"This exhausted my patience.
"'And you?' said I.
"The commissaire sprang to his feet.
"'You are a blackguard!' he cried.
"'And you are an idiot!' I retorted.
"At that moment I thought my last hour had come. The commissaire bounded toward me, flushed and foaming with rage. Under his bushy eyebrows I could see the glistening of his wild eyes.
"'What are you saying?' he stammered. 'What are you saying?'
"I attempted to utter a word, but he did not give me a chance.
"'And I say this: that I am going to send you to jail; and it will not take a very long time! It is just the hour for the patrol wagon! Who on earth sent me up this dummy? Ah! you want to put on airs! Ah! you want to jeer at me, and at the law that I represent! Very well! you came to the wrong place!'
"He brought down his fist violently on the papers lying on his table with each of his sentences, adding: