hear a confession; on the contrary, the explanation was
strange, weird, and extraordinary, and yet the incident could readily
occur. It was, however, a remarkable incident.

CHAPTER II.

NOT A TERRIBLE CRIME--A SERIES OF SHARP QUESTIONS--A
DETECTIVE AT HIS BEST--STARTLING DEVELOPMENTS OF A
LOGICAL MYSTERY SOLVER--REPRODUCING AN IMAGE AFTER
FORTY YEARS--A GREAT DIALOGUE.

When Mr. Townsend said "Here comes in my criminality," as intimated,
Jack expected a weird confession and he remained silent, determined to
permit the banker to declare his crime in his own way, and after a
little the latter said:

"The money and securities I held intact; the letter I put away in my
safe, and as instructed I tried to forget all about it. The years
passed; I became very successful in business--indeed, a rich man, and
still there came no word from the party who placed the fortune in my
hands under such strange conditions, and one morning, ten years later, I
came down to my office and there had been a great fire. The building in
which my office was located was totally destroyed, and the letter was in
a safe. I was very much disturbed; the safe was fireproof and I hoped to
find the letters, but, alas! the safe and all its contents were
destroyed--" The banker stopped short; he had made the last statement
with startling distinctness.

"The letter was lost?" suggested Jack.

"Yes."

"But where does your criminality come in? You could not help the fire,
and you had taken all due precautions."

"Yes, I had, but there I was with this vast fortune, and as it appeared,
no way of finding out the owner of it. The ten years passed following
the fire, completing the twenty. I never heard from the individual who
had deposited the money with me, nor did any one else make a claim; and
so twenty years more have passed and no claimant has appeared, and I am
in possession of the fortune."

"It is certainly all very strange," said Jack, "but I cannot see where
you are in any way to blame."

"I am, though."

"How?"

"I feel that I am to blame, however."

"How?"

"I knew of the possibility of fire and _I should not have left the
letter in my safe down at the office_."

"There was the same chance of fire in your residence."

"No, you see, my house is well guarded against fire. I am a bachelor,
and the ordinary chances of a fire in a private residence do not equal
those in a public building where there are thousands of tenants. Yes