There was a lot more of this sort of thing, and Desmond turned
from it with a smile to take up the account of Bellward's arrest.
It appeared that, about a fortnight before, on the eve of the
departure for France of a very large draft of troops, a telegram
was handed in at the East Strand telegraph office addressed to
Bellward. This telegram ran thus:
"Bellward, Bellward Hotel, Jermyn Street.
"Shipping to you Friday 22,000 please advise correspondents.
"Mortimer."
The authorities were unable to deliver this telegram gram as no
such an hotel as the Hotel Bellward was found to exist in Jermyn
Street. An examination of the address showed clearly that the
sender had absent mindedly repeated the addressee's name in
writing the name of the hotel. An advice was therefore addressed
to the sender, Mortimer, at the address he had given on the back
of the form, according to the regulations, to inform him that his
telegram had not been delivered. It was then discovered that the
address given by Mortimer was fictitious.
Suspicion being thus aroused, the telegram was forwarded to the
Postal Censor's department whence it reached the Intelligence
Authorities who promptly spotted the connection between the
wording of the telegram and the imminent departure of the drafts,
more especially as the dates tallied.
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