ings may come of it. Now
on the night of the 21st, in one of the sleeping cars leaving St.
Petersburg by the Nord Express for Berlin, there will travel a special
messenger having this letter in his possession. I want you to take
passage by that same train and secure a compartment near the messenger,
if possible. This messenger will be a man in whom the respective parties
to the negotiation have implicit confidence. I wish I knew his name,
but I don't; still, the chances are that he is leaving London for St.
Petersburg about this time, and so you might keep your eyes open on your
journey there, for, if you discovered him to be your fellow-passenger,
it might perhaps make the business that comes after easier. You see this
letter," continued the editor, taking from a drawer in his desk a large
envelope, the flap of which was secured by a great piece of stamped
sealing-wax. "This merely contains a humble ordinary copy of to-day's
issue of the _Bugle_, but in outside appearance it might be taken for a
duplicate of the letter which is to leave St. Petersburg on the 21st.
Now, what I would like you to do is to take this envelope in your
hand-bag, and if, on the journey back to London, you have an opportunity
of securing the real letter, and leaving this in its place, you will
have accomplished the greatest service you have yet done for the paper."

"Oh!" cried Jennie, rising, "I couldn't think of that, Mr. Hardwick--I
couldn't _think_ of doing it. It is nothing short of highway robbery!"

"I know it looks like that," pleaded Hardwick; "but listen to me. If
I were going to open the letter and use its contents, then you might
charge me with instigating theft. The fact is, the letter will not be
delayed; it will reach the hands of the high and mighty personage in
England quite intact. The only difference is that you will be its bearer
instead of the messenger they send for it."

"You expect to open the letter, then, in some surreptitious way--some
way that will not be noticed afterwards? Oh, I couldn't do it,
Mr. Hardwick."

"My dear girl, you are jumping at conclusions. I shall amaze you when
I tell you that I know already practically what the contents of that
letter are."

"Then what is the use of going to all this expense and trouble trying to
steal it?"

"Don't say 'steal it,' Miss Baxter. I'll tell you what my motive is.
There is an official in England who has gone out of his way to throw
obstacles in mine. This is ne