h close writing, which could not be read offhand,
since the letters were apparently jumbled together quite arbitrarily and
irregularly.

"A cipher!" said Heideck. "But we shall soon get to the bottom of it.
You have some capable interpreters at your disposal, and it might be a
good thing if they set to work at once."

He continued his examination, and suddenly the blood rushed to his
face, for in his hands he held a letter, the handwriting of which
he recognised at the first glance as Edith's. Its contents were as
follows:--

"DEAR BEATRICE,--As you see, I am again in England. You know that I
have returned a widow, and you can believe that my experiences have
been terrible. Your brother met an honourable death at Lahore; with the
utmost difficulty I myself succeeded in getting away from India under
the protection of Attorney-General Kennedy and his family. I should have
to fill a book if I were to tell you all the horrors of our journey.
But this is not the proper time to complain of the melancholy lot of an
individual. We are all strangers and pilgrims on earth, and must bear
the cross that is laid upon us.

"The immediate reason of my writing to-day is that I want your opinion
on a certain matter. When I arrived at my parents' house, I heard that
uncle Godfrey had died on the 16th of April. I do not know whether you
have already heard of this, as regular communication with the Continent
is interrupted. My uncle Godfrey has left a will, dividing his property
equally between you as his niece and my deceased husband. His property
was larger than my husband thought. After division, both you and my
husband would have had a yearly income of 5,000 pounds. Now your brother
has died without having disposed of his property. But my lawyer tells me
that, as his sole heiress, I can claim his share of the inheritance. To
arrange about this I have come here to Dover; for I found that I could
only get the letter forwarded to Antwerp with the assistance of Admiral
Hollway, who is charged with the protection of our coast. To my
surprise the Admiral informed me that your name was known to him, and he
willingly undertook to forward this letter to you. Now please consent
to uncle Godfrey's property being divided between you and me. I do not
believe you will have any objection, but I consider it a duty to obtain
your definite consent. I shall be glad to hear from you that you are
well.

"Yours truly,

"EDITH IRWIN.

"P.S.--In I