There was a strain of nervous excitement visible in his
letter. I thought it better to go and see him as he requested; I
felt that I owed him some little reparation for having denied him
the great wish of his heart. It was my duty to make up to him in
other ways for what I had felt obliged to do. I knew him for a
nervous, high-strung man, overwrought by brooding for years on what
he called his wrongs, and I did not know what he might do if I
refused his request. It was not of myself I thought in this
connection, but of the girl at home who looked to me for protection.
"I had no fear for myself; it never occurred to me to think of
taking a weapon with me. How my revolver--and it is undoubtedly
my revolver, for there was a peculiar break in the silver
ornamentation on the handle which is easily recognisable--how this
revolver of mine got into his room, is more than I can say. Until
the Police Commissioner showed it to me two or three days ago, I
had no idea that it was not in the box in my study where it is
ordinarily kept." Graumann paused again and looked about him as
if searching for something. He rose and poured himself out a glass
of water. "Let me put some of this in it," said Muller. "It will
do you good." From a flask in his pocket he poured a few drops of
brandy into the water. Graumann drank it and nodded gratefully.
Then he took up his story again.
"I never discovered why Siders had sent for me.
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