"I expected you to make that remark. See, those glasses at the end are only for show, inside is a whole system of prisms. With this perspective you see not in front of you, but on one side. In other words, when I point it at the far end of the boulevard, what I am really looking at is the house opposite."
Fandor was about to congratulate his friend on this new specimen of his ingenuity, but Juve did not give him time. He startled the journalist by suddenly asking him:
"Tell me, do you love the army?"
"Why?"
"Because I think those two soldiers you see over there are coming."
"To see you," added Fandor.
"How do you know?"
"From your porteress."
"You pumped her?"
"I did. I got her to talk a bit about that excellent M. Mahon."