"Oh, we like him, too," said Sacqueville-Danglars hastily. "We are but making with the plaisanteries. Why do you not have another glass?"
"Parbleu!" laughed the hôtelier, "I don't know why I don't take advantage of your most generous offer." And he did.
"As I was saying," continued Sacqueville-Danglars, turning to Pippand, "Kill Gamgès, and you will gain Rosédès."
"No," said Pippand. "She has said she will die if he dies. And I know Rosédès; she never promises a thing like that in vain."
Tom-fool of a Touc! thought Sacqueville-Danglars. Is it not navrant when one's accomplices are such utter idiots? They steal his mistress from under the nose, and all he does is cry like a smurreau. And what does it matter if the woman kills herself, so long as Gamgès does not become capitaine? I only hope he has enough wit to play the part I will set him.
"Très bien," he replied aloud. "But what if you could remove Gamgès without killing him? Simply have him sent to prison."
"But how?" inquired Pippand.
"And prison, one escapes from it, unless it were the catacombs of the Seigneur Ténébreux," protested Buttrebeurrousse. "And if one escapes from prison and is named Samouard Gamgès, one takes vengeance. And d'ailleurs, I don't see why Gamgès should be imprisoned; he's a perfect gallant'hobbite."
