The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-10-24


Herald, at tho head of this story, at
tracted my attention. Instinctively
OWNED some connection with the
"crooked'' business, and whether il
referred to my case or not, resolved
to ascertain its meaning.
went down to the Herald Office that
morning, and, introducing myself, At
tempted to obtain some description OF
the person who had handed in the ad-
vertisement. The clerk stated that il
had been received by mail, in letter
inclosing the amount requisite for IL
insertion in the paper. "Could l see
the original copyr' He would see;
and message was sent to the compos-
ing SOON. Luckily, the copy had been
preserved. 1t was written in 3 dis
guised hand on little scrap of paper.
/ asked leave to retain it, and, permits.
sion being granted to me, l returned to
my room at once.
lpOred over the cipher for long
time. and, discouraged at my inability
to make out one word of it, was finally
about to abandon it, when l CHANGED
to look a. the reverse side of the pa
per. There were figures and words on
it, and read, United States bonds,
$40, 1000" and other memoranda, indi.
eating that it had been q loose wrapper
for valuable papers.
Then knew that the advertisement
bore an important relation to the rob
berry.
And SO until the day upon which the
story opens l was unable to make heaC
or tail of the secret enigma.
So wearied was that 1 fell ASLEEP
with my head upon my desk. and l die
derful how brief repose will clear the
mind. l took up the paper with re
newed energy, and a bright idea flashed
over me.
Simple as it was, l had not though,
of it before. The entire message wa.
written on the substitution of letters
based on the reversal of the alphabet
Instead of a, z, the last letter, was sub
stituted; instead of b, y was used; The
alphabet reversed was the key to the
solution of the puzzle.
gave utterance to q shout of Joy,
for, following out the theory, it read
street, stls' meet me SATURDAY n'0ns AZ n Nh Tr'
And "Ned'' or Edward was the name
of Dayton's footman. l began to see 8
very large mice. But Fire street.
there was no such thoroughfare in the
city, and was :" floored" again.
Gradually, the thought occurred te
me on the basis of reversal and OppO
sites adopted by the sender of the mes.
sage, why should not 4" fire. NEAR
" WATER" its direct reverse?
dashed down the stairs, and, hail
ing a cab Qor l did not forget that il
was Saturday, and that evening wa.
the appointed time for the meeting Of
the two burglars, if such they were),
soon had reached Water street.
Vacant! Number 127 was an empty
lot!
l paused, disappointed, and dis.
missed the vehicle, again having re-
course to the puzzling enigma! Sc
near the solution and yet doomed to bt
baked at the last, and
A sudden inspiration of renewed en-.
ergy, and had forged the last link in
the chain of evidence! There had
been reversal in the order of numbers
from one to ten, as in the letters of the
alphabet, and 127 meant 1884.
looked at my watch-three o'clock.
l went to the nearest telegraph office
and sent the following dispatch to the
Chief of Police:
''Send to this office three efficient
men in citizens clothes"
l signed my name, lit = cigar and
awaited the arrival of evening and my
companion officers.
1t was dark when we reached the
place for the meeting appointed by the
two men. 1t was vile gruggery,
kept by woman, and resort for the
very lowest class of ruffians. l had
put on felt hat and pair of false
whiskers, and entered the bar-room,
having first placed my men in advan-
tageous positions on the outside.
Within half an hour there entered
an old woman, yelled, bearing some
bulky object under her cloak. She
made a sign to the woman behind the
bar and went into the next room. /
caught sight of her feet as she passed
through the door; they were encased
not in shoes, but in mems boots. ]
went quickly to the bar and made q
sign to the woman.
. Is Larry in there?' inquired, in
a loud voice, pointing to the other
apartment.
She looked at me sharply, and then
replied in the affirmative.
"Keep anybody that comes OUT /
enid csn vnt1xv ASNn e.,
divide the swag."
And opened the door.
There was no one in the first room,
but in the second, by a table, on which
lay large tin box, was my game
Larry, the burglar, and q tall, spare
form in female attire, with veil
thrown back and terrified face, and the
footman, Edward.
"You can drop on that little dodge,
gentlemen" said, quietly whipping
is surrounded, and any resistance will
only make it worse for you. Larry,
open that door,"
He unbolted the rear door under the
silent, persuasive eloquence of my re.
volver, and the three officers entered.
Need tell the rest? Edward, the
footman, had admitted his accomplish
into the house and had chloroformed his
employer. He had kept the booty hid
den in his room, not daring to 20 out
to communicate with his pal, except
as has been seen for fear he was
watched.
The property had not been disturbed
but justice was cheated, for both the
men escaped before conviction, and
were never heard of again. As for me-
Iquietly handed $5, 900 to the depart
ment, resigned, engaged in business
and married Ednv. -keokxk Constisw
ton.
Walking.
PERHAPS it is not strange that the av'
crage person will not be persuaded that
taking it all together, walking is the
best exercise in which he can engage