"M. de Trailles looked at me with civil insult in his expression, and
made as if he would take his leave.

"'I am ready to go with you,' said I.

"When we reached the Rue de Gres, my dandy looked about him with a
circumspection and uneasiness that set me wondering. His face grew
livid, flushed, and yellow, turn and turn about, and by the time that
Gobseck's door came in sight the perspiration stood in drops on his
forehead. We were just getting out of the cabriolet, when a hackney
cab turned into the street. My companion's hawk eye detected a woman
in the depths of the vehicle. His face lighted up with a gleam of
almost savage joy; he called to a little boy who was passing, and gave
him his horse to hold. Then we went up to the old bill discounter.

"'M. Gobseck,' said I, 'I have brought one of my most intimate
friends to see you (whom I trust as I would trust the Devil,' I added
for the old man's private ear). 'To oblige me you will do your best
for him (at the ordinary rate), and pull him out of his difficulty (if
it suits your convenience).'

"M. de Trailles made his bow to Gobseck, took a seat, and listened to
us with a courtier-like attitude; its charming humility would have
touched your heart to see, but my Gobseck sits in his chair by the
fireside without moving a muscle, or changing a feature. He looked
very like the statue of Voltaire under the peristyle of the
Theatre-Francais, as you see it of an evening; he had partly risen as
if to bow, and the skull cap that covered the top of his head, and the
narrow strip of sallow forehead exhibited, completed his likeness to