ir of excitement.... The men raise
their eyes.... Edouard, _le petit_, flicks a _louis_ carelessly
between his thumb and fore-finger, with the long dirty nails, and
then passes it back into his pocket. Do not mistake the gesture; it
is not made to entice the _mome_, nor is it a sign of affluence; it is
Edouard's means of demanding another _louis_ before the night is up,
if it be only a "_louis de dix francs_." Estelle looks at him boldly;
there is no fear in her eyes; you can see that she would face death
with Carmen's calm if the Fates cut the thread to that effect.... The
music begins and Estelle dances with Carmella, _l'Arabe_. Edouard
glowers and pulls his little grey cap down tower.... It is a waltz....
Suddenly he is on the floor and Estelle is pressed close to his
body.... Carmella sits down. She smiles, and presently she is dancing
with Jean-Baptiste.... Estelle and Edouard are now whirling, whirling,
and all the while his dark eyes look down piercingly into her blue
eyes. The music stops. Estelle fumbles in her stocking for two _sous_.
Edouard lights a _Maryland_.

There is a newcomer tonight. (I am talking to the _agent de service_.)
She is of a youth and she is certainly from Brittany. I see her
sitting in a corner, waiting for something, trying to know. "She will
learn," says my friend, "She will learn to pay like the others." That
is the _gros_ Pierre who regards her. He twirls his moustache and
considers, and in the end he lumbers to her and asks her to dance.
She is willing to do so, but the intensity of Pierre frightens her,
frightens and intrigues.... There is a sign on the wall that one must
not stamp one's feet, but no other prohibition.... He twists her
finger purposely as they whirl ... and whirl. She cowers. _Gros_
Pierre is very big and strong. "_T'es bath, mome_," I hear him say, as
they pass me by.... The dance over, he towers above her for a brief
second before he swaggers out.... Estelle smiles. Her lips move and
she speaks quickly to Edouard, _le petit_.... He does not listen. Why
should he listen to his _gigolette_? She is wasting her time here
anyway. He becomes impatient.... Carmella smiles across the room in a
brief second of chance and Estelle answers the smile. Carmella holds
up three fingers (it is now 1.30). Estelle nods her head quickly. The
musicians are always playing, except in the middle of the dance when
_madame, la patronne_, gathers in the _sous_.... Only from one she
takes n