"Will you kindly notify the Commissioner that I have brought him number eleven hundred and twenty?" said the guard to one of the keepers at the door.
A minute later the keeper returned, ordered the merchant to follow him, led him down a long corridor, and opening the door of a richly furnished room, said to Lebrenn:
"Walk in, and wait there."
"How is that?" asked the astonished merchant. "You leave me alone?"
"The Commissioner so ordered me."
"The devil!" exclaimed Lebrenn smiling. "This is a mark of confidence that flatters me greatly."
The keeper closed the door and left.
"Once more, the devil!" said Lebrenn with a broader grin as his eyes alighted upon an inviting arm-chair. "This is a good opportunity for me to enjoy a more comfortable seat than the stone benches of the prison yard."
And comfortably dropping into the soft seat he proceeded:
"No question about it, a good arm-chair is one of the comforts of life."