human
I should be a millionaire! as it is, I'm strapped. What do you expect? you see that every day! and I've known what it is to eat roast veal and lettuce, and to drink all the wine I wanted. We all have our ups and downs [_bas_].
gpt
But he hasn't any stockings [_bas_], just now, murmured Bastringuette, after a glance at Laboussole;
human
Not at all, said Jean Ficelle;
gpt
What was his line?
human
He was an inspector at the Market.
gpt
The devil! that's a good place; why did he lose it?
human
Oh! they put up a dirty game on him--stuffed fish and chickens in his pockets, and then said he stole 'em--a low-down trick, I say! One day, when he had a salmon in one pocket and a turkey in another, they had the cheek to arrest him and dismiss him for it.
gpt
Couldn't the man tell when he had fish about him?
human
Apparently not; there's so much of it at the Market that you walk on it.
gpt
All the same, his innocence looks to me almighty muddy! What does he do now?
human
He sells tickets for the _Belle-en-Cuisse_ ball, on Rue des Martyrs, near the barrier. But when there's no ball, he's _smoked_, and that's the case to-day.
gpt
I say, old boy, won't you have a drink with us?