“Why, no,” said he, “I have not my card. I must have forgotten it.”

“Fifteen francs fine,” said Fauchelevent.

The gravedigger turned green. Green is the pallor of livid people.

“Ah! Jesus-mon-Dieu-bancroche-à-bas-la-lune!” 32 he exclaimed. “Fifteen francs fine!”

“Three pieces of a hundred sous,” said Fauchelevent.

The gravedigger dropped his shovel.

Fauchelevent’s turn had come.