find people who will talk."

Then he pushed the journalist into a corner and, altering his tone, said
in accents of victory:

"It's tomorrow, eh? I'm of the party, my bully!"

"Indeed!" muttered Fauchery with some astonishment.

"You didn't know about it. Oh, I had lots of bother to find her at home.
Besides, Mignon never would leave me alone."

"But they're to be there, are the Mignons."

"Yes, she told me so. In fact, she did receive my visit, and she invited
me. Midnight punctually, after the play."

The banker was beaming. He winked and added with a peculiar emphasis on
the words:

"You've worked it, eh?"

"Eh, what?" said Fauchery, pretending not to understand him. "She wanted
to thank me for my article, so she came and called on me."

"Yes, yes. You fellows are fortunate. You get rewarded. By the by, who
pays the piper tomorrow?"

The journalist made a slight outward movement with his arms, as though
he would intimate that no one had ever been able to find out. But