"
I pointed to his hat, which was black; he did not understand me; but
on making a gesture that I wanted to drink, he found me perfectly
intelligible. All the buttons of my great coat were twenty-franc
pieces; I gave him one: he asked if they had brought the wine, and
soon afterwards I heard a turnkey say,
"Father Moiselet, I have taken up two bottles for you." The
flesh-coloured coat was then Moiselet. I followed him into his room,
and we began to drink with all our might. Two other bottles arrived;
we only went on in couples. Moiselet, in his capacity of chorister,
cooper, sexton, &c. &c. was no less a sot than gossip; he got tipsy
with great good-will, and incessantly spoke to me in the jargon I had
assumed.
Matters progressed well; after two or three hours such as these I
pretended to get stupid. Moiselet, to set me to rights, gave me a cup
of coffee without sugar; after coffee came glasses of water. No one
can conceive the care which my new friend took of me; but when
drunkenness is of such a nature it is like death--all care is useless.
Drunkenness overpowered me. I went to bed and slept; at least Moiselet
thought so; but I saw him many times fill my glass and his own, and
gulp them both down. The next day, when I awoke, he paid me the
balance, three francs and fifty centimes, which, according to him,
remained from the twenty-franc piece.
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