"Come, monsieur, take one and let us have done with it; you came to my room to laugh, you say; well, it seems to me that we are going to enjoy ourselves. What makes you look at the door like that? Can it possibly be that you would like to deprive me of your company? I warn you that that will not do you much good, for I will have my chair rolled to your room, I will roll it there myself if necessary, and I won't stir until you have given me satisfaction." "Why, this old fellow is evidently an inveterate duelist!" said Saint-Arthur to himself, supporting himself on whatever came under his hand. Soon, seeing that retreat was impossible, he formed a heroic resolution, and going up to Roncherolle, he bowed humbly before him, saying in a voice which fright rendered almost touching: "Monsieur, I am really ashamed of what I did; I am confused beyond words; I behaved like a hare-brained boy, like a poor--I may as well say it, like a blockhead. I can't imagine what I was thinking of; that is to say, yes, I do know,--I had wine at my breakfast, which I am not used to, and it must have gone to my head. I realize how badly I behaved, and I regret it; I withdraw the absurd remarks which I may have made to you, I withdraw them; in fact, I offer my apologies for all that has taken place; pray accept them and do not be offended with one who henceforth will devote all his efforts to be agreeable to you." Roncherolle looked at the young man for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Is it true that you were a little tipsy?" "It is true that I was a good deal so; I drank six _petits verres_, and then I drank champagne." "And you are not strong at that game, perhaps?" "Not very strong." "Ah! I could give you lessons in that." "You know how to drink champagne?" "I should say so! I know thirty-three different ways of emptying one's glass." "Thirty-three ways! ah! that's the sort of thing I would like to know. So you are not angry with me any longer, neighbor?" "I cannot be, as you have apologized." "I repeat my apology." "And if you had told me sooner that you were tipsy----" "True, I should have begun with that when I entered the room. As for my parrot, never fear, my dear neighbor, you won't hear from him any more. I have a dressing room beyond my two rooms; that is a long distance from you, and if I close all the doors, I think that you will not be able to hear him talk." "Very good, and on my side, I hope not to be confined to the house long. Then, as I seldom come home except to go to bed, you can teach your parrot to talk at your ease." "My dear neighbor, I am overjoyed that this little discussion has afforded me the pleasure of making your acquaintance. I see that you are a man who has lived--when one knows thirty-three ways of drinking champagne!" "Yes, it is true, I have lived, and very well--too well apparently, as they say that that's the cause of my gout."