Dear Utterson，

Four days ago，on the 9th of January，I received a letterby the evening post it was in the handwriting of my oldfriend Henry Jekyll．I was rather surprised，as we were not inthe habit of writing to each other， and I had had dinner withhim the night before． When I came to read the letter， I waseven more surprised． The letter said：

 

Dear Lanyon，

You are one of my oldest friends． Although we havesometimes disagreed on scientific matters，I have alwaysremained your friend． I would do anything for you， Lanyon-please will you do something for me now？

Please， old friend，come to my house at once wth thisletter in your hand Poole，my servant， has his orders． Hewill be here with a locksmith．Break the lock of my studydoor， and then you must go in there alone．Open the glassfronted cupboard on the left－hand side and look on the fourthshelf from the top．On it you will find some pacKets of chemical powders， a small bottle and a book．Please take everything back to your house．

If you leave as soon as you receve this letter， you shouldbe back home before midnight．At that time you will recevea visit from a man．Please give him the bottle， the powdersand the book， and I shall aways be grateful to you．

Do not fail me， Lanyon． Believe me， my life and mypeace of mind depend on you．I am in fearful danger and only you can save me．

Your friend，

Henry Jekyll

After reading this letter， I was sure that Doctor Jekyll wasmad． But a friend is a friend， and so I went at once to hishouse．Jekyll's servant had received by the same post a letter similar to mine， and he was waiting for me with the locksmith．Together we went through the old laboratory andclimbed the stairs to the doctor's private study．The doorwas very strong， with an excellent lock， but the locksmithknew his job．Soon the door stood open and I entered thestudy．I opened the cupboard and found the shelf．Sureenough，the powders，the bottle and the book were there，and I took them home with me．

At home I lcoked at everything more carefully．There wereseveral packets of white powder and a bottle of red，strong－smelling liquid．The book contained nothing except alist of dates， going back several years．The last date wasnearly a year ago．Here and there the doctor had added afew words．The word‘donble’appeared very early in thelist， followed by the word‘Failed！！’．‘Double’appeared inthe list several more times…What was Jekyll doing？Thebook looked like a list of unsuccessful experiments．Howcould I，by taking these things to my house，save my friend's life and peace of mind？And what was the reason for thismidnight visitor？ I put my old gun in my pocket， then I putevery thing in a box for my midnight visitor to collect．

At midnight exactly there was a knock on my door． A shortman was standing in the shadows．

‘Are you from Doctor Jekyll？’I asked．He bent his head．

Although I could not see his face，there was something unpleasing about him and I was glad I had a weapon．I invitedhim into the house and there， in the bri............