let us talk any more about
it. I should not blush to have you for my son-in-law. The nephew of
Monsieur Popinot, a judge of the civil courts, nephew of the Ragons, you
have the right to make your way as well as anybody; but there are _buts_
and _ifs_ and _hows_ and _whys_. What a devil of a dog you have let
loose upon me, in the midst of a business conversation! Here, sit down
on that chair, and let the lover give place to the clerk. Popinot, are
you a loyal man?" he said, looking fixedly at the youth. "Do you feel
within you the nerve to struggle with something stronger than yourself,
and fight hand to hand?"

"Yes, monsieur."

"To maintain a long and dangerous battle?"

"What for?"

"To destroy Macassar Oil!" said Birotteau, rising on his toes like
a hero in Plutarch. "Let us not mistake; the enemy is strong, well
entrenched, formidable! Macassar Oil has been vigorously launched. The
conception was strong. The square bottles were original; I have thought
of making ours triangular. Yet on the whole I prefer, after ripe
reflection, smaller bottles of thin glass, encased in wicker; they would
have a mysterious look, and customers like things which puzzle them."

"They would be expensive," said Popinot. "We must get things out as
cheap as we can, so as to make a good reduction at wholesale."

"Good, my lad! That's the right principle. But now, think of it.
Macassar Oil will defend itself; it is specious; the name is seductive.
It is offered as a foreign importation; and we have the ill-luck to
belong to our own country. Come, Popinot, have you the courage to kill
Macassar? Then begin the fight in foreign lands. It seems that Macassar
is really in the Indies. Now, isn't it much better to supply a French
product to the Indians than to send them back what they are supposed
to send to us? Make the venture. Begin the fight in India, in foreign
countries, in the departments. Macassar Oil has been thoroughly
advertised; we must not underrate its power, it has been pushed
everywhere, the public knows it."

"I'll kill it!" cried Popinot, with fire in his eyes.

"What with?" said Birotteau. "That's the way with ardent young people.
Listen till I've done."

Anselme fell into position like a soldier presenting arms to a marshal
of France.

"Popinot, I have invented an oil to stimulate the growth of hair, to
titillate the scalp, to revive the color of male and female tresses.
This cosmetic will not be less successful than