Yet he was compelled to acknowledge to himself, and did so again and again, that there was no sensible reason for his haste, that nothing depended upon one hour more or less, nay, that another hour, which might perhaps mature some definite resolution in his mind, would be welcome. Yet, even while he said so, he leaned forward to shout to the driver that the road was perfectly smooth here, and he might drive faster. Then he leaned back again into the corner of his little damp prison, drew out Wollnow's letter and gazed at it as if he could not believe any one could write such words as those in a hand so firm, characters so large and clear. And for the second time he read: "What I have to tell you to-day, my dear friend, is so bad that the most skilful preamble would not make it better. So without any introduction: the upsetting of the carriage on the moor was no unlucky accident, but a shameful crime, of which Brandow was the instigator. Secondly, the money was stolen. The originator of the theft, which might be termed murder, was Brandow again; he was probably present at the time, or else appeared on the scene directly after; at any rate, the fruits of the robbery fell into his hands. Whether the two crimes may to a certain extent be considered one--I mean whether the first was committed that the second might be executed, or whether the second was perpetrated on the spur of the moment, after the first had been performed--I do not know, and probably no one ever will, since it is to be feared that a third terrible crime has resulted from the first two. "Who betrayed this horror to me? That which is so often the betrayer of crimes--chance. "A chance than which nothing could be more accidental. "The money in the packet consisted of hundred, fifty, and twenty-five thaler notes. I had myself, as you know, counted and put up the amount; but of course that would not enable me to positively swear to the identity of any one of the bills, even if it came back to me again. With one, however, I am in a position to do so; the note is once more in my hands, and I can prove in whose possession it has been in the mean time. "I was obliged to pay out this bill ten years ago at a very critical time--it was the last money I possessed, and in a humorous freak I marked on it the words, 'a lucky journey,' and the date in small, almost microscopical characters, on the upper right-hand corner of its face. Four years ago this same note came back to me. I honored my old friend with the word 'welcome,' which, together with the date, I wrote on the left-hand upper corner of the back, and gave it, as a luck-penny, a place in my pocket-book, where it remained until three weeks ago. You will remember that ready money was rather scarce with me, and I took advantage of the opportunity to punish myself for my superstitious feelings by adding this note to the rest.