THE SECRET CIPHER.

Waipawa Mail, Volume VI, Issue 671, 18 July 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE SECRET CIPHER.

There it was, in italics, half way down the “agony ” column of the “ Standard,” conspicious only for its singular and most aggravating combination of letters and figures, the sole clue to the whereabouts of the game I had been after for over a week, scarcely resting, eating, or sleeping in my anxiety to secure the reward offered in a heavy burglary case—and something else. That “something else.” Ah! my heart sank within me as I flung aside the enigmatical puzzle before me, and, leaning back in my chair, gave myself up to the gloomy reveries of the past. Emma Dayton—how I loved her ! How well I remember the bitter parting—a hopeless one, it seemed to me—when I learned my fate from her father’s lips, and passed down the brown stone steps of the Dayton mansion, wondering if the inclination of moneyed men .toward stone residences was not caused by the existence of a similar hard material in that part of the human anatomy known as the heart.

I was a poor man, he said, and the profession of a detective was not an aristocratic one. My position had been a very different one ; but a bank robbery had reduced me and many better men to absolute want. I followed the advice of a humble friend, and became a “ detective.” It was in my better days I made the acquaintance of AllDay ton. His daughter loved me—he could not deny that; but she was his only child, and her wealth and position demanded a match with some social equal. He would not break her heart by absolutely refusing to sanction our engagement; but if within a year I should secure a fortune of £5,000 and a lucrative business, and Emma was still of the same mind—well, he would consider it.

Five thousand pounds ! I grew sick at heart at the thought of the conditions imposed upon which I was to purchase my future happiness. Friendless, the recipient of a meagre salary, and utterly unknown, where was I ever to raise this amount ; and what business capacity had I, the son of parents who had given me every luxury, and neglected a practical education, until a crash came that left us homeless J and in penury ?

Day and night for over a month I brooded over my sorrows, and then one day I was aroused into renewed life by the reception of a formal but courteous notice from Mr Dayton, requesting my immediate presence at his house. My feet seemed winged as I hastened to his house. What did it mean ? Had he relented ? Was Emma ill, or did business await me at the pleasure of my hard-hearted censor ? I was ushered into the library, where I found the old gentleman in an intense state of excitement, pacing the floor, the window broken in, papers and boxes scattered about the apartment, and a safe in the corner broken open. I stared at him in amasement. “ You seem agitated, Air Dayton,” I ventured to suggest. “Agitated! agitated, sir? I am wild! Late last night or early this morning burglars entered this apartment by means of yonder window, and broke open the safe. When I came down this morning I found affairs as they now are, and nearly twenty thousand pounds in money, bonds, and jewels gone !” I stared mutely. The immensity of the robbery petrified me. “You have informed the police ?” I asked when I could find my voice.

“No!” he thundered, coming to a full stop. I have no confidence in a police force which fails to protect a house from such an audacious burglary, and expects one half the booty for its return. Here is the room, and yonder is a list of the stolen property. I believe you are honest, and I leave the entire affair in your hands. Call upon me for whatever money you require in an attempt to recover the property or to detect the thieves. If you succeed within a month I will give you six thousand pounds. If you fail I will pay your expenses for the month, and place the case in other hands. Are you satisfied ?”

I gasped spasmodically. Six thousand pounds ! A fortune more than the price of my happiness ! And then the pride of my profession came to my aid, and I told him that I should succeed.

I examined the apartment. The burglary had been effected very simply apparently. Edward, the footman, a tall, lank specimen of humanity, had heard a noise in the night in the library, but had paid no attention to it, as Mr Dayton was in the habit of writing very late, and he thought it was his employer. What puzzled me most was the means of entrance and egress adopted by the burglar or burglars. The library was fully fifteen feet from the ground, had a bay window, and, except the broken glass, there was not the slightest sign to show how the window had been gained. A ladder would have done it, but no marks of a ladder, no signs of footsteps exhibited themselves in the damp ground, wet from recent rains.

I was sorely puzzled. I examined the servants one by one, but could find no clue to justify the remotest suspicion of complicity in the affair on their part. The work had evidently been done by scientific burglars, and they had worked at their leisure. I inquired into the antecedents of Edward, the footman ; but Mr Dayton averred that he would allow no suspicion to rest on so faithful a servant of the family. I resolved to inquire more in regard to him, however ; but I found nothing against the man, and temporarily dismissed him from my mind as having any connection with the case. “ You heard no noise on the night of the robbery ?” I inquired of Mr Dayton. “ None. I slept unusally heavy last night.” I went away thoughtfully, for I had found in the library an empty bottle, which, from the scent, I knew to have contained chloroform, and had noticed the marks of muddy boots leading from the apartment, while around the windows none were to be seen. The glass, too, had been broken by a quick

blow, not cut out. Altogether it was a most mysterious piece of business. After three days of unremitting toil, I was considering if it would not be as well to call in professional assistance, when the advertisement in the “Standard,” at the head of this story, attracted my attention. Instinctively I divined some connection with “crooked” business, and whether it referred to my case or not, I resolved to ascertain its meaning. I went down to the “ Standard ” office that morning, and introducing myself, attempted to obtain some description of the person who had handed in the advertisement. The clerk stated that it had been received by mail, in a letter enclosing the amount requisite for its insertion in the paper. Could I see the original copy ? He would see ; and a message was sent to the composing room for it. It was written in a disguised hand, on a little scrap of paper. I asked leave to retain it, and the permission granted me, I returned to my room. I poured over the cipher for a long time, and discouraged at my inability to make out one word of it, was finally about to abandon it, when I chanced to look at the reverse side of the paper. There were figures and words on it, and I read “ SouthWestern Railway Bonds,” and other memoranda, indicating that it had been a loose wrapper for valuable papers. Then I knew that the advertisement bore an important relation to the robbery. And so, until the day upon which the story opens, I was unable to make head or tail of the secret enigma. So wearied was I that I fell asleep with my head upon my desk, and did not wake until noon. It is wonderful how a brief repose will clear the mind. I took up the paper with renewed energy, and a bright idea flashed over me.

Simple as it was, I had not thought of it before. The entire message was written on the system of a substitution of letters, based on the reversal of the alphabet. Thus, instead of writing “a,” the first letter of the alphabet, “ z,” the last one, was substituted; instead of “ b,” “y” was used—the alphabet reversed was the key to the solution of the puzzle. I gave utterance to a shout of joy, for, following out the theory, it read : “ Larry : Aleet me Saturday night at 927, Fire-street.—Nki>.”

And “Ned,” or Edward, was the name of Air Dayton’s footman. I began “to see a very large mouse.” But Fire-street—-there was no such thoroughfare in the city, and I was “floored ” again. Gradually, however, the thought occurred to me, on the basis of reversal and opposites adopted by the sender of the message, why should not “fire” mean “water,” its direct reverse ?

I dashed down the stairs, and hailing a cab (for I did not forget that it was Saturday, and that that evening wasthe appointed time for the meeting of the two burglars, if such they were), I soon had reached Waterstreet. There was no such number as 927.

I paused, disappointed, and dismissed the vehicle, again having recourse to the puzzling enigma. So near the solution, and yet doomed to be balked at the last, and A sudden inspiration of renewed energy, and I had forged the last link in the chain of evidence ! There had been a reversal in the order of numbers, from 1 to 10, as in the letters of the alphabet, and 927 meant 294.

I looked at my watch ; three o’clock. I went to the nearest local telegraph office, and sent the following despatch to the chief of the police : “ Send to this office three efficient men in plain clothes.” I signed my name, lit a cigar, and awaited the arrival of evening and my companion officers.

It was dark when we reached the place for meeting appointed by the two men. It was a vile groggery kept by a woman, and a resort for the very lowest class of ruffians. I had put on a felt hat and a pair of false whiskers, and I entered the bar-room, having first placed my men in advantageous positions on the outside. Within half-an-hour there entered an old woman, veiled, bearing some bulky object under her cloak. She made a sign to the woman behind the bar, and went into the next room. I caught sight of her feet as she passed through the door ; theyJiwere incased, not in shoes, but in man’s boots. I went quietly to the bar, and made a sign to the woman.

“ Is Larry in there ?” I inquired in a loud voice, pointing to the other apartment. She looked at me sharply, and then replied in the affirmative.

“ Keep out anybody that comes,” I said, significantly. “We’re going to divide the swag.” And I opened the door.. There was no one in the first room, but in the second, by a table, on which lay a large tin box, was my game—Larry, the burglar, and a tall spare form in female attire, with veil thrown back, and terrified face—the footman, Edward.

“ \ r ou can drop on my little dodge, gentlemen,” I said, quietly whipping out a brace of revolvers. “The house is surrounded, and any resistance will only make it worse for you. Larry, open that door.” He unbolted the rear door under the silent, persuasive eloquence of my revolver, and the three officers entered.

Need I tell you the rest? Edw-ard, the footman, had admitted his accomplice into the house, and had chloroformed his employer. He had kept the booty hidden in his room, not daring to go out to communicate with his pal except as has been seen, for fear he was watched.

The property had not been disturbed ; but justice was cheated, for both men escaped before conviction, and where never heard of again. As for me, I quietly handed one thousand pounds to the department, resigned, engaged in business, and married Emma.—“ Prize Tit Bit.”