol waked
up, and took down his long legs from the second chair one after the
other.
The room was bare, with whitewashed walls, a stone flooring, and
furniture consisting of straw seats, a mahogany chest of drawers, four
engravings by Epinal with glass over them, and big white curtains.
They were all staring at each other, and the servant-maid, with her
petticoat raised up to her knees, was waiting at the door, riveted to
the spot by curiosity.
Andermatt introduced himself, mentioning his name as well as that of
his brother-in-law, Count de Ravenel, made a low bow to the two young
girls, bending his head with extreme politeness, and then calmly seated
himself, adding:
"Monsieur Oriol, I came to talk to you about a matter of business.
Moreover, I will not take four roads to explain myself. See here. You
have just discovered a spring on your property. The analysis of this
water is to be made in a few days. If it is of no value, you will
understand that I will have nothing to do with it; if, on the contrary,
it fulfills my anticipations, I propose to buy from you this piece of
ground, and all the lands around it. Think on this. No other person
but myself could make you such an offer. The old company is nearly
bankrupt; it will not, therefore, have the least notion of building
a new establishment, and the ill success of this enterprise will not
encourage fresh attempts. Don't give me an answer to-day. Consult your
family. When the analysis is known you will fix your price. If it suits
me, I will say 'yes'; if it does not suit me, I will say 'no.' I never
haggle for my part."
The peasant, a man of business in his own way, and sharp as anyone
could be, courteously replied that he would see about it, that he felt
honored, that he would think it over--and then he offered them a glass
of wine.
Andermatt made no objection, and, as the day was declining, Oriol said
to his daughters, who had resumed their work, with their eyes lowered
over the piece of tapestry: "Let us have some light, girls."
They both got up together, passed into an adjoining room, then came
back, one carrying two lighted wax-candles, the other four wineglasses
without stems, glasses such as the poor use. The wax-candles were fresh
looking and were garnished with red paper--placed, no doubt, by way of
ornament on the young girl's mantelpiece.
Then, Colosse rose up; for only the male members of the family visited
the cellar. Andermatt had an idea. "It would give me great pleasure to
see your cellar. You are the principal vinedresser of the district, and
it must be a very fine one."
Oriol, touched to the heart, hastened to conduct them, and, taking
up one of the wax-candles, led the way. They had to pass through the
kitchen again, then they got into a court where the remnant of daylight
that was left enabled them to discern empty casks standing on end, big
stones of giant granite in a corner pierced with a hole in the middle,
like the wheels of some antique car of colossal size, a dismounted
winepress with wooden screws, its brown divisions rendered smooth by
wear and tear, and glittering suddenly in the light thrown by the
candle on the shadows that surrounded it. Close to it, the working
implements of polished steel on the ground had the glitter of arms used
in warfare. All these things gradually grew more distinct, as the old
man drew nearer to them with the candle in his hand, making a shade of
the other.
Already they got the smell of the wine, the pounded grapes drained dry.
They arrived in front of a door fastened with two locks. Oriol opened
it, and quickly raising the candle above his head vaguely pointed
toward a long succession of barrels standing in a row, and having on
their swelling flanks a second line of smaller casks. He showed them
first of all that this cellar, all on one floor, sank right into the
mountain, then he explained the contents of its different casks, the
ages, the nature of the various vine-crops, and their merits; then,
having reached the supply reserved for the family, he caressed the cask
with his hand just as one might rub the crupper of a favorite horse,
and in a proud tone said:
"You are going to taste this. There's not a wine bottled equal to
it--not one, either at Bordeaux or elsewhere."
For he possessed the intense passion of countrymen for wine kept in a
cask.
Colosse followed him, carrying a jug, stooped down, turned the cock
of the funnel, while his father cautiously held the light for him,
as though he were accomplishing some difficult task requiring minute
attention. The candle's flame fell directly on their faces, the
father's head like that of an old attorney, and the son's like that of
a peasant soldier.
Andermatt murmured in Gontran's ear: "Hey, what a fine Teniers!"
The young man replied in a whisper: "I prefer the girls."
Then they went back into the house. It was necessary, it seemed, to
drink this wine, to drink a great deal of it, in order to please the
two Oriols.
The lassies had come across to the table where they continued their
work as if there had been no visitors. Gontran kept incessantly
staring at them, asking himself whether they were twins, so closely
did they resemble one another. One of them, however, was plumper and
smaller, while the other was more ladylike. Their hair, dark-brown
rather than black, drawn over their temples in smooth bands, gleamed
with every slight movement of their heads. They had the rather heavy
jaw and forehead peculiar to the people of Auvergne, cheek-bones
somewhat strongly marked, but charming mouths, ravishing eyes, with
brows of rare neatness, and delightfully fresh complexions. One felt,
on looking at them, that they had not been brought up in this house,
but in a select boarding-school, in the convent to which the daughters
of the aristocracy of Auvergne are sent, and that they had acquired
there the well-bred manners of cultivated young ladies.
Meanwhile, Gontran, seized with disgust before this red glass in front
of him, pressed Andermatt's foot to induce him to leave. At length
he rose, and they both energetically grasped the hands of the two
peasants; then they bowed once more ceremoniously, the young girls each
responding with a slight nod, without again rising from their seats.
As soon as they had reached the village, Andermatt began talking again.
"Hey, my dear boy, what an odd family! How manifest here is the
transition from people in good society. A son's services are required
to cultivate the vine so as to save the wages of a laborer,--stupid
economy,--however, he discharges this function, and is one of
the people. As for the girls, they are like girls of the better
class--almost quite so already. Let them only make good matches, and
they would pass as well as any of the women of our own class, and even
much better than most of them. I am as much gratified at seeing these
people as a geologist would be at finding an animal of the tertiary
period."
Gontran asked: "Which do you prefer?"
"Which? How, which? Which what?"
"Of the lassies?"
"Oh! upon my honor, I haven't an idea on the subject. I have not looked
at them from the standpoint of comparison. But what difference can this
make to you? You have no intention to carry off one of them?"
Gontran began to laugh: "Oh! no, but I am delighted to meet for once
fresh women, really fresh, fresh as women never are with us. I like
looking at them, just as you like looking at a Teniers. There is
nothing pleases me so much as looking at a pretty girl, no matter
where, no matter of what class. These are my objects of vertu. I
don't collect them, but I admire them--I admire them passionately,
artistically, my friend, in the spirit of a convinced and disinterested
artist. What would you have? I love this! By the bye, could you lend me
five thousand francs?"
The other stopped, and murmured an "Again!" energetically.
Gontran replied, with an air of simplicity: "Always!" Then they resumed
their walk.
Andermatt then said: "What the devil do you do with the money?"
"I spend it."
"Yes, but you spend it to excess."
"My dear friend, I like spending money as much as you like making it.
Do you understand?"
"Very fine, but you don't make it."
"That's true. I know it. One can't have everything. You know how to
make it, and, upon my word, you don't at all know how to spend it.
Money appears to you no use except to get interest on it. I, on the
other hand, don't know how to make it, but I know thoroughly how to
spend it. It procures me a thousand things of which you don't know the
name. We were cut out for brothers-in-law. We complete one another
admirably."
Andermatt murmured: "What stuff! No, you sha'n't have five thousand
francs, but I'll lend you fifteen hundred francs, because--because in a
few days I shall, perhaps, have need of you."
Gontran rejoined: "Then I accept them on account." The other gave him a
slap on the shoulder without saying anything by way of answer.
They reached the park, which was illuminated with lamps hung to the
branches of the trees. The orchestra of the Casino was playing in slow
time a classical piece that seemed to stagger along, full of breaks and
silences, executed by the same four performers, exhausted with constant
playing, morning and evening, in this solitude for the benefit of the
leaves and the brook, with trying to produce the effect of twenty
instruments, and tired also of never being fully paid at the end of
the month. Petrus Martel always completed their remuneration, when it
fell short, with hampers of wine or pints of liqueurs which the bathers
might have left unconsumed.
Amid the noise of the concert could also be distinguished that of the
billiard-table, the clicking of the balls and the voices calling out:
"Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two."
Andermatt and Gontran went in. M. Aubry-Pasteur and Doctor Honorat,
by themselves, were drinking their coffee, at the side facing the
musicians. Petrus Martel and Lapalme were playing their game with
desperation; and the female attendant woke up to ask:
"What do these gentlemen wish to take?"