Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1878-12-18

means OF entrance and egress
adopted by the burglar or bur-
glars. The library was fully fifteen
feet from the ground, had a hay
window, and except the broken
pane of glass, there was not the
slightest sign to show how the
window had been gained. A ladder
would have done il, hut no marks
of q ladder, no sign Of footsteps ex-
hibited themselves in the damp
ground, wet from recent rains.
Twas sorely puzzled. i examin-
ed the servants one by one, but
could find no clew to Justify the
slightest suspicion Of completely in
the affair on their part The work
had evidently been done by scirn-
tific burglars. and they had worked
at their leisure.
| inquired into the antecedents
Of Edward, the footman hut Mr..
DAYTON avered that he would
allow no suspicion to rest on so
faithful a servant to the family. /
resolved to inquire more about
him. however; but found nothing
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 robbery ?" | inquired
of Mr.. Dayton.
"None. l slept unusually sound
that night"
i went away thoughfully, for |
had found in the library an empty
hottie, from the scent, knew To
have contained chloroform, and !
lad noticed the marks of muddy
boots leading from the apartment,
while around the window none were
TO he seen. The glass, too, had been
broken by quick blow, not cut
out. Altogether il was most
mysterious piece of business.
l watrbed all dives frequented
nv the craftsmen of the city. and
worked like a beaver. could not
obtain a clew to the perpetrators
of the daring burglary, and after
three days of nnremitting toll,
was considering if il would not lie a.
well to call in professional assist
ance, when the advertisement il
the Herald. at the head Of this
story, attracted my attention. In
stinctively | devined some conDec-
ton with the "crooked" business,
and whether II referred tn my ease
or not, resolved to ascertain it,
meaning.
went down to the Herald Office
that morning. and introduced my
self and attempted To obtain some
description of the person who had
handed in the advertisement. The
clerk stated that il hal been re-
reived lay mail. IN y letter inclo-ing
the amount requisite for its inser-
ton in the paper. "Couhi / see
original copyr He wonld see
message was sent to the compos-
ing room. Luckily. the copy hal
been preserved. II was written IN
q disguised hand on a scrap of
paper. / asked leave tn retain it.
and, premission being granted to
me, returned to my room at once.
/ pored 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 / chanced to look at the
reverse side of the paper. There
were figures and words on IL, and /
read: United States bonds, sl0,-
OO0," and other memorand, indicat-
ing that IL had been loose wrap
per for valuable papers.
Then / knew that the advertise
ment bore an important relation to
the robbery.
And 70 until the day npon which
the story opens, was unable to
make head or tail of the secret
enigma.
So wearied was ] that ] fell
asleep with my head npon nv
desk, and / did not awaken until
noon time. 1t was wonderful how
a brief rppose will clear the mind.
took mp the paper with renewed |
energy and a bright IDEA flashed
over me.
Simple as it was, ] had not
Thought of it before. The entire
message was written an the sub
stitntion of letters, based on the
reversal Of the alphabet. Instead of
a, z, the last letter. was substituted
inseated Of b, y was used; the
alphabet reversed was the key to
the solution Of the puzzle.
] gave utterance To n shout Of
Joy. for, following the theory, it
read:
Larry, meet me Saturday night at 1877 Fire
street. NED
And "Ned," or Edward was the
name Of Dayton's footman. ! he
gan to see very large mice. But
Fire street-tbere was no surh
tboroughfare 10 the city, anu l was
"floored" again.
Gradually, the thought occnrrtd
to me on the basis ri reversal and
opposites adopted by the sender Of
the message, why should not "fire"
mean "water," its direct reverse!
/ dashed down the stairs, and,
bailing q cab tfor did not forget