The young man looked round.
“Yes, Father,” he said.
“Did you not know the law?”
“I knew it, Father.”
“And what were you doing among the rebels?”
“Who calls them rebels?” retorted Quintus, recovering his self-possession.
“All who respect the government, for the law has branded them so. Answer me, Quintus; What were you seeking in the society of these reprobates?”
“What I never found in the society of their persecutors, what all my life-long I have vainly longed and hoped for: peace and salvation for my soul.”
“Then it is true—it is true...?”
“What, Father?”