human
I am very glad to see you; perhaps you can help me to find the person I want to see.
gpt
If you are looking for a faithful woman, I should find it very hard to direct you to one; for I don't know any.
human
No, not that; I simply want to know Tobie Pigeonnier's address.
gpt
The deuce! that's almost as hard to find as the other. In the first place, is it quite certain that little Tobie has any address? I believe he contents himself with perching, like the birds; he lights now here, now there.
human
Let's not joke; he told us that he lived on Rue de la Ferme-des-Mathurins.
gpt
True; but at what number?
human
Ah! that I don't know.
gpt
It's very easy to say: 'I live on Rue de la Ferme-des-Mathurins, or Rue de la Paix, or Rue de Rivoli,'--when you confine yourself to that;--in that way, you can live in the most fashionable quarters of Paris. For my own part, I believe little Tobie has a nest in some closet on Rue du Pont-aux-Biches or Place du Chevalier-du-Guet. His hasty departure from our little party at Balivan's the night before last--after putting up a fetich for five hundred francs, that poor Varinet gave him change for---- Do you know, that looks rather shady to me. If he had lost the five hundred francs, it would be all right; you would say that it probably wasn't convenient for him to pay; but he lost only about fifty.
human
Didn't he go to pay Varinet the next day?
gpt
I don't know, but I'll bet he didn't; however, we can soon find out, for there are Varinet and Balivan now, drinking chocolate at Tortoni's.
human
Ah! here you are, you rakes! cried Balivan;
gpt
But you are working hard to-day, Balivan. Upon my word, you are eating a fine cigar with your chocolate, instead of a roll!
human
Mon Dieu! so I am. Why do they make cigars of this shape? I took it for a _gaufre_,[I] and I adore _gaufres_ in chocolate.
gpt
We came to ask you about young Tobie, messieurs.--Have you seen him since night before last, Monsieur Varinet?
human
Who in the devil is Monsieur Tobie?
gpt
The individual of the fetich--the olive.
human
Oh, yes! the man who put up an olive at five hundred francs.
gpt
The same. Has he been to you to pay his debt and redeem his pledge?
human
No; and to prove it, I'll show you that I still have it in my purse.
gpt
If you keep the thing much longer, said Balivan,
human
Do you know Tobie's address, messieurs?
gpt
No, replied the painter;
human
Oh! I am not at all alarmed,
gpt
But I must see this little Tobie, said Albert;
human
What's all this? what friends are you talking about? said the jovial Mouillot, as he joined the four young men and shook hands with them.
gpt
I have just seen Dupétrain talking with a lady on Rue de Richelieu, messieurs; he had her backed up against a porte cochère, and, in my opinion, he was trying to magnetize her on the carriage stone.
human
Ah! it's Mouillot!
gpt
How much did you win at bouillotte the night before last, Mouillot?
human
Six hundred and twenty francs; that's all.
gpt
What a lucky dog he is! he always wins.
human
Do you know Tobie's address, Mouillot?
gpt
Tobie's address? how should I know it? he never asks one to come and see him. When he invites his friends to breakfast, the mice will dance the cancan! By the way, has he redeemed his fetich?
human
No; Varinet hasn't seen him.
gpt
Poor Varinet! that olive must be a little stale.
human
So you don't know Monsieur Pigeonnier's address?
gpt
Not I.
human
The first time that I had the honor of seeing the gentleman, said Varinet, swallowing a glass of water,
gpt
Ha! ha! commission merchant!
human
That kind is never in the directory!
gpt
I'm not sure even that he's an unlicensed broker.
human
It's so easy in Paris to pretend to be what you are not!
gpt
There are many people who go so far as to assume names that don't belong to them.
human
And who often succeed in making dupes, under the shelter of an honorable name.
gpt
What is there that is never stolen in Paris?