With a sigh of relief, I turned away, when I heard the official's voice ringing out behind me, "Wait a minute! You've forgotten to swallow the Oath!"
Unable to imagine what he meant, I wheeled about, and saw that the paper I had just signed was being rolled into a little pellet in the official's hands.
"Here! Swallow this!" he ordered, tossing it to me after it had been reduced to the size and shape of a marble.
"Swallow it?" I echoed. "What for?"
I was aware that several persons behind me in line were tittering; but I was still unable to take the command literally.
"Do as the man says!" I heard the Professor's irritated voice shrilling in my ear. "What use is the Oath of Fidelity if you don't swallow it—and swallow it whole?"
I reached for the pellet and regarded it suspiciously. It was hard and unappetizing, and I would about as soon have swallowed a stone.
"What are you waiting for?" demanded the official, his pinkish eyes aflame with anger. "Don't you want to swallow it after all? Or will we have to call the police and force it down your throat?"
Realizing that he was in deadly earnest, I could no longer hesitate, but slowly lifted the pellet toward my lips.
As I did so, I noticed that it had a bad odor, suggestive of decay; hence I was more reluctant than ever to swallow it.