with less satisfaction than uneasiness.

"Very good," said he, "very good! but I am afraid that this Pyrot
business may lose its beautiful simplicity. It was limpid; like a
rock-crystal its value lay in its transparency. You could have searched
it in vain with a magnifying-glass for a straw, a bend, a blot, for the
least fault. When it left my hands it was as pure as the light. Indeed
it was the light. I give you a pearl and you make a mountain out of it.
To tell you the truth I am afraid that by wishing to do too well you
have done less well. Proofs! of course it is good to have proofs, but
perhaps it is better to have none at all. I have already told you,
Panther, there is only one irrefutable proof, the confession of the
guilty person (or if the innocent what matter!). The Pyrot affair, as
I arranged it, left no room for criticism; there was no spot where it
could be touched. It defied assault. It was invulnerable because it was
invisible. Now it gives an enormous handle for discussion. I advise
you, Panther, to use your paper packets with great reserve. I should
be particularly grateful if you would be more sparing of your
communications to journalists. You speak well, but you say too much.
Tell me, Panther, are there any forged documents among these?"

"There are some adapted ones."

"That is what I meant. There are some adapted ones. So much the better.
As proofs, forged documents, in general, are better than genuine ones,
first of all because they have been expressly made to suit the needs
of the case, to order and measure, and therefore they are fitting and
exact. They are also preferable because they carry the mind into an
ideal world and turn it aside from the reality which, alas! in this
world is never without some alloy. . . . Nevertheless, I think I should
have preferred, Panther, that we had no proofs at all."

The first act of the Anti-Pyrotist Association was to ask the Government
immediately to summon the seven hundred Pyrotists and their accomplices
before the High Court of Justice as guilty of high treason. Prince des
Boscenos was charged to speak on behalf of the Association and presented
himself before the Council which had assembled to hear him. He expressed
a hope that the vigilance and firmness of the Government would rise to
the height of the occasion. He shook hands with each of the ministers
and as he passed General Greatauk he whispered in his ear:

"Behave properly, you ruffian, or I wil