It was a dry and solid sheet, of four pages, devoted to court news, sciences, and agriculture.

The vintner presently smoothed down the journal, opened his knife, and cut out a paragraph.

Carmichael, following his movements slyly, wondered what he had seen to interest him to the point of preservation.

The vintner crushed the remains of the sheet into a ball and dropped it to the floor.

Then he finished his beer, rose, and proceeded toward the stairs leading to the rathskeller below.