The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-04-15

would like to share in it.'
 CHAPTER 23
 Crewe went to the table and picked up the plan.
 ''My first impression was that the circle the Chinese fashion-upward and down. of figures represented some form of let ters of the alphabet arranged on what is called the cardboard or trellis cipher in which message is concealed by altering the places of the letters without changing their powers. Such messages are generally written after ward-but there is no reason why circle should not be used to conceal the message. In this case I did not expect to find mes sage hidden in the circle, but rather, the key to the solution of the letters above the cir cle, which, I was convinced, formed the real cryptogram.
 "The recurring T's and Ms in the top line seemed to indicate that it was some form of changed letter cipher, complicated by having to be read in connection with the figures in the circle, which represented other letters of the alphabet. The numbers, representing an ascending series from tO OS, WlLE OHc recurring O, SuSSeSVtu IHc possibility of this form of cryptogram hav- ing been used. The number in the center suggested a sum, which, when done, would throw some light on the arthmetica pug gle in the center of the circle by division, substraction or multiplication.
 q worked for solution on these lines for some time, but ultimately came to the conclusion that the solution did not lie with in them. l am not an arlthmetician, but my calculations told me enough to make me realize that I was on the wrong track.
 "I next attempted to ascertain if the two mysterious messages-the lines on the top of the circle of figures-were two separate messages read independently of one an- other. I did not think they were, but I determined to put it to the test. Obvious ly, if they were, the top line was merely a changed letter cipher, and nothing more. These are usually easy to decipher because of the frequency with which certain let ters recur. In English the letter that oc- CUTS oftenest is E, then I, then A, o, I, then R. s. H; others in lessening frequency down to J and z, which are the least used letters in the English alphabet. The recur- ring letters in our cryptegram are T's and Ms. Using these as basis to give me the key, I tried all likely combinations on the changed-letter basis, but without success
 r'I came back to my original idea that the figures in the circle were the solvent of the line of letters above and concen- trated my efforts in attempting to discov- CT their meaning. 1 finally came to the con clusion that the figures represented the pages or lines of some book"
 Like the cryptograms I used to solve when I was at school" suggested Mars land, with a smile.
 Rather more difficult than that. In that form of cryptogram rows of figures are turn ed into words once you hit on the right book. This cryptogram is much more ingenious, for it consists of three parts-a line of meaningless letters and a circle of equally meaningless figures, with other figures with in it, and some plain English verses of Scripture, the whole probably interdepen- dent If the circle of figures represented some book necessary to the solution of the whole cryptogram, the first thing to find out was the book from which the figures had been taken had not much difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that this book was large, brass-bound family Bible . saw at; Cliff Farm"
 q suppose. the texts on the bottom of the sheet suggested that idea to you?" said Marsand.
 Crewe shook his head.
 "I've learnt to mistrust guesswork," he said. 'It would be jump at random to come to the conclusion that the crypto- gram had been drawn on the fly-leaf of Bible because it contained some Scripture