denly they heard a loud noise, close
to them, and on going round the house, they saw a number of English and
French sailors, who were hammering at the closed shutters of the taproom
with their fists.

The two tradesmen immediately made their escape, but a low "Pst!" stopped
them; it was Monsieur Tournevau, the fish curer, who had recognized them,
and was trying to attract their attention. They told him what had
happened, and he was all the more annoyed, as he was a married man and
father of a family, and only went on Saturdays. That was his regular
evening, and now he should be deprived of this dissipation for the whole
week.

The three men went as far as the quay together, and on the way they met
young Monsieur Philippe, the banker's son, who frequented the place
regularly, and Monsieur Pinipesse, the collector, and they all returned
to the Rue aux Juifs together, to make a last attempt. But the
exasperated sailors were besieging the house, throwing stones at the
shutters, and shouting, and the five first-floor customers went away as
quickly as possible, and walked aimlessly about the streets.

Presently they met Monsieur Dupuis, the insurance agent, and then
Monsieur Vasse, the Judge of the Tribunal of Commerce, and they took a
long walk, going to the pier first of all, where they sat down in a row
on the granite parapet and watched the rising tide, and when the
promenaders had sat there for some time, Monsieur Tournevau said:

"This is not very amusing!"

"Decidedly not," Monsieur Pinipesse replied, and they started off to walk
again.

After going through the street alongside the hill, they returned over the
wooden bridge which crosses the Retenue, passed close to the railway, and
came out again on the market place, when, suddenly, a quarrel arose
between Monsieur Pinipesse, the collector, and Monsieur Tournevau about
an edible mushroom which one of them declared he had found in the
neighborhood.

As they were out of temper already from having nothing to do, they would
very probably have come to blows, if the others had not interfered.
Monsieur Pinipesse went off furious, and soon another altercation arose
between the ex-mayor, Monsieur Poulin, and Monsieur Dupuis, the insurance
agent, on the subject of the tax collector's salary and the profits which
he might make. Insulting remarks were freely passing between them, when a
torrent of formidable cries was heard, and the body of sailors, who were
tired of wai