the key was
all he found. Well, it wasn't. A second turning over of the coal brought
these to light, and very interesting they are, too."

I immediately bent over the torn and discolored scraps with great
anxiety. They were four in number, and appeared at first glance to be
the mere remnants of a sheet of common writing-paper, torn lengthwise
into strips, and twisted up into lighters; but, upon closer inspection,
they showed traces of writing upon one side, and, what was more
important still, the presence of one or more drops of spattered blood.
This latter discovery was horrible to me, and so overcame me for the
moment that I put the scraps down, and, turning towards Mr. Gryce,
inquired:

"What do you make of them?"

"That is just the question I was going to put to you."

Swallowing my disgust, I took them up again. "They look like the
remnants of some old letter," said I.

"They have that appearance," Mr. Gryce grimly assented.

"A letter which, from the drop of blood observable on the written side,
must have been lying face up on Mr. Leavenworth's table at the time of
the murder--"

"Just so."

"And from the uniformity in width of each of these pieces, as well as
their tendency to curl up when left alone, must first have been torn
into even strips, and then severally rolled up, before being tossed into
the grate where they were afterwards found."

"That is all good," said Mr. Gryce; "go on."

"The writing, so far as discernible, is that of a cultivated gentleman.
It is not that of Mr. Leavenworth; for I have studied his chirography
toe much lately not to know it at a glance; but it may be--Hold!" I
suddenly exclaimed, "have you any mucilage handy? I think, if I could
paste these strips down upon a piece of paper, so that they would
remain flat, I should be able to tell you what I think of them much more
easily."

"There is mucilage on the desk," signified Mr. Gryce.

Procuring it, I proceeded to consult the scraps once more for evidence
to guide me in their arrangement. These were more marked than I
expected; the longer and best preserved strip, with its "Mr. Hor" at
the top, showing itself at first blush to be the left-hand margin of
the letter, while the machine-cut edge of the next in length presented
tokens fully as conclusive of its being the right-hand margin of the
same. Selecting these, then, I pasted them down on a piece of paper at
just the distance they would occupy if the sheet from which