Tales of Terror and Mystery
The Jew's Breastplate
"Youhaveonlyafewhundredyardstogo,"saidhe—IwaslivinginchambersintheAlbany."Youmayaswellstayandhaveaquietcigarwithme.Iverymuchwantyouradvice."
Irelapsedintoanarm-chairandlitoneofhisexcellentMatronas.Whenhehadreturnedfromseeingthelastofhisguestsout,hedrewaletterfromhisdress-jacketandsatdownoppositetome.
"ThisisananonymousletterwhichIreceivedthismorning,"saidhe."Iwanttoreadittoyouandtohaveyouradvice."
"Youareverywelcometoitforwhatitisworth."
"Thisishowthenoteruns:’Sir,—Ishouldstronglyadviseyoutokeepaverycarefulwatchoverthemanyvaluablethingswhicharecommittedtoyourcharge.Idonotthinkthatthepresentsystemofasinglewatchmanissufficient.Beuponyourguard,oranirreparablemisfortunemayoccur.’"
"Isthatall?"
"Yes,thatisall."
"Well,"saidI,"itisatleastobviousthatitwaswrittenbyoneofthelimitednumberofpeoplewhoareawarethatyouhaveonlyonewatchmanatnight."
WardMortimerhandedmethenote,withacurioussmile."Haveyouaneyeforhandwriting?"saidhe."Now,lookatthis!"Heputanotherletterinfrontofme."Lookatthecin’congratulate’andthecin’committed.’LookatthecapitalI.Lookatthetrickofputtinginadashinsteadofastop!"
"Theyareundoubtedlyfromthesamehand—withsomeattemptatdisguiseinthecaseofthisfirstone."
"Thesecond,"saidWardMortimer,"istheletterofcongratulationwhichwaswrittentomebyProfessorAndreasuponmyobtainingmyappointment."
Istaredathiminamazement.
