Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1878-08-29


rheumatism done the mischief"
"Hum She dates from Fleet Street?"
"And why should she not date from
Fleet Street, sir?"
II should be sorry to prevent her,"
said the unmoved philosopher. "Has this
correspondence continued long?"
80, yes-a couple Of years or SO, but not
nearly so regularly as lately"
'F'or how long regularity"
'About two months"
THAT is, about the time when you
first suspected the betrayal of conf
dence?"
"Really my friend,i if you can't see furth-
er into milestone than that,you may give
up the profession" said my uncle.
''Take my word for it, the Beaumonts
have nothing to do with 1t. 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 was again closeted with my uncle and
Parker, with whom he had fallen into
great disfavor.
"Wants to make job" said the latter
"a regular uumDug.
"sir George said the regular hum
bug, "has Mr.. Beaumont a locked desk
in his room?"
eyes, sir" said Parker, che has"
"Have you key which will open it?'
II have-and what of that?''
81 wish to have that desk opened with
out his knowledge, and the contents
brought to me-
''And on what pretence," said my I'M
Gle, ''do you propose to put this insult on
a man against whom there is no reason
able ground or suspicion, and who has
not been allowed to speak for h1mself2'
"There need be no insult, for he will
know nothing OF it; neither will any one
else"
II will not permit it, sir"
"Hum! Then I can do no more in the
business"
"But," said Parker, whose official no.
tions made him unwilling to break off the
negotians in this manner. "what pretence
have you for doing this to Mr.. Beaumont
and not to the other clerks?'
"Shall I tell you? There is no such
person as Elinor Beaumont, and the ad-
I'll Coo III l. lCCC oA1OVC 10 q AoCoI1otlo liduu
Of suspected foreigners"
"Good gracious" said my uncle, chang
ing color, "you don't say that?'
1T is fact, and you will see the ne
costly 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? I have seen
her,
"There is no Elinor Beaumont in Jer-
sey. sent and have ascertained the
fact
II am sure there is some mistake about
all this, which Beaumont can clear up.
Let us send for him.
eff 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 ass,' muttered my uncle
"but suppose we had better give him
his own way. IF you meet Parker and
me here at seven tonight, we shall have
that wonderful desk opened, and your
great discoveries shall be made"
They met again that evening. The
desk was opened by Parker, and bun
die of letters, carefully packed up, all
from EIinor Beaumont, and u quantity
of circulars, play bills, and shop receipts
were handed to the expert.
That gentlemen read through the let
tiers, and seemed much struck by the
last.
"Read that" said he, handing it to nay
Uncle. As the letter is important, I give
it entire.
"1sO FLEET STREET, Sept. "a, 1803."
"My:Deor Charles although we had
an adverse wind all the way, we made
without difficulty the port we were bound
for. y Aunt, in spite of the weight of
her fifty years, enjoyed the trip much,
and is ready to sail again. I hope you
will think of sending the line you promis-
ed on the 25th, and come yourself as our
party is much smaller, and we should en-
joy the visit"
"When I was in London last week
saw our Cousin Harry, fresh from Wind
sor. There is little change to be observ-
ed in him-not as much as you would ex-
pect. Come to US on Friday.
"Yours, very etfectionately, ELrNoR B. y
My Uncle read this out loud, from be-
ginning to end, and then he said, '"Do you
see any thing suspicious in that2 1t
seems to me very innocent"
"Hum! 1t may be. Was there. any
thing else in the desk2" said he, address,
ing Parker.
"You may 20 and look" growled that
potentate; and he led the way, the expert
Following.
The desk was quite empty, with tie
exception of two or three scraps of waste
paper. On one of these the expert pounc.
ed, and returned with an air Of citation
to the other room. He then unfolded
his scrap of paper, and disclosed a half:
sheet exactly the size of the paper on
which Elinor Beaumont's letters were
written, in which oblong holes at inter
walls had been cut.
He then placed his half-sheet over the
letter, and handed both, thus placed, to
my Uncle, whose astonished eyes read
the following words, which the holes left
visible: ri ..-. ..-.e,..-..,-..o 49,, -.
"Fleet wind-bound. Fifty sail of the
line, rs smaller. Should the wind change,
expect us on Friday"
1.-THE -deyilr' said my uncle; - and
Nelson ordered off to the West Indias.' y
Then was there, as you may suppose,
hurry and scurrying, and running and
chasing, and dispatching of government
couriers, and semphore 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 a connected series of letters from
the French government, Struggled into
Jersey. The result history knows; the
intended invasion was abandoned, and
Napoleon went elsewhere.
"But what put you on the scenta" ask