"I don't believe it!" cried the General, indignantly. "Not from
these chaps, a pack of idiots, always on the wrong tack! I don't
believe a word, not if they swear."

"But they have documentary evidence--papers of the most damaging
kind against her."

"Where? How?"

"He--M. le Juge--has been showing me a note-book;" and the
General's eyes, following Jack Papillon's, were directed to a
small _carnet_, or memorandum-book, which the Judge, interpreting
the glance, was tapping significantly with his finger.

Then the Judge said blandly, "It is easy to perceive that you
protest, M. le Général, against that lady's arrest. Is it so?
Well, we are not called upon to justify it to you, not in the very
least. But we are dealing with a brave man, a gentleman, an
officer of high rank and consideration, and you shall know things
that we are not bound to tell, to you or to any one."

"First," he continued, holding up the note-book, "do you know what
this is? Have you ever seen it before?"

"I am dimly conscious of the fact, and yet I cannot say when or
where."

"It is the property of one of your fellow travellers--an Italian
called Ripaldi."