Meanwhile he sat down on a heap of stones in the
street, and, overcome by fatigue, fell into a profound sleep. He was
awakened by the patrol: his first confused words excited suspicion,
and he was arrested and carried to the station-house. After all his
perils, his escapes, his adventures, his disguises, to be taken by a
Prussian watchman! The next morning he was examined by the police: he
declared himself a French artisan on his way home from Russia, but as
having lost his passport. The story imposed upon nobody, and he
perceived that he was supposed to be a malefactor of some dangerous
sort: his real case was not suspected. A month's incarceration
followed, and then a new interrogation, in which he was informed that
all his statements had been found to be false, and that he was an
object of the gravest suspicion. He demanded a private interview with
one of the higher functionaries and a M. Fleury, a naturalized
Frenchman in some way connected with the police-courts. To them he
told his whole story. After the first moment's stupefaction the
Prussian cried, "But, unhappy man, we must send you back: the treaty
compels it. My God! my God! why did you come here?"--"There is no help
for us," said M. Fleury, "but in Heaven's name write to Count
Eulenberg, on whom all depends: he is a man whom everybody loves.
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