It was Pachmann who asked the next one.
"How does it happen that you travel this time by a German boat?"
Chevrial shrugged his shoulders.
"Because there was no French one. It is necessary that I be in New York on Wednesday. There was no other boat that would arrive in time. Had there been, I would have taken it."
"So you do not like German boats?"
"I like nothing German," said Chevrial, calmly. "Least of all, this inquisition, which, it seems to me, demands some explanation."
"It is for the immigration bureau," the purser hastened to explain. "The American laws are very strict."
"The laws do not concern me. I am not an immigrant. I am merely one who goes on business and who returns. My papers are in order, are they not?"
The purser was forced to confess that they were.
"Then," said Chevrial, returning them to his pocket, "if there are any further questions to be answered, I will wait until I get to the pier at New York to answer them. I shall at least have the pleasure of talking to an American!" and he got up and left the library.