were to tell you that, being in my own room and hearing you quarrelling,
I did not hear every word of what you have been saying."

"Sir!"

"Stop a bit, and don't be in such a hurry, my young friend. You seem
disposed to quarrel, and, on my faith, I am not surprised; for when
there is no corn in the manger, the best tempered horse will bite and
kick."

He uttered these words in the most soothing accents, and appeared
utterly unconscious of having committed any breach of etiquette in
entering the room.

"Well, sir," said Paul, a flush of shame passing across his face, "you
see now how poverty can drag a man down. Are you satisfied?"

"Come, come, my young friend," answered Daddy Tantaine, "you should not
get angry; and if I did step in without any notice, it was because, as a
neighbor, I find I might venture on such a liberty; for when I heard how
embarrassed you were, I said to myself, 'Tantaine, perhaps you can help
this pretty pair out of the scrape they have got into.'"

The promise of assistance from a person who had not certainly the
outward appearance of a capitalist seemed so ludicrous to Rose that she
could not restrain a smile, for she fancied that if their old neighbor
was to present them with half his fortune, it might possibly amount to
twenty centimes or thereabouts.

Paul had formed a somewhat similar idea, but he was a little touched by