Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1900-08-29
E'.s:..s
a DIPLOMATIC
ADVENTURE.
J. w
How an Effort Was Made to OBJ
tain Possession OF an Impor-
tant Letter and tho Re-
suit Thereof.

was wandering through the grounds
of London exhibition one evening
when short, foreign looking man,
clothed In evening dress. approached
me and said In low tone:
"Have the honor Of addressing Mr..
Godfrey Vance?"
lie handed me letter, saying alb.
ruptly: "Be good enough to read this
letter. 1t will serve to introduce me-"
The communication was from Count
Antonio Dclarocca of Milan, whom I
had aided some months before by car
rying Off for him a famous Greek
statue from al English country house
1t was very brief and merely said:
sir-This letter will introduce to you my good
friend. Herr Fritz Moskovitz, who Is anxious ior
you to undertake Tor him a difficult mission
have told him that you the one man in Eng.
land who can hope to carry out such q work with
success. and, wishing you all good fortune. be-
iieVe me, yours DELARoCcA.
We left the exhibition grounds at
once, going to my abode.
"ln the first place, my good SIR" lie
exclaimed, talking In al excited under.
tonc-"in the first place must tell you
that this business is difficult almost to
the point Of impossibility. Friday morn
Ing next about 3 o'clock Count Rode
holtz will cause to be posted or post
with his own hand Mt the pillar box
facing his house In Percy street, May
fair, certain letter addressed to the
Berlin foreign office. 1t is absolutely
vital to me and TO the cause represent
that that letter should never reach Its
destination, and am commissioned to
pay $4,000 to the man who will hand
that letter to me intact-exactly rs he
nnds it,
us not 3 n. IN. rather an unusual
hour for the dispatch Of diplomatic
communications"
Most certainly it Is, but the count
Is not like other men. For the past
four ycars-in fact, since he first came
to the embassy-he has been in the
habit Of posting this document between
8 and o'clock Friday mornings"
81 presume that the obvious and old
fashioned method Of obtaining the let.
ter by force Is out Of the question.
Otherwise we might waylay the per.
son posting the letter, overpower him
and depart with the document"
Useless, quite useless, for 1t would
simply mean that the outrage would
be discovered almost Immediately, and
then the contents Of the letter would
be telegraphed to Berlin, defeating our
plans most entirely No; the essence
OF the whole affair. my good sir. Is that
the letter should be removed and hand
cd to me without the embassy people
having the slightest knowledge Of the
fact"
Next morning went to Percy street,
Mayfair, to survey the ambassadors
house. ThIrty-one Percy street, the
mansion In question, was n dull look
Ing. gray abode exactly similar to the
other houses In the street. Facing the
house on the other side OF the street
was pillar box--thc receptacle, It
seemed, where the count was In the
habit Of posting his communications TO
Berlin.
Had the pillar box been receptacle
easily shifted the matter would have
been rs easy as smoking cigarette,
for we should simply have had to d.
vert the policeman on the beat away
from the street by means OF fictitious
drunken disturbance, and then we
could have driven up In n van and
cartcd the box away. But must think
of something else.
And then OF a sudden there flashed
upon me m idea, coming whence
knew not, but 1t seemed to me that n
voice spoke In my ear. and this Is
what 1t said:
Substitute another pillar box on the
opposite side Of the street. Placard
tie genuine box with notice saying
that 1t Is temporarily disuscd and that
letters are to he posted opposite Clear
the str( IT'S Of the police by means Of
n row and wat with van mt the cor
ner Of the street til the document Is
posted. Swoop down. collar the box
and drive Off"
Jumped into cab and drove to a
certain hostclry In the East End where
knew should find plenty Of my pnls,
who for few dollars would throw