"'I, Ferdinand Lennox, or the man commonly known by that name, being about to quit this petty planet, and set out on my travels to that unknown country from which there is no return, am desirous, while there is still sufficient strength and clearness of mind left me, to state the facts with regard to a certain event as they really occurred; which facts will probably be found to be somewhat different from what the world believes them to be. I allude to the death of Hubert Stone. "'The fates had been unpropitious for some time; circumstances were against me; I had lost heavily on the turf and in other speculations, and was nearly at my wit's end for lack of ready money. It was at this time that my sister, quite innocently, told me of the strange discovery of a quantity of old family jewels at Heron Dyke. "'And, in justice to her, my good and faithful sister, I may here remark that since she came to live with me I have been more cautious, and have striven to keep my little peccadilloes from her knowledge. She may have thought sometimes that my luck at the card-table was something out of the common way, but of the darker passages of my life she knew absolutely nothing. "'It did not take me long to decide that I must make those jewels mine if it were by any means possible to do so. My circumstances just then were desperate, and a _coup de main_ had become absolutely necessary. Burglary was altogether out of my line, but in this case the enterprise seemed to me so peculiarly an easy one that I could not make up my mind to forego it. I knew the position of the room in which the jewels were lying. I knew that it was only a question of opening a window and forcing a shutter, after the family should be safe in bed. There were no dogs to fear, and the servants slept in another wing of the house. Nothing could possibly be more easy. I felt that I could never forgive myself if I allowed such an opportunity to escape me. "'Up to a certain point, everything happened in accordance with my expectations. The Hall was in darkness; there was no sign of life anywhere. I found the window I was in search of, and a few minutes later I stood inside the room. I opened a slide of my dark lantern and took a survey. There stood the bureau in the corner where I had expected to find it. I had brought a small chisel and one or two other implements with me, and a very little time sufficed to force open the receptacle in which the jewels were stored. What a fine glow filled my heart as I feasted my sight for a few moments on their flashing beauty, and recognised the fact that they were all my own! For some time to come my finances were assured.