She detached the stud which closed the wrist-band of the shirt.  On the inner side of the linen there was a line written in red letters—­red of the color of blood.  She saw these words:  Look in the lining of my trunk.

“What for?” she asked.

The fading light in his eyes flashed on her a dreadful look of doubt.  His lips fell apart in the vain effort to answer.  His last sigh fluttered the light ringlets of her hair as she bent over him.

The surgeon pointed to her children.  “Take the poor things home,” he said; “they have seen the last of their father.”

Mrs. Westerfield obeyed in silence.  She had her own reasons for being in a hurry to get home.  Leaving the children under the servant’s care, she locked herself up in the dead man’s room, and emptied his trunk of the few clothes that had been left in it.

The lining which she was now to examine was of the customary material, and of the usual striped pattern in blue and white.  Her fingers were not sufficiently sensitive to feel anything under the surface, when she tried it with her hand.  Turning the empty trunk with the inner side of the lid toward the light, she discovered, on one of the blue stripes of the lining, a thin little shining stain which looked like a stain of dried gum.  After a moment’s consideration, she cut the gummed line with a penknife.  Something of a white color appeared through the aperture.  She drew out a folded sheet of paper.

It proved to be a letter in her husband’s hand-writing.  An inclosure dropped to the floor when she opened it, in the shape of a small slip of paper.  She picked it up.  The morsel of paper presented letters, figures, and crosses arranged in lines, and mingled together in what looked like hopeless confusion.

3.—­The Letter.

Mrs. Westerfield laid the incomprehensible slip of paper aside, and, in search of an explanation, returned to the letter.  Here again she found herself in a state of perplexity.  Directed to “Mrs. Roderick Westerfield,” the letter began abruptly, without the customary form of address.  Did it mean that her husband was angry with her when he wrote?  It meant that he doubted her.

In these terms he expressed himself: 

“I write to you before my trial takes place.  If the verdict goes in my favor, I shall destroy what I have written.  If I am found guilty, I must leave it to you to do what I should otherwise have done for myself.

“The undeserved misfortune that has overtaken me began with the arrival of my ship in the port of Rio.  Our second mate (his duty for the day being done) asked leave to go on shore—­and never returned.  What motive determined him on deserting, I am not able to say.  It was my own wish to supply his place by promoting the best seaman on board.  My owners’ agents overruled me, and appointed a man of their own choosing.

“What nation he belonged to I don’t know.  The name he gave me was Beljames, and he was reported to be a broken-down gentleman.  Whoever he might be, his manner and his talk were captivating.  Everybody liked him.