of the
town declared that he had white-washed the affair and splashed his own
cause, and had made the accused as white as the plaster itself. France
is the domain of satire, which reigns supreme in our land; Frenchmen
jest on a scaffold, at the Beresina, at the barricades, and some will
doubtless appear with a quirk upon their lips at the grand assizes of
the Last Judgment.

CHAPTER XVIII. TRIAL CONTINUED: CRUEL VICISSITUDES

On the morrow the witnesses for the prosecution were examined,--Madame
Marion, Madame Grevin, Grevin himself, the senator's valet, and
Violette, whose testimony can readily be imagined from the facts
already told. They all identified the five prisoners, with more or less
hesitation as to the four gentlemen, but with absolute certainty as to
Michu. Beauvisage repeated Robert d'Hauteserre's speech when he met
them at daybreak in the park. The peasant who had bought Monsieur
d'Hauteserre's calf testified to overhearing that of Mademoiselle de
Cinq-Cygne. The experts, who had compared the hoof-prints with the shoes
on the horses ridden by the five prisoners and found them absolutely
alike, confirmed their previous depositions. This point was naturally
one of vehement contention between Monsieur de Grandville and the
prosecuting officer. The defence called the blacksmith at Cinq-Cygne
and succeeded in proving that he had sold several horseshoes of the same
pattern to strangers who were not known in the place. The blacksmith
declared, moreover, that he was in the habit of shoeing in this
particular manner not only the horses of the chateau de Cinq-Cygne, but
those from other places in the canton. It was also proved that the horse
which Michu habitually rode was always shod at Troyes, and the mark of
that shoe was not among the hoof-prints found in the park.

"Michu's double was not aware of this circumstance, or he would have
provided for it," said Monsieur de Grandville, looking at the jury.
"Neither has the prosecution shown what horses our clients rode."

He ridiculed the testimony of Violette so far as it concerned a
recognition of the horses, seen from a long distance, from behind, and
after dusk. Still, in spite of all his efforts, the body of the evidence
was against Michu; and the prosecutor, judge, jury, and audience were
impressed with a feeling (as the lawyers for the defence had foreseen)
that the guilt of the servant carried with it that of the masters. So
the vital interest centr