rooms that he was now going. They lived in that great house on the
left. He ate his dinner every night with them; it was an economy for
them all. But he wanted to tell them now not to expect him that night,
as he was invited to dine with a friend.

Gervaise interrupted him suddenly:

"Did I hear your friend call you Cadet-Cassis?"

"Yes. That is a name they have given me, because when they drag me
into a wineshop it is cassis I always take. I had as lief be called
Cadet-Cassis as Mes-Bottes, any time."

"I do not think Cadet-Cassis so very bad," answered Gervaise, and she
asked him about his work. How long should he be employed on the new
hospital?

"Oh," he answered, "there was never any lack of work." He had always
more than he could do. He should remain in that shop at least a year,
for he had yards and yards of gutters to make.

"Do you know," he said, "when I am up there I can see the Hotel
Boncoeur. Yesterday you were at the window, and I waved my hand,
but you did not see me."

They by this time had turned into La Rue de la Goutte-d'Or. He stopped
and looked up.

"There is the house," he said, "and I was born only a few doors
farther off. It is an enormous place."