"Pan Adler—Pan Zapora."
Ferdinand held out his hand.
"I have long wished to make your acquaintance."
"Delighted," said Zapora, without moving.
Some of the guests smiled maliciously. Ferdinand grew pale; for a moment he was confused. But he pulled himself together at once and changed his tactics.
"I have wished to make your acquaintance," he continued, "in order to thank you for the correspondence about my father in the newspapers."
Zapora fixed him with a severe look.
"About your father?" he asked. "I have written only one letter about your father, and that was to the village mayor about the summons."
Adler was boiling with rage.
"It was myself, then, you wrote about in the comic papers?"