Madame. In ten minutes we shall be with you again!"

Madame Choucru looked grave. She had not bargained to entertain a party
of four; yet she dared not disoblige the _Petit Courier Illustré_. She
had no time, however, to demur to the arrangement; for Müller,
ingeniously taking her acquiescence for granted, darted out of the room
without waiting for an answer.

"Miserable man!" I exclaimed, as soon as we were outside the doors,
"what will you do now?"

"Do! Why, fetch my admirable maternal aunt and my interesting cousin, to
be sure."

"But you have raised a dinner under false pretences!"

"I, _mon cher_? Not a bit of it."

"Have you, then, really anything to do with the _Petit Courier
Illustré_?"

"The Editor of the _Petit Courier Illustré_ is one of the best fellows
in the world, and occasionally (when my pockets represent that vacuum
which Nature very properly abhors) he advances me a couple of Napoleons.
I wipe out the score from time to time by furnishing a design for the
paper. Now to-day, you see, I'm in luck. I shall pay off two obligations
at once--to say nothing of Monsieur Choucru's six-fold subscription to
the P.C., on which the publishers will allow me a douceur of thirty
francs. Now, confess that I'm a man of genius!"