Looking again at the three initials of the signature, I said, "I know
no one for whom these letters would stand; neither at Morganton nor
elsewhere."

The hand-writing was bold. Both up strokes and down strokes very
sharp, about twenty lines in all. Here is the letter, of which I,
with good reason, retained an exact copy. It was dated, to my extreme
stupefaction, from that mysterious Great Eyrie:


Great Eyrie, Blueridge Mtns,

To Mr. Strock: North Carolina, June 13th.

Chief Inspector of Police,

34 Long St., Washington, D. C.

Sir,

You were charged with the mission of penetrating the Great
Eyrie.

You came on April the twenty-eighth, accompanied by the
Mayor of Morganton and two guides.

You mounted to the foot of the wall, and you encircled it,
finding it too high and steep to climb.