The Raymer enterprise., 1911-06-22

How did this come into your POS.
5ession!" he queried.
When my father. the tenth John
Wiborne. died last year, l fell heir to
Whitewater Island. the manor-house
and all its contents. determined to
have thorough clearance and exam.
nation Of every nook and Granny,
garrets, presses. highboys. and any
secret places l might fnd. with the
idea of inventorying anything OF
value. Naturally came across some
mighty interesting relics-old china,
old brasses. old books, old weapons.
Among the latter was q seven
teenth century powder-horn. Tucked
into the little end. rolled into cylin.
der. l found that bit Of cryptic parch-
ment. l saw at once that some secret
was hidden there. but for days there.
after gave 1t no special thought. Then
one night 1t suddenly flashed into
mind that here was the lons-forgotten.
anxiously-sought information about
Captain Kidd's treasure! 1t was q
favorite trick and device of his age,
l knew. to lock up such matters In
that way. and lose the key or leave
to posterity the task OF unlocking the
secret writing. No doubt the men
who entrusted their affairs to such
ciphers hugged themselves like cum
ming old misers at the thought Of the
trouble they were making for those
who came after them"
Then you really believe, Mr.. WI
borne. that this bit of parchment will
furnish the clue to Kidd's treasure
buried on your island estate?" queried
Valentine.
why. what else can 1t be-" demand.
ed the young man. II know of no
other incident connected with my
family which would demand any such
secrecy"
Have you given any thought as to
the probable writer?" was the next
question.
well, here's my theory: l don't
know much about such matters, but |
take 1t that no illiterate man could
devise or use cipher The chap who
wrote that-unless he was mere
copyist-was an educated man. prob.
ably a John Wiborne of the third or
fourth generation after the first set.
tlement. Probably he knew of Kidd's
deposit, and may have considered the
gold accursed: yet from motives OF
prudence. or because Of some queer
twist In his mental makeup. he com.
mitted the secret to writing in this
dark way. That's as far as I've got"
"A very plausible theory" agreed
Valentine, "but don't be too sure.
Have you shown this document to any
one?"
Not SOUL" said NWiborne, mot
even to my wife. I've been reading
up on clphers in cyclopediss and the
like, but nothing I came across gave
me any assistance. So, after mulling
over the thing for month, l come to
you. ! want you to try and decipher
it for me. You, may think me very
boyish or fanciful, but shan't rest
until know what's behind those fig.
ures and crosses and odd signs"
Very well. Mr.. Wiborne." said Fin.
ney Valentine, III accept your com.
mission. 1t may take some time, and
| don't promise success. But III tell
you one thing right here and now:
Any secret writing devised by human
ingenuity. no matter how apparently
complicated, can be deciphered by an.
other set OF brains. given sufficient
time and energy. That's as far as |
care to go just at this minute. Sup.
pose you look me up in a couple OF
weeks. l may have something to re-
port by then"
| With this guarded statement. John
Wiborne was forced to content him
self. yet he took his departure not a
little lighter in heart, for the con
founded thing" as he termed 1t, had
completely obsessed his waking
thoughts since he had stumbled Oh
that old powder.horn.
For the next few days Finney Val
entine bent all his trained powers ol
analysis to unlocking the Wiborne
cipher. To such many.sided mar
the task happened to be peculiarly
congenial, drawing as it did upon O
fund OF knowledge not often tapped In
his general line of work. That he
succeeded In his task before the al
lotted time elapsed did equal credi,
TO his critical acumen and his ability
to handle apparently unsolvable mys
teries. However, we will let him tell
his own story as he explained the
successive steps to John Wiborne
when that anxious client appeared
promptly on the appointed day.