by reason of the increase of work which had been caused by the Tunisian
loan. The loan constituted a very fine stroke of business for the firm,
too fine even, for M. Joyeuse had permitted himself to remark in the
office that this time "Hemerlingue & Son had shaved the Turk a little
too close."

"Certainly, yes, the bounty will be doubled," reflected the visionary,
as he walked; and already he saw himself, a month thence, mounting with
his comrades, for the New Year's visit, the little staircase that led
to Hemerlingue's apartment. He announced the good news to them; then he
detained M. Joyeuse for a few words in private. And, behold, that master
habitually so cold in his manner, sheathed in his yellow fat as in
a bale of raw silk, became affectionate, paternal, communicative. He
desired to know how many daughters Joyeuse had.

"I have three; no, I should say, four, M. le Baron. I always confuse
them. The eldest is such a sensible girl."

Further he wished to know their ages.

"Aline is twenty, M. le Baron. She is the eldest. Then we have Elise,
who is preparing for the examination which she must pass when she is
eighteen. Henriette, who is fourteen, and Zara or Yaia who is only
twelve."

That pet name of Yaia intensely amused M. le Baron, who inquired next
what were the resources of this interesting family.

"My salary, M. le Baron; nothing else. I had a little money put aside,
but my poor wife's illness, the education of the girls--"

"What you are earning is not sufficient, my dear Joyeuse. I raise your
salary to a thousand francs a month."

"Oh, M. le Baron, it is too much."

But although he had uttered this last sentence aloud, in the ear of
a policeman who watched with a mistrustful eye the little man pass,
gesticulating and nodding his head, the poor visionary awoke not. With
admiration he saw himself returning home, announcing the news to his
daughters, taking them to the theatre in the evening in celebration of
the happy day. _Dieu!_ how pretty they looked in the front of their box,
the Demoiselles Joyeuse, what a bouquet of rosy faces! And then, the
next day, the two eldest asked in marriage by--Impossible to determine
by whom, for M. Joyeuse had just suddenly found himself once more
beneath the arch of the Hemerlingue establishment, before the swing-door
surmounted by a "counting-house" in letters of gold.

"I shall always be the same, it seems," said he to himself, laughing a
little and passing hi