Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1886-10-23

tnere TIL l come to you. Don't trouble
yourself about the door. It Is locked and I
have the key in my own pocket"
The detective winked knowingly at the
unlucky Gregson and in this unceremonious
manner dismissed him from our presence.
CHAPTER XVI.
TEE SECRET OF rHE CIPHER
Gentlemen" said Bielski, when we were
alone, II think I nave something to say that
will surprise you. He held in his hand the
little memorandum book, the mysterious
contents Of which he had been studying
while we had been engaged with Gregson.
sHave you discovered the cipher9 Does II
| betray anything of the fellows secretsp !
asked with eagerness.
Eyes, sir; ! hare found the clew to the
cipher. Do you know what 1t is! 1t is an
| old-fashioned system of short hand, with
some new authorizations and arbitrary signs
| You see 1 had to learn short hand for my
own purposes, so I know all about 1t"
sand do you mean to say you know this
system?"
"Oh, dear, no! We are going a little too
fast, If you'll excuse me, sir. 1t may take
weeks to unr:ddle this; for at the best of
times it is not always easy to decipher short
hand. All the same. l hope we may pick
the lock in a shorter time than that. have
a friend in London who will help me-"
@And this is the surprising news you have
to tell us, Bielskis" interjected Harding.
4No, sir, no. It is something more than
that. You gave me thisb book as Fiinter's.
But I find that it is not his at oil. 1t is writ
ten by Francis Branksome, n. d. Here's
his name upon the first page" He pointed
to some hieroglyphics that to Harding and
myself were quite unintelligible.
"And have you read that already"
ayes, that is quite easy to understand. It
is written in q system that l know something
of myself. What makes ne most suspicious
about this book is that the cipher has been
altered in many ways as the writer has gone
on with his entries. 1t is tolerably clear
and simple at first, but it becomes more
difficult and complicated as we proceed.
That shows that the man was determined to
hide from everybody what he was writing.
Why should DR.. Branksome be so anxious
to do that2"
ave have heard something about DR..
Branksome this morning which may per-
haps throw light upon that question:" said
Harding.
"From the young man outside thereP
aYes;' and then I related to the detective
the strange story which had been told by
Gregson.
sBy Jove! gentlemen" he cried, slapping
his thigh in his exultation, "this is really
magnificent. What a case I'll have when ]
Il get that in hand! It'll mean u trip to Aus
tralia for me, though; and I don't care SO
much about that"
"But what light will it throw on Miss
Stancliffe's case9 How will it assist hers"
allow will it assist her? 1 should say
nothing could assist her more. 1t is the very
evidence we have been wanting to weaker
, the motive for the murder. You must hand
8 this young man over to me now, gentlemen
I must get that story Of his down in shiI
shape"
Bielski was quite excited over the pros
I pect of the task, which he had apparently
already allotted to himself, Of unraveline
the whole mystery of which Gregson pro
fessed to lave given us the outlines. For my
q part, 1 cared little or nothing about that
i, mystery in itself. All that l wanted wa!
evidence which would deliver my darling
a not only from q shameful death, but from
3 that stain of criminality which the verdic
I of the jury had cast upon her. We hat
j gone far, l felt. towards arriving ct tn
truth; but nothing short of the complete ex
oneration Of Daisy would satisfy me, ant
that. alas! was apparently still remote
When the detective had taken Gregson of
to his own hotel to cross-examino him at hi
leisure regarding the story no had told US
Harding and l sat together discussing al
that had now come to light. Our chief feel
8 ing-or mino at any ratc-was one of won
r der at the fact thai DR.. Rranksome should
be such a villain as Gregson represented.
d Never, surely, was there a man in thi
"a world who looked. less like a villain, VIII
bore himself loss like one, who seemed to al
around him to be more completely abov
Is suspicion. I recalled all my dealings wit
him from that first day when we met In th
Grand hotel at Scarborough, and I coul
a not remember a single incident, a look or
It tone Of the voice, that had been calculate
10 to awaken suspicion in my mind. He wa
always the same-cool, self-possessed. gor
ID | tlemanly, frank in manner brilliant in tall
He had never played the part Of Joseph SUI
pion of morality: but I remember no on
50 whom I had met In tho course of my lif
b. who had made a deeper impression OIL nut
or who had more completely won my conf
,r dence and regard. Even now I could hardl
bring myself to believe that he was a villai
t, much less a villain of the cold, cruel, ca
culating type depicted by Glegson.
al / remembered. however, that my FIR
quarrel with him had arisen when i
i. dropped to me a hint of his belief tht
70 Daisy was guilty. 1t was only then that,
,e my o~verpowering love for her, l had broke
H. through the glamour which had hitherto i,
TO vested him l heiieve that even now, whe
10 l had heard Grosson's story, I should la,
N rejected it with my whole heart If it ha
no: yeen for Branksome's desertion OF Daisy
is That otfense l had never forgiven; and tt
fact that he had been guilty Of it enable
me at this moment, despite all my exper
as ence in my personal relations with him,
accept the apparently incredible story of h
ID crime which / had received from the lips
Gregson. I saw, too. quito clearly, Il
Id strong confirmation Of that story, which We
ut to be found in the fact that he had acte
Id just as Gregson had pre- licted that he woul
lie act. In the event of the sentence Of the la
being carried out Upon Daisy, he would ste
u into u%ndisputed possession of Mau,everer
millions. Yes; felt convinced. i'll spite
all my prepossessions. that I had indee
been, as Grcgson had declared, the verie
dupe throughout this basiness-but the dul
of a man whose vil'E.ny was such as to def
all ordinary sagaci.y.
Biclski, with his usual rapidity of NOV
ment, darted off that very night to Londol
hauling the unfortunate Greg on along wit
him. 1t was on the following morning tn,
l had my second interview with my darling
Hound her more altered than I had a,
ticipated. The strain upon her mind ha
J evidently been terrible during that wee
o which she had passed in the grim solitude
the condemned cell, with nothing but
shameful death staring her in the face. Ho
| nv heart oyerfoWed with love and syn