I drew a chair behind one of the marble columns and seated myself, watching everything with interest.
Leo appeared from some corner or other, and laid his rough body down close at his master's feet.
In a few minutes all the domestics, some twenty in number, were present, and Heliobas, raising his voice, spoke with a clear deliberate enunciation: "I have sent for you all this morning, because I am perfectly aware that you have all determined to give me notice." A stir of astonishment and dismay ensued on the part of the small audience, and I heard one voice near me whisper: "He IS the devil, or how could he have known it ?" The lips of Heliobas curled in a fine sarcastic smile.

He went on: "I spare you this trouble.

Knowing your intentions, I take upon myself to dismiss you at once.

Naturally, you cannot risk your characters by remaining in the service of the devil.

For my own part, I wonder the devil's money has not burnt your hands, or his food turned to poison in your mouths.