“The sergeant will accompany you, my good youth, to your lodgings, and verify what you have stated as to your companion. To-morrow you will appear here again, to answer certain questions we shall put to you as to your subsistence, and the means by which you live.”
“Is it a crime to have wherewithal to subsist upon?” asked the boy.
“He whose means of living are disproportionate to his evident station may well be an object of suspicion,” said the other, with a sneer.
“And who is to say what is my station, or what becomes it? Will you take upon you to pronounce upon the question?” cried the boy, boldly.
“Mayhap it is what I shall do very soon!” was the calm answer.
“Then let me have done with this. I'll leave the place as soon as my friend be able to bear removal.”
“Even that I 'll not promise for.”
“Why, you 'll not detain me here by force?” exclaimed the youth. \
A cold, ambiguous smile was the only reply he received to this speech.
“Well, let us see when this restraint is to begin,” cried the boy, passionately, as he moved towards the door; but no impediment was offered to his departure. On the contrary, the servant, at a signal from the Prefect, threw wide the two sides of the folding-doors, and the youth passed out, down the stairs, and into the street.