The Van Buren press., 1870-01-11

When | was in London last week saw
our cousin Harry, fresh from Windsor.
There is but little change to be observed
in him--not as much as you would ex
pect. Come to US on Friday.
Yours very aft, ELlsoR Is.
NV uncle read this out loud, from be
ginning to end, and then he said, . DO
you see anything suspicious in that? II
seems to me very innocent"
"Hum! II may he. Wss there any
thing else in the desk Z" said he, address
ing Parker.
"Yeu may 60 and look" growled that
potentate; and lie led the way, the ex
pert following
The desk was quite empty, with the
exception oftwo or three scraps Of waste
paper. On one Of these the expert psunc-
ed, and returned with Al air Of clation to
the other room. He then unfolded this
scrap Of paper, disclosed half sheet ex-
actly the size Of the paper on which Eli
nor Bcaumont's letters wero written, IN
which oblong holes ut intervals had been
cut.
lie then placed his half. sheet over the
letter, and handed both, thus placed. to
my uncle, whose astonshed eyes read
the following words, which the holes leil
visible:
FLEET wind bound. Fifty sail of the
line. Twenty-Five smaller. Should the
wind change, expect us on Friday"
The dcyilr' said my uncle; "and
Nelson ordered off to the West Indies.
Then was there, as you may suppose,
hurrying and scurrying, and running and
chasing, and dispatching Of government
couriors, and semsphore telegraphs. and
carrier pigeons, and all the old world
means of communication then in fashion.
The key, thus obtained, disclosed the
whole correspondence, which turned out
to be connected series Of letters from
the French government, smugglcd into
Jersey. The rest history knows, the
intended invasion was abandoned, and
Napoleon went elsewhere.
"But what put you on the scent y
asked my uncle afterwards, with many
apologies to the expert
II suspected the trick from the first,
although it was a very good specimen OF
it. The letters were too innocent, and
had too little point in them. But they
were done with admirable skill The
grammar was complete and the little dots
or marks which buaglers use to guide
them In writing the words which are to
be read were entirely absent. The way
in which the deception is effected is this
The correspondents. before commencing,
take q sheet Of paper and cut holes in it,
which Of course in the two half sheets
exactly correspond. They each take one
alf-skcet, and when the letter 10 to be
written, the writer so arranges the werds
that those intended to be read shall ap
! pear in the holes when the half. sheet ID
| placed over the paper. which is OF the
same size When his correspondent re-
ceives the letter, he places his half sheet
over it and reads off the words as you
did. The difficulty, which was % well
conquered in this ease, is to make the
sense run fluently and to prevent any Wis.
ible break in the writing Without the
half sheet with the holes in it no one can
have tho slightest clue to the real mean
ing.
my suspicious, once aroused, we're
confirmed by the inquiries which l made.
The whole story about the sister was q
fabrication. The letters did come tron
Jersey, the answers went to Fleet street,
to the charge of very notorious foreign
agents. But ,f our friend had not been
fool enough to leave his halfshcet in his
desk, we might have srepcd in vain for
the mystery"
Beaumont disappeared that night, and
was never heard ofagain at the Admiral
ty. 1t transpircd afterward that some
accompllcs had warned him Of the ex-
parts visit to the Admiralty, and his IN
quirics in Jersey. lie had made an at
tempt to get admittance to his room, but
was scared by the sounds he heard and
contrived to escape to France. The lady
who acted the sister, and who visited the
Admiralty, partly to put the authorities
Off their guard, and probably also to in
terchange the key to the cipher, was q
Partisan celebrltp who both before and
aitcrward was renowned for her daring
in political intrigue.