The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-10-12
er. Detection hangs on thread as it

stands, and whisper will break it."
'sWhat do you mean ?" said Parker, "about
Elinor Beaumont? 1 have seen her."
"There is no Elinor Beaumont in Jersey.
1 have sent and ascertained the fact"
81 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. I trust, in
fact, he does not know of my visits. We
cannot be too cautious in these matters"
"Pedantic ASST muttered my uncle ''but
suppose we had better give him his own way.
Ii YOU meet Parker and me here at seven to-
night. we shall have this wonderful desk
opened, and your great discoveries shall be
made.'
They met again that evening. The desk
was opened by Parker, and bundle OF let
tiers, carefully packed up, all from Elinor
Beaumont, and quantity of circulars, play
bills and shop receipts were handed to the eX-
pert.
That gentleman read through the letters,
and seemed much struck by the last.
"Read that" said he, handing it to my I'M
Gle. As the letter is important, give it en-
tire:-
1920 FLEET STREET, Sept. "a, 1903.
"My Dear Chares-Although we had an adverse
port bound for My aunt, in spite of the
weight OF her fifty years. enjoyed the trip much and
ing the line you promised on the 10Th, and come
yourself as our party is now much smaller, and we
should enjoy the visit"
cousin Harry, fresh from Windsor. There is little
change to be observed in him-not as much as you
would expect, Come to US on Friday"
"Einor B.''
Ny uncle read this out loud, from begin
ming to end, and then SAID: "Do you see any
thing suspicious in that? 1t seems to me
very innocent"
- 11o Was
else in the desk?' said he, addressing Par
ker."
'You may go and look" growled that po-
tentate and he led the way, the expert fol-
lowing.
The desk was quite EN- ,ty, with the excep-
ton of two or three scraps of waste paper.
On one OF these the expert pounced, and re-
turned wi b an air of elation to the other
room. He then unfolded this scrap of paper,
aud disclosed half sheet exactly the size Of
| the paper on which Elinor Beaumont's letters
we're written, in which oblong holes at inter-
| walls had been cut.
| He then placed this half sheet over the let
ter, and handed both. thus placed, to my I'M
| Gle, whose astonished eyes read the following
| words, which the holes lett visible:
"Fleet wind-bound. Fifty sails of the line
| 25 smaller. Should the wind change, expect
| us on Friday"
''The DevG' said my uncle; "and Nelson
ordered off to the West Indies"
Then and there, as you may suppose, were
hurrying and scurrying, and running and chas-
ing, and despatching OF Government couriers,
and semphore telegraphs, and carrier pigeons,
aud all the old world means of communica-
| dion 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 in
tended invasion was abandoned, and Napo-
| leon went elsewhere,
"But what put you on the scent?" asked
my uncle afterward, with many apologies to
| the expert.
ST suspected the trick from the first, al.
though IL wrs 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
bunglers use to guide them in writing the
words which are to be read were entirely alb.
fected IyPat way in which the deception is eff
commencing, takes asfffggEErresspondent, before
holes in it, which, of course, in the tVw9 d GUS
sheets, exactly correspond. They each take,
one hall 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 his
correspondent receives the letter, he places
his half sheet over it. and reads off the words,
as you did. The difficulty, which was so well
conquered in this case, is to make the sense
run duently, and to prevent any visible break
in the writing. Without the half-sheet with
the holes in it no one can have the slightest
clue to the real meaning.
my suspicious, once aroused, were con-
firmed by the inquiries which 1 made. The
whole story about the sister was fabrication.
The letters did come from JERSEY, the an
swers went to Fleet Street, to the charge of
very notorious foreign agents. But if our
friend had not been fool enough to leave his
half-sheet in his desk we might have CROPPED
in vain for the mystery"
Beaumont disappeared in the night, and
was never beard OF again at the admiralty. 1t
transpired afterwards that some accomplice
had warned him of the experts visit to the
admiralty. aud his inquiries in JERSEY. He
had made an attempt to get admitance to his
room, but was scared away by the sounds he
heard, and contrlved to escape to France,
The lady who acted the sister, and who WIS.,
tied the admiralty, partly to put the author
tiles Off their guard, and probably to inter-
change the key to the cipher, was Partisan
| celebrity who both before and afterwards
was renowned for her daring in political in
trigue.