"I am going back in an hour. In the train, I shall draw up a report, based on these notes and on the respective depositions which you have made or which you will make to me. At nine o'clock this evening, I shall be with the prime minister. At half-past nine, the prime minister will speak in the chamber; and he will speak according to the substance of my report. This is what I wish you to understand above all things. Next, I want you to know the German reply, I want you to realize the great, the irretrievable importance of every word which you utter. As for me, feeling as I do the full weight of my responsibilities, I wish to seek behind those words, beyond yourselves, whether there is not some detail unperceived by yourselves which will destroy the appalling truth established by your evidence. What I am seeking is--I tell you so frankly--a doubt on your part, a contradiction. I am seeking it ..." He hesitated and, sinking his voice, concluded: "I am almost hoping for it." A great sense of peace filled the Morestals. Each of them, subduing his excitement, suddenly raised himself to the level of the task assigned to him and each of them was ready to fulfil it courageously, blindly, in the face of every obstacle. And Le Corbier resumed: "M. Morestal, here is your deposition. I ask you for the last time to affirm the exact, complete truth." "I affirm it, monsieur le ministre." "Still, Weisslicht and his men declare that the arrest took place on German soil." "The upland widens out at this part," said Morestal, "and the road which marks the boundary winds.... It is possible for foreigners to make a mistake. It is not possible for us, for me. We were arrested on French soil." "You certify this on your honour?" "I swear it on the heads of my wife and son. I swear it to God." Le Corbier turned to the special commissary: "M. Jorance, do you confirm this deposition?" "I confirm each of my friend Morestal's words in every respect," said the commissary. "They express the truth. I swear it on the head of my daughter." "The policemen have taken just as solemn oaths," observed Le Corbier. "The German policemen's evidence is interested. It helps them to shield the fault which they have committed. We have committed no fault. If chance had caused us to be arrested on German territory, no power on earth would have prevented Morestal and myself from admitting the fact. Morestal is free and fears nothing. Well, I, who am a prisoner, fear nothing either."