The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-12-27
CHAPTER TX.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

CHAPTER TX.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
As the full significance of the first
words sank into the mind of Clarence
Stanley, he becamy dizzy with the
possibilities of future wealth that
rushed into his excited thoughts, for
he knew that he possessed in that
slip of parchment the key to almost
fabulous treasure. True, the secret
was concealed in cipher that was OF
the most intricate character, but he
was not the man to be baff1ed by any
thing of that sort. He knew that all
ciphers were made on certain rules;
and, besides, having natural talent
for puzzles of every description, he
had often amused himself by the work
ing out of various ciphers and cryptic
graphs; and by then re-arranging
and transposing them into more diff
fcult forms than before, this was
mere play. In all arithmetical or
algebraic problems there are certain
family resemblances easily recogniz.
able to mathematical mind; it is the
same in cryptography, or any other
species of mental gymnastics; and
Stanley felt himself easily master
of the situation. But the excite.
ment of having this secret in his
possession. affected him SO power
fully that he was obliged to exercise
the greatest control over himself
in order not to betray his feel.
ings. He was, however, person oi
resources, and startling situations
were not new experiences to him. he
folded the parchment, took an old
fashioned wallet from his pocket-a
wallet bearing his name and the coat
of arms of the Stanley family, and
having opened it, he placed the pre-
cious document in the inmost pocket.
Then with great deliberation he re-
turned the wallet to it's former place,
and closing the book he carelessly re-
turned it whence he had taken it.
No one had observed him-that he
perceived at a glance. Mary Hamil.
ton, who had always been, as her COM
panions had said, "a very girly girl, n
was, for the moment, entirely occu-
pied by her two callers and by Dol
ores. But when Bertha suddenly de-
clared that she and Olive had made q
very long call and must now bring il
to an end, Clarence Stanley found
himself included IN the hubbub oi
goodbye and farewell remarks that
presently easued. He took advan.
tage of this to bring his own visit to
an end; and Notwithstanding an i'm.
ploring look from Polly, he took his
departure, promising to see her on the
next day.
He went directly to his hotel, and
as soon as he had reached his room he
locked his door, sat down at writ
ing-table and placed the parchment
with it's cryptograph before him As
he sat there, poring over its secret
characters, he scarcely looked like
the same man on whom Polly Hamil-
ton had fixed all her hopes of future
happiness. The whole expression OF
his face was changed. The bright
and debonair look that characterized
him in society was gone, and all his
latent capabilities for evil came to the
surface. But the predominant e1-
preston was eager, greedy, hungry
love for gold; and as he studied the
mysterious characters on the parch-
ment, there was but one thought in
his mind-that he would master its
secret and become the sole possessor
of the wealth of the Mendozas.
\, That he would find the cipher diff
fcult one to interpret he had, OF
course, expected; but he soon learned
that it was more than difficult; ii
might even prove impossible. Never
had he seen such characters. How
should he begin to interpret them:
Was each character letter, and, il
so, to what mysterious language did
they belong? Or was each character
symbol, and, if so, what did the
symbol indicate? Hour after hour he
spent over the. parchment, turning it
hither and thither in every direction
and looking at it from every point OF
view. There were twelve characters:
that was the first discovery Why
twelve? There were twelve signs of
the zodiac, twelve months in the year,
twelve tribes in Israel, twelve apos-
ties: What was the mystic signifca-
ton of twelve? Had it any? He be-
gan copying the characters, tracing
them one by one, with laborious min
uteness. s:.They were certainly not
letters; they were-yes, surely, they
were fragments of picture He
took several pieces of paper and
traced each one of the characters sep
arately on a piece of the paper, and
then laid then side by side, to catch
the effect; but this told him nothing.
eff I had pair of scissors" he
thought, gazing helplessly about the
room. "''Ah! How welcome would
be the sight of a woman's work
basket at this moment! Is there
nothing can manage with?"
He rose from the table and began
walking aimlessly about, till, catching
sight of his dressing-case in the inner
room, he went toward it with an
ejaculation of triumph.
my nail-scissors! What was l
thinking of, not to remember them?"
And suatching up that implement OF
his toilet, Mr.. Stanley again sat down
to the solution of his cryptograph.
With great care he cut out from the
pieces of paper each carefully traced
character, and then he endt avored
to fit them together. Again and
.,J ro;1..1 Tho nve-