Mower County transcript., 1871-06-29
About two mOnths."
"That is about the time when YOU first

suspected the betrayal Of contidcnce?"
Really, my friend, if you can't see far
ther into a mill stone than that, you may
give IN the orctession," said NV nnc'c
Take my word for it, the Beaumonts
have nothing to do with it. Rubbish!"
"Hum!" And with that the man Of
skill took his hat and departed saying he
would return in two days. The two days,
however, were five before he came back !;
and he was again closeted with my uncle
and Parker, with whom he had fallen into
great disfavor.
Wants 8. to make job" said the latter
"Sir George said the regular humbug,
has Mr.. Beaumont locked desk in his
room?"
"Yes, sir" said Parker, "he has"
I'll I'VE you key which will open it p
II have-and what of it?'
II wish to have that desk opened with
out his knowledge, and the contents
brought to me"
And on what pretence," said my uncle,
"do you propose to put this insult on
man against whom there is no reasonable
ground for suspicion, and who has not
been allowed to speak for himself?'
"There need be no insult, for he will
know nothing of it; neither will any one
else."
"I will not permit it, sir"
Hunt Then can DO no more in the
business"
But" said Parker, whose official no.
tions made HIM unwilling to break off the
negotiation in this manner; "what pre-
tence have you for doing this to Mr.. Beau
mont and not to the other clerks:"
Ghnn <n11 10 cr1oh
person rs Elinor Beaumont, and the ad-
of suspected foreigners"
"Good gracious!' said my uncle, chang
ing color; "you don't say that?"
at 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 whisper will break it."
"What do you mean?" said Parker,
"about Elinor Beaumont? l have seen
her"
"There is no ElinOr Beaumont in Jer-
sey. l have acertained the fact"
II am sure there is some mistake about
all this, which Beaumont can clear up.
Let us send for him."
"If you do the game is up. trust, in
fact, he docs not know Of my visits. We
cannot be to cautious in these matters"
"Pedantic ass!' muttered my uncle; p"
suppose we had better give him his OWE
way. Hfyou meet Parker and me here at
seven tonight, we shall have this wonder
full desk opened, and your great discov.
cries shall be made"
They met again that evening. The desk
| was opened by Parker, and bundle OF
letters, carefully packed up, all from Elmo,
Beaumont, and quantity of circulars
playbills and shop receipts were handed
to the expert.
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
it entire.
120 FLEET STREET, Sept. "a, 1903.
verse m Wind wind ali the way, we made without dtficuts
| the port we were bo nd for. My aunt, in spite O.
the weigh: Of her fifty years, enjoyed the tr''{
think think Of W sending the line You promised on til.
25th, and come yourself, as ou party is now mucl
smallc =, and we should enjoy the visit.
cousin Harry, esh from Windsor. The e is littl'
change to be observed in him not as much as yol
would expect, Come to us on Friday;
| You 3, very aft ELINoR B.
My uncle read this out loud from be
ginning to end, and then he said, Do yor
| Scc dL GulHS Ia GAdG! ~ oCCAi
to me very innocent"
=" Hum! 1t may be. Was there any
thing else in the desk ?" said he, address
ing Parker.
"You may go and look" growled the
potentate. And he led the way, the exper
following.
The desk was quite empty, with the ex
ception of two or three scraps of waste
paper. One of these the expert pounced
and returned with an air of elation to the
other room He then unfolded this scrat
of paper and disclosed half. sheet, exact
ly the size of the paper on which Elinol
Beaumont's letters were written, in which
Oblong 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 fol
lowing words which the holes left visible
"Flcet wind bound. Fifty sail of the line-2l
! smaller. Should the wind change, expect us OIL
| Friday"
Thunder!" said my uncle; "and Mel
son ordered off to the West Indies!"
Then was there, as you may suppose
hurrying and scurrying, and running and
chasing, and dispatching of government
couricrs, and semaphore 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 smuggled into Jersey
The result history knows: the intended in
vasion was abandoned, and Napoleon went
elsewhere.
"But what put you on the scent?' ask
ed my uncle afterward, with many apollo
gies to the expert.
II suspected the trick from the first, al
though it was 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 grammer
was complete; and the little dots or marks
which burglars use to guide them in writ
ing the words which are to be read are en-
tirely absent. The way in which the de-
ccption is effected is this
"Thc correspondents, before commenc-
ing, take sheet Of paper and cut holes in
it, which, of course, in two half sheets ex-
actly correspond. They each ia Ike one half
sheet; and when letter is to be written,
the writer SO arranges the words that those
intended to be read shall appear in the
holes when the half sheet is placed over
the paper, which is the same size. When
AAo correspondent ACCClECS GuC ACtGCI, uC
places his half sheet over it, and reads off
the words as you did.
"The difficulty, which was so we'll con-
quered in this case, is to make the sense
run tiuently, and to prevent any visible
break in the writing. Without the half
sheet with the holes in it, no one can have
the slightest clew to the real meaning.
My suspicious, once aroused, were con-
firmed by the inquiries which made.
The whole story about the sister was
fabrication. The letters did come from
Jersey, the answers went to Fleet street,
to the charge Of very notorious agents.
But if our friend had not been fool enough
to leave his half sheet in his desk, we
might have CROPPED in vain tor the mys-
terry"
Beaumont disappeared that night, and
was never heard of again at the Admiralty
1t transpired afterwards that some accom-
plice had warned him of the experts visit
to the Admiralty, and his inquiries in
Jersey. He had made an attempt 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 of their
guard-was a Partisan celebrity, who,
both before and afterwards, was renowned
for her daring in political intrigue.
Oiled Floors.
Oiling improves floor in several ways