en drinks it when he is among friends who have money
to pay withal.

* * * * *

At sight of Berthe, Hogshead Geoffroy so far departed from custom as not
to give an order to the _patronne_ at the bar; instead, he rose and went
towards the girl and unceremoniously embraced her.

"Ah-ha, little sister, there you are! Why, I was just that moment
thinking of you!" He drew her to the back of the shop, towards a bunch
of sturdy, square-shouldered fellows drinking there, to whom he
introduced her. "Now then, mates, try to behave yourselves; I'm bringing
a charming young lady to see you, my sister Berthe, little
Bob--Bobinette, as we called her when we lived with the old folks." The
girl blushed, a little uneasy at finding herself in such a mixed
company, but Hogshead Geoffroy put every one at ease; he put his great
hand under Berthe's chin and tilted her head back. "Don't you think she
is pretty, this little sister of mine? She's the very spit of her
brother!" There was a general roar of laughter. The contrast between the
two figures was so great that it seemed impossible there could be any
relationship between them: the graceful, slender, tiny _Parisienne_
looking tinier still beside the huge colossus of a man six feet high,
with the chest of a bull and the shoulders of an athlete. "We don't seem
to be built on quite the same lines," M. Geoffroy admitted, "but all the
same there is a family likeness!"

The men made room for the girl, and after she had yielded to the general
insistence and accepted a glass of white wine, Geoffroy bent forward and
spoke in a lower tone.

"Well, what do you want with me?"

"I want to talk to you about something which will interest you, I'm
sure," Berthe answered.

"Anything to be got out of it?" was the giant's next enquiry.

Berthe smiled.

"I expect so, or I wouldn't have troubled you."

"Whenever there's any money to be picked up the Hogshead's always on,"
he replied: "especially just now when things aren't any too bright,
though I may tell you I think there's going to be an alteration in that
respect."

"Have you got a situation?" Berthe asked in some surprise.

Hogshead Geoffroy laid a finger on his lip.

"It's still a secret," he said, "but there's no harm in talking it over,
for everybody here knows all about it," and at interminable length, and
with many a pause for libations, he explained that he was a candidate
for an appointment as Market