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One keeps harping on the same note, like a drum! There is to be a

reform and we shall be called by a different name, at least,

he-he-he! And as for our legal tradition, as you so wittily

called it, I thoroughly agree with you. Every prisoner on trial,

even the rudest peasant, knows that they begin by disarming him

with irrelevant questions (as you so happily put it) and then

deal him a knock-down blow, he-he-he!--your felicitous

comparison, he-he! So you really imagined that I meant by

'government quarters'... he-he! You are an ironical person. Come.

I won't go on! Ah, by the way, yes! One word leads to another.

You spoke of formality just now, apropos of the inquiry, you

know. But what's the use of formality? In many cases it's

nonsense. Sometimes one has a friendly chat and gets a good deal

more out of it. One can always fall back on formality, allow me

to assure you. And after all, what does it amount to? An

examining lawyer cannot be bounded by formality at every step.