human
Let go, I say! or, at any rate, let me put down my brick!
gpt
Do you know the waltz from _L'Auberge des Adrets_, Boulotte--the one Frédérick used to dance so well in his picturesque costume as Robert Macaire? I can dance that waltz just a little.
human
Let me put down my brick. Pshaw! there it goes, and it's all smashed!
gpt
Well! as long as you were going to smash it with a hammer anyway, you have so much less to do.
human
That's different. I shall lose half of it on the floor! What in the world's the matter with you to-day that makes you so gay?
gpt
Parbleu! I have found my man--my Sicilian.
human
Ah! the man with a secret?
gpt
Just so.
human
And he's a Sicilian?
gpt
Yes, a Sicilian from Pontoise. Ah! what a fool I am! what did I say that for? Don't repeat that, Boulotte, I beg you. If you ever see me anywhere with a man you don't know, don't let the word Pontoise escape you--or everything's over between us!
human
What silly nonsense is this you are giving me? You act like a crazy man!
gpt
Let's drop that. Have you done my errand?
human
Yes, monsieur; I have done your errand. I was sure that Rosa, who knows all the second-hand clothes women in Paris, would know her; she sold her not long ago a steel comb, which she owed to the munificence of an Englishman, with two teeth broken----
gpt
The Englishman?
human
No, the comb!
gpt
Very good. Rosa's one of your companions at the theatre, isn't she? a brunette with yellow eyes, and complexion to match?
human
Yes, but never mind about her; you promised me a salmi of partridges if you found your man with the secret--you see--I didn't say, your man from Pontoise.
gpt
Hush! imprudent girl! I was coming to the salmi in a minute, when I spoke about Rosa. Our feast will take place at her room--day after to-morrow, at noon, to give her time to tell Putiphar to come there that day about one; I shall be there, you understand, and I shall have told you and Rosa what to say to her so that my plan may succeed.
human
Are you going to play a joke on someone?
gpt
To be sure.
human
Never fear, then! we'll tell her all the foolish stuff you want.
gpt
I have never doubted it. It's understood, then--day after to-morrow, at twelve o'clock, at Rosa's.--Does she still live on Rue de Lancry?
human
Yes.
gpt
I promise you a breakfast of swallows' nests, like the Chinese.
human
No, no, I don't want that! The idea of eating birds' nests! what a horror!
gpt
Then we will transform them into charlotte russe.
human
All right! Order the breakfast at Lecomte's, corner of Rue de Lancry and the boulevard; that's a nice restaurant.
gpt
Never you fear; I know the good places.