send the gun-making machinery to the South. One
of Captain Passford's agents had ascertained the name of Hillman Davis,
who was in correspondence with those who were fitting out the ships for
the Confederate service.

"But that is all we learned from the letters--that the men who were
sending out the ships were in correspondence with this man Davis, who is
a very respectable merchant of New York," Mr. Gilfleur proceeded.

"Is that all you had to start with, my friend?" asked Christy.

"That was all; and it was very little. Your American detectives are more
cautious than Frenchmen in the same service."

"I don't see how in the world you could work up the case with nothing
more than a mere name to begin with," added Christy, beginning to have a
higher opinion than ever of the skill of the French detective.

"I tell you it was a narrow foundation on which to work up the case. It
may amuse you, but I will tell you how it was done. In the first place,
Captain Passford gave me all the money I needed to work with. I applied
for a situation at Mr. Davis's warehouse. He imported wines and liquors
from France; when his corresponding clerk, who spoke and wrote French,
was commissioned as a lieutenant in the army, he was looking for a man
to take his place. He employed me. I had charge of the letters, and
carried the mail to him in his private counting-room every time it
came."

"I don't believe that any of our American detectives would have been
competent to take such a position," suggested Christy, deeply interested
in the narrative.

"That is where I had the advantage of them. I was well educated, and was
graduated from the University of France, with the parchment in that
valise, signed by the minister of education. The carrier brought all the
letters to my desk. I looked them over, and when I found any from
England or Scotland, or even France, I opened and read them."

"How could you do that?" asked Christy curiously.

"I was educated to be a lawyer; but before I entered upon the
profession, I found I had a taste for the detective service. I did some
amateur work first, and was very successful. I afterwards reached a high
position in the service of the government. I acquired a great deal of
skill in disguising myself, and in all the arts of the profession.
I could open and reseal a letter so that no change could be discovered
in its appearance, and this was what I did in the service of Mr. Davis.
He was a mean man, t