"No. Filip Filippovich says there's a new one, and he's mad."
"The authorities are always mad. Such is the law of nature," remarked Grokhotov with a smile.
"Who reads those proclamations?"
"They're read all right—very much so."
"Well, what of it? I have read them, too, yet I didn't turn black. I remained what I was, a red-haired fellow. It's not a matter of proclamations, it's a matter of bombs."
"Of course."
"A proclamation doesn't explode."
Evidently, however, the spies did not like to speak of bombs, for each time they were mentioned, all made a strenuous effort to change the subject.
"Forty thousand dollars' worth of gold articles were stolen in Kazan."
"There's something for you!"