"With swords." "You didn't have any." "That gentleman had a whole arsenal in his carriage." "Mon Dieu! And which of you was killed?" "Why, your question is rather beside the mark. Do I look like a dead man?" "Ah! that's so. It was the other man, then? Poor young man!" "Don't be alarmed; he isn't dead, and he won't die. A simple wound--and I warned him, too; I said: 'You strike down too much!'--He fences rather well, but he isn't in my class yet." "You villain! always in trouble--fighting duels. But what if he had killed you, eh?" "In that case, superb Louchard, I should not, at this moment, have the pleasure of gazing upon your strongly-marked features." "And the cause of your duel?" "A trifle--a mere nothing--a jest. But that young man's coming prevented me from breakfasting, and I feel the need of attending to that important function. I go to my room to get my pretty cane with the agate head, and I fly to the Vefour of the Quarter. But, no; there isn't one here, and, as I wish to breakfast very well indeed, I will go as far as Passoir's." "Anyone can see that you're in funds." "Indeed, it is true, divine hostess." "And you don't leave me a little on account." "We will talk of that later." Cherami took his new cane, placed his new hat on the side of his head, and with his pockets lined with the money he had won at ecarte the night before, left the house, saying: "I have my cue!" According to his custom, Cherami spent his gold pieces freely. But it seemed that that money had brought him luck. Being a great lover of the game of billiards, he did not fail, after dinner, to go and play pool at a cafe where he knew that there was always a game in progress in the evening; and for some days fortune favored him so persistently, that all the frequenters of the cafe frowned when he appeared, muttering: "Here comes the pool-shark!" But one evening the luck turned; Cherami left the cafe with empty pockets.