"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, I feel that at the end of twenty years I should have made an effort to find the real owners without the aid of a letter."
"And did you not do so?"
"No; I was engaged in large transactions, and the fact that the twenty years had expired escaped my memory, and five years or more elapsed before I recalled the fact of the letter; then I placed the matter in the hands of a detective. He advertised and made search. He questioned as concerned the appearance of the man who deposited the fortune with me, but I could give him no more information than I have given you."