De la Brive
In the Landes.

Mercadet
And of what does it consist?

De la Brive
Of sand wastes, planted with firs.

Mercadet
Good to make toothpicks.

De la Brive
That’s about it.

Mercadet
And it is worth?

De la Brive
Thirty thousand francs.

Mercadet
And mortgaged for—­

De la Brive
Forty-five thousand!

Mercadet
And you had the skill to effect that?

De la Brive
Why, yes—­

Mercadet
Damnation!  But that was pretty clever!  And your marshes, sir?

De la Brive
They border on the sea—­

Mercadet
They are part of the ocean!

De la Brive
The people of that country are evil-minded enough to say so.  That is
what hinders my loans!

Mercadet
It would be very difficult to issue ocean shares!  Sir, I may tell you,
between ourselves, that your morality seems to me—­

De la Brive
Somewhat—­

Mercadet
Risky.

De la Brive (in anger)
Sir! (calming himself) Let this be merely between ourselves!

Mercadet
You gave a friend a bill of sale of your furniture, you sign your
notes of hand with the name of Michonnin, and you call yourself merely
De la Brive—­

De la Brive
Well, sir, what are you going to do about it?

Mercadet
Do about it?  I am going to lead you a pretty dance—­

De la Brive
Sir, I am your guest!  Moreover, I may deny everything—­ What proofs
have you?

Mercadet
What proofs!  I have in my hands forty-seven thousand francs’ worth of
your notes.

De la Brive
Are they signed to the order of Pierquin?

Mercadet
Precisely so.

De la Brive
And you have had them since this morning?

Mercadet
Since this morning.

De la Brive
I see.  You have given worthless stock in exchange for valueless notes.

Mercadet
Sir!

De la Brive
And, in order to seal the bargain, Pierquin, one of the least
important of your creditors, has given you a delay of three months.

Mercadet
Who told you that?

De la Brive
Who?  Who?  Pierquin himself, of course, as soon as he learned I was
going to make an arrangement—­

Mercadet
The devil he did!

De la Brive Ah!  You were going to give two hundred thousand francs as a dowry to your daughter, and you had debts to the amount of three hundred and fifty thousand!  Between ourselves it looks like you who had been trying to swindle the son-in-law, sir—­

Mercadet (angrily)
Sir! (calming himself) This is merely between ourselves, sir.

De la Brive
You took advantage of my inexperience!

Mercadet
Of course I did!  The inexperience of a man who raises a loan on his
sand wastes fifty per cent above their value.