remembered perfectly to have sold such a knife to a seafaring man, and
identified the instrument when it was shown to him. From the chink of a
door ajar, in the wall opposite my sash-window, a maid-servant, watching
for her sweetheart (a journeyman carpenter, who habitually passed that way
on going home to dine), had, though unobserved by the murderer, seen him
come out of my window at a time that corresponded with the dates of his
own story, though she had thought nothing of it at the moment. He might
be a patient, or have called on business; she did not know that I was from
home. The only point of importance not cleared up was that which related
to the opening of the casket,--the disappearance of the contents; the lock
had been unquestionably forced. No one, however, could suppose that some
third person had discovered the hiding-place and forced open the casket to
abstract its contents and then rebury it. The only probable supposition
was that the man himself had forced it open, and, deeming the contents of
no value, had thrown them away before he had hidden the casket and purse,
and, in the chaos of his reason, had forgotten that he had so done. Who
could expect that every link in a madman's tale would be found integral
and perfect? In short, little importance was attached to this solitary
doubt. Crowds accompanied me to my door, when I was set free, in open
court, stainless; it was a triumphal procession. The popularity I had
previously enjoyed, superseded for a moment by so horrible a charge, came
back to me tenfold as with the reaction of generous repentance for a
momentary doubt. One man shared the public favour,--the young man whose
acuteness had delivered me from the peril, and cleared the truth from so
awful a mystery; but Margrave had escaped from congratulation and
compliment; he had gone on a visit to Strahan, at Derval Court.

Alone, at last, in the welcome sanctuary of my own home, what were my
thoughts? Prominent amongst them all was that assertion of the madman,
which had made me shudder when repeated to me: he had been guided to the