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220 were getting the best of it." She pointed to Lauer, who was wiping his face, and to Buck whom the actors were actually congratulating. By this time the judges had returned and Sprezius was pronouncing the sentence: six months' imprisonment—which seemed to every one the most natural conclusion. In addition the accused was divested of the public offices which he held.

The presiding judge based the verdict on the fact that libellous intention was not essential to the establishment of guilt. Therefore the question of provocation did not arise. On the contrary, the fact that the accused had dared to speak in that fashion in the presence of loyal citizens must weigh against him. The defendant's plea that he had not meant the Emperor was held by the court to be untenable. "In view of the political sympathies of the listeners, and the known antimonarchical tendencies of the defendant, they could not but conclude that his utterances were directed against the Emperor. When the accused professes to have taken good care not to libel His Majesty, he merely proves his desire, not to avoid lèse-majesté, but to avoid its judicial consequences."

Everybody saw the force of this, and found that Lauer's conduct was natural, but not quite honest. The accused was at once arrested, and when the crowd had witnessed this final incident, it broke up, making unfavourable comments upon him. Now it was all over with Lauer, for what would become of his business during his six months in confinement? As a result of the sentence he was no longer a town-councillor. For the future he could neither help nor harm any one. As for the Buck clique, which talked so big, their number was up! People turned to look for the prisoner's wife, but she had disappeared. "She didn't even shake hands with him! A nice state of affairs!"

In the days that followed things happened which gave rise to even harsher judgments. Judith Lauer had packed her trunk