“No, Colonel. He’s a stranger—a foreigner.”
“Of what country?”
“Anglais—Américain. He’s been brought in from the Boulevards. My men took him up, and by my orders.”
“For what?”
“Interfering with their duty. That isn’t all. I chanced to see him last night in the Café de Mille Colonnes. He was there speaking against the government, and expressing pity for poor France.”
“Indeed!”
“I should have answered him upon the spot, mon Colonel, but some of ours interfered to shield him, on the excuse of his being a stranger.”
“That’s no reason why he should be suffered to talk sedition here.”
“I know it, Colonel.”
“Are you ready to swear he has done so?”