"There was laughter at that, as you may guess, and a stamping of feet and a clapping of hands. I leapt upon a chair, and waved the precious missive above my head, and shouted in my exultation.
"'You see what happens. The cause prospers. Even in the Third Section itself the cause has found a friend who protects the leaders of the people.'
"They cheered me to the echo; for I was paying for the Rhenish wine. But the landlord's daughter—flaxen-haired Fräulein Minna, who was serving the refreshments—plucked me by the sleeve and signed to me to follow her. I did so.
"'Suppose,' she said, 'there were a spy of the Third Section in the café!"
"'Show him to me,' I replied, 'I will undertake that he leaves quickly and with no desire whatever to return.'
"'I dare not—for reasons which I must not tell you. But suppose the spy telegraphed a few words in cipher to St. Petersburg.'
"'Eh bien! Suppose he did. What could St. Petersburg do then?'
"'Apply for your extradition on some trumped-up charge of theft.'
"'Then are there no judges in Germany?' I asked.
"'Why, yes. But they can be bribed,' was Fräulein Minna's answer.