th, Harper, and Herbert. Now notice, first
the form, and next the substance.

As to form--they are all written, not, lithographed; they are on paper
of the same make and size, and out of the same lot, as you observe by
the manufacturer's stamp--a representation of the Capitol in the upper
corner. They are in the same hand, an easy legible business-hand, though
three of them are written with a backward slope. Those who sent them
have not sent me the envelopes with them, except in one case, so that I
cannot tell where they were mailed. Neither is any one of them dated
inside at any town or post-office. But, by a wonderful coincidence,
every one of them is dated at "No. 17 Merchants' Exchange." A busy mart
that No. 17 must be! And it is a still more curious coincidence that
every one of these six industrious chaps has been unable to find a
sufficiently central location for transacting his business. Every letter
you see, contains a printed slip advising of a removal, as follows:

"REMOVAL.--Desiring a more central location for transacting my business,
I have removed my office to No. 17 Merchants Exchange." Where? One says
to West Troy, New York; another to Patterson, New Jersey; another to
Bronxville, New York; another, to Salem, New-York, and so on! It is a
new thing to find how central all those places are. Undeveloped
metropolises seem to exist in every corner. Well, the slip ends with a
notice that in future letters must be directed to the new place.

Next, as to substance. The six letters all tell the same story. They
are each the second letter; the first one having been sent to the same
person, and having contained a lottery-ticket, as a gift of love or free
charity. This second letter is the one which is expected to "fetch." It
says in substance: "Your ticket has drawn a prize of $200,"--the letters
all name the same amount--"but you didn't pay for it; and therefore are
not entitled to it. Now send me $10 and I will cheat the lottery-man by
altering the post-mark of your letter so that the money shall seem to
have been sent before the lottery was drawn. This forgery will enable me
to get the $200, which I will send you."

How cunning that is! It is exactly calculated to hit the notions of a
vulgar, ignorant, lazy, greedy, and unprincipled bumpkin. Such a fellow
would see just far enough into the millstone to be tickled at the idea
of cheating those lottery fellows. And the knave ends his letter with
one more touch