ConfidentasIamthatyouwillnottriflewiththisappeal，myheartsinksandmyhandtremblesatthebarethoughtofsuchapossibility。Thinkofmeatthishour，inastrangeplace，labouringunderablacknessofdistressthatnofancycanexaggerate，andyetwellawarethat，ifyouwillbutpunctuallyserveme，mytroubleswillrollawaylikeastorythatistold。Serveme，mydearCanyon，andsaveYourfriend，H。J。
PS-Ihadalreadysealedthisupwhenafreshterrorstruckuponmysoul。Itispossiblethatthepostofficemayfailme，andthisletternotcomeintoyourhandsuntilto-morrowmorning。Inthatcase，dearCanyon，domyerrandwhenitshallbemostconvenientforyouinthecourseoftheday；andoncemoreexpectmymessengeratmidnight。Itmaythenalreadybetoolate；andifthatnightpasseswithoutevent，youwillknowthatyouhaveseenthelastofHenryJekyll。Uponthereadingofthisletter，Imadesuremycolleaguewasinsane；buttillthatwasprovedbeyondthepossibilityofdoubt，Ifeltboundtodoasherequested。ThelessIunderstoodofthisfarrago，thelessIwasinapositiontojudgeofitsimportance；andanappealsowordedcouldnotbesetasidewithoutagraveresponsibility。Iroseaccordinglyfromtable，gotintoahansom，anddrovestraighttoJekyll\'shouse。Thebutlerwasawaitingmyarrival；hehadreceivedbythesamepostasminearegisteredletterofinstruction，andhadsentatonceforalocksmithandacarpenter。
Thetradesmencamewhilewewereyetspeaking；andwemovedinabodytooldDrDenman\'ssurgicaltheatre，fromwhich（asyouaredoubtlessaware）
Jekyll\'sprivatecabinetismostconvenientlyentered。Thedoorwasverystrong，thelockexcellent；thecarpenteravowedhewouldhavegreattrouble，andhavetodomuchdamage，ifforceweretobeused；andthelocksmithwasneardespair。Butthislastwasahandyfellow，andaftertwohours\'
work，thedoorstoodopen。ThepressmarkedEwasunlocked；andItookoutthedrawer，haditfilledupwithstrawandtiedinasheet，andreturnedwithittoCavendishSquare。