"Thanks. I think that's enough to go on with. . . . Give me a couple of minutes to reflect on what you've said . . ."
"I'll wash my hands and change my coat," the General said with intense relief.
At the end of two minutes Tietjens said:
"No; I don't see that there is anything I want to say."
The General exclaimed with enthusiasm:
"That's my good lad! Open confession is next to reform. . . . And . . . and try to be more respectful to your superiors. . . . Damn it; they say you're brilliant. But I thank heaven I haven't got you in my command. . . . Though I believe you're a good lad. But you're the sort of fellow to set a whole division by the ears. . . . A regular . . . what's 'is name? A regular Dreyfus!"
"Did you think Dreyfus was guilty?" Tietjens asked.
"Hang it," the General said, "he was worse than guilty—the sort of fellow you couldn't believe in and yet couldn't prove anything against. The curse of the world. . . ."
Tietjens said:
"Ah."