On the writing-table, to which he motioned Ráby, lay some of the latest pamphlets and pasquinades of the moment, mostly directed against the Emperor. Ráby turned them over. "I've seen these before," he remarked. "And is not his Majesty very angry at them?" asked the commissioner. "Not a bit of it; he sends for the pamphlets, and not only does he make me read them to him, but he is heartily amused." "Otherwise the author might find himself fastened to the wheel, eh!" "Joseph has thought of a more sensible punishment. A writer sold his pasquinades at thirty kreutzers apiece, and built a house with his profits. But recently the Kaiser, as soon as one of these productions appeared, had it reprinted and sold for eight kreutzers. The result was that the writer had the whole edition left on his hands, while everyone bought that issued by the Kaiser. The proceeds were given to charity." "Not a very seemly trade for an Emperor, eh? It were far more becoming to a prince to have the fellow's head off." "Yes, the Kaiser has distinctly plebeian ideas, it must be owned." "What too did he mean by putting in the pillory an officer of the Guard? Only think of it, just for misappropriating from the treasury sixty-six thousand gulden. And it was only to build an alchymist's laboratory. Could he help it because it turned out a failure?" "Ah, well, now the ice is broken." Meantime the _friseur_ had finished his work and gone, so it was easy for Ráby to broach his errand, with such an opening: "The Emperor visits with extreme severity the embezzlement of public funds; it is for this very purpose that he has sent me to bring to light certain abuses connected with the Szent-Endre municipality." "I know, I know," said his Excellency, as he poured some eau de Cologne over his hands, "it has come to my ears. But you will be a long time finding your way out of that tangle, once you get into it; let me warn you. By the way, is there a new opera company at the Vienna theatre?" "Ah, my good friend, I've no time to run after plays and players. I've dramas of my own to look after, and they deal with the picking of other people's pockets." "The deuce take your dramas! Does one still see pretty women at Vienna? Where do you have your evening gatherings during the winter?" "We go to 'The Good Woman.' The sign-board is a woman without a head." "What does the hostess say to that, pray?" "I shall have no chance of asking her, seeing that I shall spend the winter here, and pass my time in verifying accounts." "Stuff and nonsense! Cut it short, sir, and get back to Vienna as soon as you can. Say you have found nothing. By the way, have you been in Pozsony? They say they pay their theatrical companies far better than we do; isn't it a shame?" "May I venture to ask if his Excellency will deign to listen to my representations about the Szent-Endre affair?"