of proof. I then turned to the note, which I
studied long and carefully. I was convinced that it was of recent date,
at the time of the murder, although only the last figure of the date was
visible. I finally looked over the blood-stained piece of paper, which
George had nearly covered with figures. I saw at a glance, that there
was no reading matter on it, but I began to go over his figures half
mechanically, mentally following his addition, to verify it.

Suddenly my eyes caught two numbers near the bottom of the paper. They
were placed together, and their difference was written below; they were
much fainter than the rest, having been made in pencil, instead of in
ink. It was probably due to this fact, that they had never been noticed
before, as the deep stain made it difficult to distinguish them clearly,
without close observation. However that may be, they acted upon me like
an electric shock, and I was obliged to walk about the room a few
minutes, to compose my nerves. It was strange that those faint lines
should have told so much, but it seemed almost, as if the murdered man
had whispered his murderer's name to me. The numbers which were there
set down were $927.78, and $324.22. _One of them was the amount of the
half burned note of Drysdale; the other, was the amount of his balance
in the bank._

I sat up until a very late hour, thinking over the possible solution of
the mystery, and when I finally went to bed, I had satisfied myself as
to the identity of the murderer. The next day, I rose late, and spent
the afternoon in arranging the points of evidence in consecutive order,
so as to be able to present them to the bank officials in the most
convincing manner. I then walked around town for exercise. During my
walk, I visited Mr. Flanders' jewelry store and the county clerk's
office.

Mr. Flanders was an elderly gentlemen of very mild and courteous
manners, and his whole appearance would lead any one to regard it as
impossible, that he should have committed murder.

Mr. Drysdale, the county clerk, was a fine looking man, of about forty
years of age. He was of the nervous, sanguine type; was quiet and
courteous, but haughty and reserved to strangers; he was looking thin
and weary, as if he worked too hard, and streaks of gray were just
visible in his hair and mustache.

I talked with him for about half an hour, representing that I was a
stranger, desirous of gaining information about the plantations of the
c