Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-11-15

the family. | resolved to inquire more
about him, however; but found moth
ing against the man, and temporarily
dismissed him from my mind as having
no connection with the case.
"You heard no noise on the night Of
the robberyP" inquired of Mr.. Dayton.
None. | slept unusually sound last
night"
went away thoughtfully, for had
found in the library an empty bottle
which, from the scent, / knew TO have
contained chloroform, and | had no
ticed the marks of muddy boots leading
from the apartment, while around the
window none were to be seen. The
glass, too, had been broken by quick
blow, not cut out. Altogether, il was a
most mysterious piece of business.
watched all dives frequented by the
cracksmeD of the city, and worked like
q beaver. | could not obtain clew to
the perpetrators of the daring burglary,
and, after three days of unremitting
toll, was considering if it would not
be as well to call in professional as
sistance, when the advertisement in the
Herald at the head of this story at
tracted my attention. Instinctively
OWNED some connection with the
crooked business, and whether it re-
ferred 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 it
had been received by mail, in letter
inclosing the amount requisite for its
insertion in the paper. "Could | see
the original copyP He would see;
and u message was sent TO the compos-
ing-room. Luckily, the copy had been
preserved. 1t was written in a dis
guised hand on little scrap of paper.
| asked leave to retain it, and, permis-
sion being granted to me, returned to
my room at once.
l pored over the cipher for a long
time, and discouraged at my inability
to make out one word of it, was finally
about to abandon it, when chanced to
look at the reverse side of the paper.
There were figures and words on it,
and read; Omitted States bonds, S10,-
| 000," and other memoranda, indicat-
ing that it had been 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 | was unable to make head
or tail of the secret enigma.
SO wearied was I that | fell asleep
with my head upon my desk, and did
| NOT nu,nl-ov, ,,nfi1 pnpnfiD,n &c ,unn
derful how brief repose will clear the
mind. / took up the paper with re-
newed energy, and bright idea flashed
over me.
Simple as it was had not thought of
it before. The entire message was
written on the substitution of letters,
based on the reversal of the alphabet.
Instead of a, z, the last one, was sub
stituted; instead of b, y was used; the
alphabet reversed was the key to the
solution of the puzzle.
| gave utterance to shout of Joy,
for, following out the theory, it read:
Larry, meet me Saturday night at
| 127 Fire street NED"
And "Ned'' or Edward was the name
of Dayton's footman. l began to see a
very large mice. But Fire street-there
was no such thoroughfare in the city,
and l was "flooded' again.
Gradually, however, the thought
occurred to me on the basis of reversal
and opposites adopted by the sender of
the message, why should not fire"
mean "water," its direct reverse?
| dashed down the stairs, and, hail
ing IL cab for did not forget that it
Co hot
the appointed time for the meeting of
the two burglars, if such they were,) l
soon had reached Water street.
Vacant! Number 127 was an empty
! lot!
/ paused, disappointed, and dis
missed the vehicle, again having re-
course to the puzzling enigma! So
nearthe solution, and yet doomed to
be baked at the last, and
A sudden inspiration of renewed
energy, and had forged the last link
in the chain of evidence! There had
been reversal in the order of numbers
from one to ten, rs in the letters of the
alphabet, and l27 meant 1884.
| looked at my watch; three o'clock.
l went to the nearest local telegraph
office, and sent the following dispatch
to Chief of Police:
"Send to this Office three efficient
men in citizens clothes.n
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 groggery, kept
lNxv, n,,A s., Al.
lowest class of rultians. had put on
q felt hat and pair of false whiskers,
and l entered the bar-room, having
first placed my men in advantageous
positions on the outside.
Within half an hour there entered an
old woman, yelled, bearing some bulky
object under her cloak. She made
sign to the woman behind the bar, and
went into the next room. l caught
sight of her feet as she passed through
the door; they were incased, not in
shoes, but in mems boots. | went
quickly to the bar and made a sign to
the woman.
"Is Larry thereP" i inquired in
loud voice, pointing to the other apart
ment.
She looked at me sharply, and then
replied in the affirmative.
Keep anybody that comes out" l
said significantly. "We are going to
divide the swag."
And | opened the door,
There was no one in the first room,
but in the second, by table, on which
lay large tin box, was my game
Larry, the burglar, and a tan spare
form in female attire, with veil thrown
back, and terrified face, and the foot
man, Edward.
"Yon can dron ON that LITTLE hndne