ll were assembled in the laboratory. The Chief of
the Surete, who had arrived at the Glandier, joined us at that moment.
I was seated at Monsieur Stangerson's desk ready for work, when Monsieur
de Marquet made us the following little speech--as original as it was
unexpected:

"With your permission, gentlemen--as examinations lead to nothing--we
will, for once, abandon the old system of interrogation. I will not
have you brought before me one by one, but we will all remain here as we
are,--Monsieur Stangerson, Monsieur Robert Darzac, Daddy Jacques and the
two concierges, the Chief of the Surete, the Registrar, and myself. We
shall all be on the same footing. The concierges may, for the moment,
forget that they have been arrested. We are going to confer together. We
are on the spot where the crime was committed. We have nothing else to
discuss but the crime. So let us discuss it freely--intelligently or
otherwise, so long as we speak just what is in our minds. There need be
no formality or method since this won't help us in any way."

Then, passing before me, he said in a low voice:

"What do you think of that, eh? What a scene! Could you have thought
of that? I'll make a little piece out of it for the Vaudeville." And he
rubbed his hands with glee.

I turned my eyes on Monsieur Stangerson. The hope he had received from
the doctor's latest reports, which stated that Mademoiselle Stangerson
might recover from her wounds, had not been able to efface from his
noble features the marks of the great sorrow that was upon him. He
had believed his daughter to be dead, and he was still broken by that
belief. His clear, soft, blue eyes expressed infinite sorrow. I had had
occasion, many times, to see Monsieur Stangerson at public ceremonies,
and from the first had been struck by his countenance, which seemed as
pure as that of a child--the dreamy gaze with the sublime and mystical
expression of the inventor and thinker.

On those occasions his daughter was always to be seen either following
him or by his side; for they never quitted each other, it was said, and
had shared the same labours for many years. The young lady, who was
then five and thirty, though she looked no more than thirty, had devoted
herself entirely to science. She still won admiration for her imperial
beauty which had remained intact, without a wrinkle, withstanding time
and love. Who would have dreamed that I should one day be seated by her
pillow with my pap