'
"Another expedition planned! I must know more of this. Where can it be
going? Is it meant for the Sea of Azof and Kertch, like the last,
which alarmed us so, and never got so far?
"What a business that was! We heard of it long beforehand;
preparations for transport, and the embarkation of the troops. The
fleet left Kamiesch, steering northward, past Sebastopol, and we
thought the latter would be attacked. But lo! next morning the enemy
were not in sight; the fleet had returned to Kamiesch Bay. What did it
mean? It was weeks before I learnt the right story, and then it came
from Paris. General Canrobert had changed his mind. The Emperor had
told him not to send away any troops, but to keep all concentrated
before Sebastopol. So the expedition to Kertch--for it was directed
against Kertch, and the northward move was only intended to deceive
us--all ended in smoke. Can they be going again to Kertch? It is
hardly likely. They have some deeper designs, I feel sure. This would
tally with my latest advice. Let me read once more what the Prince
says."
He took a key from his pocket, opened his desk, and unlocked an inner
receptacle, from which he took a letter in cypher.
"'We have learnt,' he read, fluently, without using any key, 'that the
enemy contemplate a great change in their plan of operations.
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