South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-09-17
Revelations "a Vile s9eAasRsHE5as

saw the CLEAN OF my light Would
she not suspect me of the very deceit
l was practicing?
There was but one thing 10 do. and
! did IT, feeling Ike the third act Of
cheap melodrama tbs while. Il
hung piece OF cloth over the key
hole rolled Up a small rug. and laid
IL against tho lower part OF the door
and arranged two tall screelAarOund
the table where stood my reading
lamp. Then pushing the folded rug
softly 10 one side. opened my door.
stepped into the corridor with
hasty glance around. closed the door
and 10 ms great satisfaction detected
no giimmer or light.
Entering my room again and Jock
Ing the door. / changed TO my most
comfortable dressing gown and slip
pers. and with swiftly beating pulses.
and cheeks flushing as though I were
going 10 a tryst. I opened my trunk.
unpaCked the notebooks upon early
cuneiform Inscriptions which / had
treasured for 30 long. and set 10
work
Time. space. recollection OF any
thing In the world save those puz-
cling characters vanished from me,
and when at last, after hours or
labor. ! wrote into Allen brakes sec
Ond list the names which I was sure
had been meant by the cryptic signs.
and with a queer choking sensation.
went 10 the window for air. / found
when I had thrust aside the curtain
that dawn had come.
\ Problem Solved.
had worked through the whole
night without stopping.
Yet I was not conscious OF physical
or mental lassitude. Indeed. 1 was
in such a state of excited exaltation
that I felt as though I would never
need to sleep again.
had solved the problem which
had baffled Allen Drake FC- a
pUlsing second or two, I reveled in
the JOY of the thought Then -
sober second thought told me that
though I had achieved a really cred
table feat, yet my triumph over him
rested only upon my peculiar knowl-
edge OF Sumerian and other inscrip-
lions. and upon my peculiar power
4
recall the appearance of those in
scriptions after so long a period of
| absence from them. / knew full well
| that armed with the same knowl-
/ edge Allen Drake would have solved
I in 10 minutes the secret Of the code
which it had taken me hours Of
1 painstaking. perspiring Flooding TO
/ accomplish
The maker of the code was fami-
! liar with the Sumerian syllable writ
/ ing That was very clear, and he
] had hit upon the clever device Of
dividing the characters in halves. BY
doing this, the lines upon hIs paper
would appear meaningless scrawls TO
lany one not unusually familiar with
| the cuneiform writing. That was
the only reason why Allen Drake had
1 not been able to solve the problem.
/ Had the whole characters been used.
/ his own scholarship would have
/ placed them nearly enough for him
to have sought the aid Of some stu
dent Of the old records, and no one
would ever have known that he had
had any difficulty with them.
NIadge Is Fatigued.
That my success would be a bitter
blow 10 his vanity, was afraid, and
/ / knew that his chagrin would be in
! creased when he realized how simple
a thing the code IN reality was. Even
my inexperience could tell that its
designer had rested content when
he had divided the characters, and
had with characteristic egOtism de-
clded that because there were 50 few
people n the world with knowledge
approaching his own. there was nc
chance OF his ruse being discovered
For az least 10 minutes I stood al
the window, drawing IN deep brcaths
of the crisp autumn air. Then the
; reaction came and 1 was conscious OF
deep fatigue. sharp hunger. Tn,
. WEAKNESS so far overbalanced tn
hunger. howevev. that I would hav
fallen upon my bed just as ! was an,
have gone to sleep Immediately. hu
for the fact that ] must make m.
daylight slumber plausible &c tn
, other members Of the household an,
especially 10 Lillian.
I looked at my watch. saw that
was an hour before Katie would b.
astir. and after secreting all the pa
pers. and locking my door. wen
n0iseIess.y to the kitchen. heatet
some milk and made some sand
wiches Of the roast chicken left from
dinner.
Then. after clearing everythin
away. I went 20 my fathers room
and tapped softly He IS an unusual
rf~Lr efaapp- and his haarfrrr has n n
= vet been affected by age. Il was bu
d few seconds before his door opene
! 90 me.