Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 442 | Page 5

receive three thousand francs, at ten per cent.?'
'My friend,' rejoined the notary, in a tone of great severity, 'take care
what you say. The offence of depreciating the credit or money of the
Republic is a grave one.'
'Who should know that better than I?' promptly replied Delessert. 'The
paper-money of our glorious Republic is of inestimable value; but the
fact is, Citizen Destouches, I have a weakness, I confess it, for coined
money--argent métallique. In case of fire, for instance, it'----
'It is very remarkable,' interrupted the notary with increasing
sternness--'it is very remarkable, Pierre' (Pierre was an influential
member of the Salut Public), 'that the instant a man becomes a landed
proprietor, he betrays symptoms of incivisme: is discovered to be, in
fact, an aristocq at heart.'
'I an aristocq!' exclaimed Delessert, turning very pale; 'you are jesting,
surely. See, I take these admirable assignats--three thousand francs'
worth at ten per cent.--with the greatest pleasure. Oh, never mind
counting among friends.'
'Pardon!' replied Destouches, with rigid scrupulosity. 'It is necessary to
be extremely cautious in matters of business. Deducting thirty francs
for the bond, you will, I think, find your money correct; but count
yourself.'
Delessert pretended to do so, but the rage in his heart so caused his eyes
to dance and dazzle, and his hands to shake, that he could scarcely see
the figures on the assignats, or separate one from the other. He bundled
them up at last, crammed them into his pocket, and hurried off, with a
sickly smile upon his face, and maledictions, which found fierce
utterance as soon as he had reached a safe distance, trembling on his

tongue.
'Scélérat! coquin!' he savagely muttered. 'Ten per cent. for this
moonshine money! I only wish---- But never mind, what's sauce for the
goose is sauce for the gander. I must try and buy in the same way that I
have been so charmingly sold.'
Earnestly meditating this equitable process, Citizen Delessert sought
his friend Jean Souday, who lived close by the Fossé des Tanneurs
(Tanners' Ditch.) Jean had a somewhat ancient mare to dispose of,
which our landed proprietor thought might answer his purpose. Cocotte
was a slight waif, sheared off by the sharp axe of the Place de la
Révolution, and Souday could therefore afford to sell her cheap. Fifty
francs argent métallique would, Delessert knew, purchase her; but with
assignats, it was quite another affair. But, courage! He might surely
play the notary's game with his friend Souday: that could not be so
difficult.
'You have no use for Cocotte,' suggested Delessert modestly, after
exchanging fraternal salutations with his friend.
'Such an animal is always useful,' promptly answered Madame Souday,
a sharp, notable little woman, with a vinegar aspect.
'To be sure--to be sure! And what price do you put upon this useful
animal?'
'Cela dépend'---- replied Jean, with an interrogative glance at his
helpmate.
'Yes, as Jean says, that depends--entirely depends'---- responded the
wife.
'Upon what, citoyenne?'
'Upon what is offered, parbleu! We are in no hurry to part with Cocotte;
but money is tempting.'

'Well, then, suppose we say, between friends, fifty francs?'
'Fifty francs! That is very little; besides, I do not know that I shall part
with Cocotte at all.'
'Come, come; be reasonable. Sixty francs! Is it a bargain?'
Jean still shook his head. 'Tempt him with the actual sight of the
money,' confidentially suggested Madame Souday; 'that is the only way
to strike a bargain with my husband.'
Delessert preferred increasing his offer to this advice, and gradually
advanced to 100 francs, without in the least softening Jean Souday's
obduracy. The possessor of the assignats was fain, at last, to adopt
Madame Souday's iterated counsel, and placed 120 paper francs before
the owner of Cocotte. The husband and wife instantly, as silently,
exchanged with each other, by the only electric telegraph then in use,
the words: 'I thought so.'
'This is charming money, friend Delessert,' said Jean Souday; 'far more
precious to an enlightened mind than the barbarous coin stamped with
effigies of kings and queens of the ancien régime. It is very tempting;
still, I do not think I can part with Cocotte at any price.'
Poor Delessert ground his teeth with rage, but the expression of his
anger would avail nothing; and, yielding to hard necessity, he at length,
after much wrangling, became the purchaser of the old mare for 250
francs--in assignats. We give this as a specimen of the bargains effected
by the owner of Les Près with his borrowed capital, and as affording a
key to the bitter hatred he from that day cherished towards the notary,
by whom he had, as he conceived, been so egregiously duped. Towards
evening, he entered a wine-shop in the suburb of Robertsau, drank
freely,