The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-07-17


nor rest until it had been accomplished.
As for the cipher, although Keppel was
somewhat of an adept at cryptic writing,
he soon perceived that here was prob
lem out Of the common run. 1t did not
respond to the usual tests. Thus, of the
seventeen different characters Commas
and periods included) that composed it,
from twelve to twenty-nine times.
and seven from thirty to forty times.
Plainly, therefore, they could not he
signs answering to letters of the alphabet.
Again, the cipher consisted Of groups of
four characters (neither more nor less)
and of single capitals. Of the four char
acter combinations-over sixty in all
only seven occurred more than once in
the course Of the composition. OF the
separate capitals F occurred twenty-five
times, Z seventeen times, B six, S five
and e four times All this was very
puzzling, and was to be elucidated, if at
all. only after prolonged study, of which
Keppels brain, at that juncture, was far
from being capable. Meanwhile the
housemaid knocked at the door and sum-
moned him to breakfast. He replaced
the cipher in his pocket and went down.
After eating heartily he went back to
his room and slept till the middle of the
afternoon. Then, after dining, he took
the road again, and in the course of q
couple of hours arrived at town on the
shores of Long Island sound. On the
wharf q couple of men were just prepar-
ing to put out in catboat. Keppel
asked them whittier they were bound.
ITO Port jefferson" one of them an
swered.
What will you ask for setting me
across? inquired Keppel.
How does dollar strike your"
Done" said Keppel, and he got on
board.
He had no idea why he was going to
Port jefferson. but he felt impelled to go
somewhere, and thought he would feel
more secure in the comparative wilder
ness of Long Island than in large town.
Perhaps he might get temporary employ
| ment with some farmer, or he might find
captain of a fishing smack to ship him
for a cruise. When he was boy in New
England he had lived near the seashore
| and had learned how to sail 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 close
on board; they ran into the harbor, and
Keppel, having paid his dollar, jumped
ashore. 1t was then within an hour or
SO of sunset-a warm, quiet evening. He
set out to walk at haphazard, and soon
| found himself following narrow track
through an apparently interminable
growth of small pine and oak. Once in
while he passed lonely farmhouse;
but though he was getting tired and
aangry again he could not make up his
mind to ask for shelter
Night came on and found him still
! tramping onward, with woods on either
hand. But as the darkness increased
the path seemed to fade away and be-
come obliterated, and he was soon
stumbling through thick underbrush
The boughs and twigs whipped his face
and the briars caught his feet. Stagger-
ing forward, exhausted and impatient,
he felt his feet sinking in muddy ooze
and discovered that he was on the Dor
ders of swamp. He turned to the right
and began to skirt along its borders; but
again and again he narrowly escaped
plunging neck and ears in the treacher-
Gus morass. Frogs croaked on all sides
and mosquitoes buzzed around his mead.
He lost all sense of direction, and thought
S:!y Of putting one foot before the other
Often he fell, but scrambled up again
and CROPPED onward. Whichever way he
turned the swamp seemed to lie in wait
for him. He thought: ut will swallow
me up in the end! And it was for this
that escaped from the railroad wreck"
Just then he stumbled up a slope, and
his feet trod on frmer ground. The
bushes and trees thinned away. Looking
up he saw before him black, rectangu-
lar mass. He drew nearer; it was house.
There was no light in the windows. 1t
seemed ruinous and deserted. But it was
a human habitation, and would suffice
He passed around the corner and found
the door; it yielded to his hand. He en-
tered, and felt his way along the parti-
ton of the hallway to another door on
the left, Passing in he saw a CLEAN of
light through crevice in front of him.
In another moment he had crossed the
floor and was standing on the threshold
of an inner room.
There was low bed against the oppo-
site wall At its head stood table, OF.
which was lighted candle and some
small bottles. The furniture of the room
was wretched in the extreme and the at
mosphere foul and sitting
On the bed was stretched the gaunt
and CHASTITY figure of a man, who, as
Keppel appeared, raised himself with
difficulty on his left elbow, and with his
right hand leveled a revolver at the in
truder The glare of his sunken eyes
was appalling, and his hand shook so that
the pistol wavered from side to side.
Halt! or shoot your he said, with a
strong foreign accent.
Don't shootr' cried Keppel, lifting
his hand II mean you no harm. I'm
fainting from fatigue and hunger. l
must eat and sleep"
The man lowered his weapon. "Ah!
it is no ghost, them" he muttered in
French, and sank back on his pillow.
RapDal opproochad and lnokad down