Both the name and the import of the letter implied that the note was not intended for Somers, though it was directed to him. The writer had evidently written two notes, and in his haste had misdirected the envelopes. "My dear Pillgrim!" The note was intended for his fellow-officer. Was Pillgrim a confederate of Langdon? It looked so, incredible as it seemed. Somers was bewildered for a moment, but he was too good a strategist to be overwhelmed. Restoring the note to its envelope, he readjusted the lap, which was still wet, and the letter looked as though it had not been opened. He returned it to the box under his key, and perceived that there was also a note in Mr. Pillgrim's box. As soon as the mistake was discovered, the letters would be changed. He returned to his room to await the result. Somers had made an astounding discovery by the merest accident in the world. Things were not what they seemed. Mr. Pillgrim had relations of some kind with Langdon, _alias_ Lieutenant Wynkoop. His entering the parlor while they were at dinner was not so accidental a circumstance as it had appeared. Who and what was Lieutenant Pillgrim? The belief that he had met him somewhere before they came together at Newport, still haunted Somers; but he was in no better condition now than then to solve the mystery. In half an hour he went down to the office again. The note to Mr. Pillgrim was gone; but there was one for himself in the box. He took it out; the direction was not in the same handwriting as before. Mr. Pillgrim had probably discovered the mistake, and changed the letters, without a suspicion that the one addressed to himself had been read. Somers opened the note, which contained the information he expected to find there in regard to the Ben Nevis, and was signed by Wynkoop. Beyond the possibility of a doubt now, Lieutenant Pillgrim was a confederate of Langdon. Of course, he knew Coles. He was a Virginian, and it was now certain to Somers, if to no one else, that his loyalty had been justly suspected. He had doubtless entered the navy again for a purpose. What that purpose was, remained yet to be exposed. From the depths of his heart, Somers thanked God that this discovery had been made; and he determined to put it to good use. He was now more anxious than before to meet his friend Mr. Waldron, and communicate the startling information to him. From the morning papers he saw that the Ben Nevis, whose name had been changed to that of a famous Union general, had actually sailed, as Langdon's note informed him. In the forenoon, he went to the navy yard, expecting to find the ship ready to go into commission; but he learned that the bed-plates of her pivot guns had to be recast, and that she would not be ready for another week. He also learned that his friend Mr. Waldron had been taken down with typhoid fever at his home, and was then in a critical condition.