CHAPTER 52 A Burning Brand.
ALL at once the thought came into my mind, 'I have not sought out Mr.
Brown.' Upon that text I desire to depart from the direct line of my subject, and make a little excursion.

I wish to reveal a secret which I have carried with me nine years, and which has become burdensome.
Upon a certain occasion, nine years ago, I had said, with strong feeling, 'If ever I see St.Louis again, I will seek out Mr.Brown, the great grain merchant, and ask of him the privilege of shaking him by the hand.' The occasion and the circumstances were as follows.

A friend of mine, a clergyman, came one evening and said-- 'I have a most remarkable letter here, which I want to read to you, if I can do it without breaking down.

I must preface it with some explanations, however.

The letter is written by an ex-thief and ex-vagabond of the lowest origin and basest rearing, a man all stained with crime and steeped in ignorance; but, thank God, with a mine of pure gold hidden away in him, as you shall see.