Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
231
In
the
spring
of
1855,
a
young
lady,
fifteen
years
of
age,
whose
parents
resided
in
a
small
English
town,
which
shall
be
nameless,
was
sent
to
a
boarding-school
at
some
distance
therefrom
to
pursue
her
education.
The
mother
of
the
young
lady
was
in
a
delicate
state
of
health,
and,
as
was
most
proper
in
the
circumstances,
letters
were
written
from
time
to
time
and
forwarded
to
the
daughter
at
school,
giving
particulars
of
her
mother's
progress.
So
far
this
is
all
plain
and
straightforward.
The
young
lady,
however,
one
day
declared
that
though
on
a
particular
date
mentioned
by
her
she
had
written
home
to
inquire
how
her
mother
was,
that
letter
had
not
been
delivered;
and
that
on
the
second
day
thereafter
a
brown-paper
parcel
was
placed
in
a
very
mysterious
manner
in
the
hall
of
the
house
where
she
was
at
school.
In
this
parcel
was
found
a
letter
for
the
young
lady
intimating
her
mother's
death,
and
explaining
that
the
parcel
had
been
brought
by
a
friend--thus
accounting
for
the
absence
from
it
of
all
post-marks.
Other
circumstances
were
related
by
the
girl--that
she
had
seen
a
man
galloping
along
the
road,
and
that
he
had
left
the
parcel
in
question.
Two
days
after
this
event,
a
letter
was
posted
from
her
parents'
residence
to
inform
the
young
lady
that
her
mother
was
much
better;
but
when
the
letter
arrived
and
was
opened,
she
produced
another
letter
requiring
her
immediate
return,
in
order
to
attend
her
mother's
funeral.
The
case
was
very
puzzling,
and
naturally
excited
great
interest,--the
more
so,
as
some
suspicion
arose
that
a
conspiracy
existed
to
carry
off
the
young
lady,
in
which
some
person
in
the
Post-office
was
aiding
and
abetting.
The
matter
formed
the
subject
of
two
separate
investigations,
ending
in
failure,
and
the
mystery
still
remained.
It
was
only
after
a
third
attempt
at
elucidation--when
an
officer
specially
skilled
in
prosecuting
inquiries
of
a
difficult
kind
had
visited
the
school--that
the
truth
began
to
appear.
This
officer
reported
that,
in
his
opinion,
the
whole
proceedings
were
but
a
plot
of
a
school-girl
to
get
home;
and
the
young
lady
afterwards
confessed
this
to
be
the
case.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
