Evening star., 1922-07-15

This" he continued. "is the pho
tographic copy of a message which.
suppose. is now on its way to the
Russian minister to France in Paris.
Some one in this room besides Mr..
Jameson and myself has seen this
letter before. l will hold it up as l
pass around and let each one see it."
In intense silence Kennedy passed
before each of US, holding up the
blueprint and searchinGly scanning
the faces. No one betrayed by any
sign that he recognized it. At last
it came to Revalenko himself.
The checkerboard the checker
board,' he cried, his eyes half start
ing ffrom their sockets as he gazed
at it.
Yes" said Kennedy in low tone.
the checkerboard. 1t took me some
that would have baff1ed Poe. In fact,
there is no means of deciphering it
unless you chance to know its secret.
l happened to have heard Of it a long
time ago abroad, yet my recollection
was vague. and l had to reconstruct
night to do it. 1t is a cipher. however,
that is well known among the official
classes of Russia.
Fortunately 1 remember the crucial
point. without which l should still be
puzzling over it. 1t is that a perfectly
innocent message. on its race, may he
used to carry secret. hidden message.
The letters which compose the words,
instead of being written continuously
along. as We ordinarily write. have, as
you will observe If you look twice,
breaks here and there. These breaks in
the letters stand for numbers.
Thus the first words are Many
The first break is at the end
of the letter n between it and the ".
There are three letters before this
break. That stands for the number 3.
When you come to the end of a
word. if the stroke Is down at the end
of the last letter, that means no break
if it is up, it means a break The stroke
at the end of the " Is plainly down.
Therefore there is no break until after
the t. That gives US the number 2.
So we get l next, and again 1, and still
again :; ; then 8 then 5. then l; and
so on.
Now, take these numbers in pairs,
thus s.; II; Is: 81. By con-
sulting this table you can arrive at the
hidden message
He held up cardboard bearing the
following arrangement of the letters OF
the alpha bet:
third column and second line. That is
H Then Ii is "A > 1-5 is " 81
is rE'-and we get the word have"
Not soul stirred as Kennedy un-
folded the cipher. What was the
terrible secret in that scientific essay
/ had puzzled SO unsuccessfully over
the night before?
Even this can be complicated by
choosing a series of fixed numbers
to be added to the real numbers over
and over again. Or the order of the
alphabet can be changed. However,
we have the straight cipher only to
deal with here"
it reveal?" asked Saratovsky. lean
ing forward, forgetful of the fever
that was consuming him.
Kennedy pulled out a piece of paper
on which he had written the hidden
message and read:
Have successfully inoculated S.
with fever. Public opinion America
would condemn violence. Think best
death should appear natural. Sama-
rova infected also. Cook unfortu-
nately took dose in food intended
Kharkoff. Now have three cases.
Shall stop there at present. Danger
GUS excite further suspicion health
authorities"
Rapidly 1 eliminated in my mind
the persons mentioned, as Craig
read. Saratovsky, of course, was not
guilty. for the plot had centered about
him. Nor was little Samarova. nor
DR.. Kharkof. 1 noted Revalenko
and Kazanovitch Glarins at each
other and hastily tried to decide
which 1 more strongly suspected.
"Will get X" continued Kennedy.
Think bomb perhaps all right. X.
case different from S. No public
sentiment"
$50 Kharkofr had been marked for
l thought. Or was k
! regarded Revalenko
more closely. He was suspiciously
Bullen.
Must have more money. Cable ten
thousand rubles at once Russian
consul general. Will advise you plot
against czar as details perfected here:
Expect break up New York band
with death of S."
IL Kennedy himself had thrown a
bomb or scattered broadcast the con-
tents of the test tubes the effect
could not have been more startling
than his last quiet sentence-and SEN
tence it was in two senses.
: signed" he said, folding the paper
up deliberately. "Ekaterina Nevsky."'
1t was as If cable had snapped
and weight had fallen. Revalenko
sprang up and grasped aZanovitch
Kby the hand. Forgive me. comrade,
for ever suspecting you" he cried.
And forgive me for suspecting
you, Teplleu NdLdioNltIh' bol io"
did you come to shadow Kharkoff?''
"I ordered him to follow Kharkoff
secretly and protect him." explained
olga and Ekaterina faced each
other fercely. Olga was trembling
with emotion. Nevsky stood coolly,
defiantly. If ever there was a con-
summate actress it was she, who had
put the bomb at her own door and
had rushed off to start Kennedy on
a blind trail.
You traitress," cried Olga pas
forgetting all in her out
raa ragrd love bv your false hb
all the time you would have killed
him like dog for the cars gold.
At last you are unmasked-you Azeff
in skirts. False friend-you would
have killed US all-saratovsky'
BE still, little fool" exclaimed
Nevsky. contemptuously. THE spir-
lila fever has affected your brains.
Bah, l will not stay with those who
are so ready to suspect an old COM
rade on the mere word of a charla-
tan. Boris Kazanovitch. do you stand
there silent and let this insult be
heaped upon me-"
For answer Kazanovitch de1iber-
ately turned his back on his lover of
a moment ago and crossed the room.
olga" ne pleaded. '1 have been a
fool Some day I may be worthy of
your love. Fever or not, I must beg
your forgiveness"
With cry of delight the actress
flung her arms about Boris as he i'm
printed a penitent kiss on her warm
lips.
"Simpletonw hissed Nevsky with
curling lips. 'Now you. too, will die
"One moment. Ekaterina Nevsky."
interposed Kennedy, as he picked up
some vacuum tubes full of a golden
yellow powder. that lay on the table.
"Tne spirilla. as scientists now know.
belong to the same family as those
tically, the black plague 1t Is the
same species as that of the African