triedalternatewords，butneither’theoffor’nor’supplygameLondon’promisedtothrowanylightuponit。”Andtheninaninstantthekeyoftheriddlewasinmyhands，andIsawthateverythirdword，beginningwiththefirst，wouldgiveamessagewhichmightwelldriveoldTrevortodespair。”Itwasshortandterse，thewarning，asInowreadittomycompanion：”’Thegameisup。Hudsonhastoldall。Flyforyourlife。’”VictorTrevorsankhisfaceintohisshakinghands，’Itmustbethat，Isuppose，’saidhe。”Thisisworsethandeath，foritmeansdisgraceaswell。Butwhatisthemeaningofthese”head-keepers”and”hen-pheasants”?”’Itmeansnothingtothemessage，butitmightmeanagooddealtousifwehadnoothermeansofdiscoveringthesender。Youseethathehasbegunbywriting”The……game……is，”andsoon。Afterwardshehad，tofulfilltheprearrangedcipher，tofillinanytwowordsineachspace。Hewouldnaturallyusethefirstwordswhichcametohismind，andifthereweresomanywhichreferredtosportamongthem，youmaybetolerablysurethatheiseitheranardentshotorinterestedinbreeding。DoyouknowanythingofthisBeddoes?’”’Why，nowthatyoumentionit，’saidhe，’Irememberthatmypoorfatherusedtohaveaninvitationfromhimtoshootoverhispreserveseveryautumn。’”’Thenitisundoubtedlyfromhimthatthenotecomes，’saidI。’ItonlyremainsforustofindoutwhatthissecretwaswhichthesailorHudsonseemstohaveheldovertheheadsofthesetwowealthyandrespectedmen。’”’Alas，Holmes，Ifearthatitisoneofsinandshame！’criedmyfriend。’ButfromyouIshallhavenosecrets。HereisthestatementwhichwasdrawnupbymyfatherwhenheknewthatthedangerfromHudsonhadbecomeimminent。IfounditintheJapanesecabinet，ashetoldthedoctor。Takeitandreadittome，forIhaveneitherthestrengthnorthecouragetodoitmyself。’”Thesearetheverypapers，Watson，whichhehandedtome，andIwillreadthemtoyou，asIreadthemintheoldstudythatnighttohim。Theyareendorsedoutside，asyousee，’SomeparticularsofthevoyageofthebarkGloriaScott，fromherleavingFalmouthonthe8thOctober，1855，toherdestructioninN。Lat。
15degrees20’，W。Long。25degrees14’onNov。6th。’
Itisintheformofaletter，andrunsinthisway：”’Mydear，dearson，nowthatapproachingdisgracebeginstodarkentheclosingyearsofmylife，Icanwritewithalltruthandhonestythatitisnottheterrorofthelaw，itisnotthelossofmypositioninthecounty，norisitmyfallintheeyesofallwhohaveknownme，whichcutsmetotheheart；butitisthethoughtthatyoushouldcometoblushforme——youwholovemeandwhohaveseldom，Ihope，hadreasontodootherthanrespectme。Butiftheblowfallswhichisforeverhangingoverme，thenIshouldwishyoutoreadthis，thatyoumayknowstraightfrommehowfarIhavebeentoblame。Ontheotherhand，ifallshouldgowellwhichmaykindGodAlmightygrant！，thenifbyanychancethispapershouldbestillundestroyedandshouldfallintoyourhands，I
conjureyou，byallyouholdsacred，bythememoryofyourdearmother，andbythelovewhichhadbeenbetweenus，tohurlitintothefireandtonevergiveonethoughttoitagain。”’Ifthenyoureyegoesontoreadthisline，IknowthatIshallalreadyhavebeenexposedanddraggedfrommyhome，orasismorelikely，foryouknowthatmyheartisweak，bylyingwithmytonguesealedforeverindeath。Ineithercasethetimeforsuppressionispast，andeverywordwhichItellyouisthenakedtruth，andthisIswearasIhopeformercy。”’Myname，dearlad，isnotTrevor。IwasJamesArmitageinmyyoungerdays，andyoucanunderstandnowtheshockthatitwastomeafewweeksagowhenyourcollegefriendaddressedmeinwordswhichseemedtoimplythathehadsurprisedmysecret。AsArmitageitwasthatIenteredaLondonbanking-house，andasArmitageIwasconvictedofbreakingmycountry’slaws，andwassentencedtotransportation。Donotthinkveryharshlyofme，laddie。Itwasadebtofhonor，socalled，whichIhadtopay，andIusedmoneywhichwasnotmyowntodoit，inthecertaintythatI
couldreplaceitbeforetherecouldbeanypossibilityofitsbeingmissed。Butthemostdreadfulill-luckpursuedme。ThemoneywhichIhadreckoneduponnevercametohand，andaprematureexaminationofaccountsexposedmydeficit。Thecasemighthavebeendealtlenientlywith，butthelawsweremoreharshlyadministeredthirtyyearsagothannow，andonmytwenty-thirdbirthdayIfoundmyselfchainedasafelonwiththirty-sevenotherconvictsin’tween-decksofthebarkGloriaScott，boundforAustralia。”’Itwastheyear’55whentheCrimeanwarwasatitsheight，andtheoldconvictsipshadbeenlargelyusedastransportsintheBlackSea。Thegovernmentwascompelled，therefore，tousesmallerandlesssuitablevesselsforsendingouttheirprisoners。TheGloriaScotthadbeenintheChinesetea-trade，butshewasanold-fashioned，heavy-bowed，broad-beamedcraft，andthenewclippershadcutherout。Shewasafive-hundred-tonboat；andbesidesherthirty-eightjail-birds，shecarriedtwenty-sixofacrew，eighteensoldiers，acaptain，threemates，adoctor，achaplain，andfourwarders。Nearlyahundredsoulswereinher，alltold，whenwesetsaidfromFalmouth。”’Thepartitionsbetweenthecellsoftheconvicts，insteadofbeingofthickoak，asisusualinconvict-ships，werequitethinandfrail。Themannexttome，upontheaftside，wasonewhomIhadparticularlynoticedwhenwewereleddownthequay。
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