They were lodged by batches in
gaol, and in supplementary gaols--disused cellars and so forth. Once
under lock and key they were safe from mischief for an indefinite
length of time, since according to the statutes of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, there is no reason on earth why an Italian lawsuit should
ever end, or indeed, why it should ever begin. They might, and probably
would, remain incarcerated for life, pending the commencement of a
trial which could only be set in motion by the judge himself--a most
improbable conjuncture--or, failing that, by an extravagant bribe to his
official superior, the President of the Court of Cassation. How were
poor Apostles to find the necessary sixty or seventy francs for such a
venture?
His Worship retired to luncheon, reasonably satisfied with the
morning's work. And yet not altogether delighted. Both the Messiah and
Peter the Great had eluded his wrath. Peter was able to prove, beyond
the shadow of a doubt, that he had spent the last twenty-four hours on
Madame Steynlin's premises and knew nothing whatever of occurrences in
the outside world.
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