He was almost gasping for breath. “H’m. I see that he is responsible for the manifestoes with the axe,” Lembke concluded almost majestically. “Excuse me, though, if he were the only person concerned, how could he have distributed it both here and in other districts and in the X province … and, above all, where did he get them?” “But I tell you that at the utmost there are not more than five people in it—a dozen perhaps. How can I tell?” “You don’t know?” “How should I know?—damn it all.” “Why, you knew that Shatov was one of the conspirators.” “Ech!” Pyotr Stepanovitch waved his hand as though to keep off the overwhelming penetration of the inquirer. “Well, listen. I’ll tell you the whole truth: of the manifestoes I know nothing—that is, absolutely nothing. Damn it all, don’t you kno