"Your excellency," said the prison, drawing near to the grated window, "I repent sincerely of that poor little gentleman's death; it was no assassin's stab in the dark, but a most unfortunate blow in a fight, remember."
"Bravo! Mathias! bravo!" ejaculated the visitor.
The prisoner looked up.
A strange expression flitted across his face.
Mathias was an adept in the art of dissimulation, and his face was schooled to tell neither more nor less than he wished.
"Now, your excellency," said the visitor, "this rascal appears strangely self-possessed."
"He does."
"What does it mean?"
"Brag."
"Humph!"