But before the stout woman, with her servant and the two children, had left the office, the Belleville omnibus had started off; there was but one vacant seat, and twenty people were waiting for it. You should have seen the disappointment depicted on all those faces then. Several persons, tired of waiting, decided to walk. Others remained in the square; but the majority returned to the office, where all the benches were already filled. These public carriages are surely an excellent invention; but let us admit that they are not equal to the most modest of char-a-bancs, which is entirely at your service, even when you only hire it.
Finding no place to sit inside the office, the dame with the little boys seated herself and them on a bench outside. As for the servant, she succeeded in finding room inside; the fish in her basket was of much a.s.sistance to her in inducing others to make room; there was a general rush to get as far away from her as possible.
The party with the cake returned, and ran up to the clerk.
"Well! isn"t it about time for us to start?"
"Where are you going, monsieur?"
"You know perfectly well--to La Villette."
"The "bus started three minutes ago."
"What! it didn"t wait for me! I asked you if I had time to go to buy a cake, and you said _yes_. You ought to have said _no_, if I hadn"t."
"You shouldn"t have been so long about it, monsieur."
"I thought there was a pastry-cook on Carre Saint-Martin, but I couldn"t find anything but pork-shops."
"You can take the next "bus."
"How soon does it start?"
"In seven minutes."
"Then I"ve got time to go to drink a gla.s.s of beer to wash down my cake.
Cafes aren"t like pastry-cooks--you can find them anywhere."
"Be careful, monsieur; seven minutes at the outside."
"You can keep it waiting a minute if I"m not here."
"They never wait, monsieur."
Two rather attractive young women entered the office; they were modestly dressed, and their hats were so small, and set so far back on their heads, that they looked to be nothing more than caps. Their general appearance was that of grisettes. Some writers who study present-day manners in their studies, or at table in a cafe, claim that there are no grisettes now; but I a.s.sure you that that is not true; if you do not find any, it is because you have not made a thorough search. There will always be grisettes in Paris, where the more or less flighty young work-girl of the Latin quarter does not pa.s.s at one bound from her modest chamber to the boudoir of a kept mistress.
One of the young women who entered the omnibus office was a brunette, with a retrousse nose, defiant eye, smiling mouth, teeth a little too far apart--but that is better than having false teeth; the other was a blonde, one of those blondes who have received a light touch of fire; but that color never yet prevented a woman from being pretty. If you doubt what I say, go to England or Scotland; auburn-haired women are in the majority there, and, as a general rule, they are very fascinating.
The blonde grisette was pretty; but she had a sort of stupid expression which might at first sight pa.s.s for modesty; but on talking with her, you soon discovered that it was really stupidity; therein she formed a striking contrast to her companion, who had a bright, wide-awake manner.
"Monsieur," said the brunette, addressing the clerk, "have you any seats for Belleville?"
"You must take your turn, mademoiselle."
"But will our turn be long in coming?"
"Not very; a good many people have gone."
In truth, the odor exhaled by the whiting stuffed into Mademoiselle Adelaide"s basket, and the fear of having to travel with her, had led many persons to start for their destinations on foot.
"Here, mesdemoiselles, take these two tickets; your turn will come."
"Say, Laurette, suppose we walk?" said the pretty blonde.
"Thanks, and tire ourselves out, and arrive all drenched--what fun! For my part, I don"t like to sweat; it uncurls my hair. Mon Dieu! what a crowd! It"s all the rage now; no one is willing to go on foot, and there aren"t enough "buses."
"Belleville! Faubourg du Temple!"
"Ah! here it is! here it is!"
Further evolutions performed by the stout woman, the two boys, and the servant, but with no greater success; there were four vacant seats, but there were other numbers before theirs. The two girls also came forward.
"There"s no more room, except on top," said the conductor.
"All right! we don"t care; we"ll go on top."
"Pardon! ladies are not allowed there."--And the conductor added, with a wink: "It isn"t my fault, you know; nothing would suit me better."
"I believe you," said a man in a blouse; "if women were allowed to climb up there, there"s lots of men who would pay to be conductors."
"Why do they say that?" the blonde asked her companion; "what good would it do the conductors to have women ride in the three-sou seats?"
"Oh! what a fool you are, Lucie! What! don"t you understand?"
"Why, no."
"Oh! you make me weary."
"Never mind; tell me why?"
"My dear girl, it"s a matter of the point of view; that"s all."
III
THE YOUNG MAN FROM PLACE CADET
An awkward, loutish youth entered the office.
"Place Cadet, monsieur?"
"This isn"t the office; it"s out on the boulevard, at the left, just at the corner."
"Exceedingly obliged; will there be a seat?"
"How do you expect us to know, when this isn"t the office?"