e point of contact. Once I tied the string so
tight that the wick went out altogether just before reaching the string.
But I had taken measures to overcome these little irregularities, and to
make sure of the string catching readily I had rubbed a little petrol on
it where it crossed the wick.

"But it was the scream before the report which upset my calculations and
almost caused me to collapse. When that terrible cry rang out my false
strength fled from me, leaving me weak and trembling. I think I should
have betrayed myself if the report had not followed so quickly, throwing
everybody into the same state of confusion as myself. I do not know how
I managed to make my limbs carry me upstairs with the others. I did not
know what had happened. My brain refused to act. I was conscious of
nothing except that a great wheel seemed turning inside my head,
tightening all my nerves to such taut agony that I could hardly refrain
from crying aloud.

"What I said or did when I found myself in the bedroom I do not know.
When I saw that everything was as I had arranged my mind began swinging
like a pendulum towards my revenge, and I struggled to lead the search
towards the staircase. But I was unable to move. I was like a man in a
dream, encompassed by invisible obstacles. Then the wheel in my head
suddenly relaxed, I felt the room and its objects slipping from me, and
everything went black.

"You know about my illness. It was not until I was supposed to be
recovering that the power of clear thought came back to me. There were
days when my brain was numb and powerless, like that of one newly
awakened from a terrible nightmare, striving to recall what had
happened. Then one day the veil was drawn, and I remembered everything.
My aunt was in the room, and I questioned her. She brought Musard to me,
and from him I learnt the truth.

"Intuitively I realized what had happened. Hazel Rath had gone to the
room for some unknown reason, had seen my wife lying there, and
screamed. Then, hardly conscious of what she was doing, she picked up
the revolver I had left lying by the bedside, and ran out of the room in
fright. I was even able to divine a reason for her silence under the
accusation of murder. She felt that nobody would believe her story,
especially after the history of her mother's past was brought to light.

"As I turned over what they had told me and realized that my own secret
was safe, I thought I saw the way to accomplish my