Not two months later there appeared in the forests of Riazan a band of robbers: and of that band the chieftain was none other than--" "Allow me," put in the Head of the Police Department.

"You have said that Kopeikin had lost an arm and a leg; whereas Chichikov--" To say anything more was unnecessary.

The Postmaster clapped his hand to his forehead, and publicly called himself a fool, though, later, he tried to excuse his mistake by saying that in England the science of mechanics had reached such a pitch that wooden legs were manufactured which would enable the wearer, on touching a spring, to vanish instantaneously from sight.
Various other theories were then propounded, among them a theory that Chichikov was Napoleon, escaped from St.Helena and travelling about the world in disguise.

And if it should be supposed that no such notion could possibly have been broached, let the reader remember that these events took place not many years after the French had been driven out of Russia, and that various prophets had since declared that Napoleon was Antichrist, and would one day escape from his island prison to exercise universal sway on earth.

Nay, some good folk had even declared the letters of Napoleon's name to constitute the Apocalyptic cipher! As a last resort, the tchinovniks decided to question Nozdrev, since not only had the latter been the first to mention the dead souls, but also he was supposed to stand on terms of intimacy with Chichikov.
Accordingly the Chief of Police dispatched a note by the hand of a commissionaire.