The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1917-06-06
Continued From Our Lat issue)
CHAPTER VI
The Cipher


The Cipher
Well. you have heard. OF course,
the many stories current-the thou
sand vague rumoru afloat about
money buried. somewhere upon the
Atlantic coast. by Kidd and his as
Hociates. These rumors must have
had some foundation In fact. And
that the rumors have existed 10
long and so continuously. could have
resulted, Il appeared 90 me. only
from the circumstance OF the bur
led treasure atill remaining en-
tombed. Had Kidd concealed his
plumber for n time. and afterward
scarcely have reached us In their
present unvarying form.
You will observe that the stories
told are all about money-seekers.
not about money finders. Had the
pirate recovered his money. there
the affair would have dropped. II
seemed TO me that some accident
say the loss OF memorandum
indicating its looallty-had de-
priyed him OF the means OF recoy
ering Il. and that this accident
had become known 10 his follow.
cra. who otherwise might never
have heard that treasure had been
concealed al all. and who. busy.
ing themselves In vain. because
unguidcd. attempts 20 regain II. had
first given birth. and the universal
currency. to the reports which are
nov 20 common. Have you ever
heard OF any important treasure
being unearthcd along the coast7'
Never"
but that Kidds Accommodations
were immense. IN well known.
took II for granted. therefore. that
the earth ntill held them: and you
will surely be surprised when tell
you that felt a hope. nearly
amounting 20 certainty, that the
parchment so strangely found In.
volved a lost record OF the place OF
deposit"
But how did you proceed"
Il held the yellum again 10 the
fire. after increasing the heat. but
nothing appeared now thought
Il possible that the coating OF dirt
might have something 10 do with
the failure. 40 carefully rinsed
the parchment by pouring warm
water over Il. aud. having done
this. placed II In tin pan. with
the skull downward. and put the
pan upon n furnace OF lighted char.
coal. In a few minutes. the pan
having become thoroughly heated.
removed the slip. and. TO my in.
eHpressiblc Joy. found IT spotted. In
several places. with what appeared
to hc figures arranged IN line
Again placed II in the pan. and
suffered 1, to remain another min.
ute Upon taking II off. the whole
was Just az You soc II now
Here Legrand. having re.heated
the parchment. submitted 4, to my
"53sst 1861 So $685.: Soes ts'
inspection. The following charao.
ters were rudely traced. In red
tint. between the deaths head and
the goat:
: Asol) s5.isC::s.siss (ssls., .s6fss.
PC. !.s).st:ssbl .5',2:.C: as5s.2(s.
-Usts': l0ss2s6l $50 +ss tts: $50
si.s ;ssi: s!S5. ~ ss5, 52ss06ssi (is:
4s.tss;tts73+ .tsl4s .lst.:iss:sg."
But" said |. returning him the
alp. lam MS much In the dark ms
ever Were all the jewels OF Col.
conda awaiting me upon my solu-
Ion OF this enigma. ! am quite sure
that ] should be unable TO earn
them"
And yet" said Lcgrand. the so.
luton IL by no means 40 difficult
40 YOU might be led to imagine
from the first hasty inspection OF
the characters. These characters.
as any enc might readily guess.
form n ciphcr-ihat In to say. they
convey meaning but then from
What rs known OF Kidd. I could no,
suppose him capable of construct
Ing any Of the moro abstruse cryp-
tographs. ! made up my mind. at
once. that this was OF simple spe-
ciea such. however. as would ap.
pear. TO the crude intellect OF the
sailor. absolutely insoluble with.
out tho key"
And you really solved IL"
Readily. have solved Others OF
an abstrusepess ten thousand times
greater. Circumstances. and Ger.
tain bias Of mind. have led mo 10
take interest In such riddles. and IT
may well be doubted whether hu.
man ingenuity can construct an
enigma OF the kind which human
ingenuity may not. by proper appli.
cation. resolve In fact. having
once established connected and leg.
ible characters. ! scarcely give
thought to the mere difficulty OF