"What was the nature of the connection which he had with the others?"
"I should conjecture that he was a kind of guide, philosopher, and friend, with a little of the agent and commission-merchant," replied Hilda. "But it is impossible to find out anything in particular about him from the meagre letters which I obtained. I found nothing else except these papers, though I searched diligently. Every thing is contained here. I have them, and I intend to show them to you without any further delay."
Saying this Hilda drew some papers from her pocket, and handed them to Gualtier.
On opening them Gualtier found first a paper covered with cipher writing. It was the same which Hilda had copied, and the characters were familiar to him from his former attempt to decipher them. The paper was thick and coarse, but Hilda had copied the characters very faithfully.
The next paper was a receipt written out on a small sheet which was yellow with age, while the ink had faded into a pale brown:
"$100,000. NEW YORK, May 10, 1840.
"Received from O. N. Pomeroy the sum of one hundred thousand dollars in payment for my claim.
"OBED CHUTE."
It was a singular document in every respect; but the mention of the sum of money seemed to confirm the statement gathered from the cipher writing.
The next document was a letter: