Page:Anna Katharine Green - Leavenworth Case.djvu/356

346 but she had a letter herself yesterday. It came in the same mail with mine."

"Hannah had a letter!" we both exclaimed; "and in the mail?"

"Yes; but it was not directed to her. It was"—casting me a look full of despair, "directed to me. It was only by a certain mark in the corner of the envelope that I knew"

"Good heaven!" I interrupted; "where is this letter? Why did n’t you speak of it before? What do you mean by allowing us to flounder about here in the dark, when a glimpse at this letter might have set us right at once?"

"I did n’t think anything about it till this minute. I did n’t know it was of importance. I"

But I could n’t restrain myself. "Mrs. Belden, where is this letter?" I demanded. "Have you got it?"

"No," said she; "I gave it to the girl yesterday; I have n’t seen it since."

"It must be upstairs, then. Let us take another look." and I hastened towards the door.

"You won’t find it," said Mr. Gryce at my elbow. "I have looked. There is nothing but a pile of burned paper in the corner. By the way, what could that have been?" he asked of Mrs. Belden.

"I don’t know, sir. She had n’t anything to burn unless it was the letter."

"We will see about that," I muttered, hurrying up-stairs and bringing down the wash-bowl with its contents. "If the letter was the one I saw in your hand at the post-office, it was in a yellow envelope."

"Yes, sir."

"Yellow envelopes burn differently from white paper. I ought to be able to tell the tinder made by a yellow