"And now for the details of my final arrangements. To-night--for the final act of the tragedy can no longer be delayed, seeing that Mr. Avison is already as far as Paris on his road home--to-night I shall work at the office till after everyone else has gone. I shall put Sweet off his guard. I shall arrange matters so that the door of the bullion safe in the strong room shall be found open, and the safe, to all appearance, rifled of its contents. The booty supposed to have been thus appropriated will amount to something over four thousand pounds, that being the sum in which I am indebted to the Bank. My books will show that latterly the Bank has been accumulating funds in notes and gold to a very considerable amount in order to provide for certain contingencies which it would have to meet before long in the ordinary course of business. As for my worthless self--I shall be found dead on the hearthrug of my office, stabbed to the heart. "Such is an outline of the programme which will have been carried into effect before these lines meet your eye. In carrying out this desperate resolve I am merely anticipating the end of a life which no power on earth could prolong for many months, and which might go out like the snuff of a candle at any moment. The proceeds of my policy of insurance will be saved to my family, my fair fame will remain untainted, the world will respect my memory as that of a man just and honorable in all his dealings, while those I leave behind me will have no cause to blush for the name they bear. "Such being the case, why have I chosen to make you my confidant in this matter? Why have I imposed upon you the burthen of such a confession? Why have I not let you live on in ignorance, as your brother will live on in his? I will tell you why. "Notwithstanding all the precautions I shall take to obviate so untoward a result, it is just possible that my death may be laid at the door of some innocent person. Many a guiltless man has been done to death by circumstantial evidence, and such a thing might easily happen again. I charge you, therefore, as my eldest son, that in the event of anyone being accused of my death, you at once make public such facts as will suffice to free him from so heinous a charge. Better, a thousand times better, that the whole truth should be told, than that the accusation of being a murderer should cling to anyone for an hour! I lay upon you this most solemn duty, being perfectly satisfied that I could entrust it into no better hands. My fervent hope, however, is that no such contingency may arise. Should it do so, your duty will lie plainly before you, and I feel satisfied that you will not shrink from doing it.