The Ely miner., 1915-10-22

tenth letter following, therefore, forms
the third letter of the real message.
The sixth letter after that forms the
fourth letter.
Repeating the process still once
more. we take our number LOG, by add
ing 4 to each portion we get and 10.
Now, my friend, observe how 1t works
out in practice"
Figuring upon his pad, he wrote
down the following series Of numbers:
6, 2, 10, 6, 4, 10. 8, 4, 2, 8. 6, 2. 10.
6. 4, 10. 8. 4. 2. 8, 6. 2. 10. 6. 4, 10. 8.
4, 2.
"All even numbers. you see," Della
Campagna continued. "On odd days
of the month, of course, the figures
are odd. You will observe that we
have a complete cycle of ten numbers
before the process repeats itself. In
other words. where one might decodi-
fy the code had we fixed values for
the letters, he now finds himself under
the necessity of decodifying code In
which each letter may stand for any
other, and may be from two to ten
spaces apart from its neighbor on eth
er hand. 1t Is a good system. and far
better than code book, which always
gets stolen in the end"
Resuming his pencil. Della Cam
pagna wrote out the telegraphed mes
sage again. dividing 1t, not between
the words, but after each series of let
ters corresponding to the series OF f1g.
ures, and capitalizing the end letters
instead of those at the beginning OF
the words. The message now read az
follows:
placeI MT he ChernagA ravauL. tsll
ras 100000 tparparI sour OR der.
andwE demand be promptlyeN teredT
ohhA ccountandB ecreditE dali low
anceU nderhM 81 gnaturediG iovanN
ibyO urroyalwaR rant4thA ugiT rV.
What do you make out of that?"
inquired Della Ccmpagna. handing 'ths
pad to me with smile. Pretty good
English for an Italian, even If did
spend five years as an attache at the
Court Of st. James-don't you think
so?"
put the capital letters together
and found the following line upon my
pad:
Observation-Disclosures
ATV
stared at It in perplexity. II
seemed strangely familiar to me; get
for the life of me could not make 1t
out, or think of any word ending In
the letter v.
Surely, my dear friend. you have
not forgotten your Latin? Della
Campagna demanded.
And then the puzzle existed no
longer. Mechanically my eye sorted
out the words:
ITALIA IRREDENTA BELLUM
IGNORAT. v.
"The v at the end stands for VIC
tor 1t is customary in sending q
message to append ones name or tni
tials, you know" explained Della Cam
pagna patiently.
italia Irredenta ignores the war;"
translated. well. don't think much
of your Latin, Della Campagna. II
sounds more like medieval Latin than
the language of Virgil and Cicero. but
as an arch-plotter I award the cake
to you."
81 thought you would be amused.
replied the young fellow suavely
"And now. excuse me. I have an ap
pointment with lady"
watched the young fellow swing
away with his graceful stride, and
confess hoped that 1t was the maid
of honor. and that she would remain
true to him. 1t Is not often that the
destinies of Europe are changed by q
young officers prank. could picture
the deadly wrath Of the Emperor
Franz Joseph when he received the
message-if. indeed, the Italian am
bassador did not discreetly modify Its
purport. And I think Prince Niklas
who sacrificed his financial needs fol
the sake of his fatherland, will fine
himself the most impoverished mon
arch in Europe II he comes home safe
from the war.