There was a ring at the door and Professor Struvelius made his appearance. The Professor collected himself and went with firm steps into his room; the Doctor went quietly away, promising to return again shortly.
It must have been apparent to Struvelius, after a glance at his colleague, that their last conversation was doomed to throw a shadow over their present meeting, for he looked frightened and his hair stood on end. The Professor laid before him the printed passage of the old monk and only added these words: "This passage has possibly escaped you."
"It has, indeed," exclaimed Struvelius, and sat for some time poring over it. "I ought to be satisfied with this confirmation," he said at last, looking up from the folio.
But the Professor laid his finger on the book, saying:
"An extraordinary typographical error in this edition has been copied into the text of the parchment strip which you have restored--an error which is corrected at the end of the book. The words of the parchment strip are thus partly put together from this printed passage and are a forgery."
Struvelius remained mute, but he was much alarmed, and looked anxiously upon the contracted brow of his colleague.
"It will now be to your interest to give the necessary explanations concerning this forgery to the public."
"A forgery is impossible," retorted Struvelius, incautiously. "I myself removed the old glue that covered the text from the parchment."
"Yet you tell me that the strip is not in your possession. You will believe that it is no pleasure to me to enter the ranks against a colleague; therefore you yourself must without delay make the whole matter public. For it stands to reason the forgery must be made known."
"I take for granted that you speak with the best intentions," he began at last, "but I am firmly convinced that the parchment is genuine, and I must leave it to you to do what you consider your duty. If you choose to attack your colleague publicly, I shall do my best to bear it."
Having said this, Struvelius went away obdurate, but much disquieted, and matters took their evil course. Ilse saw with sorrow how severely her husband suffered from the obstinacy of his colleague. The Professor set to work and published a short statement of the affair in the classical magazine to which he contributed. He introduced the fatal passage of the monk, and forbearingly expressed his regret that the acute author of the pamphlet had thus been imposed upon by a forgery.