Dutocq.  “I said nothing against Monsieur Rabourdin; only it has just been told to me in confidence that he has written a paper denouncing all the clerks and officials, and full of facts about their lives; in short, the reason why his friends support him is because he has written this paper against the administration, in which we are all exposed—­”

Phellion [in a loud voice].  “Monsieur Rabourdin is incapable of—­”

Bixiou.  “Very proper in you to say so.  Tell me, Dutocq” [they whisper together and then go into the corridor].

Bixiou.  “What has happened?”

Dutocq.  “Do you remember what I said to you about that caricature?”

Bixiou.  “Yes, what then?”

Dutocq.  “Make it, and you shall be under-head-clerk with a famous fee.  The fact is, my dear fellow, there’s dissension among the powers that be.  The minister is pledged to Rabourdin, but if he doesn’t appoint Baudoyer he offends the priests and their party.  You see, the King, the Dauphin and the Dauphine, the clergy, and lastly the court, all want Baudoyer; the minister wants Rabourdin.”

Bixiou.  “Good!”

Dutocq.  “To ease the matter off, the minister, who sees he must give way, wants to strangle the difficulty.  We must find some good reason for getting rid of Rabourdin.  Now somebody has lately unearthed a paper of his, exposing the present system of administration and wanting to reform it; and that paper is going the rounds,—­at least, this is how I understand the matter.  Make the drawing we talked of; in so doing you’ll play the game of all the big people, and help the minister, the court, the clergy,—­in short, everybody; and you’ll get your appointment.  Now do you understand me?”

Bixiou.  “I don’t understand how you came to know all that; perhaps you are inventing it.”

Dutocq.  “Do you want me to let you see what Rabourdin wrote about you?”

Bixiou.  “Yes.”

Dutocq.  “Then come home with me; for I must put the document into safe keeping.”

Bixiou.  “You go first alone.” [Re-enters the bureau Rabourdin.] “What Dutocq told you is really all true, word of honor!  It seems that Monsieur Rabourdin has written and sent in very unflattering descriptions of the clerks whom he wants to ‘reform.’  That’s the real reason why his secret friends wish him appointed.  Well, well; we live in days when nothing astonishes me” [flings his cloak about him like Talma, and declaims]:—­

  “Thou who has seen the fall of grand, illustrious heads,
  Why thus amazed, insensate that thou art,

“to find a man like Rabourdin employing such means?  Baudoyer is too much of a fool to know how to use them.  Accept my congratulations, gentlemen; either way you are under a most illustrious chief” [goes off].

Poiret.  “I shall leave this ministry without ever comprehending a single word that gentleman utters.  What does he mean with his ’heads that fall’?”