ne hundred and sixty-two letters written by Hosley.
I--"

At that moment the collapse was on me. I fell back in my recovery a
clean two weeks, because of the nerve force squandered in trying to take
that in.

"I think they prove he was connected with the woman down-stairs, for
after the fire my men found them in one of her private boxes, tied up
with a lot of her letters. But I have here only those written by him."

"Perhaps another man named Hosley wrote them," I ventured, after
recovering, "if you found them so; Hosley is not such an unusual name."

"Well, now, that's just what I want to get at, Mr. Hopkins. Maybe you're
right, and so, of course, I wouldn't want to bother Smith with 'em, you
know, if they are only a false clue; he'd only laugh at me, you see. As
you, I understand, are friendly with Tescheron and against this Hosley
as much as he is, I thought I'd consult you first and find out if these
letters were really written by your Hosley or another. If they are his,
I think I have the evidence you all will want."

Letters written by Hosley, and found with that woman's things! Then I
had written them and they might prove to the world that I was his
accomplice in crime, for if he had won her heart with these letters and
had done away with her, as alleged, and Smith had the evidence to prove
it, then I was his pal. My protestations of innocence would not avail.
There were the letters and Smith had the specimens of my handwriting in
the many messages sent to Tescheron at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. But how
lucky for me that the sleuths of Obreeon and not those of Smith had
found them! How I clutched at that thought! Surely all luck had not left
me. How fortunate that Obreeon did not suspect me as an accomplice, for
with those letters he might have convicted us both!

How eagerly I reached for them as Obreeon took them from the bag while
undergoing a wave of pain that I felt sure took his attention from me!
They had been written for Jim several years before in one of his most
severe cases. That villain, Hosley, had certainly fooled me. I could see
that I had been his dupe all through. I, his chum from boyhood, blinded
at every turn by this clever knave! But at last I was getting wise to
the trickery of the world; from this time forth I would be wary of every
suggestion and live and die alone to insure the preservation of my
innocence. What a harvest of whirlwind these letters would have brought
me had they passed