eneral, and that, as for me, I have not wished
to poison anybody. That, if we are absolutely sure of it, leaves as the
poisoner only Natacha. That is so certain, so inevitable, that there is
only one case, one alone, where, in such conditions, Natacha would not
be regarded as the poisoner."

"I confess that, logically, I do not see," said the Tsar, "anything
beyond that but more and more of a tangle. What is it?"

"Logically, the only case would be that where no one had been poisoned,
that is to say, where no one had taken any poison."

"But the presence of the poison has been established!" cried the
Emperor.

"Still, the presence of the poison proves only its presence, not the
crime. Both poison and ipecac were found in the stomach expulsions. From
which a crime has been concluded. What state of affairs was necessary
for there to have been no crime? Simply that the poison should have
appeared in the expulsions after the ipecac. Then there would have been
no poisoning, but everyone would believe there had been. And, for that,
someone would have poured the poison into the expulsions."

The Tsar never quitted Rouletabille's eyes.

"That is extraordinary," said he. "But of course it is possible. In any
case, it is still only an hypothesis.

"And so long as it could be an hypothesis that no one thought of, it
could be just that, Sire. But if I am here, it is because I have the
proof that that hypothesis corresponds to the reality. That necessary
proof of Natacha's innocence, Your Majesty, I have found with the
rope around my neck. Ah, I tell you it was time! What has hindered
us hitherto, I do not say to realize, but even to think, of that
hypothesis? Simply that we thought the illness of the general had
commenced before the absorption of the ipecac, since Matrena Petrovna
had been obliged to go for it to her medicine-closet after his illness
commenced, in order to counteract the poison of which she also appeared
to be the victim.

"But, if I acquire proof that Matrena Petrovna had the ipecac at
hand before the sickness, my hypothesis of pretense at poisoning has
irresistible force. Because, if it was not to use it before, why did she
have it with her before? And if it was not that she wished to hide the
fact that she had used it before, why did she wish to make believe that
she went to find it afterwards?

"Then, in order to show Natacha's innocence, here is what must be
proved: that Matrena Petrovna had the ipe