Soon after my imprisonment I was taken to a photographer’s and photographed. I did not like this at all, as I feared that my portrait might be sent to Russia and recognised; but I could not make any protest, lest my reasons should be suspected. The photograph was needed for the inquiry in Switzerland, that by means of it I might be identified as Bulìgin. The Swiss authorities certified that it did represent Bulìgin, with whose passport I always travelled; so that part of the inquiry was got through safely. Also, the proofs I adduced of my not being implicated in the doings of Yablonski and his friend were accepted, and it was agreed that I had neither circulated forbidden literature nor had had any in my possession. Weeks passed away before these formalities were accomplished, and at last, nearly two months after my arrest, the magistrate informed me that he should close the affair in a few days, and that he himself was satisfied there were no grounds for my prosecution. The decision lay with the Public Prosecutor,[16] who might concur in this, and so release me at once; or he might after all think fit to take the matter into court. In the latter event, however, the judge would most probably uphold the finding of the magistrate; and even if against all expectation a prosecution should be set up and a penalty enforced, the sentence would be such as my term of imprisonment here would be held to fulfil. In any case I might be certain my release was now only a question of days. It seemed absurd to distrust this forecast, and it is but natural to expect what one ardently desires; so I began to feel easy. Footnote 16: This term is the nearest English equivalent to the German _Staatsanwalt_, a functionary attached to every court of law. A corresponding official exists in Russia, with a colleague, the Public Advocate, who undertakes the defence of any prisoner unable or unwilling to employ a counsel of his own.—_Trans._ Some days after I was again sent for to the visitors’ room, where I found Frau Axelrod and a grey-haired gentleman, the Public Prosecutor, Von Berg. In stern tones he informed us that we were at liberty to converse, but only in German; at the first Russian word he would separate us. This precaution, and the whole behaviour of the grim old gentleman, did not quite bear out the idea of speedy release for me; and knowing him to be acquainted with the magistrate’s views, I wondered what his reasons were, but I was not apprehensive. Frau Axelrod and I did not find much to say to each other under this supervision, and our interview was brief.