"'No nonsense, or you'll break your arm.'"
The prisoner had not spoken a word; now he flashed at Coquenil a look of withering contempt that the detective long remembered, and, leaning close, he whispered: "You poor fool!"
CHAPTER XXIII
GROENER AT BAY
Two hours later (it was nearly seven) Judge Hauteville sat in his office at the Palais de Justice, hurrying through a meal that had been brought in from a restaurant.
"There," he muttered, wiping his mouth, "that will keep me going for a few hours," and he touched the bell.
"Is M. Coquenil back yet?" he asked when the clerk appeared.
"Yes, sir," replied the latter, "he's waiting."