The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-09-15

1 dare say my lace looked as De- |
wildered as yours did just now when
first l read this message. Then / re-
read it very carefully 1t was evil
IDENTIFY as had thought. and some Sc
cret meaning must lie buried in this
strange combination of words. Or
could it be that there was a prear-
ranged significance to such phrases
as "fly-paper" and 'henpheasant'? Such
meaning would be arbitrary and
could not be deduced in any way. And
yet ! was loath to believe that this
was the case, and the presence of the
word Hudson seemed to show that the
subject of the message was as / had
guessed, and that it was from Bed
does rather than the sailor. l tried it
| backwards, but the combination life
! pheasant's hen was not encouraging.
| Then / tried alternate words, but
neither the of for nor supply game
London promised to throw any light
upon it.
And then in an instant the key of
the riddle was in my hands, and | saw
that every third word, beginning with
the first, would give message which
might well drive old Trevor to des-
pair
1T was short and terse, the warn
ing, as | now read it to my compan-
ion:
1.-The game is up Hudson has told
all. Fly for your life
i Victor Trevor sank his face into
his shaking hands. 1t must be that,
| suppose said he. That is worse
than death, for it means disgrace as
well. But what is the meaning OF
these 'head-keepers" and "henpheas-
ants?"'
1T means nothing to the message,
but 1t might mean good deal to US if
we had no other means of discovering
the sender. You see that he has be-
gun by writing The. . game is, -
and so on. Afterwards he had, to full
fiji the prearranged cipher, to fill in
any two words in each space. He
would naturally use the first words
which came to his mind, and if there
were so many which referred to sport
, among them, you may be tolerably
sure that he is either an ardent shot
or interested in breeding. Do you
know anything of this Beddoes?'
Why, now that you mention it.,
=. said he, / remember that my poor
father used to have an invitation from
. him to shoot over his preserves every
:. autumn
Then it is undoubtedly from him
F, that the note comes said !. 1t only
remains for US to find out what this
secret was which the sailor Hudson
2 seems to have held over the heads OF
these two wealthy and respected men.
2 Alas, Holmes, ! fear that it is one
of sin and shame.' cried my friend
| But from you / shall have no secrets
/, Here is the statement which was
5 drawn up by my father when he knew
] that the danger from Hudson had
| bad become imminent. | found it II
: the japanese cabinet, as he told the
! doctor. Take it and read it to me, fol
VI l have neither the strength nor the
Z courage to do it myself
: These are the very papers, Watson
: which he handed to me, and l vii
! read them to you, as l read them il
f the old study that night to him. The.
o are endorsed outside, as you see
!. Some particulars of the voyage of the
, bark Gloria Scott, from her leaving
= Falmouth on the Sth October, 1855, Il
. her destruction in North Latitude /!
degrees 20 minutes, West Longitud,
. Is degrees IA minutes, On Nov. 9Th
1t is in the form of a letter, and run!
: in this way:
my dear, dear son, now that ap
preaching disgrace begins to darker
the closing years of my life, | cal
write with all truth and honesty tina
, it is not the terror of the law, it i
= not the the loss of my position in tn
, county, nor is it my fall in the eye
= of all who have known me, which cut
= me to the heart; but it is the though
y that you should come to blush for m
: you who love me and who have Sc
!, dom, l hope, had reason TO do othe
:, than respect me. But if the blow fall
a which is forever hanging over MT
~ then l should wish you to read thi:
that you may know straight from m
e how far l have been to blame. O
! the other hand, if all should go we
:. (Which may kind God Almight
n grantD, then, if by any chance thi
. paper should be still undestroyed an
- should fall into your hands, l conjur
= you, by all you hold sacred, by tn
- memory of your dear mother, and b
- the love which has been between u