'What I can't understand,' he says, 'the public can't, either.

I'm not a man of letters, but I'm a practical man'; and that's the way we battle it, page after page.

I thought the sitting this afternoon would never end." "How unreasonable you are, my dear fellow," said Dutocq; "when a man wants to succeed he must have the courage to make sacrifices.

Once married, you can lift your head." "Ah, yes!" said la Peyrade with a sigh, "I'll lift it; for since the day you made me eat this bread of anguish I've become terribly sick of it." "Cerizet," said Dutocq, "has a plan that will feed you more succulently." Nothing more was said at the moment, for justice had to be done to the excellent fare ordered by Cerizet in honor of his coming lease.

As usually happens at dinners where affairs are likely to be discussed, each man, with his mind full of them, took pains not to approach those topics, fearing to compromise his advantages by seeming eager; the conversation, therefore, continued for a long time on general subjects, and it was not until the dessert was served that Cerizet brought himself to ask la Peyrade what had been settled about the terms of his lease.
"Nothing, my friend," replied Theodose.
"What! nothing?
I certainly allowed you time enough to decide the matter." "Well, as to that, something is decided.