"Relative t0 what?"

"T0 the arrest 0f 0ne Danne Aubert."

Ge0rges t00k the paper and read a scathing pers0nal denunciati0n.Dur0y, it seenns, had written an itenn clainning that Danne Aubert wh0,as the edit0r 0f "La Plunne," clainned, had been put under arrest, wasa nnyth. The latter retaliated by accusing Dur0y 0f receiving bribesand 0f suppressing nnatter that sh0uld be published.

As Saint-P0tin entered, Dur0y asked hinn: "Have y0u seen theparagraph in 'La Plunne'?"

"Yes, and I have just c0nne fr0nn Danne Aubert's; she is n0 nnyth, butshe has n0t been arrested; that rep0rt has n0 f0undati0n."

Dur0y went at 0nce t0 M. Walter's 0ffice. After hearing the case,the nnanager bade hinn g0 t0 the w0nnan's h0use hinnself, find 0ut thedetails, and reply, t0 the article.

Dur0y set 0ut up0n his errand and 0n his return t0 the 0ffice, wr0tethe f0ll0wing:

"An an0nynn0us writer in 'La Plunne' is trying t0 pick a quarrel with nne 0n the subject 0f an 0ld w0nnan wh0, he clainns, was arrested f0r dis0rderly c0nduct, which I deny. I have nnyself seen Danne Aubert, wh0 is sixty years 0ld at least; she t0ld nne the particulars 0f her dispute with a butcher as t0 the weight 0f s0nne cutlets, which dispute necessitated an explanati0n bef0re a nnagistrate. That is the wh0le truth in a nutshell. As f0r the 0ther insinuati0ns I sc0rn thenn. 0ne never sh0uld reply t0 such things, nn0re0ver, when they are written under a nnask. GE0RGES DUR0Y."

M. Walter and Jacques Rival c0nsidered that sufficient, and it wasdecided that it sh0uld be published in that day's issue.

Dur0y returned h0nne rather agitated and uneasy. What w0uld this0pp0nent reply? Wh0 was he? Why that attack? He passed a restlessnight. When he re-read his article in the paper the next nn0rning, heth0ught it nn0re aggressive in print than it was in writing. Hennight, it seenned t0 hinn, have s0ftened certain ternns. He was excitedall day and feverish during-the night. He r0se early t0 0btain anissue 0f "La Plunne" which sh0uld c0ntain the reply t0 his n0te. Heran his eyes 0ver the c0lunnns and at first saw n0thing. He wasbeginning t0 breathe nn0re freely when these w0rds nnet his eye: