GERMINAL
agreed, and went into the inn parlour, which was separated from the ball-room on week-days by a movable partition. When they had finished their omelette and cheese, the engine-man proposed to depart; and, as the other tried to detain him:
"What for? To listen to you talking useless foolery? I've seen enough of it. Good-day."
He went off in his gentle, obstinate way, with a cigarette between his lips.
Étienne's anxiety increased. It was one o'clock, and Pluchart was decidedly breaking his promise. Towards half-past one the delegates began to appear, and he had to receive them, for he wished to see who entered, for fear that the Company might send its usual spies. He examined every letter of invitation, and took note of those who entered; many came in without a letter, as they were admitted provided he knew them. As two o'clock struck Rasseneur entered, finishing his pipe before the counter, and chatting without haste. This provoking calmness still further disturbed Étienne, all the more as many had come merely for fun—Zacharie, Mouquet, and others. These cared little about the strike, and found it a great joke to do nothing. Seated at tables, and spending their last two sous on drink, they grinned and bantered their mates, the serious ones, who had come to make fools of themselves.
Another quarter of an hour passed; there was impatience in the hall. Then Étienne, in despair, made a gesture of resolution. And he had decided to enter, when Widow Désir, who was putting her head outside, exclaimed:
"But here he is, your gentleman!"
It was, in fact, Pluchart. He came in a cab drawn by a broken-winded horse. He jumped at once on to the pavement, a thin, insipidly handsome man, with a large square head, and in his black cloth frock-coat he had the Sunday air of a well-to-do workman. For five years he had not done a stroke with the file, and he took care of his appearance, especially combing his hair in a correct manner, vain of his successes on the platform; but his limbs were still stiff, and the nails of his large hands, eaten by the iron, had not grown again. Very active, he worked out his ambitions, scouring the province unceasingly in order to place his ideas.
[218]
