The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1878-12-05
sor. There is little change to be observed
in him-not as much as you would ex-
oect. Come to Us on Friday.
Yours, very affectionately,
EIINOR RI


My uncle read this out loud, from be-
ginning TO end, and then he said-"Do
you see anything suspicious in thata 1t
seems to NE very innocent"
Hum! 1t may be- Was there any,
thing else In the desk2" said he, address
ing Parker.
You may go and look" growled that
potentate; and he led the way, the expert
following.
The desk was quite empty, with the ex-
oeption OF two or three scraps Of waste
PAPER. On one of these the expert bounced.
nd returned with an air of e|ation 70 the
tier room. He then unfolded this SCRAP
# paper, and disclosed half sheet exact
iy the size of the paper on which ElinOr
Bea lmont,s letters were written, in which
-blong holes at intervals had been cut.
He then placed this half-sheet over tho
letter. and handed both, thus placed, to
,aY uncle, whose astonished eyes read tho
blowing words, which the holes left visi-
bic:
Fleet wind bound. Fifty sail of the
line, 25 smaller. Should the wind change,
expect US on Friday"
''The devil.'' said my uncle; "and Mel
son ordered off to the West Indies"
Then was there, as you may suppose,
hurrying and scurrying, and running and
chasing, and despatching of government
cOuners, 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
10 be a connected series of letters from the
French government, smuggled into Jersey.
The result history knows; the intended
invasion was abandoned, and Napoleon
went elsewhere.
"But what put you on the scent2" asked
my uncle afterwards, with many apologies
to the expert.
II suspected the trick from the first,
although it was 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 tue words which are to be read
were entirely absent. The way in which
the deception is effected is this: The cor
res os9ondents, before commencing, take
sheet of paper and cut holes in it. which,
D. course, in the two half-sheets, exactly
correspond They each take one half
''.eet, ana when letter is to be written
j writer so arranges the words that those
Intended t. be read shall appear in the
l)ies when tie half-sbeet is placed over
e paper, which is of the same size.
Wien his cores !iondent receives the let
.er, ne places his half-sheet over it, and
reads off the words, as you did The diff
iuulty, which was so we'll conquered in
is case, is to make the sense run fluent
s, and to prevent any visible break in
.ie writing Without the half-shcet with
.e holes in it no one can have the slight
NV suspicious once aroused, were con-
ilmed by the inquiries which l made.
Tie whole story about the sister was
.;ibrication. The letters did come from
Jersey, the answers went to Fleet street,
to the charge of very notorious foreign
AGENTS. But if our friend had not been
DOL enough to leave his half-sheet in his
,iess, we might have groped in vain for
he mystery"
beaumont disappeared that night, and
yiS never heard of again at the Admiralty
!: transpired afterwards that some accom-
pice had warned him of the experts visit
to the Admiralty, and his inquiries In
Jersey. He had made an attempt to get
acmittance to his room, but was scared
lr the sounds he heard. and contrived to
scepe to France. The lady who acted
lie sister, and who visited the Admiralty,
nsr7lv to put the authorities off their
a,ard, and probably also to interchange
he key to the cipher. was a Partisan ce-
,eoritv who both before and afterwards
gas renowned for her daring in political
ntriguc.-Fraser's Magazine.