Litchfield enquirer., 1870-07-21

l aI Cue1n through bD0 ilSob auil 1loohol at the light through them. At last he put them all aside except the one from Elinor Beaumont.
 ''Who is the lady who writes this?" said the taciturn man of skill at last. "A very sweet young woman. said Par ker, smartly; ''sister of my private secre- tary."
 ''Does she write often?"
 "Yes, she is his only correspondent, and writes about twice week."
 "Where does she live?"
 <'She lives in Jersey, Beaumont told me. Their father was in business there.'
 'And does she always write about the same things rheumatism, picnics, squire's tea parties, and the like?'
 Much the same excepting when she speaks of Beaumont himself"
 ''Hum!' said the expert.
 "Well sir, said my uncle, who was rath CT impatient of the man of skill's pomposi- ty, ''and what may 'hum' mean? Have the young woman and her aunt's rheuma- tism done the mischtef?'' { 'Hum! She dates from Fleet street.
 ''And why should she not date from Fleet Street?"
 q should be sorry to prevent her. said the unmoved philosopher. s'Has this cor respondence continued long?'
 ''Oh, yes "a couple of years or so, but not nearly so regularly as lately"
 ''For how long regularity l ''About two months" ''That is about the time when you first suspected the betrayal of conf dence ?"
 "Really, my friend, if you cant see fath- or into mill stone than that you had bet ter give up the profession" said my uncle '"Take my word for it. the Beaumonts have nothing to do with it. Rubbishv' "Hum!' And with that the man of skill | took his hat and departed, saying he would return in two days. The two days, howev- CT, were five before he came back, and was again closeted with my uncle and Par ker, with whom he had fallen in great dis | favor.
 "Wants to make job, '" said the latter "a regular humbug.''
 ''Sir George" said the regular humbug, ''has Beaumont locked desk in his room.
 s'Yes, sir" said Parker, Che has, ''Haye you key which will open it?" ''I have-and what of that?' | 'I wish to have that desk opened with out his knowledge and it's contents brought 1 to me" "And on what pretense," said Iy uncle, "Do you propose to put this insult on . man against whom there is no reason able ground of suspicion, and who has not been allowed to speak for himself?" '"Ihere need be no insult, for he will know nothing of it; neither will any one else."
 1T will not permit it, sir.'' "Hum! Then can do no more in the
 'But," said Parker, whose official no- tions made him unwilling to break off the negotiations in this manner. ''what pre- tense have you for doing this to Beaumont and not to the other clerks!'' 'Shall I tell you? There is no such per son as Elinor Beaumont, and the address in Fleet street is 8 notorious haunt of sus- pected foreigners.
 ''Good gracious" said my uncle, chang ing color, ''you don't say that?" ''It is the fact; but you will see the ne- cessity of being cautious and silent in the matter. Detection hangs on thread, as it stands, and a whisper will break it" "What do you mean,'' said Parker, ''about Elinor Beaumont? "I have seen her."
 There is no Elinor Beaumont in Jersey. l ''I am sure there Is some mistake about us send for him."
 eff you do the game is up. I trust, in fact, he does not know of my visits. We cannot be too cautious in this matterw
 ''Pedantic ass," muttered my uncle;"but Isuppose we had better give him his own way. If you meet Parker and me here at seven tonight, we shall have this wonder full desk opened, and your great discover. ies shall be made. l They met again that evening. The desk was opened by Parker, and bundle ot letters, carefully packed up, all from Eli nor Beaumont, and a quantity of circulars playbills and shop receipts were handed to the expert.
 l That gentleman read through the letters and seemed much struck by the last "Read that, said he, handing it to my uncle. As the letter is important, give il entire:
 l2O FLEET STREET, Sept. 24, 1903.
 My DEAR CHARLES: Although we had an adverse wind all the way, we made, with out difficulty the port we were bound for My aunt, in spite of the weight of her lif- ty years, enjoyed the trip much and is ready to sail again. l hope you will think of sending the line you promised on the 25th, and come yourself as your party is now much smaller, and. we should enjoy the visit.
 When was in London last week I saw your cousin Harry, fresh from Windsor There is but little change to be observed in him-not as much as you would expect Come to us on Friday. l Yours very affectionately, l ELINOR B.
 My uncle read this out loud, from begin. ming to end, and then he said 'sDo you see anything very suspicious in that? It seems to me very innocent" na "Hum! It may be. Was there anything else in the desk?" said he, addressing Par ker.
 "You may go and look,' growled that potentate; and he led the way, the expert following.
 The desk was quite empty, with the ex. ception of two or three scraps of waste pa. per. On one of these the expert bounced, and returned with an air of elation to the l other room He then unfolded this scrap of paper, disclosed half sheet exactly the size of the paper on which Elinor Beau. mont's letters were written, in which ob. long holes at intervals had been cut. He then placed this half sheet over the letter, and handed both, thus placed to my uncle, whose astonished eyes read the following words, which the holes left