"By Jingo! who on earth will pay
A drink to the pa—to the pa—pa—?
By Jingo! who on earth will pay
A drink to the pa—to the pa—tro—o—l?"
The panes of glass of the shop-front resounded, the singers' great volume of breath agitated the muslin curtains. Whilst all this was going on, Virginie had already twice disappeared and each time, on returning, had leant towards Gervaise's ear to whisper a piece of information. When she returned the third time, in the midst of the uproar, she said to her:
"My dear, he's still at Francois's; he's pretending to read the newspaper. He's certainly meditating some evil design."
She was speaking of Lantier. It was him that she had been watching. At each fresh report Gervaise became more and more grave.
"Is he drunk?" asked she of Virginie.
"No," replied
