Mercadet Do you feel that you have the genius to maintain yourself in style at the height to which you aspire? To dominate men of mind by the power of capital and superiority of intellect? Do you think that you will always have skill enough to keep afloat between the two capes, which have seen the life of elegance so often founder between the cheap restaurant and the debtors' prison? De la Brive Why! You are breaking into my conscience like a burglar--you echo my very thought! What do you want with me? Mercadet I wish to rescue you, by launching you into the world of business. De la Brive By what entrance? Mercadet Let me choose the door. De la Brive The devil! Mercadet Show yourself a man who will compromise himself for me-- De la Brive But men of straw may be burnt. Mercadet You must be incombustible. De la Brive What are the terms of our copartnership? Mercadet You try to serve me in the desperate circumstances in which I am at present, and I will make you a present of your forty-seven thousand, two hundred and thirty-three francs, to say nothing of the centimes. Between ourselves, I may say that only address is needed. De la Brive In the use of the pistol or the sword? Mercadet No one is to be killed; on the contrary-- De la Brive That will suit me. Mercadet A man is to be brought to life again. De la Brive That doesn't suit me at all, my dear fellow. The legacy, the chest of Harpagon, the little mule of Scapin and, indeed, all the farces which have made us laugh on the ancient stage are not well received nowadays in real life. The police have a way of getting mixed up with them, and since the abolition of privileges, no one can administer a drubbing with impunity. Mercadet Well, what do you think of five years in debtors' prison? Eh? What a fate! De la Brive As a matter of fact, my decision must depend upon what you want me to do to any one, for my honor so far is intact and is worth-- Mercadet You must invest it well, for we shall have dire need of all that it is worth. I want you to assist me in sitting at the table which the Exchange always keeps spread, and we will gorge ourselves with the good things there offered us, for you must admit that while those who seek for millions have great difficulty in finding them, they are never found by those who do not seek. De la Brive I think I can co-operate with you in this matter. You will return to me my forty-seven thousand francs-- Mercadet Yes, sir. De la Brive I am not required to be anything but be--very clever? Mercadet Nimble, but this nimbleness will be exercised, as the English say, on the right side of the law. De la Brive What is it you propose? Mercadet (giving him a paper) Here are your written instructions. You are to represent something like an uncle from America--in fact, my partner, who has just come back from the West Indies. De la Brive I understand.