"No, no, you may be sure I won't allow that. I promise you that we will get an order from the Minister of the Interior to leave him here until there can be no question whatever as to his being dead or alive, and Roux and I have already sent our report to the Parquet with a request to that effect." "I quite agree," said Paul, "to what you say, in fact, anything else would be criminal." Two days later Dr. Roux received the following letter from Villebois:-- Mon cher Docteur, The Parquet, after hearing the report which you and Monsieur Biron were good enough to give in this extraordinary case, has granted my petition that Delapine's body may remain unburied until it has been ascertained with absolute certainty that he is really dead, but I am sorry to tell you, mon ami, that you and Monsieur Biron are under the obligation to give the Parquet a detailed report every day concerning Delapine's condition, thus giving you both, I regret to say, a considerable amount of work. Not only ourselves and the members of the Parquet, but all Paris--France--the whole world, are anxiously awaiting the solution of this wonderful riddle. The strain is telling on my nerves, and I really feel too ill to do any work. The whole house is becoming disorganized. Madame Villebois has been compelled to take to her bed, and my daughter Céleste and Mademoiselle Renée are taking turns to watch the professor in a room we have specially prepared for him. Reporters and other inquisitive people are calling all day long for news. A guard has been stationed at the front door by the kind permission of the Parquet to keep them away as much as possible, but it is needless to add that you, mon cher confrère, will always be welcome at any hour of the day. Toujours à vous, Adolphe Villebois. Dr. Villebois was compelled to abandon his practice for the time being, and devote himself to his mysterious patient. Dr. Riche offered to share all responsibility with him--an offer which needless to say was most cordially accepted.