"quite so, nonsense! ha, ha, ha! dear me! he did amuse me, did the general! we went off on the hot scent to wilkin’s together, you know; but i must first observe that the general was even more thunderstruck than i myself this morning, when i awoke him after discovering the theft; so much so that his very face changed he grew red and then pale, and at length flew into a paroxysm of such noble wrath that i assure you i was quite surprised! he is a most generous-hearted man! he tells lies by the thousands, i know, but it is merely a weakness; he is a man of the highest feelings; a simple-minded man too, and a man who carries the conviction of innocence in his very appearance. i love that man, sir; i may have told you so before; it is a weakness of mine. well he suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, opened out his coat and bared his breast. ‘search me,’ he says, ‘you searched keller; why don’t you search me too? it is only fair!’ says he. and all the while his legs and hands were trembling with anger, and he as white as a sheet all over! so i said to him, ‘nonsense, general; if anybody but yourself had said that to me, i’d have taken my head, my own head, and put it on a large dish and carried it round to anyone who suspected you; and i should have said: "there, you see that head? it’s my head, and i’ll go bail with that head for him! yes, and walk through the fire for him, too." there,’