"Here I interrupted Mr. Timmins for the first time. "'You say "invent an ending to it,"' I remarked. 'Had the MS., then, a different ending from that which it has in the printed story?' "'I ought, perhaps, to have remarked before that it had no ending of any kind,' replied Timmins, 'but broke off abruptly at the bottom of a page. Whether the writer had never finished it, or whether, if a more thorough search had been made in the carriage, the continuation of it would have been found, I am, of course, unable to say. In any case, as far as I am concerned, unfinished it was; consequently all the latter part of the story, as printed, is from my pen.' "I at once saw, how important a knowledge of this fact might prove to be, should the Loudwater Case ever come to be reopened. Laying the open periodical before him on the table, I said, 'Will you be good enough, Mr. Timmins, to point out the place where the original MS. left off, and your pen took up the running?' "After drawing the magazine to him and casting his eye over the columns, he said presently, marking a certain place with his thumb-nail as he did so, 'Here is where the original writer ends and I begin.' "'May I take it, then, as a fact that up to the point indicated by you the printed story follows exactly on the lines of the MS.?' "'As nearly so as makes no matter. Here and there a word may have been changed or transposed, or the turn of a sentence altered, but it may be accepted as being to all intents and purposes a faithful copy of the MS.' "You, my dear Fan, have read the story; so, when I tell you that the point at which the break occurs is where 'Ernestine' and her former lover find themselves together in the old merchant's office, you will not fail to call to mind what a very important share of the narrative proves to be wholly due to the inventive genius of Mr. Timmins. And yet, perhaps, on further consideration, it is not really so important as at first sight it seems. You and I knew, the moment we read it, that the latter half of the narrative was nothing more than a farrago of fiction; but who, in view of the little that is really known of the causes which led to Mr. Melray's death, dare venture to assert that the incidents, as detailed in the early part of it, may not be based on fact? That is just what one would like to be in a position to determine. "But to return. "'By the way, Mr. Timmins,' I said, 'I should like very particularly to inspect the original MS.; indeed, I may add that I should like to take possession of it for a little while.' "'I am sorry to say that it is no longer in existence. I kept it till I heard that my story was accepted; then I burnt it.' "'Oh, you idiot!' was my mental exclamation; but aloud I only said it was a great pity he had done so.