Page 3

I am not a man to rush into things. I take my time to set my affairs in order and prepare myself. This has often caused my surroundings much frustration but I refuse to be bullied into making rash actions. I sent Charlotte home, though she protested heartily. I was adamant on the point of not rushing off without due preparation. I told her that we would be able to leave tomorrow, granted that I would be able to gather the items that I required for the journey in time.

That night, I found however that I was hard pressed to gain a wink of sleep. The excitement of the events that was to come had my mind rushing headlong with visions of the places I could go and the possibilities of my future. Some half hour after the clock on the mantlepiece had chimed twelve and I had changed the side on which I slept a hundred times at least, I caught a glimpse of something through the half-open doorway into my study. The lights were off but the night outside the undrawn windows was moonlit and castling long shadows into the room.

The movement I saw was simply the silhouette of something moving over the carpet. But my room was on the second floor and a passing person or carriage outside would produce no such effect. The result of this vision was startling to say the least and set my heart and mind racing. I started breathing heavily and found it impossible to move. I convinced myself in an instance that there was someone in my study.

The shadow passed three times over the small patch of carpet that I was able to see from my bed, but during this time I could hear no noise from that location to accompany the intruder's movements. The strain on my mind was building through this ordeal and I was becoming more and more convinced that the intruder was out for my life when I heard a teriffic crash and the clattering of glass falling to the ground.

At that point, fear made me jump out of bed and a new thought entered my mind which made me move instantly into the study. Maybe, whoever was in my rooms was out to get my clock! I grabbed the poker from the side of the fireplace and rose it above my head, letting out a great scream intended to scare whomever had broken into my home. I found, however, the study empty except from glass from my window spread all over the chair and the desk where I do all my work. My papers were gently blowing in the wind.

When I found no intruder, I drew the curtains and checked the safe where I had thankfully placed the precious clock. But the safe was unopened and the clock was still in its place. Next I went for the papers which I feared might have been stolen. But my fears were unfounded, all the papers were where I had placed them, except for one thing: they were all in disarray. The papers had obviously been looked through.

Page 5