cast upon those who would appear to have an interest in stealing a
packet which I believed to be so inestimably important.

What gave a still greater colour to this supposition was the fact that
none of the servants had seen Oswald leave the house, though many had
seen him enter. And what put his guilt beyond a doubt in the opinion of
many, was his sudden and mysterious disappearance. To my mind, all
these circumstances were not conclusive. Both the men seemed taller
than Oswald; and I knew that that confusion which was so much insisted
upon, had not--thanks to my singular fastidiousness in those
matters--existed. I was also perfectly convinced that Oswald could not
have been hidden in my room while I locked up the packet; and there was
something in the behaviour of the murderer utterly unlike that of a
common robber actuated by common motives.

All these opposing arguments were, however, of a nature to be deemed
nugatory by the world; and on the only one of any importance in their
estimation, namely, the height of Oswald being different from that of
the robbers, it was certainly very probable that, in a scene so
dreadful, so brief, so confused, I should easily be mistaken. Having
therefore once flowed in this direction, public opinion soon settled
into the full conviction that Oswald was the real criminal, and against
Oswald was the whole strength of inquiry ultimately, but still vainly,
bent. Some few, it is true, of that kind class who love family
mysteries, and will not easily forego the notion of a brother's guilt
for that of a mere vulgar housebreaker, still shook their heads and
talked of Gerald; but the suspicion was vague and partial, and it was
only in the close gossip of private circles that it was audibly vented.

I had formed an opinion by no means favourable to the innocence of Mr.