The notary's nose;

THE NOTARY'S NOSE. 49
patch, while seeming to wait for the Parisians.
" Are you following us? " called out the
notary, repeating his threatening gesture.
The over-prudent beast took to flight
again, but reappeared at the edge of the
clearing where they were going to fight.
M. l'Ambert, superstitious as a gambler about to make a heavy bet, wanted to
chase away this malevolent fetish; he
threw a pebble at him without hitting him,
and the cat climbed a tree and kept still.
The seconds had already selected a
spot and drawn lots for places. The better fell to M. l'Ambert; and the lot also
decreed that they should use the weapons
he had brought, and not the Japanese yataghans, which would have been awkward
for him.
Nothing appeared awkward for Ayvas;
to him every sabre was a good sabre.
He watched his enemy's nose as a fisher4