The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-08-28

her fifty years, enjoyed the trim much.
and is ready to sail again. I hope YOU
will thiIk Of sending the line You promis.
g. ca on the 25th, and come yourself as our
party is much smaller, and we should on
JOY the visit" 5a
when was in London last week /
saw our Cousin Harry, fresh from Wind
sor. There is little change to be obsery-
ed IN him not as much as you would ex-
pect Come to us on Friday.
Yours, very etfectionately, EL1NoR b."
My Uncle read this out loud, from be-
ginning to end, and then he said, DO you
see any thing suspicious in that2 It
seems to me very innocent
"H1uMl 1t may be. Was there any
thing else in the: desk2" said he, address,
ing Parker.
you may 60 and look" growled that
Potentate; and he led the way, the expert
following. 's., [, 8. 80
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 half
sheet exactly the size of the paper on
which Elinor Beaumont's letters we're
written, in which oblong holes at inter
walls had been cut / r.
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: 80. ~ -. ....l....'. II :.
"Fleet wind-bound. Fifty sail of the
line, % smaller. Should the wind change,
expect us on Friday."2
THE devil!" said nv uncle: sand
Nelson ordered off to the West Indias."
Then was there, as you may suppose,
hurry and scurrying, and running ana
chasing, and dispatching of government
courlers, 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 connected series of letters from
the French government, smuggled into
Jersey. The result history knows; the
intended invasion was abandoned. and
Napoleon went elsewhere. ltr, ~
but what put you on the scent?" ask
cd my uncle, afterwards, with many
apologies to the expert. !. ..=!as- uaeg-0
g. 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 thew
were done with admirable skill. The
grammer was complete; and the little
dots or marks which bunglers use to
guide them in writing the words which
are to be read were entirely absent. The
way in which the deception effected is
this: The correspondents, before com
menc1ng. take sheet OF paper and cut
holes in it, which, of course in the two
half Sheets. exactly correspond. They
each took one half sheet, and when a let
ter IS to be written, the writer so az
ranges the words that those intended to
be read shall appear in the holes when
the half.sheet is placed over the paper.
which is of the same size. When his
correspondent receives the letter, he
places his half-sheet over it, and reads
OIL the words, as you did. The difficulty,
which was so we'll conquered in this case,
IS to make the sense run fuently, and to
prevent any visible break in the writing.
Without the half-sheet with the holes in
It, no one can have the slightest clue to
the real meaning. 1gls=
MY suspicious, once aroused. were
confirmed by the inquiries which 1 made.
The whole story about the sister
was fabrication. 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 fool enough to
leave his half-sheet in his desk. we might
have CROPPED in vain for the mystery"
Beaumont disappeared that night. and
was never heard of again at the Admir-
atty, and his inquiries in Jersey. He had
made an attempt to get admittance to
his room, but was scared BY the sounds
he heard, and contrived to escape to
France. The lady who acted the sister.
and who visited the Admiralty, partly to
put the authorities off their guard, and
probably also to interchange the kew to
the cipher, was a Partisan celebrity who
both before and afterwards was renowned
for her daring in political intrigue.