The
policeman deposed in a few words that he had been standing at the
corner of the Friedrich and Mittelstrasse, the two gentlemen passed
him in loud conversation; the third gentleman, who was following
them, then came up to him, and told him to arrest them because they
had spoken insultingly of his majesty, and here they were. He had
neither seen nor heard anything further.
The lieutenant of police began by asking their names. When they told
him--"Dr. Schrotter, M. D. one of the members for Berlin and
Professor Emeritus," and "Dr. Eynhardt, Doctor of Philosophy,
householder," he offered them chairs. The informer introduced
himself as "non-commissioned officer Patke, retired, member of a
military association, and candidate for the private constabulary."
"What have you to bring forward against the gentlemen?"
"I walked behind the two gentlemen from the Linden to the
Mittelstrasse. They were conversing loudly about the attempted
assassination, and I naturally listened."
"It does not appear to me so very natural," commented the lieutenant
dryly.
The informer was a trifle disconcerted, but he soon recovered
himself, and proceeded in a declamatory manner:
"The younger gentleman--the dark one--expressed himself in very
unbecoming terms with regard to his majesty the emperor, and said
among other things, that the outrage was of no real importance.
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