“Will you be good enough to open them?” said the Colonel.
“I can’t do this,” replied Doctor Svetilovitch. “I do not consider it obligatory to help you in your searches.”
Pride filled his Cadet’s soul. He felt that he was behaving correctly and valiantly. What was the consequence? The uninvited guests opened everything themselves and rummaged where they pleased. A constable put aside all those books which looked suspicious. Several of these books had been published in Russia quite openly and sold no less openly. They took several books wholly innocent in their contents, simply because they thought they detected a rebellious note in their titles.
The Colonel of the gendarmerie announced:
“We will take the correspondence and the manuscripts with us.”
Doctor Svetilovitch said in vexation:
“I assure you there’s nothing criminal there. The manuscripts are very necessary to my work.”
“We’ll have a look at them,” said the Colonel dryly. “Don’t be concerned about them, they will be kept in safety.”
Then they rummaged the other rooms. They searched the beds to see if there were any concealed fire-arms.
When he returned into the study the Colonel of the gendarmerie said to Doctor Svetilovitch: