two eggs.

'What would you, indeed? One must live!' Madame, disregarding the
waiter, continued to study the boyish face--the curious dark-gray eyes,
in which the morning sun was discovering little flecks of gold. 'And
every year conditions were becoming harder, as monsieur doubtless knew.'

Monsieur nodded his head sagely, and began to eat his eggs with keen
zest.

Madame looked slowly round at the waiter and ordered coffee, then her
glance returned to the boy.

'How good, how refreshing it was to see him eat! How easy to comprehend
that he was young!' She sighed again, this time more softly. 'Youth was
a marvellous thing--and Paris was the city of the young! Was monsieur
making a long stay at the Hôtel Railleux?'

The waiter again appeared and placed the coffee upon the table.
Monsieur, suddenly and unaccountably uneasy, finished his eggs hastily
and pushed his plate aside.

'Did monsieur desire coffee?' Madame leaned forward. 'If so, it would be
but the matter of a moment to procure a second cup; and, as her
coffee-pot was quite full--' She raised the lid coquettishly, and again
her eyes lingered upon the short dark hair and the straight brows above
the gray eyes.

The waiter with ready tact departed in search of the second cup; madame
replaced the lid of the coffee-pot.