"However, it's nothing much. The fact that you are alive shows that there's no fracture. It reduces itself therefore to a contraction of the larynx, which we shall easily get rid of by tubing." He gave his assistant some instructions. A long aluminum tube was inserted in the patient's wind-pipe. The doctor, who had absented himself meanwhile, returned and, after removing the tube, examined the patient, who was already beginning to breathe with greater ease. "That's over," said Dr. Géradec, "and much quicker than I expected. There was evidently in your case an inhibition which caused the throat to shrink. Go home now; and, when you've had a rest, you'll forget all about it." Siméon asked what the fee was and paid it. But, as the doctor was seeing him to the door, he stopped and, without further preface, said: "I am a friend of Mme. Albonin's." The doctor did not seem to understand what he meant. "Perhaps you don't recognize the name," Siméon insisted. "When I tell you, however, that it conceals the identity of Mme. Mosgranem, I have no doubt that we shall be able to arrange something." "What about?" asked the doctor, while his face displayed still greater astonishment. "Come, doctor, there's no need to be on your guard. We are alone. You have sound-proof, double doors. Sit down and let's talk." He took a chair. The doctor sat down opposite him, looking more and more surprised. And Siméon proceeded with his statement: "I am a Greek subject. Greece is a neutral; indeed, I may say, a friendly country; and I can easily obtain a passport and leave France. But, for personal reasons, I want the passport made out not in my own name but in some other, which you and I will decide upon together and which will enable me, with your assistance, to go away without any danger." The doctor rose to his feet indignantly. Siméon persisted: "Oh, please don't be theatrical! It's a question of price, is it not? My mind is made up. How much do you want?" The doctor pointed to the door. Siméon raised no protest. He put on his hat. But, on reaching the door, he said: "Twenty thousand francs? Is that enough?" "Do you want me to ring?" asked the doctor, "and have you turned out?" Siméon laughed and quietly, with a pause after each figure: "Thirty thousand?" he asked. "Forty? . . . Fifty? . . . Oh, I see, we're playing a great game, we want a round sum. . . . All right. Only, you know, everything must be included in the price we settle. You must not only fix me up a passport so genuine that it can't be disputed, but you must guarantee me the means of leaving France, as you did for Mme. Mosgranem, on terms not half so handsome, by Jove! However, I'm not haggling. I need your assistance. Is it a bargain? A hundred thousand francs?" Dr. Géradec bolted the door, came back, sat down at his desk and said, simply: "We'll talk about it." "I repeat the question," said Siméon, coming closer. "Are we agreed at a hundred thousand?"