Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-08

been dug over, but there IS only one chance
in three hundred and sixty-five that the
treasure was found. l give her credit for
extraordinary cleverness; but not enough to
make the necessary astronomical calculations.
run of an hour and a half brought them to
Stonehedge, huge old estate with ramShackle
dwelling and acres of rock ridden ground.
Away off in the northwest corner were two
large stones-Bear Rock and Giants Head
rising fifteen or twenty feet above the ground.
The was driven over a rough road and
stopped near them.
Il You see she did read the cipher remarked
the scientist placidly. "Workmen have al
ready been here
Straight ahead of them was an excavation
ten feet or more square. Hatch peered into it,
while The Thinking Machine busted himself
by planting a stake at the called tail of
Bear Rock. Then he glanced at his watch
it was half past two o'clock,-an sat down
with the young woman in the shadow of Giants
Head Hatch lounged on the ground near
them, and the workmen made themselves
comfortable in their own way.
I'VE can't do anything till three o'clock,
remarked The Thinking Machine.
And Just what shall we do them" inquired
the young woman expectantly. 1t was the
first time She had spoken since they started.
=" 1t is rather difficult to explain" said The
Thinking Machine. The hole there proves
that the Young woman read the cipher, of
course. Now here briefly is why the treasure
not found. To-day is September II. A
tions from the tail of Bear Rock through the
apex of the shadow of Giants Head precisely
at three O'Clock yesterday, one hundred feet
due north, or as near north as possible. The
hole shows the end of the hundred-foot line.
Now, we know that Captain Harding was i'm
prisoned on June :, 1910; we know he buried
this before that date; we have right to as
sumo that 1t was only shortly before. On
June 3 of any year the apex of the shadow
will be in a totally different place from Sep
fntr1 l1lr hoe. h..r f1pr1f ut fhp
earth about the and the relative change
in the suns position. What we must do now
is to find precisely where the shadow falls at
three o'clock to-day, then make our Caicua-
tons to show where it will fall say one week
before June 3. Do you follow me, In other
words. difference of half foot in the location
of the apex of the shadow will make differ
ence of many feet at the end of one hundred
feet when we follow the cipher"
At precisely three O'Clock The Thinking
Machine noted the position of the shadow,
and then began calculation which covered
two sheets of blank paper which Hatch had
III his pocket.
This is correct" said The Thinking Ma
stake in the ground. There is a chance of
course that we miss fire the first time because
of possible seismic disturbances at sometime
past, or of change in the surface of the ground;
but this is fundamentally correct
Then, with the assistance of the newspaper
man and the young woman, he drew his hun
dred-foot line, and planted third stake
Dig here!' he told the workmen.
One hour later the long lost family plate
and Jewels of the ancient Harding family
had been unearthed. The Thinking Machine
and the others stopped over the rotting box
which had been brought to the surface and
noted the contents. Roughly the value was
above two hundred thousand dollars.
And l think that is ALL Miss Harding"
said the scientist at last. 1t is yours. Load
it into your car there and drive home
Miss HardingW Hatch repeated quickly,
with a glance at the young woman. Miss
Harding?"
The Thinking Machine turned and squinted
at the reporter for a moment. Didn't you
know that the young woman who called on
me was not Miss Harding?" he demanded.
1t was evident in her every actin her fail
ure to explain the broken bracelet; and in
the fact that she was left handed. You must
have noticed that. Well this is Miss Harding,
and she is right handed"
The girl smiled at Hatch's establishment.
Then the other young woman merely i'm
personated Miss Harding?" he asked at last.
That is all, and cleverly," replied The
Thinking Machine. She merely wanted me
to read the cipher for her. l put her on the
track of reading it herself purposely, and she
and the persons associated with her are respon-
sible for the excavation over there"
But who is the other young woman?"
"She &c the one who visited Miss Hardinp