ame."

The President chuckled evilly, and his satellites smiled in polite
reflection of his mood.

"This acute differentiating is peculiar, Monsieur de Lesperon, to
persons of unsound mental condition," said he. "I am afraid that it will
serve little purpose. A man is generally known by his name, is he not?"
I did not answer him. "Shall we call Monsieur de Castelroux to confirm
what I have said?"

"It is not necessary. Since you allow that I may have said I was known
by the name, but refuse to recognize the distinction between that and
a statement that 'Lesperon' is my name, it would serve no purpose to
summon the Captain."

The President nodded, and with that the point was dismissed, and he
proceeded as calmly as though there never had been any question of my
identity.

"You are charged, Monsieur de Lesperon, with high treason in its most
virulent and malignant form. You are accused of having borne arms
against His Majesty. Have you anything to say?"

"I have to say that it is false, monsieur; that His Majesty has no more
faithful or loving subject than am I."

The President shrugged his shoulders, and a shade of annoyance crossed
his face.

"If you are come here for no other purpose than to deny the statements
that I make, I am afraid that we are but wasting time," he cried
testily. "If you desire it, I can summon Monsieur de Castelroux to swear
that at the time of your arrest and upon being charged with the crime
you made no repudiation of that charge."

"Naturally not, monsieur," I cried, somewhat heated by this seemingly
studied ignoring of important facts, "because I realized that it was
Monsieur de Castelroux's mission to arrest and not to judge me. Monsieur
de Castelroux was an officer, not a Tribunal, and to have denied this or
that to him would have been so much waste of breath."

"Ah! Very nimble; very nimble, in truth, Monsieur de Lesperon, but
scarcely convincing. We will proceed. You are charged with having taken
part in several of the skirmishes against the armies of Marshals
de Schomberg and La Force, and finally, with having been in close
attendance upon Monsieur de Montmorency at the battle of Castelnaudary.
What have you to say?"

"That it is utterly untrue."

"Yet your name, monsieur, is on a list found among the papers in the
captured baggage of Monsieur le Duc de Montmorency."

"No, monsieur," I denied stoutly, "it is not."

The President smote the table a blow that scattered a f