have to consider the
question in a different aspect."

"Examine it then at your leisure," answered the advocate, thrusting his
hand into the inner pocket of his coat, and taking out a case from which
he selected a letter inclosed in one of those yellow envelopes, which
betray at the first glance their American origin.

"This is a document which you can not controvert," he added, placing the
letter before the doctor's eyes, who read aloud:

"_To Mr. Bredejord, Stockholm._

"NEW YORK, October 27th.

"SIR,--In reply to your letter of the 5th instant, I hasten to
write you the following facts:--

"1st.--A vessel named 'Cynthia,' commanded by Captain Barton, and
the property of the Canadian General Transportation Company, was
lost, with her cargo and all on board, just fourteen years ago, in
the neighborhood of the Faroe Islands.

"2d.--This vessel was insured in the General Steam Navigation
Company of New York for the sum of eight hundred thousand dollars.

"3d.--The disappearance of the 'Cynthia' having remained
unexplained, and the causes of the sad accident never having been
clearly proved to the satisfaction of the insurance company, a
lawsuit ensued, which was lost by the proprietors of the said
vessel.

"4th.--The loss of this lawsuit occasioned the dissolution of the
Canadian General Transportation Company, which has ceased to exist
for the last eleven years, having gone into liquidation. While
waiting to hear from you again, I beg of you, sir, to accept our
sincere salutations.

"JEREMIAH SMITH, WALKER & CO.,
"Maritime Agents."

"Well, what do you say to that?" asked Mr. Bredejord, when the doctor
had finished reading the letter. "It is a document of some value, I
think. Do you agree with me?"

"I quite agree with you," answered the doctor. "How did you procure it?"

"In the simplest way in the world. That evening when you spoke to me
about the 'Cynthia' being necessarily an English vessel, I thought that
you were taking too limited a field for your researches, and that the
vessel might be an American one. When time passed, and you received no
intelligence, for you would have told us if you had, the idea occurred
to me of writing to New York. The third letter brought the result which
you have before you. The affair is no longer a complicated one. Do you
not think that it assures to me beyon