We called to him and asked him if it was not his understanding that we were to hear her story from her own lips.
“Assuredly. It was the governor’s expressed wish,” he answered.
“I cannot permit it,” sternly returned the prison-master.
“You must. That is why I came with them, to see that they got every word from her.”
“I am the responsible man here, and I cannot permit her to speak.”
The parley continued, but the prison-master was obdurate.
At last Spiradonova spoke: “Believe absolutely nothing unless you hear it from me.”
She uttered the words slowly, distinctly, each syllable weighted with meaning.
The situation was most uncomfortable. The police-master was deeply embarrassed and annoyed. The prison-master grim. Spiradonova cool, contained, and, in her attitude toward the prison-master, defiant and scornful.
Turning to me, the police-master said: “The man is a fool—a beast! Does he not see that here is his opportunity to clear away those awful charges? What story can you report now? That he would not let you talk to her! Fool!”