for John Convert, which
extended to all parts of the world, and covered a period of over twenty-
three years, with the sole purpose of killing him if found.

"'In the meantime, fearing that my father might become conscience-
stricken sooner or later, and make a confession of our crime to the
authorities, I killed him also; and of the three murders, of which I am
now responsible, I feel less concern over my father's death than of the
other two; for was it not from him that I inherited the instincts to
lie, cheat, steal, and murder for money, and by his instructions that
these instincts were developed, instead of being discouraged from
infancy?

"'Well, although I searched in nearly every nook and corner of the
globe, I was unable to find even a clue to my missing cousin, but during
that time a most peculiar affair happened, which resulted in my killing
a third victim.

"'As you will remember, I met and became infatuated with you in Paris
over three years ago, and then followed you to Chicago. After learning
that you had secretly departed for Europe again in order to avoid me, I
made up my mind to bother you no further, and taking a trip in the
opposite direction I spent considerable time touring Australia, Africa
and Asia. It was about two years after, while stopping at a fashionable
hotel in Berlin that I discovered a young woman boarding there by the
name of Arletta Fogg. So closely did she resemble you that I supposed it
was you living there under an assumed name. At first when I accused her
of being Arletta Wright, of Chicago, she denied it emphatically. But
later, after learning that I was a millionaire, she pretended that I was
right in my supposition and led me to believe that she had left home for
an indefinite period owing to some family disagreement and was now
traveling incognito. She permitted me to show her many attentions and
gradually we became very good friends. So infatuated with her charms did
I become that I was her abject slave. We went to Italy and Egypt
together and I lavished money upon her without stint. I proposed
honorable marriage to her a hundred times, but she always refused,
saying that she preferred a free and independent life. We went to New
York, and there I discovered that there were other men besides myself
interested in her, and that she had two different places of residence.
Several times I saw her in fashionable restaurants dining with other
men, and following her one night into t