Some had paid, and,
foreseeing the necessity of paying again, found little that was
diverting in the jest. Others thought it no laughing matter to
pay once; and a few had come as ill out of the adventure as I
had. Under these circumstances, we quickly settled to work, no
one entertaining the slightest suspicion; and La Trape, who could
accommodate himself to anything, playing the part of clerk, I was
presently receiving money and hearing excuses; the minute
acquaintance with the routine of the finances, which I had made
it my business to acquire, rendering the work easy to me.
We had not been long engaged, however, when Fonvelle put in an
appearance, and elbowing the peasants aside, begged to speak with
me apart. I rose and stepped back with him two or three paces;
on which he winked at me in a very knowing fashion, "I am M. de
Fonvelle," he said. And he winked again.
"Ah!" I said.
"My name is not in your list."
"I find it there," I replied, raising a hand to my ear.
"Tut, tut! you do not understand," he muttered.
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