The following is a copy of Mr. Hazeldine's letter to his son:

Oct. 5, 18--,

"My Dear Edward,

"When these lines reach you, he who writes them will be no longer among the living. The end of my days is at hand. I am about to go hence, and be no more seen.

"Three months ago I consulted two eminent London specialists with reference to the state of my health. For some time I had had reason to believe that my heart was seriously affected, but I had shrank from turning doubt into certainty. At length, however, I did so, and the verdict proved to be little more than a confirmation of my own secret fears. Both the men I consulted gave me to understand that, with great care, I might live for some time to come, but that there was a possibility of my being taken off at any moment. Rest and perfect quiet were essential to my case, and a complete release from the cares and worries of business--all of which you will say might have been mine had I so willed it--and indeed it is quite true that I might have retired to some restful spot, and there, 'far from the madding crowd,' have eked out the poor remainder of my days, but for certain circumstances which rendered such a step an impossibility. What those circumstances were, I will now tell you.

"Edward, from youth upward I have been a gambler--a secret gambler--but so well have I kept the knowledge to myself that not even your mother has known of it, whatever she may have suspected. When I was a schoolboy I used to gamble for halfpence. When I grew older I was in the habit of venturing my half-crowns, and afterwards my sovereigns, on this race or the other. When I was a young man, and supposed to be taking my autumn holidays in Scotland or at the seaside, I generally contrived to find my way to Doncaster for the St. Leger; and over and over again I have gone through the whole gamut of a gambler's hopes, fears, exultations, and despair.

"Of late years, however, I have given up having anything to do with the Turf, and have confined myself to transactions on the Stock Exchange. Three years ago I was worth twenty thousand pounds: to-day I am a ruined man. I wanted to turn my twenty thousand into fifty, and it seemed so easy to do it that I had not the courage to withhold my hand. Even now I have faith to believe that I could retrieve my fortunes were time given me to do so, but time is the one thing I can no longer call my own. The anxieties of the last few months have told terribly upon me, and I feel that the end may come at any moment. Besides which, Mr. Avison will be at home in the course of a few days.

"You may, perhaps, ask in what way the return of Mr. Avison can affect me, unless it serve to transfer some of the cares of business from my shoulders to his, and, in so far, prove a source of relief to me. But, Edward, I dare not meet him! When I tell you this, you will know what I mean.

"Yes, it is even so. Things that I have been able to cover up during his absence can be hidden no longer when he returns. I cannot, I dare not face that which would inevitably follow. What a terribly bitter confession is this to make to you, my eldest son!

"What then, is to be done? How escape a disgrace which seems inevitable? There is only one mode of escaping from it--by suicide--and that is the mode I have determined to adopt. It is my last and only resource.

"You are aware that, many years ago, I insured my life for twelve thousand pounds. This sum, together with a thousand pounds standing to my credit at the Bank (for I have always contrived to maintain a balance there in order to avoid suspicion), will be nearly all that your mother and sister will have to depend upon after I am gone; should it, however, be discovered that I have committed suicide, the policy will be forfeited and they will be left little better off than paupers. For this reason, therefore, if for no other, my death must not seem to be the act of my own hand.

"But there is another reason, almost as imperative, why the world must not be allowed to believe that I have put an end to my existence. It must never become known that I dare not face Mr. Avison, and my employer himself must never learn how his most trusted servant has betrayed the confidence reposed in him. The shame, disgrace, and misery in which such knowledge would involve those I leave behind me must be avoided at every risk. There is only one way by which such consequences can be averted, and that is by making my death seem to have resulted, not from my own act, but from the act of another. In brief, the world must be led to believe, not that I have committed suicide, but that I have been murdered!

"You will naturally ask how is such an end to be accomplished? for in such a case nothing must be left to chance--every step in the affair, every contingency that might arise out of it, must be thought of and arranged for beforehand. I will tell you what I purpose doing--what, in fact, will actually have been done, to secure the object I have in view, before to-morrow's sunrise.

"In the first place, I have paid off to the uttermost farthing all my losses on the Stock Exchange; and as I have always speculated under an assumed name, there is no risk of its ever becoming known that the respected manager of the Ashdown Bank was the desperate gambler he has been in reality.

"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,............