The Private Secretary

About the begirming of this century, while the Kevolutionary Wars were raging, communieation in cipher was naturally very prevalent ; and ingenuity was taxed to the utmost on one hand to invent, and on the other to detect, the medium used in secret correspondence. As a rule, the decipherer had beaten the cipher ; and no known method was secure of detection. If conventionalsigus merely werü used, the recurrence of the different symbols gave a key easily followeJ out. Some iugenious spirits corresponded by reference to the pages and lines of particular editions of particular books- others by an agreed-on vocabulary. But these last methods, although they might preserve the secret, disclosed what was often quite as dangerous, that there was a secret. I am about to teli you of a plan which, i'or a long time, was not only undetected, but unsuspected. It was at that time when the first Napoleon had assembled his fleets and transporta at Brest, with the ostensible, and as is generally believed the real, view of making a doscent on England. The greatest precautions were observed by the Engliah Governmentin regard to the correspondence with France, and an amount of espionage was practised at the postoffice which left Sir James Graham's subsequent performances in that line f ar behind. The uational excitement was intense, and the political department was administered with an iron sway. My uncle, Sir George Trevor, was, as all the world then kne w, high in the Admiralty, and, as it was from him that I heaxd this anecdote, its veracity may be depended on. The dispatches to and i'rom the Admiralty were the subject of the greatest vigilance and the most stringent regulations. The olerks were not permitted to send or receive letters which were not first submitted to the chief clerk, and it was believed that letters addressed even to their private residences were freqnently opened at the postoffice. At the time I speak of, the chief olerk was an elderly man of the name of Parker - a wizened, wiry, dapper individual, so imbued with the official tincture of Whitehall that it had become second nature to him. He was a genial and kindly soul, keen and energetic in the affairs of his office, and in all others a mere child. He had engaged as his private secretary a young fellow by the name of Beaumont, who was one of the most promising subordinates in the establishment. He was a modest, unassuming man, very good-looking, with a countenance and an air suggestive of de ounsion and melanoholy. He was evipresly of good education, and probably dentborn also, for his manners were weiland indicated good breeding. He easy. nativo of Jersey, and had been was a duced to the notice of the Admiralty authorities by some influential member of Parliament. He was much liked in the office, and discharged his duties to perfection. One morning Parker presented himself before my uncle with a visage pale with woe, and trembling wtth exeitement. " Why, what is the matter, Parker? Has Bonaparte come ?" " He may have, for aught I know," said Parker. "Things are all wrong, Sir George !" "What are wrong?" "The letteis are wrong. There is a spy among us. I have known it l'or long; nowl am quite eure; but I cannot find him out." Parker went on to explain that he had for some time suspected that somo one in the office communicated their private information and aispatehes outside. He had redoubled his precautions; but, more than ever confirmed in his suspicions, was entirely baffled in his endeavors to detect the culprit. "But, Parker," said my uncle, "how do you come to be so sure that your secrets have transpired ?" "By the funds, Sir George. They answer to the news as surely as the bell down stairs does to the bell-rope. I find them going up and down as if they were sitting in the office," said Parker, personifying the stock exchange for the moment. "Have all the letters to the clerks been examined strictly ?" " Yes; I read them all myself." " Find nothing in them ?" ' ' Miglity little. Some are from home, some from friends, nnd most of them from sweethearts," said Parker, twisting his face into a grim smile, " and rum things they say in them." "And the young men's letters. Are they rum, too ?" "They are more careful like, as they know I am to see theni ; bnt, Lord save you, sir, they are all stuff; not a ha'porth of harm in them." " This matter must be seen to," said my unele ; "I have had my own misgivings ori the subject. Bring me all the letters which come to, and are sent by, the clerks f or the next week. There is no reason why you should have all the rumthings to yourself." So my uncle had the letters for a week, and found them very much as Parker had described them. The suspicious symptoms increased ; the Stock Exchange responded more sensitively than ever ; but not the slightest ground for suepecting any one transpired. My uncle was bewildered, and Parker was rapidly verging to insanity. " It is certainly tiot the clerks," said my uncle. " There isno treason thero." said he, pushing back the letters of the day. "By the way, how does young Beaumont get on? She eeems a nice creature, that sister of his, to judge by her letters." " He is the best hand in the office, a long sight; and his sister is a very sweefc, ladylike creature. They are orphans, poor things, and he supports her out of his Balary. She called at the office two rnonths ago, and I gave him leave to see her for a few minutes in my room. But ho knew it was against rules, and has not seen her here again." "Butwhat are we to do?" said my uncle. ' ' I think I will speak to the First Lord." So he spoke to the First Lord, who thought thea ffair serious enough. " It must be in the letters," said he. "It ciinnot be in the letters," said my uncle. "As you please," paid the chief; " but, although you cannot find it there, perhaps auother can. I would try an expert. My uncle had no faith in experts, or Bow street runners, and mistrusted them. But he could not xefuse to try the experiment suggested. So the most experienced decipherer in London was summoned into council, and to him the letters of the day were secretly submitted. He read them all very caref ully, looked at them in the light, and looked at the light through them. At last he put them all aside, excepting one from Elinor Beaumont. "Who is the lady that writes this ?" said the taciturn man of skill at last. " A very sweet young woman," said Parker, smartly; " sister of my private secretary. " " Does ehe writo often ?" "Yes; she is his only correspondent, and writes about twice a week." " Where does she live ?" "She lives in Jersey, Beaumont told me. Their father was in business there." "And does she always write about the same kind of things - aunt's rheumatism, picnics, Squire's tea-parties, and the like ?" " Much the same, excepting when she speaks of Bewimont himself." "Hum!" said the expert. " Well, sir," said my uncle, who was rather impatient of the man of skiïl's pomposity, "and what may 'Hum!' mean ? Have the young woman and her aunt's rheumatism done the mischief ?" " Hum ! She dates from Fleet street ?" " And why sbould she not date from Fleet street, sir?" "I should be sorry to prevent her," said the unmoved philosopher. "Has this correspondence continued long?" "Oh, yes - a couple of years or so, but not nearly so regularly as lately." "For how long regularly?" " About two months." " That is, about the timo when you flrst suspected the betrayal of coafldenoe ?" "Really, my friend, if you can't see farther into a millstone than that, yon may give up the profession," said my uncle. " Take my word for it, the Beaumonts have nothing to do with it. Rubbish!" "Hum!" And with that the man of skill took bis hat and departed, saying he would return in two days. The two days, however, were five before he carne back, and was again closeted with my uncle and Parker, with whom he had fallen into great disfavor. "Wants to make a job," said the latter - " a regular humbug." "Sir George," said the regular humbug, "has Mr. Beaumont a locked desk in his room ?" "Yes, sir," said Parker, "he has." "Have you a key which will open it ?" " I have ; and what of that?" ' ' I wish to have that desk opened without his knowledge, and the contents brought to me." "And on what pretense," said my uncle, "do you propose to put this insult on a man against whom there is no reasonable ground of feuspicion, and who has not been allowed to speak for himself?" "There need be no insult, for he will know nothing of it ; neither will any one else." "I will not permit it, sir." "Hum! Then I can do no more in the business. " " But," said Parker, whose official notioDB made him un willing to break off the negotiations in this manner, " what pretense have you for doing this to Mr. Beaumont, and not to the other clerks ?" " Shall I teil you ? There is no such person as Elinor Beaumont, and the addi'ess in Pleet street is a notorious haunt of suspected foreigners." "Good gracious 1" said my uncle, changing color, "youdon't say that?" "It is a f act, but you will see the necessity of being cautious and silent in the matter. Detection hangs on a thread as it stands, and a whisper will break it." "What do you mean," said Parker, " about Elinor Beaumont ? I have seen her." "There is no Elinor Beaumont in Jersey. I sent and have ascertained the f act." " I am sure there is some mistake about all this, whioh Beaumont can clear tip. Let us send for him." "If you do the game ia up. I trust, in fact, he does not know of my visits. We cannot be too cautious in these matters." "Pedantic ass," muttered my uncle; " but I suppose we had better give him his own way. If you meet Parker and ine here at 7 to-night, we shall have that wonderful desk opened, and your great discoveries sball be made." They niet again that evening. The desk was opened by Parker, and a bundie of letters caref ully packed up, all from Elinor Beaumont, and a quantity of circulars, play-bills and shop receipts were handed to the expert. That gentleman read through the letters, and seemed much struck by the last. "Read that," said he, handing it to my uncle. As the letter is important, I give it entire: 120 Flüet Street, Sept. 24, 1803. My Deah Chakles: Although we had an adverse wind all the way, we made without difficulty the port we were bound for. My auiit, in spite of the weight of her 60 years, eujoyed the trip much, and is ready to sail again. 'i hope you will think of sending the line you promised on the 25th, and come yourself, as our party is much smaller, and we Bhould enjoy the visit. Wheu I was in London last week I saw our Cousin Harry, frei-h from Windsor. There is little ohange to be obaerved in him - not as much as you wonld expect. Come to us on l'riday. YourB, very affectionately. Eijnok B. My uncle read this out loud, from beginning to end, and then he said, "Do you see anything suspieious in that? It seems to me yery innocent." " Hum I It may be. Was there anything else in the desk?" said ho, addressing Parker, " You may go and look," growled that potentate; and he led the way, the expert following. The desk was quite empty, with the exception of two or three scraps of waste paper. On one of tiiese the expert pomnced, and returned with an air of elation to the othcr room. He then unfolded this scrap of paper, and disclosed a half-sheet exactly the size of tho paper on which Elinor Beaumont's letters were written, in which oblong holes at intervals had been cufc. He then placed this half-sheet over the letter, and handed both, thus placed, to my uncle, whose astonished eyes read the following words, which the holes left visible: "Fleet wind-bound. Fifty sail of the line;, 25 smaller. Should the wiad change, expect us on Friday." "The devil !" said my uncle; "and Nelson ordered oiï to the West Indies." Then was there, as you may suppose, hurrying and scurrying, and running and chasing, and dispatching of Government couriers, and semphore telegraphs, and carrier-pigeons, and all the Old World means oi communication then in fashion. The key thus obtained disclosed the whole correspondence, which turned out to be a series of letters from the French Government, smuggled into Jersey. The resuit history knows; the intended invasión was abandoned, and Napoleon went elsewhere. "But what put you on tho scent?" asked my uncle afterward, with many apologies to the expert. " I saspected the trick from the' first, although it was a very good specimen of it. The letters were too innocent, and had too little pomt in them. But they were done with admirable skill. The grammar was complete; and the little dots or marks which bunglers use to guide them in writing the words which are to be read were entirely absent. The way in which the deception ia eftected is this : The correspondents, before commencing, take a sheet of paper and cut holes in it, which, of course, in the two half-sheets, exactly correspond. They each take one half ■ sheet, and, when a letter is to be written, the writer so arranges the words that those intended to be read shall appear in the holes when the half-sheet is placed over the paper, i which is of the same size. When his I correspondent receives the letter, he places his half-sheet over it, and reads off the words, as you did. The difflculty, which was so well conquered in this case, is to make the sense run fluently, and to prevent any visible break in the writing. Without the half-sheet with the holes in it, no one cnn have the slightest clew to the real meaning. " My snspicions, once aroused, were confirmed by the inquines which I made. The whole story a bout the sister was a fabrication. The letters did come from Jersey, the answerswent to Fieet street, to the charge of very notorious foreiga agents. But, if our friend had not been fooi enough to leuve his half-sheet in his desk, we might have groped in vain for the mystery." Beaumont disappearedthat night, and was never heard of again at the Adniiralty. It transpired afterward that some .iccomplice had warned him of the expert'e visits to the Admiralty, and his inquiries in Jersey. He had made an attempt to get admittance to his room, but was scared by the sounds he heard, and contrived to escape to France. The lady who acted the sister, and who visited the Admiralty, partly to put the authorities off their guard, and probably also to interchange the key to the cipher, was a Parisian celebrity who both before and afterward was renowned for her daring in political intrigue.