out his intention. Another individual had his cards printed, "Fergus
Hume. Author of 'The Mystery of a Hansom Cab,'" and also added the
price for which he was prepared to write a similar book. Many of
the papers put this last piece of eccentricity down to my account.

I may state in conclusion, that I belong to New Zealand, and not to
Australia, that I am a barrister, and not a retired policeman, that I
am yet two decades off fifty years of age, that Fergus Hume is my real
name, and not a nom-de-plume; and finally, that far from making a
fortune out of the book, all I received for the English and American
rights, previous to the issue of this Revised Edition by my present
publishers, was the sum of fifty pounds. With this I take my leave, and
I trust that the present edition may prove as successful as did the
first.




CHAPTER I.



WHAT THE ARGUS SAID.


The following report appeared in the Argus newspaper of Saturday, the
28th July, 18--

"Truth is said to be stranger than fiction, and certainly the
extraordinary murder which took place in Melbourne on Thursday night,