silence, and exclaimed in her natural manner, "Why are you not
playing?"--with a glance at the green table which the imposing Madame
Latournelle called the "altar."

"Yes, let us play," said Dumay, having sent off Exupere.

"Sit there, Butscha," said Madame Latournelle, separating the
head-clerk from the group around Madame Mignon and her daughter by
the whole width of the table.

"And you, come over here," said Dumay to his wife, making her sit
close by him.

Madame Dumay, a little American about thirty-six years of age, wiped
her eyes furtively; she adored Modeste, and feared a catastrophe.

"You are not very lively this evening," remarked Modeste.

"We are playing," said Gobenheim, sorting his cards.

No matter how interesting this situation may appear, it can be made
still more so by explaining Dumay's position towards Modeste. If the
brevity of this explanation makes it seem rather dry, the reader must
pardon its dryness in view of our desire to get through with these
preliminaries as speedily as possible, and the necessity of relating
the main circumstances which govern all dramas.



CHAPTER III