The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1886-05-14

TIC IN the VlSccTd Oh tue uSH dHu, CAah-
lining it more closely, he brought to
light square, flat zinc box, about the
size of one-pound gunpowder can,
much corroded, but apparently hermetl-
callv sealed and water-tight. He
washed it off, dried it and put it in his
pocket for future examination; then,
the boy having come with help. took his
fish and some tid-bits from the shark up
to the tent, much to the joy of the occu-
pants, who could not thank him enough.
Colonel Euler, to whom Randolph
showed his box, Immediately thought
he recognized it as one of a peculiar sort
Of dispatch-box used by the Confederate
Government for their messages by sea
and in blockade runners, being conye-
nient for carrying in the pocket and for
throwing overheard in case the vessel
was captured. The box was carefully
opened and was found to be precisely
what Colonel Euler suspected-a dis
patch.box of the Confederate Govern
ment The contents, in addition to
some papers of no present Importance,
comprised series of long dispatches in
cipher, addressed to well-known agent
in Paris of the defunct rebellion, and ten
certificates of deposit. promising to pay
money of Ambrose Gunter's. now on
deposit with the clearinghouse of X.
Animas Freres, Bordeaux, to John
Brown or order, when properly coun-
tersigned. The amount of the certifi-
Gates in all was eight hundred and nine
ty-six thousand francs. worth moth
ing. of course" said Randolph, down
on his luck, as usual.
"Not a nickel. my boy" said Colonel
Euler; 'but, nevertheless, you must
come with me tomorrow and show them
to Mr.. Thompson. Tomorrow is my
well day, and I'm going up to Charles-
ton to see about getting a shanty put up
for my folks to live in.
In Charleston next day Randolph was
taken by Colonel Euler to Mr.. Thomp-
son. and introduced to that gentleman.
to whom he told the story of the shark
and presented the box and its contents.
Mr.. Thompson eyed him sharply and
asked him if the whole story had been
told him. Colonel Euler vouched for
his kinsman, and the ex-secretary
opened the box, glanced at the cipher
dispatch, and turned very pale.
..Have either of you read thise" he
asked.
"No," said Randolph. II intended to
make out the cipher, but have not yet
had time.''
Mr.. Thompson answered nothing, but
taking the drafts out of the box, applied
a match to the remaining papers and
watched them burn to ashes with a sigh
of satisfaction. '.Perilous secrets,
young man." said he, "and happy am /
to dispose of them thus. Not only repu-
tations, but lives would have been
sacrificed had those matters become pub
lie. Now, as to those certificates-they
are very probably worth nothing-but
you have done me a real service in this
matter, and more besides me. and if you
can get anything out of them and it
is worth trying, YOU are perfectly well
come to it all. The money belongs to
nobody, strictly speaking do not
consider that the late Confederacy had
any heirs-and if you can get hold of it,
do SO.
sWnat money is it, or was it?" asked
Colonel Euler.
81 am going to tell you," answered
Thompson, land it is remarkable in
stance of the hard fortune of war that
seemed to pursue the Confederacy
throughout. You recollect the ster-
ling cotton loan we made during the
last year of the wharf.-the loan by which
our English brethren were made so
sick? That money was raised to pay
for ironclads, you know. The gun
l.cxc ~xvcx,<, H.x;lk - xyac
one of them-but not delivered. Di-
plomacy kept us from getting to sea
with the English-built ones, and it was
thought the same reason kept the French
built steamers from going to sea, but
that is not exactly the fact. We would
have succeeded in getting them out if
they had been fully paid for. We made
what we thought were ample arrange
ments for completing the payments,
but they failed through our persistent
bad luck. For instance, take the case
of these very certificates. 1t was nee
essary for us to use all sorts of precau-
tons in buying this sort of goods to
protect the parties we dealt with, for we
knew the Yankees would throw every
mothers son of them into court.
Hence the money was deposited in yari.
GUS banks in the names Of private
persons, but SO that it could not be
drawn unless the certificates were in
dorsed in a particular way. This
Is q deposit, you see, of Gunter's
money payable to Brown on certain
terms-in other words, it is Con-
federate draft sent out by express mes
senger and payable when Endorsed by
| the agent to whom sent. The agent
must indorse it in particular way, and
would not do so unless the messenger
brought certain credentials. This sys.
tenn Of checks and balances was neces.
sary for our financial secretary. but in
this case, and several others like it, wa
fatal to our plans.
The messenger to whom this partic
ular box was intrusted- Ricaud,
remember the very morning I sent
him-was instructed to 90 to Whining
ton, cross to Bermuda in the blockade
runner Fannie, sail thence for London,
report to an agent there, and from him
get further orders. Ricaud, instead Of
going on the Fannie, took another
steamer, the Cannot, for Nassau. The