e to Ben, paying for it as the man had done who
forwarded the other to him. It was this:

"Uibu rthsr fybdumz Vhkk cf qdzex.

"G. R. Burkhill."

Applying his rule (which compelled him to go to the end of the alphabet,
when, for instance, the letter "a" demanded to be represented by a
preceding letter), Ben Mayberry very readily translated the cipher as
follows:

"That suits exactly. Will be ready.

"G. R. Burkhill."

CHAPTER XVII

DECIDEDLY MIXED

During the summer succeeding the carrying away of the bridge which
connected Damietta with Moorestown, it was built in a more substantial
manner than before. It was an easy matter, therefore, to cross from one
place to another, and carriages and pedestrians went back and forth
between the two States at almost every hour of the day. Damietta was a
large city, while Moorestown was only a small town; but the latter was
pleasantly located and had a large and excellent hotel, where quite a
number of guests spent the most sultry months of summer.

In Damietta were three banks, and the cipher telegrams which I have laid
before the reader, beyond a doubt referred to one of them, but it was
impossible to fix with certainty upon the right one. As a matter of
prudence, therefore, it was determined to keep the three under
surveillance. The Mechanics' Bank, as it was called before it adopted the
national system, stood on the corner, and the general impression
prevailed that this was the institution referred to, as it will be
remembered that the word "corner" occurred in one of the telegrams.

A few minutes' reflection convinced me that it was utterly out of the
question for the intended robbery to succeed. Such desperate projects
depend mainly on their secrecy for success. The watchmen in all the banks
were instructed to be unusually vigilant, the policemen were apprised of
what was suspected, a number of officers were to lounge upon the streets
near at hand in citizens' clothes, and Aristides Maxx, one of the most
skillful detectives in the metropolis, was engaged upon the case.

The general belief was that the burglars, discovering what thorough
preparations were on foot, would not make the attempt. That sort of
gentry are not the ones to walk into any trap with their eyes open.

Respecting Detective Maxx, there was much wonderment, and the mayor was
vexed that he did