“Pooh！“saidtheclerk，unabletoimaginewhatcapriciousconductmeant。
“Oh！I’mnotungrateful；youhaveenabledmetogetthisfinebrickchateauwiththestonecopingswhichcouldn’tbebuiltnowfortwohundredthousandfrancsandthosefarmsandpreservesandtheparkandgardensandwoods，allfortwohundredandeightythousandfrancs。
No，I’mnotungrateful；I’llgiveyoutenpercent，twentythousandfrancs，foryourservices，andyoucanbuyasheriff’spracticeinNemours。I’llguaranteeyouamarriagewithoneofCremiere’sdaughters，theeldest。“
“Theonewhotalkspiston！“criedGoupil。
“She’llhavethirtythousandfrancs，“repliedMinoret。“Don’tyousee，mydearboy，thatyouarecutoutforasheriff，justasIwastobeapostmaster？Peopleshouldkeeptotheirvocation。“