Diener drew himself up. He was shocked by such off-handedness. "What!" he said. "No hurry! In business..." Christophe looked him in the face. "No." Diener looked away. He hated Christophe for having so put him to shame. He murmured irritably. Christophe cut him short: "Come," he said. "You know..." (He used the "_Du_," which maddened Diener, who from the first had been vainly trying to set up between Christophe and himself the barrier of the "_Sie_") "You know why I am here?" "Yes," said Diener. "I know." (He had heard of Christophe's escapade, and the warrant out against him, from his friends.) "Then," Christophe went on, "you know that I am not here for fun. I have had to fly. I have nothing. I must live." Diener was waiting for that, for the request. He took it with a mixture of satisfaction--(for it made it possible for him to feel his superiority over Christophe)--and embarrassment--(for he dared not make Christophe feel his superiority as much as he would have liked). "Ah!" he said pompously. "It is very tiresome, very tiresome. Life here is hard. Everything is so dear. We have enormous expenses. And all these assistants..." Christophe cut him short contemptuously: "I am not asking you for money." Diener was abashed. Christophe went on: "Is your business doing well? Have you many customers?" "Yes. Yes. Not bad, thank God!..." said Diener cautiously. (He was on his guard.) Christophe darted a look of fury at him, and went on: "You know many people in the German colony?" "Yes." "Very well: speak for me. They must be musical. They have children. I will give them lessons." Diener was embarrassed at that. "What is it?" asked Christophe. "Do you think I'm not competent to do the work?" He was asking a service as though it were he who was rendering it. Diener, who would not have done a thing for Christophe except for the sake of putting him under an obligation, was resolved not to stir a finger for him. "It isn't that. You're a thousand times too good for it. Only..." "What, then?" "Well, you see, it's very difficult--very difficult--on account of your position." "My position?" "Yes.... You see, that affair, the warrant.... If that were to be known.... It is difficult for me. It might do me harm." He stopped as he saw Christophe's face go hot with anger: and he added quickly: "Not on my own account.... I'm not afraid.... Ah! If I were alone!... But my uncle ... you know, the business is his. I can do nothing without him...." He grew more and more alarmed at Christophe's expression, and at the thought of the gathering explosion he said hurriedly--(he was not a bad fellow at bottom: avarice and vanity were struggling in him: he would have liked to help Christophe, at a price): "Can I lend you fifty francs?"