rance, who had been brought to the French camp by the
German gendarmes, was with him.

Jorance simply nodded to the Morestals and asked:

"Suzanne?"

"She is well," said Marthe.

Meanwhile, Le Corbier had sat down and was turning over the papers.

With his three-cornered face, ending in a short, peaked beard, his
clean-shaven upper-lip, his sallow complexion and his black clothes, he
wore the solemn mien of a Protestant divine. People said of him that, in
the days of the Revolution, he would have been Robespierre or
Saint-Just. His eyes, which expressed sympathy and almost affection,
belied the suggestion. In reality, he was a conscientious man, who owed
the gravity of his appearance to an excessive sense of duty.

He closed the bundles of papers and sat thinking for some time. His lips
formed silent syllables. He was obviously composing his speech. And he
spoke as follows, in a confidential and friendly tone which was
infinitely perturbing:

"I am going back in an hour. In the train, I shall draw up a report,
based on these notes and on the respective depositions which you have
made or which you will make to me. At nine o'clock this evening, I
shall be with the prime minister. At half-past nine, the prime minister
will speak in the chamber; and he will speak according to the substance
of my report. This is what I wish you to understand above all things.
Next, I want you to know the German reply, I want you to realize the
great, the irretrievable importance of every word which you utter. As
for me, feeling as I do the full weight of my responsibilities, I wish
to seek behind those words, beyond yourselves, whether there is not some
detail unperceived by yourselves which will destroy the appalling truth
established by your evidence. What I am seeking is--I tell you so
frankly--a doubt on your part, a contradiction. I am seeking it ..."

He hesitated and, sinking his voice, concluded:

"I am almost hoping for it."

A great sense of peace filled the Morestals. Each of them, subduing his
excitement, suddenly raised himself to the level of the task assigned to
him and each of them was ready to fulfil it courageously, blindly, in
the face of every obstacle.

And Le Corbier resumed:

"M. Morestal, here is your deposition. I ask you for the last time to
affirm the exact, complete truth."

"I affirm it, monsieur le ministre."

"Still, Weisslicht and his men declare that the arrest took place on
German soil."