Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-12-26

~ uBuet bt III itttti>. saih hf.
at cannot be In the letters" said my
uncle.
'.As you please" said the chief; "but al
though you cannot fiLd it there. perhaps
another can. | would try an expert
Ny uncle had no faith IN experts or Bow
street runners, and mstrusted them. But
he could not refuse to try the experiment
suggested. So the most experienced de-
cipherer IN London was summoned into
council aud 10 him the letters of the day
We're secretly submitted
He read them all very carefully. looked
at them in the light, and looked.a the light
through them At last he put them all
aside. excepting one from EiinOr Beau
mont
"who is the lady that writes thi,:" said
the taciturn man of skill at last
"A very sweet young woman, said
Parker, sRiartly; "sister OF NV private see
rctary.'
Does she write often?'
Yes, she is his only correspondent, and
writes about twice week"
"Whcre does she live?"
">ae lives in jersey. Beaumont told me
Their father was in business there"
And does she always write about the
same Kind Of things-aunts rheumatism.
picnics, squire's tea parties and the like?
Much the same. excepting when she
speaks OF Beaumont himself"
Hum" said Ihe expert.
'Well. sir" said uncle, who was rather
impatient OF the man of shill's pomposity,
land what may Hon! = mean? Have the
young woman and her aunt's rheumatism
done the mischiet;''
''Hum She dates from Fleet street,
And why should she not date from
Fleet street, Sr?"
Il should be sorry to prevent her. said
the unmovcd philosopher. Has the cor
re>poudeuce continued long,
"Oh. yes-a couple OF years or so, but
not nearly 80 regularly as lately.
For how long regularlyt'
About two months"
That j.. about the time when you first
suspected the betrayal of contiicnce?"
Really, my friend. il you cannot soc
farther into milestone than that. YOU may
give up the profession" said my uncle.
Take my word tor 1t. the Beaumonts have
nothing to do with 1t. Rubbish"
"Hum." Aud with that the man of skill
took hi hat aud departed, saying he would
return iu two days. The two days, how
ever. were i've before he came back. and
he was again closeted with uncle and Park
er. with whom he had fallen into great dis
favor.
Wants to make job" said the latter
"a regular humbug"
Sir Geor-e." said the regular humbug,
has Mr. Beaumont a locked desk in his
rUpmf'
Yes, Sir" said Mr. Parker, ''he has"
Have you a Key which will open liz"
~ haye-and what Of THAR
II wish to have that desk opened without
hi knowledge, aGl the contents brought To
me
And on what presence" said my uncle.
do you propose Ia pHt this insult on a man
against whom there ! no reasonable
ground of suspicion, ami who has not been
allowed 10 speak for him-ell:'
There need be no insult. for he will
know nothing Of il, neither will anvon"
else"
Il will not permit it, sir
"Huni. Then ! can 10 no more in the
business"
But said Parker. whose official no
tions made him unwilling to break of the
negotiations in thi, manner, what pretcnce
have you for doing this TO Mr.. Beaumont,
and not to the other Clerks!'
shall tell YOU? There j. no such per-
son as Eliuor Beaumont, aud the address
in Fleet street i 4 notorious haunt Of su>-
pected foreigners"
Good gracious said my uncle. chang
ing color, "vou don't say that:"
II j, the fact, but you will see the ne
cessitv OF being cautious aud silent in The
matter. Detection stands on IA thread As
it stands aud whisper will break ii.
What do you mean said Parker,
about Eliinor Beaumont? / have seen
her"
There Is 10 Einor Beaumont IN jersey,
| hap.4 sent and ascprfainpI the fact -
II am sure there j. some mistake about
this, which beaumont can clear up. Let
Il, send tor him"
If you do, the game is up. trust. IN
fact he does not know OF my visits. We
cannot be tIo cautious in these matters.
''pedautic ass muttered my uncle.
but | suppose we had better give him his
own way. 1t you meet Parker and me
here at seven Tonight. We shall have this
wonderful desk opened, and your great dis
coreries shall be made.
They met again that evening. The desk
was opened by Parker. and a bunde Of
letter.. carefully packed up, all from Eli
nor Beaumont, and a quantity OF circulars.
play bills 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 il to un-
Gle. As the letter Is important, | give it
entire:
l20 FLEET STREET, Sept. "a, 1873.
MY Dear Charles-Although We had an
adverse wind all the way, Wc made with
out difficulty -" .tJ.t Ne We're bound for.
Ny aunt, III spite of the weight OF her nifty
years. enjoyed the trip much, and is ready
10 -all again. l hope you will send the
line you promised on the 25th, and come
yourself. as our party i now much smaller,
aud We should enjoy it,
"When was in London last week, saw
our cousin Harry, fresh from Windsor.
There is little change to be observed in
hIm-not a much as you would expect
Come to Us on Friday"
Yours, very affectionately,
ELINOR b."
NV uncle read this out loud, from the
beginning to the end, and then said: ado
you see anything suspicious in that? Ii
seems to me very inno"ent."
"Hum! Ii may be. Was there anything
else in the desk?" said he addressing
Parker.
"You may go and look" growled that
poteHtate; and ne 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 bounded,
and returned with an air of elation to the
| other room. He then unfolded this scrap
OF paper, and disclosed a half sheet exactly
the size of the paper on which Elinor Beau
mOnt's letters were written, in which OBJ
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 visi-
| Bile.
Fleet wind-bound. Fifty sails of the
| line, twenty five smaller. Should the wind
| change, expec; US on Friday"
The devil! T. said my uncle; land Ne.-
son ordered off to the West Indies.''
Then was there. as you may suppose.
hurrying and scurrying and running AMI
chasing and dispatching OF government,
couriers. and semaphOre telegraphs, and
carrier pigeons, and all the old world
means of communication then 10 fashion
The key thus obtained, disclosed the whole
correspondence, which turned out TO be a