"I cannot; but my being there was the result of blind chance."
The griffins actually smiled, which convinced me I was getting deeper into the mire, and that feeling was not lessened when the president said softly, "An unlucky chance for you, Herr Botskay, I fear."
"It is the truth for all that," I said stoutly.
"Did Count Beula meet the robbers by accident also?"
"I cannot say. I know nothing of him."
"Here again my information differs from your statement. The count was well known as an abettor of the massacres in Vienna, and it is laid down here that you were in personal communication with him at the beginning of the insurrection. Is that so?"
The ground seemed to be slipping from under me.
"Count Beula was never a friend of mine," I said.
"One does not always make a friend of an accomplice," replied the president suavely. "But here is another question. Is it true that on any single occasion you attended a meeting of the Hungarian Committee?"
"That is easily explained," I began. "When--"