The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-04-24
MYSTERY AND WOE.


Iutely incapable of falsehood.
And yet, curiously enough, he had a
passion for mysteries. Although prac-
tically commonplace Presbyterian, he
nevertheless affected to believe in the
mysteries of Rosicrucianism. He was
perpetually striving, with conspicuous
want Of success, to magnetic his
and although he was too ortho-
dox to believe in spiritualism. he lived
in constant hopes Of inducing his wash
stand to move and his writing-table to
rap by the patient contact of his tire
less hands. AS for secret societies, they
were his delight. He belonged to near
ly every ancient and venerable order of
very modern mechanics and grocerymen
in existence, and kept locked up 10 his
trunk more s.faring gilt badges and
Enthusiastically trimmed aprons and horse
collars than would have suficed to
purchase the sovereignty of a dozen
African kingdoms.
And there never was a more honest
and straightforward little girl than
Mary Morris, to whom Smythe was en-
gagged to be married. She was just out
of bOarding-school. and her respectable
father-in the wholesale lard business
and all her thirteen brothers and sis
tiers of assorted sexes, were ready to
swear-or affirm, as the case might be
that Mary was as good as gold and
many times as valuable.
The engagement of these two young
persons was with the full appreciation
of the elder Smythes and Morrises.
Young Pennington was expected to
spend three evenings every week with
his betrothed, and they were always
accommodated with a convenient back
parlor in which to converse after the
manner of their kind. In these circum-
stances Pennington Smythe ought to
have been happy, but he was not. There
was no mystery about his love affair,
and the fact weighed upon his spirits.
He did what he could to convince
himself that the respectable old Mr..
Morris, who used to say when Penning-
ton made his appearance, "Now, you
children keep out of that there back
parlor and give Mary and her young
man a show"-was bitterly opposed to
the match, and must be kept from per-
ceiving that his daughter was beloved
by her "yOung man." But the only
possible way which he could devise to
throw an air of secrecy over the affair
was to write notes to his beloved in a
very cramped hand, and to deliver them
himself. Usually he had to read them
too, since his handwriting was too mys-
tical to be readily deciphered, and when
they were read they usually contained
nothing but an amplifcation of the limo
cuous idea that he, Pennington Smythe,
proposed to love her, Mary Morris,
in spite of every obstacle. As there
were no conceivable obstacles this state
ment was not one of tremendous mo-
hut still 1,
no little comfort to make it in writing
and deliver it with an air of immense
secrecy.
One day happy thought struck him.
How delightful it would be to cores
pond with his darling in cipher. The
idea filled HIM with a calm and mystical
Joy that was really first-class sensation.
So ne devised cipher of the kind so
much IN vogue among schoolgirls, and
which consisted in substituting one let
ter for another, and instantly wrote a
brief note to Mary. This he carried to
her the same evening, together with a
key, and attained the seventh heaven
of mystical delight in transmitting it to
her.
Poor Mary suffered much from this
cipher. It was very hard work for her
to write an Ineligible letter with the
new alphabet. She continually made
mistakes in it, and so kept Penning-
ton out of his bed for hours, while
| with locked doors and shaded windows
he tried to decipher some such sen.
tence as, 81 do so long to see you.
| It was only when mistakes were
made in the use of this cipher that il
became at all difficult of comprehen
sion to an ordinary reader. Poor Pen.
/ l. Io--oAo1
ton to the subject of cryptography, OF
he would have known that there is moth
ing more transparent than a cipher
which merely consists of the substitu
ton of one letter for another. He was
however, soon to learn this fact in 6
very unpleasant way.
One evening Mary dropped a note
which she had received by mail, and il
was picked up by her father. The ole
gentleman was wild with horror. There
was his trusted daughter actually cor
responding with some unknown villaiI
in cipher. Obviously the cipher mus
have some shameful secret. He sat il
his armchair with the open note in hi.
hand, and serious thoughts of immedi
ate apoplexy In his mind, when his sol
Tom, a young fellow Just home from
college, entered, and, frightened at his
fathers expression of face, asked anC
received an explanation.
Tom was a bright yoEng fellow, anC
he at once remarked that it was hardly
worth while to take TO apoplexy until /
was really apparent that the mysteriou
note contained something wrong. Ht
suspected that it was written by thu
mysterv-loving Smythe, and he did no
doubt his ability to read it. The not
ran as follows:
CRSM PSNIX: TBDS xBC SYB STFSxH
FHTT. osYYHYDUBY NPXULs.
In less than ten minutes Tom haC
translated this innocent mystery int
the words, Dear Mary, 1 love yoI
and always viii. Pennington Smythe,
and thus banished his fathers doub
and wretchedness. However the ole
man was angry enough to desire to give
the unfortunate Pennington a lessor
which he might remember. So wher
! the young man made his usual evening
call he was awaited In the parlor bv tht
incensed father and his greatly amused
son, and addressed in the following
stern and cruel words
MIR. Smythe, what do you mean by
writing to my innocent daughter IN sucI
Infamous style as this, sir ?" and b,
shook Pennington's letter before hi.
astonished eyes.
"Sir," replied the youth, cit is no
infamous. It is an entirely proper note
All the world might see it.
Then, why the devil did you writ,
it in this outlandish lingo ?" returned
the father.
''She is not to blame" hastily urged
Pennington, judiciously Sinking tn,
main question. 81 assure you she nev
er can read them without my help, anC
when she writes them she makes SC
many mistakes that often can't make
bend or tail of them"