"Stay," observed he, "it is only Beaumarchef;" and as he spoke,
he struck a gilded bell that stood on his desk. In another instant
Beaumarchef appeared, and with an air in which familiarity was mingled
with respect, he saluted in military fashion.

"Ah," said the doctor pleasantly, "do you take your nips of brandy
regularly?"

"Only occasionally, sir," stammered the man.

"Too often, too often, my good fellow. Do you think that your nose and
eyelids are not real telltales?"

"But I assure you, sir--"

"Do you not remember I told you that you had asthmatic symptoms?
Why, the movement of your pectoral muscles shows that your lungs are
affected."

"But I have been running, sir."

Mascarin broke in upon this conversation, which he considered frivolous.
"If he is out of breath," remarked he, "it is because he has been
endeavoring to repair a great act of carelessness that he has committed.
Well, Beaumarchef, how did you get on?"

"All right, sir," returned he, with a look of triumph. "Good!"

"What are you talking about?" asked the doctor.