Meanwhile, the nurse and Marie were making their dinner in the kitchen off the soup which had been specially provided for them �� Marie having previously placed the dirty plates, and the empty soup-tureen from the dining-room, in the scullery, as usual, to be washed at the proper time. While she and her companion were still engaged over their soup, young Duparc and his mother suddenly burst into the kitchen, followed by the other persons who had partaken of dinner. ��We are all poisoned!�� cried Madame Duparc, in the greatest terror. ��Good heavens! I smell burned arsenic in the kitchen!�� He was, in the first place, bound to proceed immediately, accompanied by his official colleague, to the spot where the alleged crime of poisoning was supposed to have taken place. Arrived there, it was his business to ascertain for himself the condition of the persons attacked with illness; to hear their statements; to examine the