Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-09-17

ly signed and attested. This will be OF
interest to those who ventured to express
doubts as to the g~enuineness Of the mar.
rage announced in court last Tuesday
by Mrs. Trent-until then known a!
Mrs. Sallie Matchin. Nh. Trent at al
events appears to have shared her opin
ion regarding its validity. The othe1
documents in the package were not o.
an important character.
at will be noticed that no provision ii
made in the will for Mrs. Raven and hel
daughter Olympia, who are understood
to have been distantly related to the de
ceased, and to have been receiving from
him an annual stipend of some eight
thousand dollars. This fact will proba
bly, occasion some comment, as it wa
intimated at the late trial that Mr.. Trenr
had proposed to make Miss Raven his
wife. Possibly the desire that he should
make such a proposal vas father to tn,
statement that he had done SC. His will
seems to show not only the baselessnes:
Of the assertion, but that for some rea
son or other MI. Trent intended in the
future to let these two ladies take cart
of themselves. It is to be hoped thai
they possess Independent resources.
"In Nh. Trent's breast pocket at The
time of his death was found a Letter
written in cipher, the purport of which
was not made out. 1t was not produced
at the trial, as the prosecution was moi
of the opinion that it could throw any
light on the case. 1t Is now published
however, in the hope that some cipher
expert may be able to elucidate it, ant
thus, perhaps, furnish an explanation o.
some of the mysterious circumstance:
that yet surround Mr. Trent's tragic end
The letter is a follows:
"'Slmpi F, npi. CO gnl f. pill pinl
oghi mlhg npi. E. mkpi c, Klmh F, pior
qolg c. qkin F, hqon qolg B qkng F,
olmh qolg c mhgq omgk qlin B hkq F
hnpq ngmo mioq s lmpi. F, dig qole
nlqg kgli kgli c lnho. f, Mogl. c okif
phno S. lmni G. omgk. F Hmm F. mig
c hqgi B. hiq 8. pkol. c q knp olmp F
hlkp hnio B. Mo. F, dim c ngil mkqn S
lmpi c ngil F. hqon MISC F, qopg q. g
c iko F. OPT C. pghq nixon B qglp {
nixon F. ongl opkn G hqpm F, oinq /
lnig F, hkom B imq c. ngoi. F. mpqn
knli. OH hgo F. imqg E lipg F. hnoi I
mkpi F, high ikmn.'
1.-THE paper on which this curious eff
fusion is written appears to be of French
manufacture"
Such was the newspaper article, som
passages of which moved Keppel pain
fully. Olympia, it seemed, would be re
duced to want just at the time when b,
was powerless to render her any assist
ance. The situation greatly perplexei
him; for Harry Trent had told him will
his own lips that he intended reservins
Olympia for himself, and he had giye1
it out publicly that Mrs. and Miss Raver
were to live with him in his new house
yet he was married to Sally Matchin a
that very time, and five days before hal
executed a will cutting off Olympia with
out even the proverbial shilling. Their
vas something odd about this; it de
manded investigation The first thin,
to be done was to find out the real mur
derer of Harry Trent; the remainder o
themystery wouldprobably resolve itself
But who would find the murderer out
Obviously, no one would concern himsel
about the matter unless Keppel himsel
did, and certainly he was In no position
to enter upon such a quest at present
He could only promise himself that h
would never forget the purpose to do SO
nor rest until it had been accomplished
As for the cipher, although Keppel wa
somewhat Of an adept at cryptic writing
he o perceived that here was a prob
lem out Of the common run. 1t did no
respond to the usual tests. Thus, of th,
seventeen different characters Comma
and periods included that composed it
three occurred six times or less, sever
from twelve to tw%enty-nine times
and from thirty to forty times
Plainly, therefore, they could not b,
signs answering to letters of the alphabet
Again, the cipher consisted of groups O
four characters (neither more nor less
and of single capitals. OF the four char
acter OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES sixty in all
only seven occurred more than once il
the course of the composition. OF tn,
separate capitals F occurred twenty-five
times, G seventeen times, B six, 8 fivl
and E four times. All this was yer,
pulling, and was to be calculated, if a
all, only after prolonged study, of which
Keppers brain, at that juncture, was ia,
from being capable. Meanwhile tn
housemaid knocked at the door and sum
moned him to breakfast. He replaced
the cipher i'll his pocket and went down
After eating heartily he went back t.
his room and slept till the middle of tn.
afternoon. Then, after dining, he tool
the road again, and in the course of
couple Of hours arrived at a town on til,
shores of Long Island sound. On tn,
wharf a couple of men were just prepar
ing to put out in a catboat. Keppe
asked them whittier they were bound.
ITO Port Jefferson" one Of them an
swereu.
"What will you ask for setting m,
acrossT' inquired Keppel.
How does a dollar strike your?
"Done!" said Keppel, and he got OF
board.
He had no idea why he was going t,
Port Jefferson, but he felt impelled to g
somewhere, and thought he would fee
more III in the comparative wilder
ness of Long Island than in a large town
Perhaps he might get temporary employ
ment with some farmer, or he might fine
a captain Of a fishing smack to ship hin
for q cruise. When he was a boy in New
England he had lived near the seashor'
and had learned how to sail a boat.
The wind blew from the southwest
and the catboat started out on the star
board tack, headed nearly for her desti
nation. In two hours the coast was clos,
on board; they ran into the harbor, ant
Keppei, having paid his dollar, jumped
ashore. 1t was then within an hour o.
80 of sunset-a warm, quiet evening. HI
set out to walk at haphazard, and 500,
found himself following a narrow tracl
through an apparently interminabl,
growth of small pine and oak. Once il
a while he passed a lonely farmhouse
but though he was getting tired ant
hungry again he could not make up hi
mind to ask for shelter.
Night came on and found him still
tramping onward, with woods on eithe.
hand. But as the darkness increased
the path seemed to fade away and be
come obliterated, and he was sool