"Now," said I, climbing off the pallet, "I shall certainly do it."
"I warn you not to approach me," he cried, his fingers closing over the pistol.
"Well, I promise not to do it now," I declared, going over to the window. I found some satisfaction in his nervousness; it told me that he feared me. "What place is this; a palace?"
"Answer this question, sir: Why did you cross the frontier when you were expressly forbidden to do so?"
"I forbidden to cross the frontier?" My astonishment was indescribable. "Young man, you have made a blunder of some sort. I am not a Socialist or an Anarchist. I have never been forbidden to cross the frontier of any country. Your Chancellor is one of the best friends I have in the world. I went to school with his son."
He rocked to and fro on the table, laughing honestly and heartily. "You do not lack impudence. Are you, or are you not, the London correspondent of the New York ———?"
"I certainly am."
"You admit it?" eagerly.
"I see no earthly reason why I should not."
"When did you last visit this city?"