Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 794 — page 12: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

+3 - ee ee ee a ~ — ~) ——— eo > Sa ee ee re re a my Om, : 1 - = ‘ + 2 » 5 se . > < ° . ~ a a) a <at ~~ oo ——_— Se oie ee eer ee , _— ~ > a 12 ermitted to scrutinize the manuscript at eisure; and, as he continued to scan the rows of apparently meaningless letters, it was noticeable that the eager, confident look sradually faded from his countenance, and in its place appeared one of unmistakable doubt and perplexity. ‘*Confound the thing! It’s scarcely to be wondered at that King Kirby gave up the job in disgust,” he exclaimed, ruefully. ‘‘ Why, it’s a regular Chinese puzzle. How- ever, tough though it is, the nut can be cracked; and the sooner we get to work, why the sooner shail we arrive at a solution of the mystery.” He produced a note-book and pencil, and went to work with an air of grim determina- tion. His first act was to make a careful copy of .the original manuscript, the faded characters of which were almost illegible in that dim, uncertain light; then, with a plain copy to work on, he devoted himself as- siduously to the task of unraveling the puzzle which had so completely baffled King Kirby’s recent efforts. The others, meantime, having watched and waited for some minutes in silence, without any signs of progress on their comrade’s pait, now began to show symptoms of uneasiness at this irksome occupation. The Spider, finding little to interest him in the proceed- ings, shrunk away to a convenient corner and was soon fast asleep, his sonorous snores resounding throughout the gloomy cavern. A few moments later Handsome Charlie fol- lowed his example, and Rufe Ruffle was left alone to watch his partner’s progress. ‘*Pard, I reckon you’ve bit off more than you kin ehaw,” was his rather discouraging remark, as he glanced in disgust at the mean- ingless jumble of characters. ‘‘ There’s no sort o' sense in that there thing as it stands, an’ how you propose to make meaning out of it is more’n tf kin see.” “Why, Rufe, it’s nothing but a simple cryptogram, and its aolution calls for only a little time, patience and ingenuity,” was Headlight Harry’s confident reply. ‘‘ Time I have in plenty, and it remains to be seen whether or not I possess the necessary quali- fications for success.” ‘* But how the deuce do you propose to go — — ee man Headlight Harry’s Hunt. determination written upon his brow as, by the lantern’s murky gieam, he eagerly scanned the mystic cipher seeking to fathom the secret of its hidden meaniig. Minutes lengthened into hours, and still the engi- neer worked on with indefatigable zeal— worked on iv silence broken only by the deep breathing of his sleeping comrades, until at last success crowned his persevering ef- forts, o fins Was it possible that he had struck a clew? <A joyful gleam lighted upon his wan, anxious countenance at the thought. Yes, it was true—the combination was found at Jast! For a few moments his pencil fairly flew, then— ‘With a cry of triumph he bounded to his feet, nearly upsetting the Jantern in his im- petuous haste. ‘** Kureka! mine at last!” Aroused from slumber by the sudden com. motion, his three companions were instantly on their feet. ‘* Hello! What’s all this rumpus about? Are the enemy upon us?” demanded Rufe Ruffle, sleepily rubbing his eyes. ‘Hurrah! Congratulate me, Rufe, old The puzzle is solved at last,” cried Headlight Harry, fairly dancing with de- light. \ ‘* The deuce, ye say!” was the incredulous exclamation, while the entire party gathered around the engineer, eager to inspect the in- scription which he now triumphantly dis- played as the result of his labors. And this is what they read in place of the original cipher: : I have found it! The secret is 3 A net ws Z2meHos Abed aod yOoOnAat He eozs OCA P REE Me A2uts SCoxmtey aot HQ, “There, what do you think of that for a complete exposition of the mystery?’ cried Headlight Harry, evincing a pardonable pride | In his achievement. ‘‘ Just begin at the upper at it, at the start? And what in the name of | left-hand corner and read each line alternate- Old Nick is a cryptogram, anyway?” **Simply a cipher in which each different Jetter represents some other in the answer. For instance, the letter A, which occurs sev- eral times in the cipher, stands in each case for a certain other letter,” ‘* But what letter?’ ‘“Ab! that remains to be found out. It It may be H or P, or it may be something else. That can only be ascertained by trying one letter after another until a clew is struck. Then the rest will be easy. Of course the preliminary work must be done haphazard; but there is a limit to the number of combi- nations, so one is bound to strike a clew sooner or later, if be only has the pluck to stick to it.” ‘** It may be a year, and it may be never,’” wisquoted the incredulous fireman, with a rin. ‘*Pard, 1 admire yer sand, but I’m inclined to b’lieve you’re on a wild goose chase, nevertheless. Wal, I reckon I can’t help ye any on the eryptogram bizuness, so I’m off to the Jando’ Nod. How long are ye gone to peg away at the pesky thing, any- way ”? ** Until I have fathomed the mystery. No sleep for me while this puzzle remains un- solved,” was the resolute response. ‘*Wal, byar’s‘uck! Jest call me, pard, if strike that tangible clew ye spoke of. Ta, ! I’m off to the arms of Morpheus,” and with a yawn Rufe went in search of a suitable spot in which to lay his weary frame, and soon was joining in the chorus of lusty snores that woke the echoes of the rock- ‘walled chamber.. But Headlight Harry still bent to his task, | ly down and up, thus: grotesque caper on the cavern floor. t ‘8 miles N. E. to Mad Creek Forks, hence E. to fatlen pine X to the right 96." There you have the whole thing in a nutshell.” ‘‘ By jingo, pard, I b’lieve you’ve struck it sure,” gasped Rufe Ruffle, contemplating the result of his companion’s skill in open- eyed astonishment. ‘‘But, I say, what does che letter X stand for after ‘fallen pine?” ‘‘That is not meant for the letter X in this case, but is simply a cross, and is used here merely as asymbol of the word it is intended to represent.. Thus if we read: ‘east to fallen pine—cross—to the right 96,’ why we have the meaning perfectly clear,”’ ‘*Pard, you’re a jim-dandy, and no mis- take,” cried the delighted fireman, onus a sé bh ; since you’ve b’en smart enuff to resolve that ‘tarnal cryptogram inter plain, United States lingo, it only remains for us to locate the spot mentioned in the document, an’ then the yellow stuff is ours, sure enuff.” “The Spider, bere, ought to be able to give us some valuable information, since he is thoroughly familiar with the region. How about that, Spider? Can you give us the location of Mad Creek?” ‘Nothin’ easier,” chuckied the dwarf,” since it runs right by the mouth o’ this hyar cave.” ‘“'The dickens you say!” ‘It’s a fact, pard. We're located on the banks o’ the main stream, about half a mile below the forks.” ‘* And the fallen pine mentioned here is the same identical ole tree by which we crossed ae 4 a é ’ « rps —_ te ‘ a * ne oN ig y oe : Mos " A "eh A 1% oe rf : , ibis. 5 As Te See ; ‘ < Reig = ph the crick a few rods up-stream, Rufe Ruffle, excitedly. ‘‘Quite possible, Ruffle, yet by no m certain, since there are thousands of pin along the banks, and more than one may have—’”’ ‘‘No, pard,” interrupted the hunchback, positively. . ‘‘I’ve follered the stream for miles, an’ | kin swear there’s no other place in the vicinity that kin be confounded with this. Yonder pine is the only tree that bridges the stream.” * ‘“Then that settles it,” laughed Harry. ‘‘T yield to your superior knowledge, Spider, But, by Jove! this is getting decidedly in- teresting. According to present indica- tions, the caché must be in our immediate neighborhood.” ‘‘An’ I vote that, since the scent is so warm, an’ its already broad daylight out- side, we had better keep the ball a-rollin’ and test the aceuracy 0’ your solution with- out delay. Shoot me fora catamount if I ha’n’t gettin’ mighty impatient, when I think that the cache of gold is close at hand, an’ yet we are unable to lay our fingers on the precious yellow-boys.”’ Rufe Ruffle was no more eager than his companions to follow out the directions given by the old miner in his curious cryptogram; so, having satisfied themselves that the coast was clear of enemies, the four men left the cave and hastened along the bank to the fallen pine. ‘‘Now, let us pause for a moment to get our bearings,” the engineer excla.med. ‘‘The directions say ‘three miles northeast to the forks, hence east to the fallen pine.’ Now, as the creek flows in an easterly direc- tion, it follows that the old miner shaped his course down-stream, and upon the opposite or southerly side. Consequently, when he crossed at this point, it brou&ht him to the very spot where we now stand.” ‘ * That’s straight enuff, pard, I reckon.” ‘Good! Then it remains for us simply to carry out the final part of his directions, viz: ‘to the right ninetv-six,’ ” ‘* Ninety-six what?” ‘‘Ah! that’s the question. He may have meant inches, feet or yards; however, it is improbable that a man in his position would have the means of taking accurate measure- ments, so I think it’s safe to assume that he adopted the simple method of computing the distance by paces,” ‘If that’s the case, I’ll mighty soon turn up the cache,” declared Rufe Ruffle, excited- ly. ‘‘Come on, boys, foller me! ‘To the right, ninety-six!’ Whoop!” IIe strode along the bank ata rapid pace, carefully counting bis steps, while the others followed at his heels. At the ninety-sixth stride he paused, and, as he eagerly scruti- nized the vine-clad face of the cliff, an’ ex- pression of unutterable surprise overspread tion escaped his lips. ‘‘Great hoppin’ horn-toads! Here’s a ha’n’t.” There was no need to inquire into the cause Of his sudden agitation, for the others were equally quick to divine the singular truth—to see that, by following out the a to the entrance to the Cavern in the cliff! at one another, quite nonplused at this sin- ular discovery. ‘“Well, 11] be blowed!” gasped Headlight Harry, at length regaining the use of his tongue. ‘‘ This is the queerest thing I ever dreamed of. gets in the very cave where we have so- journed for the past day and night. is.” ~ ae a m . bl vd . s au d , . f : ’ — * * i |! / _ 4 @| eveye) -~ , 4 é r# : @F » For some moments they stood staring Why, according to these cal-— culations, Gideon Goff has cached his nug- If this — isn’t rare good luck, then I don’t know what In breathless haste tne treasure-seeKers re- traced their steps to the underground cham- — his countenance, while a startled exclama- — \ pretty go, skin me for an alligator if it miner’s directions, they had come straight