"I don't say he doesn't. But I do say, that no matter how well he knows it, he won't have time to teach you."
"Why, what does he do?"
"You ask me that?"
"Certainly, I ask you."
"He cuts off heads," she said, lowering her voice.
Charles trembled. "He—cuts—off—heads?" he repeated.
"Didn't you know that he is the public prosecutor? Ah! my poor child, your father has selected a strange master for you."
The boy remained thoughtful for an instant. Then he asked: "Was it he who cut off Mother Raisin's head to-day?"
"No, that was the Propagande."
"What is the Propagande?"