"But, sir, you will ruin me and ruin yourself," replied Vanslyperken, alarmed.
"Fear not," replied Ramsay; "for my own sake, and that of the good cause, I shall not hurt you. No one will know that the despatches have been ever examined, and----"
"And what?" replied Vanslyperken, gloomily.
"For the passage, and this service, you will receive one hundred guineas."
Vanslyperken no longer hesitated; he opened the drawer in which he had deposited the letters, and produced them.
"Now lock the door," said Ramsay, taking his seat.
He then examined the seals, pulled some out of his pocket, and compared them; sorted the letters according to the seals, and laid one corresponding at the heading of each file, for there were three different government seals upon the despatches. He then took a long Dutch earthen pipe which was hanging above, broke off the bowl, and put one end of the stem into the fire. When it was of a red heat he took it out, and applying his lips to the cool end, and the hot one close to the sealing-wax, he blew through it, and the heated blast soon dissolved the wax, and the despatches were opened one after another without the slightest difficulty or injury to the paper. He then commenced reading, taking memorandums on his tablets as he proceeded.
When he had finished, he again heated the pipe, melted the wax, which had become cold and hard again, and resealed all the letters with his counterfeit seals.
During this occupation, which lasted upwards of an hour, Vanslyperken looked on with surprise, leaning against the bulk-head of the cabin.
"There, sir, are your despatches," said Ramsay, rising from his chair: "you may now put them away; and, as you may observe, you are not compromised."