"And you have actually asked that wretched old woman and her niece to
dinner!"

"And I have actually solicited that excellent and admirable woman,
Madame Marotte, relict of the late lamented Jacques Marotte, umbrella
maker, of number one hundred and two, Rue du Faubourg St. Denis, and her
beautiful and accomplished niece, Mademoiselle Marie Charpentier, to
honor us with their company this evening. _Dis-donc,_ what shall we give
them for dinner?"

"Precisely what you invited them to, I should guess--the fish we caught
this afternoon."

"Agreed. And what else?"

"Say--a dish of invisible greens, and a phoenix _à la Marengo_."

"You are funny, _mon cher_."

"Then, for fear I should become too funny--good afternoon."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I have no mind to dine first, and be kicked out of doors
afterwards. It is one of those aids to digestion that I can willingly
dispense with."

"But if I guarantee that the dinner shall be paid for--money down!"

"Tra la la!"