‘So you shall; but really, I can see nothing in it.’
‘Try and describe it to me.’
‘That is soon done. It is a commonplace epistle, saying he wished to be remembered as a friend, asking me to forgive him, and hinting that if he had his life to live over again, how different things would be.’
‘That is only a blind, perhaps.—Describe the letter.’
‘It is written on part of a sheet of foolscap; and from the beginning of the first line to the finish, the paper is covered with writing.’
‘No heading or superscription, no signature?’ queried Mr Slimm.
‘No; it is not signed; but is precisely like a letter without heading or signature trimmed close up to the writing with a pair of scissors.’
‘And is it folded, or are there any lines about it?’
‘It is folded like an ordinary note, and there are various horizontal and perpendicular lines upon it. The lines are dotted. Can you make anything of it?’
‘Yes,’ said the American quietly. ‘I can make fortune of it. Show me that letter for five minutes, and I will show you something you would give ten thousand pounds to see.’