He had magnified the subject with a view to forming a legend and to taking advantage of some rich, unversed amateur.
On the other hand, if the name of Montluc meant absolutely nothing to him, it was not the same with the direct and brutal allusion which his interlocutor had made to the war of 1859.

It is always a thorn in the flesh of those of our neighbors from beyond the Alps who do not love us.
The pride of the Garibaldian was not far behind the generosity of the former zouave.

With an abruptness equal to that of Montfanon, he took up the volume and grumbled as he turned it over and over in his inky fingers: "I would not sell it for six hundred francs.

No, I would not sell it for six hundred francs." "It is a very large sum," said Montfanon.
"No," continued the good man, "I would not sell it." Then extending it to the Marquis, in evident excitement, he cried: "But to you I will sell it for four hundred francs." "But I have offered you five hundred francs for it," said the nonplussed purchaser.

"You know that is a small sum for such a curiosity." "Take it for four," insisted Ribalta, growing more and more eager, "not a sou less, not a sou more.