"The manuscript after all lies in the house," said the Professor, as they went along the street. The Doctor thought of the three crosses and laughed quietly to himself; he had in no way assented to the tactics which his friend thought fit to adopt for the discovery of the manuscript. When the Professor maintained that their only hope rested on the sympathy which they might by degrees awaken in their host, the Doctor entertained the suspicion that his friend was brought to this slow way of carrying on the war not by pure zeal for the manuscript. The Proprietor, however, maintained an obstinate silence regarding the manuscript. If the Doctor threw out any hint upon the subject, the host made a wry grimace and immediately changed the conversation. It was necessary to put an end to this. The Doctor now determined to insist upon a decision before his departure. When, therefore, they were sitting together in the garden in the evening, and the Proprietor was looking cheerfully and calmly on his fruit trees, the Doctor began the attack: "I cannot leave this place, my hospitable friend, without reminding you of our contract." "Of what contract?" inquired their host, like one who did not remember it. "Regarding the manuscript," continued the Doctor, with emphasis, "which lies concealed in this place." "Indeed! why you yourself said that every place sounds hollow. So we would have to tear down the house from roof to cellar. I should think we might wait till next spring. When you come to us again; for we should be obliged, under these circumstances, to live in the barns, which now are full." "The house may, for the present, remain standing," said the Doctor; "but if you still think that the monks took away their monastic property, there is one circumstance which goes against your view. We have discovered at Rossau that the worthy friar, who had concealed the things here in April, died of the pestilence as early as May, according to the church register; here is a 'copy of the entry.'" The Proprietor looked at the Doctor's memorandum book, closed it and said: "Then his brother monks have taken away the property." "That is scarcely possible," replied the Doctor, "for he was the last of his order in the monastery." "Then some of the city people have taken it." "But the inhabitants of the town abandoned it then, and the place lay for years desolate, in ruins and uninhabited." "Humph!" began the Proprietor, in good humor; "the learned gentlemen are strict creditors and know how to insists upon their rights. Tell me straightforwardly what you want of me. You must, first of all, point out to me some place that appears suspicious, not only to you, but also to the judgment of others; and that you cannot do with any certainty." "I know of such a place," answered the Doctor, boldly, "and I wish to suggest to you that the treasure lies there." The Professor and the Proprietor looked on him with astonishment.