for;
thought, perhaps, I wanted to make sure it did not contain the letter
about which so much has been said. But it would have made but little
difference if she had known the truth. This desk contains nothing _we_
want."

"Was she well; and had she heard of Hannah's sudden death?" I asked, in
my irrepressible anxiety.

"Yes, and feels it, as you might expect her to. But let us see what we
have here," said he, pushing aside the desk, and drawing towards him the
stack of paper I have already referred to. "I found this pile, just as
you see it, in a drawer of the library table at Miss Mary Leavenworth's
house in Fifth Avenue. If I am not mistaken, it will supply us with the
clue we want."

"But----"

"But this paper is square, while that of the confession is of the size
and shape of commercial note? I know; but you remember the sheet used in
the confession was trimmed down. Let us compare the quality."

Taking the confession from his pocket and the sheet from the pile before
him, he carefully compared them, then held them out for my inspection. A
glance showed them to be alike in color.

"Hold them up to the light," said he.

I did so; the appearance presented by both was precisely alike.

"Now let us compare the ruling." And, laying them both down on the
table, he placed the edges of the two sheets together. The lines on the
one accommodated themselves to the lines on the other; and that question
was decided.

His triumph was assured. "I was convinced of it," said he. "From the
moment I pulled open that drawer and saw this mass of paper, I knew the
end was come."

"But," I objected, in my old spirit of combativeness, "isn't there any
room for doubt? This paper is of the commonest kind. Every family on the
block might easily have specimens of it in their library."

"That isn't so," he said. "It is letter size, and that has gone out. Mr.
Leavenworth used it for his manuscript, or I doubt if it would have been
found in his library. But, if you are still incredulous, let us see what
can be done," and jumping up, he carried the confession to the window,
looked at it this way and that, and, finally discovering what he wanted,
came back and, laying it before me, pointed out one of the lines of
ruling which was markedly heavier than the rest, and another which was
so faint as to be almost undistinguishable. "Defects like these often
run through a number of consecutive sheets," said he. "If we could find
the ident