Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1874-08-13

IL snatched the harpoon ana line, sPrang
to the bow, tossed large fish in the water,
and, as the shark turned up to seize it, drove
the harpoon into his belly with so true an aim
and such fatal force that the huge fish only
struggled few minutes before expiring. He
was not able to get his prize aboard, but de-
termined not to lose such trophy Of his arms
strength, took it in tow behind his boat, and
was soon able to land his cargo and tow in
safety near the burned mansion.
Securing his boat, H now sent the boy
for help to fetch away his fish, and amused
himself by disembowelling the monster. His
iack-knife struck upon something hard and
metallic in the viscera of the fish, and, exam
lining more closely, he brought to light
square, fiat zinc box about the size of one
pound gunpowder can, much corroded, but
apparently Theoretically sealed and water
tight. He washed it off, dried it, and put it
in his pocket for future examination then,
the boy having come with help. took his fish
and some tidbits from the shark up to the
tent, much to the joy Of the occupants, who
could not thank him enough.
COL E., to whom H showed his box,
Immediately thought he recognized it as one
of peculiar sort of dispatch box used by the
Confederate Government for their messengers
by sea and in blockade.runners, being conven-
lent for carrying in the pocket and for throw
ing overheard in case the vessel was captured.
The box was carefully opened and was found
to be precisely what Col. E. suspected-a
dispatch box of the Confederate Government.
The contents, in addition to some papers of
no present Importance, comprised series OF
long dispatches in cipher addressed to well
known agent in Paris Of the defunct rebellion,
and ten certificates of deposit, promising to
pay money of Ambrose Gunter's, now on de-
posit with the clearinghouse of x. Animas
Freres Bordeaux, to John Brown or order,
when properly countersigned. The amount
of the certificates in all was $4,000 francs.
"Worth nothing, of course" said H, down
on his luck as usual.
"Not nickel, my boy" said Col. E.;
"but, nevertheless, you must come with me to-
morrow and show them to Mr.. T. To-
morrows my we'll day, and I'm going up to
Charleston to see about getting shanty put
up for my folks to live in."
In Charleston next day H was taken
by Col. E. to Mr.. T, and introduced
to that gentleman, to whom he told the story
of the shark, and presented the box and its
contents. Mr. T eyed him sharply, and
asked him if the whole story had been told
him. Col. - vouched for his kinsman, and
the ex.secretary opened the box, glanced at
the cipher dispatch, and turned very pale.
"Have either of you read this ?" he asked.
"No," said H, 81 intended to make out
the CIPHER but have not yet had time" MIR.
T answered nothing, but, taking the
drafts out of the box, applied lighted match
to the remaining papers, and watched them
burn to ashes with sigh Of satisfaction:
"Perilous secrets, young man." said he, "and
happy am I to dispose of them thus. Not
only regulations but lives would have been
sacrificed had those matters become public
Now, as to those certi6cates-they are very
probably worth nothing you have done
beside me, and if you can get anything out
of them-and it is worth trying, you are per-
fectly welcome to it all. The money belongs
to nobody, strictly speaking l do not con-
slider that the late Confederacy had any heirs
and if you can get hold of it, do So"
"What money is it, or was it p asked Col.
E..
"I'm going to tell you," answered T,
"and it is a remarkable instance of the hard
fortune Of war that seemed to pursue the
Confederacy throughout. You recollect the
sterling cotton loan we made during the last
year Of the war-the loan by which our Eng.
lish brethren were mades sick? That money
was raised to pay for ironclads, you know.
The gunboats were built-the Stonewall was
one Of them-but not delivered. Diplomacy
kept us from going to sea with the English
built ones, and it was thought the same reason
kept the French-built steamers from going to
sea, but that is not exactly the fact. We
would have succeeded in getting them out If
they had been fully paid for. We made what
we thought were ample arrangements for COM
pleting the payments, but they failed through
our persistent bad luck. For instance take
the case of these very certificates. 1t was ne
eessary for us to use all sorts Of precautions
in buying this sort of goods to protect the
parties we dealt with, for we knew the Yam
KEGS would throw every mothers son of them
into court. Hence the money was deposited
in various banks in the names Of private per-
sons but so that it could not be drawn unless
the certificates were endorsed in particular
way. This is a deposit, you see, of Gunters
money payable to Brown on certain terms
in other words, it is Confederate draft sent
out by express messenger and payable when
endorsed by the agent to whom sent The
agent must endorse it in a particular way,
and would do so unless the messenger brought
certain credentials. This system of checks
and balances was necessary for our financial
security but in this case, and several others
| like it, was fatal to our plans
"The messenger to whom this particular
box was entrusted-young Ricaud, l remem-
ber the very morning l sent him-was in
structed to 90 to Wilmington, cross to Bermu-
da in the blockade. Fannie, sail thence
for London, report to an agent there, and
from him get further orders. Ricaud, instead
of going on the Fannie, took another steamer,
the Ganuet, for Nassau. The Ganuet was
captured, Ricauds dispatch-box went to feed
the sharks, and Ricaud himself to rusticate at
Johnsons Island Meantime we, who knew
of the Fannie's safe voyage, were congratu-
lating ourselves that our agent was on the
road to Bordeaux, and we did not discover
the truth until it was too late to provide a
remedy. This sort of thing happened several
times, and our French gunboats never got to
sea-
"Then these Bordalese still have our
oney?" said Col. E..
"That remains to be seen. | was just COM
ing to that point This particular deposit has
never been checked out-of that | am sure.
1t was quite forgotten. Ricaud never got
South again till June. 1866, and then his
story was only partly credited. But whether
,;x,,, Eroroo will nov tho money or not ia