Then I told them, in a confused way, with many interruptions and discursions. Frequently I saw the doubt in the eyes of one or other, and then they looked at me, and something in my appearance caused the doubt to die. I rose, and looked in the pier-glass. “Professor,” I said, with a moment’s bitterness, “I shouldn’t have asked for an overcoat only. I need a skull-cap.” But it was not only that I was so utterly hairless. My face was different,--younger, and more virile, and there was a subtle change in the eyes, which I could not define. It was the face of a stranger. I became conscious also of a bodily alertness and vigour, very different from the physical conditions of the earlier evening. “It may grow,” he answered mildly. I don’t think he was hopeful. I know I wasn’t. “I think you’ve made me a freak for this world. Perhaps I’d better go back,” I said, thoughtlessly. “Would you go forward again?” The Professor’s voice was eager. “I don’t know----” I began, doubtfully. “Isn’t he the principal witness for the defence?” Bryant interpolated. “I think,” said the Professor, “he might better be described as the sole witness for the prosecution. But I don’t think that we have any legal responsibility. They took the risk freely. Besides, they’re not dead yet.--Of course, we’re all sorry, but exploration is always hazardous. Really,” he said seriously, “we have postponed their deaths for a rather long period.” Certainly, the legal position was somewhat complicated, but I felt that there must be a flaw in the argument somewhere. I couldn’t help the retort, “Just as you’ve prolonged the life of my hair for the same period.” The Professor was not often disconcerted, but this silenced him for a moment. Then he said, “But you have come back, and they have not. Surely, even you can see the difference.” “I would rather see my hair where it used to be.” “Hair,” said the Professor, “has become a useless parasitic growth, which we are in process of discarding. You are only ahead of your time.” “A bald head,” I replied, and felt the joke was out of place as I spoke it. The Professor ignored me, and Bryant reverted to the earlier discussion. “I don’t see how we can have any legal trouble, though it may be awkward to explain the disappearances of two guests in succession. Mrs. Brett will have something to say. But isn’t there a law that you can’t accuse any one of murder unless you can exhibit a body?” “I believe that is so,” said the Professor, with relief in his voice. “I suppose that is why they always dig up the garden.” This roused young Danby. “They won’t dig up this one.--Not till the bulbs are over.”