"Would I like it! I should say so! I wouldn't have asked for it, but you offer it! You're a friend indeed! Let me hear anyone say that there are no such things as friends nowadays! Dear old Rochebrune! And you don't know me very well, either." "I know you well enough to be happy that I am able to oblige you." "Oh! by the way, I ought to warn you of one thing: I can't say just when I shall be able to pay you." "Don't let that disturb you! You may pay me when fortune smiles on you again, when you have a profitable practice." "Oh! as for that, you will be the first person paid. So I'm in funds once more! _Vive la joie!_--No more potatoes! I've had enough of them; I've been stuffed with them for a long time. But I won't tell Satiné that my pockets are lined, for she has always some invention or other in her head, and it's too risky." I was about to take leave of Balloquet, who was just pulling on his trousers, when we heard three little taps at his door. The young doctor listened and smiled. "What sort of a farce are you going to play this time?" I asked him. "Oh! this is no creditor, my dear fellow, I am sure. The creditor knocks noisily; but those soft little taps--I'll bet that it's someone to consult me." He went into the outer room and called: "Who's there?" "Someone who wishes to consult monsieur le médécin," replied a soft, female voice. "I will leave you," I said, taking my hat; but Balloquet detained me. "Do stay," he said. "Thus far you have seen nothing but the unpleasant features of my position as a debtor; it is only fair that you should be a witness also of the advantages we owe to our profession. This is some girl to consult me. It is sometimes quite amusing to listen. They conceal nothing from their doctor; they tell him some things that they certainly wouldn't tell their lovers." "But she won't dare to say anything before a witness, will she?" "It will be enough to tell her that you're a confrère; then she'll look on you as another myself. If there were ten of us here, and I should say they were all doctors, she'd take them all for her confidants." "In that case, I will stay and listen to the consultation." I resumed my seat, while Balloquet donned his dressing gown, and opened the door himself. The doctor was not mistaken; it was a young girl, with a costume halfway between that of a grisette and a nursery maid. Light hair, an attractive face, eyes cast down like an innocent schoolgirl, but with a certain twist in her gait which bore no trace of innocence. She made a courtesy, then glanced at me, and halted. "Monsieur is a confrère, another myself," said Balloquet; "so you may speak before him without fear; indeed, you may be the gainer by so doing, for two opinions are better than one. Be seated, mademoiselle, and tell me what brings you here."