On reaching the door he heard a great noise of voices and laughter in the drawing-room, and when he went in he found Captain Beausire and Mme.

Rosemilly, whom his father had brought home and engaged to dine with them in honour of the good news.

Vermouth and absinthe had been served to whet their appetites, and every one had been at once put into good spirits.

Captain Beausire, a funny little man who had become quite round by dint of being rolled about at sea, and whose ideas also seemed to have been worn round, like the pebbles of a beach, while he laughed with his throat full of _r_'s, looked upon life as a capital thing, in which everything that might turn up was good to take.
He clinked his glass against father Roland's, while Jean was offering two freshly filled glasses to the ladies.Mme.Rosemilly refused, till Captain Beausire, who had known her husband, cried: "Come, come, madame, _bis repetita placent_, as we say in the lingo, which is as much as to say two glasses of vermouth never hurt any one.
Look at me; since I have left the sea, in this way I give myself an artificial roll or two every day before dinner; I add a little pitching after my coffee, and that keeps things lively for the rest of the evening.

I never rise to a hurricane, mind you, never, never.