The Dreyfus Case
I
“Th’ scene was treemenjously excitin’. Th’ little city iv Rennes was thronged with des’prit journalists that had pledged their fortunes an’ their sacred honors, an’ manny iv thim their watches, to be prisint an’ protect th’ public again th’ degradin’ facts. Niver since th’ war in Cubia has so manny iv these brave fellows been gathered together at th’ risk iv their lives fr’m overcrowdin’ th’ resthrants. No wan has iver sufficiently described th’ turrors iv a corryspondint’s life excipt th’ corryspondints thimsilves. Gin’rals an’ other liars is rewarded. Th’ corryspondint gets no credit. No wan will give him credit. Still he sticks to his post; an’ on this pearlous day he was at Rennes, fightin’ th’ other corryspondints, or, if he was an English journalist, defindin’ th’ honor iv Fr-rance again hersilf. ’Tis a good thing for Fr-rance that there ar-re silf-sacrificin’ men that don’t undherstand her language, to presint her vicious nature to th’ English an’ American public. Otherwise, Hinnissy, she might think she was as good as th’ rest iv us.
“Well, while th’ sthreets in Rennes was packed with these dauntless souls, ar-rmed with death-dealin’ kodaks, there was a commotion near th’ coort-house. Was it a rivolution? Was this th’ beginnin’ iv another Saint Barth’mew’s Day, whin th’ degraded passions in Fr-rance, pent up durin’ three hundherd years, ‘d break forth again? Was it th’ signal iv another div’lish outbreak that ’d show th’ thrue nature iv th’ Fr-rinch people, disgeezed behind a varnish iv ojoous politeness which our waiters know nawthin’ about? No, alas! alas! ’twas nawthin’ a man cud make more thin a column iv. ’Twas th’ ac-cursed janitor goin’ in to open th’ degraded windows. Abase th’ janitor, abase th’ windows! Fear followed uncertainty. No wan knew what moment he might be called upon to defind his life with his honor. Suddenly th’ brutal polisman who sthud on gyard waved his hand. What cud the brave men do? They were obliged to rethreat in disordher. But our special corryspondint was able f’r to obtain a fine view of th’ thrillin’ scene that followed. First came th’ coort, weepin’. They was followed be th’ gin’rals in th’ Fr-rinch ar-rmy, stalwart, fearless men, with coarse, disagreeable faces. Each gin’ral was attinded be his private bodygyard iv thried and thrusted perjurers, an’ was followed be a wagon-load iv forgeries, bogus affidavies, an’ other statements iv Major Estherhazy. Afther thim come th’ former ministers iv th’ Fr-rinch governmint, makin’ an imposin’ line, which took three hours passin’ a given point. As they marched, it was seen that they were shyly kickin’ each other.
“An interval iv silence followed, in which cud be heard cries iv ‘Abase Dhryfuss!’ an’ ‘Abase Fr-rance!’ an’ thin come th’ man on whom th’ lies iv all th’ wurruld is cinthred. Captain Dhryfuss plainly shows his throubles, which have made him look tin years younger. His raven hair is intirely white; an’ his stalwart frame, with th’ shoulders thrown back, is stooped an’ weary. His haggard face was flushed with insolent confidence, an’ th’ cowa’dice in his face showed in his fearless eye. As he passed, a young Fr-rinch sojer was with diff’culty resthrained fr’m sthrikin’ him an’ embracin’ him with tears in his eyes.
“In th’ coort-room th’ scene baffled description. It was an inspirin’ sight f’r th’ judges, whin they were awake. Row on row iv journalists, sharpin’ pencils an’ slappin’ each other’s faces, r-rose to th’ ceilin’. Here an’ there cud be seen a brillyant uniform, denotin’ th’ prisince iv th’ London Times corryspondint. Th’ lawn behind th’ coort was thronged with ex-mimbers iv th’ Fr-rinch governmint. Th’ gin’ral staff, bein’ witnesses f’r th’ prosecution, sat with th’ coort: th’ pris’ner, not bein’ able to find a chair, sat on th’ window-sill. His inthrest in th’ proceedin’s was much noticed, an’ caused gr-reat amusement. Ivrybody was talkin’ about th’ mysteryous lady in white. Who is she? Some say she is a Dhryfussard in th’ imploy iv Rothscheeld; others, that she is an agent iv th’ Anti-Semites. No wan has learned her name. She says she is Madame Lucille Gazahs, iv wan hundherd an’ eight Rue le Bombon, an’ is a fav’rite iv th’ Fr-rinch stage. She is wan iv th’ great mysthries iv this ree-markable thrile.
“Afther th’ coort had kissed th’ witnesses, th’ proceedin’s opined. ’Tis thrue, they kiss each other. I wanst see a Fr-rinchman go f’r to kiss a man be th’ name iv Doherty, that inthrajooced risolutions in favor iv Fr-rance again Germany at a convintion. Doherty thought he was afther his ear, an’ laid him out. But in Fr-rance ’tis different. They begin be kissin’, an’ this thrile opined this way.
“‘Pris’ner,’ said th’ prisident iv th’ coort, ‘th’ eyes iv Fr-rance is upon us, th’ honor iv th’ nation is at stake. Th’ naytional definces, th’ integrity iv that ar-rmy upon which Fr-rance must depind in time iv peace, th’ virtue iv public life, an’ th’ receipts iv th’ exposition is involved. Incidentally, ye ar-re bein’ thried. But why dhrag in matthers iv no importance? We ar-re insthructed, accordin’ to th’ pa-apers, be th’ Coort iv Cassation, to permit no ividince that does not apply to your connection with th’ case. As sojers, we bow to th’ superyor will. We will follow out th’ instructions iv th’ supreme coort. We have not had time to read thim, but we will look at thim afther th’ thrile. In th’ mane time we will call upon Gin’ral Merceer, that gallant man, to tell us th’ sthory iv his life.’
“‘I obey, mon colonel,’ says Gin’ral Merceer, kissin’ th’ coort. ‘Not to begin too far back, an’ to make a long sthory short, I am an honest man, an’ th’ son iv an honest man. I admit it.’
“‘Good,’ says th’ prisident. ‘D’ye recognize th’ pris’ner?’ ‘I do,’ says Gin’ral Merceer, ‘I seen him wanst dhrinkin’ a shell iv Munich beer in a caafe. [Marked sensation in th’ coort, an’ cries iv ‘Abase la bock.’]
“‘I says to mesilf thin, “This man is a thraitor.” But th’ thrainin’ iv a sojer makes wan cautious. I determined to fortify mesilf with ividince. I put spies on this man, this perfiejous wretch, an’ discovered nawthin’. I was paralyzed. An officer iv th’ Fr-rinch ar-rmy, an’ nawthin’ suspicyous about him! Damnable! I was with difficulty resthrained fr’m killin’ him. But I desisted. [Cries iv ‘Shame!’] I said to mesilf: “Th’ honor iv Fr-rance is at stake. Th’ whole wurruld is lookin’ at me, at me, Bill Merceer. I will go to bed an’ think it over.” I wint to bed. Sleep, blessed sleep that sews up th’ confused coat-sleeve iv care, as th’ perfiejous Shakspere [cries iv ‘Conspuez Shakspere!’] says, dayscinded on me tired eyes. [The coort weeps.] I laid aside me honor [cries iv ‘Brave gin’ral’] with me coat [murmurs]. I slept.
“‘I dhreamed that I see th’ German Impror playin’ a Jew’s-harp. [Cries iv ‘Abase Rothscheeld!’ an’ sensation.] I woke with a vi’lent start, th’ perspiration poorin’ fr’m me rugged brow. “Cap Dhryfuss is guilty,” I cried. But no, I will confirm me ividince. I darted into me r-red pants. I dhruv with fury to th’ home iv Madame Cleepathry, th’ cillibrated Agyptian asthrologist an’ med’cin woman. [Th’ coort, ‘We know her, she supplies ividence to all Fr-rinch coorts.’] I tol’ her me dhream. She projoosed a pack iv cards. She tur-rned a r-red king an’ a black knave. “Th’ Impror Willum an’ Cap Dhryfuss,” I says, in a fury. I burst forth. I had Cap Dhryfuss arristed. I dashed to th’ prisident. He was a-receivin’ rayfusals f’r a new cabinet. “I have found th’ thraitor,” says I. “Hush!” says he. “If th’ Impror Willum hears ye, he’ll declare war,” he says. I was stupefied. “Oh, my beloved counthry!” I cried. “Oh, hivin!” I cried. “What shall I do?” I cried. They was not a minyit to lose. I disbanded th’ ar-rmy. I ordhered th’ navy into dhry dock. I had me pitcher took, I wint home an’ hid in th’ cellar. F’r wan night Fr-rance was safe.’
“They was hardly a dhry eye in th’ house whin th’ gin’ral paused. Th’ coort wept. Th’ aujience wept. Siv’ral of th’ minor journalists was swept out iv th’ room in th’ flood. A man shovellin’ coal in th’ cellar sint up f’r an umbrella. Th’ lawn shook with th’ convulsive sobs iv th’ former ministers. Gin’ral Merceer raised his damp face, an’ blew a kiss to a former minister at wan iv th’ windows, an’ resumed his tistimony.”
II
“‘It was about this time or some years later,’ continues Gin’ral Merceer, ‘that I received ividince iv th’ Cap’s guilt. I made it mesilf. It was a letter written be me fr’m th’ Cap to a German grocer, askin’ f’r twinty r-rounds iv sausage. [Turmoil in the coort.] It was impossible, mon colonel, that this here letter cud have been written be Estherhazy. In th’ first place he was in Paris at th’ time, in th’ sicond place he was in London. Th’ letter is not in his handwritin’, but in th’ handwritin’ iv Colonel Pat th’ Clam. Thin again I wrote th’ letter mesilf. Thin who cud ‘ve written it? It must ’ve been Cap Dhryfuss. [Cheers fr’m th’ coort.] I give me reasons as they occurred to me: First, th’ Armeenyan athrocities; sicond, th’ risignation iv Gin’ral Alger; third, th’ marriage iv Prince Lobengula; fourth, th’ scarcity iv sarvint girls in th’ sooburban towns; fifth, th’ price iv gas. [Cries iv ‘Abase th’ price iv gas!’] I thank th’ aujience. I will raysume where I left off. I was speakin’ iv Gin’ral Guns. I met him on th’ sthreet. Th’ moon was clear in th’ sky. I says, “Guns,” I says, “lave us go down to Hogan’s, an’ I’ll buy ye a tub iv obsceenthe.” As we sthrolled through th’ bullyvard, I saw a man that looked like a German dhrivin’ a cab. I was overcome with terror. I ran madly home, followed be Guns. It was a week befure I cud hold a glass iv obsceenthe without spillin’ th’ liquor. Shortly afther this, or it may’ve been tin years befure, or it may niver have occurred [the coort, ‘Spoken like a Fr-rinchman an’ a sojer’], in th’ middle iv July a man tol’ me that the divine Sara [wild an’ continyous applause, cries iv ‘Sara foriver!’] was about to projooce th’ immortal play iv “Omlet” [cheers] be th’ wretched Shakspere [hisses]. Cud annything be clearer? I will detain th’ coort not longer thin a day while I give me opinyon on this marvellous performance.’
“Cap Dhryfuss was settin’ on th’ window-sill, whistlin’ ‘Garry Owen,’ an’ makin’ faces at th’ gallant corryspondint iv th’ Daily Wrongs iv Man. At this point he cried out laughingly: ‘I will not conthradict th’ gin’ral. I will say he lies. I saw th’ letter mesilf, an’ that man was Esterhazy.’ [Sensation.]
“‘Let me ask this canal iv a Jew a question,’ says th’ corryspondint iv th’ evening Rothscheeld Roaster, a Fr-rinchman be th’ name iv Sol Levi.
“‘Ask it,’ says Cap Dhryfuss.
“‘You are a despicable thraitor,’ says th’ gallant corryspondint. [Sensation.]
“‘Th’ pris’ner must answer,’ says th’ coort. ‘It is now nearly six o’clock iv th’ mornin’, an’ time to get up an’ dhress.’
“‘I refuse to make anny commint,’ says Cap Dhryfuss,
“The pris’ner’s remark, uttered in tones iv despair, caused gr-reat emotion in th’ aujience. There were angry cries iv ‘Lynch him!’ an’ all eyes were tur-rned to th’ Cap.
“‘Silence!’ roared th’ coort, bendin’ a stern, inflexible look on th’ pris’ner. ‘This is a coort iv justice. We ar-re disposed f’r to grant ivry indulgence; but, if outsiders persist in intherferin’ with these proceedin’s,’ he says, ‘we’ll expel thim fr’m th’ r-room. What does th’ prisoner think this is?’
“‘I thought it was a thrile,’ says th’ Cap; ‘but, be th’ number iv vet’ran journalists here, it must be th’ openin’ iv a new hotel.’
“‘Not another wurrud,’ says th’ coort, ‘or ye’ll be fired out. No wan shall insult th’ honest, hard-wurrukin’, sober, sensible journalists iv Fr-rance. Not if this coort knows it. Ye bet ye, boys, th’ coort is with ye. Th’ press is th’ palajeen iv our liberties. Gin’ral Merceer will raysume his tistimony. He was speakin’ of th’ game iv goluf.’
“‘Perhaps I’d betther sing it,’ says th’ gin’ral.
“‘I’ll play an accompanymint f’r ye on th’ flute,’ says th’ prisident iv th’ coort. ‘While Gin’ral Merceer is proceedin’ with his remarks, call Colonel Pat th’ Clam, who is sick an’ can’t come. Swear Gin’ral Billot, Gin’ral Boisdeffer, Gin’ral Chammy, an’ th’ former mimbers iv th’ governmint.’
“‘I object to thim bein’ sworn,’ says Matther Blamange.
“‘They must be sworn,’ says th’ prisident. ‘How th’ divvle can they perjure thimsilves if they ain’t sworn? An’ who ar-re ye, annyhow?’
“‘I’m th’ counsel f’r th’ pris’ner,’ says Matther Blamange. ‘Get out ye’ersilf,’ says Matther Blamange. ‘I’m as good a man as ye ar-re. I will ask that gintleman who jest wint out the dure, Does it pay to keep up appearances?’ [Groans.]
“‘Gin’ral Billot,’ says th’ prisident, ‘what d’ye know about this infernal case which is broodin’ like a nightmare over our belovid counthry, an’ gettin’ us up ivry mornin’ befure milkin’ time?’
“‘Nawthin’ at all,’ says Gin’ral Billot.
“‘Nayther do I,’ says th’ prisident. ‘But I think th’ Cap’s guilty.’
“‘I’m glad to hear ye say that,’ says th’ gin’ral, ‘If ye didn’t, I’d rayjooce ye to th’ r-ranks to-morrah. I niver see th’ man befure; an’, be hivins, I don’t want to see him again. But I have a letter here fr’m him, askin’ me if he cud knock off wurruk at four o’clock to go to his aunt’s fun’ral.’
“‘Cap,’ says th’ prisident, ‘what ye got to say to this? Did ye write th’ letter?’
“‘I did,’ says th’ Cap.
“‘Throw it out thin,’ says th’ prisident. ‘We must be guided be th’ laws iv ividence. Th’ witness will confine himself to forgeries. Have ye e’er a forgery about ye’er clothes, mon gin’ral?’
“‘I wish to confront th’ witness,’ says Matther Blamange.
“‘Sit down,’” says th’ prisident.
“‘D’ye raymimber meetin’ me at dinner at Moosoo de Bozoo’s. It was years ago, durin’ th’ time iv Napolyeon, befure th’ big fire? If I raymimber right, we had peas. Wasn’t it a lovely night? Oh dear, oh dear, gintlemen iv th’ press an’ mon prisident, ye ought to have been there. Well, I says to Gin’ral Billot, I says, “Gin’ral,” I says, “how ar-re ye, annyhow.” An’ the gin’ral replies, “F’r an ol’ man, well.” I made up me mind thin that th’ Cap was innocent, an’ this was before he was born.
“‘Me distinguished colleague in th’ thrile iv this case, th’ editor iv wan iv th’ Paris papers,’ says th’ prisident, ‘has received a letter fr’m th’ military attachay or spy iv th’ Impror iv Austhrich, sayin’ that he did not write th’ letter referred to be Prisident Kruger, an’, if he did, it’s a forgery. But what cud ye ixpict? I will throw both letters into the secret dossier.’
“‘What’s that?’ says Matther Blamange.
“‘It’s a collection iv pomes wrote to th’ Paris papers be spies,’ says th’ prisident. ‘Call Colonel Peekhart, if th’ others ar-re not through. What, you again, Peekhart? Set down, sir.’
“‘Gintlemen iv Fr-rance,’ says Colonel Peekhart. ‘Unaccustomed as I am to public speakin’, I wish to addhress ye a few wurruds on th’ situation iv th’ poor in China.’
“‘Assassin!’ hisses th’ coort.
“‘Canal!’ says Matther Blamange.
“At this moment th’ door was burst open; an’ an ex-Prisident iv Fr-rance come boundin’ in, an’, r-rushin’ up th’ steps iv th’ thrybune, smacked Gin’ral Merceer in th’ eye. Th’ gr-reatest rayspict was shown f’r th’ former chief magistrate iv th’ raypublic. No wan shot at him. He was white with rage. ‘Th’ honor iv Fr-rance is at stake,’ he says. ‘Our counthry lies prostrate in th’ mud. I must presarve th’ dignity iv me high office; but, if Gin’ral Merceer will step out into th’ back yard, I’ll beat his head off. I don’t know annything about this accursed case. It was all referred to me whin I was Prisident. I am here to see that th’ honor iv me high office is not assailed. I protest I did not say what an anonymous corryspondint in to-night’s Sore says I said. I did me jooty. Whin I saw th’ ar-rmy disorganized an’ Fr-rance beset be foreign foes, I raysigned. What was I to do? Was I to stay in office, an’ have me hat smashed in ivry time I wint out to walk? I tell ye, gintlemen, that office is no signcure. Until hats are made iv cast iron, no poor man can be Prisident iv Fr-rance. But I was not speakin’ iv th’ Dhryfuss case.’
“‘Don’t dare to mintion that matter in this coort,’ says th’ prisident. ‘I’m surprised a man iv ye’er intilligence ’d thry to dhrag in exthranyous matther, whin th’ honor iv th’ ar-rmy is at stake. Gin’ral Merceer, stand beside this witness. Now both speak at wanst! Annybody else that has annything to say, lave him say it now, so it won’t be heard.’
“‘Mon colonel,’ says a former minister iv th’ Fr-rinch governmint, who was th’ polisman at th’ dure, ‘Judge Crazy th’ Boorepare is here, demandin’ to be heard.’
“‘Gr-reat hivins!’ says th’ coort; an’ they wint out through th’ windows.
“That night they was gr-reat excitement in Rennes. Th’ citizens dhrivin home their cows cud har’ly make their way through th’ excited throngs on th’ sthreet. Th’ corryspondints iv th’ English papers do not dare to go to bed befure nine o’clock on account iv rumors iv a gin’ral massacre. Madame Sara Bernhardt gave a magnificint performance at th’ theaytre, an’ was wildly cheered. It was believed in London, Budapesth, Posen, New York, Cookham, an’ Upper Sandusky that Fr-rance is about to perish. As I go to press, th’ news has excited no commint in Fr-rance.”
III
“While th’ thrillin’ scenes I’m tellin’ ye about is goin’ on, Hinnissy, worse is bein’ enacted in beautiful Paris. In that lovely city with its miles an’ miles iv sparklin’ resthrants,—la belly Paree, as Hogan ‘d say,—th’ largest American city in th’ wurruld, a rivolution’s begun. If ye don’t believe it, read th’ pa-apers. They’ve arrested a pote. That was all r-right; f’r Fr-rance is sufferin’ fr’m too much pothry that ’ll scan, as Hogan says, an’ too much morality that won’t. They ought to be a rule f’r th’ polis to pinch anny pote caught poting between th’ hours iv twelve an’ twelve. But th’ mistake th’ chief iv th’ polis made was to r-run in a butcher at th’ same time. What th’ butcher done I dinnaw; but annyhow they accused him iv wantin’ to poleaxe th’ governmint; an’ they thrun him into a cell. Now th’ butcher he had a frind be th’ name iv Guerin,—an Irish name it is, but this la-ad don’t appear to be wan iv us,—Jools Guerin. He was wanst in th’ thripe business; but he is now r-runnin’ a newspaper, like most iv th’ people iv Fr-rance. As a thripe butcher, his circulation was larger an’ among a betther class than his newspaper. Bein’ a la-ad with a fine sinse iv gratichood, an’ havin’ been wanst fed an’ clothed be a Jew man, he calls his pa-aper th’ Anti-Jew; an’ its principle is, whin ye see a Jew, hand him a crack in th’ jaw. ’Tis a good principle, though I wanst knew a man be th’ name iv Solomon Felsenthal, that was known in th’ ring as Mike Gallegher, th’ Tipp’rary Cyclone, as a thribute to th’ feelin’s iv th’ pathrons iv spoort; an’, if Jools had thried to carry out his platform with Solly, they’d be no siege in Fort Chabrool. Not anny. That Jew man ’d been champeen iv th’ wurruld if all iv him cud ’ve kept out iv close quarthers with th’ man again him.
“I don’t quarrel with Jools’ feelin’s, mind ye. ’Tis th’ histhry iv th’ wurruld that th’ Jews takes our watches fr’m us be tin per cint a month, an’ we take thim back be means iv a jimmy an’ a piece iv lead pipe. They’re on’y two known methods iv finance,—bankin’ an’ burglary. Th’ Jews has th’ first down fine, but all th’ rest iv th’ wurruld is at home in th’ second. So Jools’s all r-right as far as he goes. But he don’t go far.
“Well, whin Jools hear-rd that his frind th’ butcher was sloughed up, he wint fairly wild. He says to himsilf, he says, ‘I’ll go home,’ he says, ‘an’ defy th’ governmint,’ he says. ‘I’ll start a rivolution,’ he says. ‘But,’ he says, ‘I must first notify th’ polis,’ he says, ‘so’s to prevint disordher,’ he says. So he wint to th’ chief iv polis, who was an ol’ frind iv his,—they was in th’ same newspaper office or thripe dairy or something,—an’ th’ chief kissed Jools, an’ asked him what he cud do f’r him. ‘I wish,’ said Jools, ‘ye’d sind down tin or a dozen good men in uniform an’ a few detectives in citizen’s clothes,’ he says.
“I’ve asked some ladies an’ gintlemen to a five o’clock rivolution at my house,’ he says; ‘an’ I’d like to be sure they’ll be no disordher,’ he says. ‘Well,’ says th’ chief, ‘’twill not be aisy,’ he says. ‘Ye see th’ prisident—I f’rget his name—has been asked to go to th’ r-races with some frinds,’ he says; ‘an’ they will prob’bly thry to kill him,’ he says. ‘We can’t play anny fav’rites here,’ he says. ‘We have to protect th’ low as well as th’ high,’ he says. ‘If annything happens to this man, th’ case is li’ble to be taken up be th’ ex-prisidents’ association; an’ they’re num’rous enough to make throuble f’r us,’ he says. ‘But,’ he says, ‘I’ll do what I can f’r ye, me ol’ frind,’ he says. ‘Give us th’ best ye have,’ says Jools; ‘an’, if ye’ve nawthin’ to do afther ye close up, ye might dhrop in,’ he says, ‘an’ have a manifesto with us,’ he says. ‘Come just as ye ar-re,’ he says. ‘’Tis an informal rivolution,’ he says.
“An’ away he wint. At sharp five o’clock th’ rivolution begun. Th’ sthreets was dinsely packed with busy journalists, polis, sojers, an’ fash’nably dhressed ladies who come down fr’m th’ Chang’s All Easy in motocycles. There was gr-reat excitement as Jools come to th’ windy an’ pinned a copy iv his vallyable journal on th’ sill, accompanied be a thrusty liftnant wavin’ a statement iv th’ circulation iv th’ Anti-Jew. Jools at this moment was a tur-rble sight. He was dhressed fr’m head to foot in Harveyized, bomb-proof steel, with an asbestos rose in his buttonhole. Round his waist was sthrapped four hundherd rounds iv ca’tridges an’ eight days’ provisions. He car-rid a Mauser rifle on each shoulder, a machine gun undher wan ar-rm, a dinnymite bomb undher another, an’ he was smoking a cigareet. ‘Ladies an’ gintlemen,’ he says, ‘I’m proud an’ pleased to see ye prisint in such lar-rge numbers at th’ first rivolution iv th’ prisint season,’ he says. ‘With th’ kind permission iv th’ hated polis undher th’ di-rection iv me good frind an’ fellow-journalist, Loot Franswoo Coppere, an’ th’ ar-rmy, f’r whose honor ivry Fr-renchman ’ll lay down his life, th’ siege will now begin. We will not,’ he says, ‘lave this house till we have driven ivry cur-rsed Cosmypollitan or Jew,’ he says, ‘fr’m this noble land iv th’ br-rave an’ home iv th’ flea,’ he says. ‘Veev Fr-rance!’ he says. ‘Veev Jools Guerin!’ he says. ‘Conspuez Rothscheeld!’ he says. ‘It’s ye’er move, Loot,’ he says to th’ polisman.
“‘I defer to th’ ar-rmy whose honor is beyond reproach,’ says th’ polisman, ‘or recognition,’ he says. ‘Veev l’army!’ he says.
“‘Thank ye,’ says Gin’ral Bellow, salutin’. ‘I will do me jooty. Man can do no more,’ he says. ‘Jools,’ he says, ‘surrinder,’ he says. ‘Ye cannot longer hol’ out,’ he says. ‘Ye have provisions on’y f’r eight years.’
“‘We will remain till th’ last wan iv us perishes iv indigestion,’ says Jools.
“‘Thin I must take sthrong measures,’ says th’ gin’ral. ‘At a given signal we will storm th’ house, bate down th’ dures, smash in th’ roofs, cut off th’ gas, poison th’ wather supply, back up th’ sewer, break th’ windys, an’ r-raise th’ rint.’”
“‘Do ye’er worst,’ says Jools, proudly.
“‘Thin,’ says th’ gin’ral, imprissively, ‘if these measures do not suffice, I will suspind th’ deliv’ry iv th’ mails,’ he says.
“‘Miscreant!’ cries Jools, tur-rnin’ white. ‘An’ this is called a merciful governmint,’ he says. ‘Mong doo,’ he says, ‘what cr-rimes will not Fr-rinchmen commit again’ Fr-rinchmen!’ he says. ‘But,’ he says, ‘ye little know us, if ye think we can be quelled be vi’lence,’ he says. ‘I have a last card,’ he says. ‘I refuse to give th’ signal,’ he says.
“‘Thin,’ says th’ gin’ral, tur-rnin’ away with tears in his eyes, ‘we must adopt other measures.’
“‘Very well,’ says Jools. ‘But mark wan thing,—that, if ye attempt to make me ridiculous, ye shall suffer.’
“‘I assure ye, mong editor,’ says th’ gin’ral, earnestly, ‘that th’ governmint will not make ye anny more ridiculous than it makes itsilf,’ says he.
“‘Me honor is satisfied,’ says Jools. ‘Do ye’er worst,’ he says.
“At eight o’clock th’ minister iv war ar-rived, an’ took command. He ordhered up twinty rig’mints iv cav’lry, tin batthries iv artillery, an’ two divisions iv fut sojers. It was his intintion to sind th’ cav’lry in over th’ roofs, while th’ army carried th’ front stoop, protected be fire fr’m th’ heavy artillery, while th’ Fr-rinch navy shelled th’ back dure. But this was seen to be impossible, because th’ man that owned th’ wine-shop next dure, he said ‘twud dhrive away custom. All th’ sthreets f’r miles ar-round was blockaded without effect. Th’ fire departmint was called to put Jools out, but wather niver touched him. Th’ sewer gang wint down an’ blocked th’ dhrains, an’ Jools soon had inspiration f’r a year’s writin’. At last accounts th’ garrison was still holdin’ out bravely again a witherin’ fire iv canned food, lobsters, omelets, an’ hams. A brave gossoon in th’ Sivinth Artill’ry did partic’larly effective wurruk, hur-rlin’ a plate iv scrambled eggs acrost th’ sthreet without spillin’ a dhrop, an’ is now thrainin’ a pie like mother used to make on th’ first windy iv th’ sicond flure. It is reported that th’ minister iv war at four o’clock to-morrow mornin’ will dhrop a bundle iv copies iv Jools’ paper through th’ chimbley. Whin he opens th’ windy, a pome be Paul Deroulede ’ll be read to him. This is again th’ articles iv war, but th’ case is desp’rate.
“But I was thinkin’, Hinnissy, as I walked down th’ Roo Chabrool, how I’d like to see a Chicago polisman come sthrollin’ along with his hat on th’ back iv his head. I don’t love Chicago polismen. They seem to think ivry man’s head’s as hard as their own. But I’d give forty-three francs, or eight dollars an’ sixty cints iv our money, if th’ Fr-rinch governmint ‘d sind f’r Jawnny Shea, an’ ask him to put down this here rivolution. Th’ nex’ day they’d move th’ office iv th’ Anti-Seemite Society to th’ morgue.”
IV
“Well, Hinnissy, to get back to Rennes. Whin I left off, th’ air was full iv rumors iv an approachin’ massacree. It was still full at daybreak. Exthraordinney measures was adopted to provide again disturbance. Th’ gyard was doubled, an’ both polismen had all they cud do to keep th’ crowd in ordher. Th’ English an’ American journalists appeared at th’ thrile wrapped up in th’ flags iv their rayspictive counthries. All th’ Jews, excipt th’ owners iv anti-Jew papers fr’m Paris, wore heavy masks an’ kep’ their hands in their pockets. At four o’clock th’ prisident called th’ aujience to disordher, an’, havin’ disentangled Gin’ral Merceer an’ a former prisident iv th’ raypublic, demanded if Moosoo Bertillon was in th’ room.
“‘Here,’ says that gr-reat janius, descindin’ fr’m th’ roof in a parachute. Ye know Bertillon. Ye don’t? Iv coorse ye do, Hinnissy. He’s th’ la-ad that invinted th’ system iv ditictive wurruk med aisy that they use down in th’ Cintral Polis Station. I mind wanst, afther ’twas inthrojooced, th’ loot says to Andy Rohan,—he’s a sergeant now, be hivins!—he says, ‘Go out,’ he says, ‘an’ fetch in Mike McGool, th’ safe robber,’ he says. ‘Here’s his description,’ he says: ‘eyelashes, eight killomethres long; eyes, blue an’ assymethrical; jaw, bituminous; measuremint fr’m abaft th’ left ear to base iv maxillory glan’s, four hectograms; a r-red scar runnin’ fr’m th’ noomo-gasthric narve to th’ sicond dorsal verteebree,’ he says. ’Tis so. I have th’ description at home in th’ cash dhrawer. Well, Andy come in about six o’clock that night, lookin’ as though he’d been thryin’ to r-run a fut race acrost a pile iv scrap ir’n; an’ says he, ‘Loot,’ he says, ‘I’ve got him,’ he says. “I didn’t take th’ measuremints,’ he says, ‘because, whin I pulled out th’ tape line, he rowled me eighty hectograms down th’ sthreet,’ he says. ‘But ’tis Mike McGool,’ he says. ‘I don’t know annything about his noomo-gasthric narves,’ he says, ‘but I reco’nized his face,’ he says. ‘I’ve r-run him in fifty times,’ he says.
“Bertillon, besides bein’ a profissor iv detictives, is a handwritin’ expert, which is wan iv th’ principal industhries iv Fr-rance at th’ prisint time. He was accompanied be a throop iv assistants carryin’ a camera, a mutoscope, a magic lantern, a tib iv dye, a telescope, a calceem light, a sextant, a compass, a thermometer, a barometer, a thrunkful iv speeches, a duplicate to th’ Agyptian obelisk, an ink-eraser, an’ a rayceipt f’r makin’ goold out iv lead pipe.
“‘Well, sir,’ says Bertillon, ‘what d’ye want?’
“‘Nawthin’,’ says th’ coort. ‘Didn’t ye ask to be called here?’
“‘No,’ says Bertillon, ‘an’ ye didn’t ask me, ayther. I come. Ye said jus’ now, Why do I believe th’ Cap’s guilty? I will show ye. In th’ spring iv ninety-five or th’ fall iv sixty-eight, I disraymimber which, Gin’ral Merceer’—
“‘Ye lie,’ says Gin’ral Merceer, coldly.
“‘—called on me; an’ says he, “Bertillon,” he says, “ye’er fam’ly’s been a little cracked, an’ I thought to ask ye to identify this letther which I’ve jus’ had written be a frind iv mine, Major Estherhazy,” he says. “I don’t care to mintion who we suspect; but he’s a canal Jew in th’ artillery, an’ his name’s Cap Dhryfuss,” he says. “It’s not aisy,” I says; “but, if th’ honor iv th’ ar-rmy’s at stake, I’ll thry to fix th’ raysponsibility,” I says. An’ I wint to wurruk. I discovered in th’ first place that all sentences begun with capitals, an’ they was a peryod at th’ end iv each. This aroused me suspicions. Clearly, this letther was written be a Jew. Here I paused, f’r I had no samples iv th’ Cap’s writin’ to compare with it. So I wrote wan mesilf. They was much th’ same. “Sure,” says I, “th’ Cap’s guilty,” I says. But how did he do it? I thried a number iv experiments. I first laid down over th’ letther a piece of common tissue paper. Th’ writin’ was perfectly plain through this. Thin I threw it on a screen eighteen hands high. Thin I threw it off. Thin I set it to music, an’ played it on a flute. Thin I cooked it over a slow fire, an’ left it in a cool airy place to dhry. In an instant it flashed over me how th’ forgery was done. “Th’ Cap first give it to his little boy to write. Thin he had his wife copy it in imitation iv Macchew Dhryfuss’s handwritin’. Thin Macchew wrote it in imitation iv Estherhazy. Thin th’ Cap had it put on a typewriter, an’ r-run through a wringer. Thin he laid it transversely acrost a piece of wall paper; an’, whereiver th’ key wurrud sponge-cake appeared, he was thereby able f’r to make a sympathic lesion, acquirin’ all th’ characteristics iv th’ race, an’ a dam sight more.”
“‘I follow ye like a horse afther a hay wagon,’ says th’ prisident, ‘hungrily, but unsatisfacthrly. Ye do not prove that th’ throuble was symotic, mong expert.’
“‘Parfictly,’ says Moosoo Bertillon. ‘I will have me assistants put up a screen, an’ on this I will projooce ividince’—“‘Go away,’ says th’ prisident. ‘Call Colonel Prystalter. Mong colonel, ye thraitor, describe th’ conversation ye had with Colonel Schneider, th’ honorable but lyin’ spy or confidential envoy iv th’ vin’rable Impror iv Austhrich, may th’ divvle fly way with him! But mind ye, ye must mintion no names.’
“‘I know no man more honest,’ says th’ witness.
“‘Thin your acquaintance is limited to ye’ersilf,’ says Gin’ral Merceer.
“‘Colonel Schneider,’ says th’ witness, ‘th’ Austhrich,—whom I will designate, f’r fear iv internaytional entanglements, merely as Colonel Schneider,—says to me, he says: “Th’ letther pretindin’ to be fr’m me is a forgery.” “How’s that?” says I. “Didn’t ye write an’ sign it?” I says. “I did,” says he. “But some wan else sint it to th’ pa-apers.”
“‘Thin ’tis clearly a forgery,’ says th’ prisident.
“‘I wish to ask this witness wan question,’ says Gin’ral Merceer. ‘Was it th’ Robin shell or th’ day befure?’
“‘My answer to that,’ says th’ witness, ‘is decidedly, Who?’
“‘Thin,’ says Gin’ral Merceer, ‘all I can say is, this wretch’s tistimony is all a pack iv lies.’
“‘Hol’ on there!’ calls a voice from th’ aujience.
“‘What d’ye want?’ says th’ prisident.
“‘I’m th’ corryspondint iv th’ Georgia Daily Lyncher, an’ I can’t undherstand a wurrud ye say. I’ve lost me dictionary. Th’ people iv th’ State iv Georgia mus’ not be deprived iv their information about th’ scand’lous conduct iv this infamious coort.’
“‘Thrue,’ says th’ prisident. ‘Fr-rance ’d soon perish if Georgia shud thransfer its intherest fr’m Fr-rinch coorts to its own sacred timples iv justice. Perhaps some confrere ’ll lind th’ distinguished gazabo a copy iv his Ollendorff. Manewhile’—
“‘Mong prisident,’ says a white-faced polisman, ‘Judge Crazy the Boore’—
“‘Gr-reat hivins!’ cried th’ prisident. ‘Thin th’ quarantine at Oporto is a farce.’ An’ he plunged into th’ seething mass iv handwritin’ experts an’ ex-prisidents iv th’ raypublic in th’ coort-yard below.”
V
“An’ I was thinking Hinnissy” (Mr. Dooley said in conclusion), “as I set in that there coort, surrounded be me fellow-journalists, spies, perjurers, an’ other statesmen, that I’d give four dollars if th’ prisident iv th’ coort ‘d call out, ‘Moosoo Dooley, take th’ stand.’
“‘Here,’ says I; an’ I’d thread me way with dignity through th’ Fr-rinch gin’rals an’ ministers on th’ flure, an’ give me hand to th’ prisident to kiss. If he went anny further, I’d break his head. No man ’ll kiss me, Hinnissy, an’ live. What’s that ye say? He wudden’t want to? Well, niver mind.
“‘Here,’ says I, ‘mong colonel, what d’ye want with me?’
“‘What d’ye know about this case, mong bar-tinder.’
“‘Nawthin’,’ says I. ‘But I know as much as annywan else. I know more thin most iv thim la-ads down below; f’r I can’t undherstand a wurrud ye say, so I’m onable,’ I says, ‘f’r to make mistakes. I won’t give anny tistimony, because ’twud be out iv place in this sacred timple devoted to th’ practice iv orathry,’ I says; ’but I can make as good a speech as annywan, an’ here goes.’
“Gin’ral Merceer—‘May I ask this polluted witness wan question?’
“Th’ Witness.—‘Set down, ye infamious ol’ polthroon!’ says I. ‘Set down an’ pondher ye’er sins,’ I says. ‘If ye had ye’er dues, ye’d be cooprin’ a bar’l in th’ pinitinchry. If ye’re afraid iv th’ Impror Willum, be hivins, ye want to be afraid iv th’ Impror Dooley; f’r he’s Dutch, an’ I ain’t. I’ll raysume me speech. Lady an’ Gintlemen, prisoner at th’ bar, freeman that ought to be there, lawyers, gin’rals, ex-prisidents, former mimbers iv th’ cabinet, an’ you, me gin’rous confreres iv th’ wurruld’s press, I come fr’m a land where injustice is unknown, where ivry man is akel befure th’ law, but some are betther thin others behind it, where th’ accused always has a fair thrile ayether,’ I says, ‘in th’ criminal coort or at th’ coroner’s inquest,’ I says. ‘I have just been in another counthry where such conduct as we’ve witnessed here wud be unknown at a second thrile,’ I says, ‘because they have no second thriles,’ I says. ‘We Anglo-Saxons ar-re th’ salt iv th’ earth, an’ don’t ye f’rget it, boys. All our affairs ar-re in ordher. We convict no innocent men an’ very few guilty wans, perjury is unknown amongst us, we have no military scandals, an’ our private life is beyond rebuke. So we have th’ time an’ th’ inclination to study th’ vile offences iv our neighbors, an’ give thim advice free iv cost. An’ that is why I’m here to-day in this degraded counthry to tell ye what’s th’ matther with ye an’ what ye ought to do.
“‘An’ this is me opinyon: I don’t think Cap. Dhryfuss wr-rote th’ borderoo. I think he was th’ on’y man in Fr-rance that didn’t. But I ain’t got as high an opinyon iv th’ Cap as I had. I ain’t no purity brigade; but, th’ older I get, th’ more I think wan wife’s enough f’r anny man, an’ too manny f’r some. They was a time, Cap, whin ’twas seryously thought iv takin’ ye fr’m th’ Divvle’s Own Island an’ makin’ ye prisident iv th’ Women’s Rescue League. But I’m afraid, Cap, ye’re disqualified f’r that position be what we’ve heard fr’m ye’er own lips durin th’ thrile. Ye lost a good job. Thin there ar-re some other things about ye I don’t undherstand. I can’t make out what ye meant be pretindin’ to go to It’ly an’ doublin’ back into Germany; an’ I wish f’r me own peace iv mind all ye’er explanations ‘d mate. But, sure, if ivry man that was too free with his affections was to be sint to th’ Divvle’s Own Island, they’d have to build an intinsion to that far-famed winther resort. An’ if suspicyous actions was proof iv guilt, mong colonel, ye’d have th’ mimbers iv th’ gin’ral staff sthrung up in as manny cages as ye see at th’ Zoo-illogical Gardens [laughter an’ cries iv ‘Veev Dooley!’]
“‘Th’ throuble is, mong colonel, lady an’ gintlemen, that it ain’t been Cap Dhryfuss that’s been on thrile, but th’ honor iv th’ nation an’ th’ honor iv th’ ar-rmy. If ’twas th’ Cap that was charged, ye’d say to him, “Cap, we haven’t anny proof again ye; but we don’t like ye, an’ ye’ll have to move on.” An’ that ‘d be th’ end iv th’ row. The Cap ’d go over to England an’ go into th’ South African minin’ business, an’ become what Hogan calls “A Casey’s bellows.” But, because some la-ad on th’ gin’ral staff got caught lyin’ in th’ start an’ had to lie some more to make th’ first wan stick, an’ th’ other gin’rals had to jine him f’r fear he might compromise thim if he wint on telling his fairy stories, an’ they was la-ads r-runnin’ newspapers in Paris that needed to make a little money out iv th’ popylation, ye said, “Th’ honor iv th’ Fr-rinch people an’ th’ honor iv th’ Fr-rinch ar-rmy is on thrile”; an’ ye’ve put thim in th’ dock instead iv th’ Cap. Th’ honor iv Fr-rance is all right, me boy, an’ will be so long as th’ Fr-rinch newspapers is not read out iv Paree,’ I says. ‘An’, if th’ honor iv th’ Fr-rinch ar-rmy can stand thim pants that ye hew out iv red flannel f’r thim, a little threachery won’t injure it at all,’ I says. ‘Yes,’ says I, ‘th’ honor iv Fr-rance an’ th’ honor iv th’ ar-rmy ’ll come out all r-right,’ I says; ‘but it wudden’t do anny harm f’r to sind th’ honor iv th’ Fr-rinch gin’rals to th’ laundhry,’ I says. ‘I think ye’d have to sind Gin’ral Merceer’s to th’ dyer’s,’ I says. ‘Ye niver can take out th’ spots, an’ it might as well all be th’ same color,’ I says. ‘Mong colonel,’ I says imprissively, ‘so long as ivry man looks out f’r his own honor, th’ honor iv th’ counthry ’ll look out f’r itsilf,’ I says. ‘No wan iver heard iv a nation stealin’ a lead pipe or committin’ perjury,’ I says. ‘’Tis th’ men that makes up th’ nation that goes in f’r these diversions,’ I says. ‘I’d hate to insure again burglars th’ naytional honor that was guarded be that ol’ gazabo,’ says I, indicatin’ Merceer with th’ toe iv me boot.
“‘That’s wan point. They’s another, mong colonel. Ye’re all afraid. That’s th’ truth iv th’ matther. Ye’re like a lot iv ol’ women that thinks ivry time th’ shutter creaks burglars is goin’ to break into th’ house. Ye’re afraid iv Rothscheeld, an’ th’ Impror iv Germany, an’ th’ Dook d’Orleans, Vik Bonaparte, an’ Joe Chamberlain, an’ Bill McKinley. Be hivins, I believe ye’re even afraid iv Gin’ral Otis! Ye’re afraid iv th’ newspapers, ye’re afraid iv Jools Guerin, ye’re afraid iv a pote, even whin he is not ar-rmed with his pothry, an’ ye’re afraid iv each other. Brace up! be men! If I was a Fr-rinchman, I’d be afraid iv no man but th’ cab-dhrivers; an’ I wudden’t be afraid iv thim long, f’r I’d be a cab-dhriver mesilf.
“‘Wan thing more, an’ thin me tistimony’s over. Ye want me advice. Ye didn’t ask f’r it. If I was prisident iv this coort-martial, I’d say to Cap Dhryfuss: “Cap, get out. Ye may not be a thraitor, but ye’re worse. Ye’re become a bore.” An’ I’d give him money enough to lave th’ counthry. Thin I’d sind th’ gin’ral staff off to some quiet counthry village where they’d be free fr’m rumors iv war, an’ have nawthin’ else to do but set around in rockin’-chairs an’ play with th’ cat. Thin I’d cut th’ cable to England; an’ thin I’d gather all the journalists iv Paris together, an’ I’d say, “Gintlemen,” I’d say, “th’ press is th’ palajeem iv our liberties,” I’d say; “but our liberties no longer requires a palajeem,” I’d say. “This wan, whativer it means, is frayed at th’ risbands, an’ th’ buttonholes is broken, annyhow,” I’d say. “I’ve bought all iv ye tickets to Johannisberg,” I’d say, “an’ ye’ll be shipped there tonight,” I’d say. “Ye’er confreres iv that gr-reat city is worn out with their exertions, an’ ye’ll find plenty iv wurruk to do. In fact, those iv ye that’re anti-Seemites ’ll niver lack imployment,” I’d say. “Hinceforth Fr-rance will be free—fr’m th’ likes iv ye,” I’d say. An’ th’ nex’ mornin’ Paris ‘d awake ca’m an’ peaceful, with no newspapers, an’ there ’d be more room in our own papers f’r th’ base-ball news,’ says I.
“‘But, mong liquor dealer, what ye propose ’d depopylate France,’ says th’ prisident.
“‘If that’s th’ case,’ says I, ‘Fr-rance ought to be depopylated,’ I says. ‘I’ve been thinkin’ that’s th’ on’y way it can be made fit to live in f’r a man fr’m Chicago, where th’ jambons come fr’m,’ says I, lavin’ th’ stand.”
“Arrah, what ar-re ye talkin’ about?” demanded Mr. Hennessy. “Ye niver got a peek in th’ dure.”
“What have you been doin’?” Mr. Dooley asked, disregarding the interruption.
“I wint out to see th’ rowlin’ mills,” said Mr. Hennessy. “They have a very good plant; an’ a man be th’ name iv Mechell Onnessy or Mike Hennessy, a cousin iv mine that come over th’ Fenian time with Stevens, is boss iv a gang. He speaks Fr-rinch like a boardin’-school. I talked with wan iv th’ la-ads through him.
“Did ye ask him about th’ Dhryfuss case?” asked Mr. Dooley, eagerly.
“I did.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he niver heerd of it.”