William Le Queux

"Why Look he's dead, doctor " I gasped, standing aghast. The sudden change in the thin sallow face, the lack of expression in the brilliant eyes, and the dropping of the jaw were sufficient to convince me that the stranger's life had ebbed away. The doctor bent, placed his hand upon the prostrate man's breast for a moment, and then, straightening himself, he turned to me and answered gravely: - "Yes, Godfrey; it is as I feared from the first. Nothing could save him. Remember what I told you this morning-it was simply a matter of hours.

Let me gaze down the vista of the tristful past. Ah there are things that cannot be uttered; there are scenes that still entrance me, and incidents so unexpected and terrible that they cause me even now to hold my breath in horror. The prologue of this extraordinary drama of London life was enacted three years ago; its astounding d nouement occurred quite recently. During those three weary, anxious years the days have glided on as they glide even with those who suffer most, but alas I have the sense of having trodden a veritable Via Dolorosa during a century, the tragedy of my life, with its ever-present sorrow, pressing heavily upon me perpetually.