"
As customary when he returned, Chupin embraced the good woman with
the respectful tenderness which had so surprised M. Fortunat.
"You are always kind," said he, "but, unfortunately, I can't
remain to dine with you."
"But you promised me."
"That's true, mamma; but business, you see--business."
The worthy woman shook her head. "Always business!" she
exclaimed.
"Yes--when a fellow hasn't ten thousand francs a year."
"You have become a worker, Toto, and that makes me very happy; but
you are too eager for money, and that frightens me."
"That's to say, you fear I shall do something dishonest. Ah!
mother! do you think I can forget you and Monsieur Andre?"
His mother said no more, and he entered the tiny nook which he so
pompously styled his chamber, and quickly changed the clothes he
was wearing (his Sunday toggery) for an old pair of checked
trousers, a black blouse, and a glazed cap. And when he had
finished, and given a peculiar turn to his hair, no one would have
recognized him. In place of M. Fortunat's respectable clerk,
there appeared one of those vagabonds who hang about cafes and
theatres from six in the evening till midnight, and spend the rest
of their time playing cards in the low drinking dens near the
barrieres. It was the old Chupin come to life once more--Toto
Chupin as he had appeared before his conversion.
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