""^For his wit can no more lie nid, then it coula be lost. Reade nim, tnererore; and agame, and againe : And ir then you doe not like kim, surely you are in some manirest clanger, not to understana nim. MYSTERYoFTffi MARBLES By Ckarles B. Stilwell \5Tone\ ^ \Monn f Good frend for Iesvs ^ake forbearl, TO Dice TIE DVST ENCLOASED H:ARL^» BuEyE BE f MAN ^ SPARE J -HE^" STONES, AND CVRST BE HE \ MOVES MY BONES* iiicnufn^m IVDICIO PylIVM, CENIO SoCRATEM.ARTE MaRONEM Terra tecit POpvLvs'Mi«E.RET. Olympvs habet 'Stay Passenger why goest "HovbvsofasT/ READ IF ■HW CANST, WHOM ENVIOVS DEATI HATI PLAST, mT\ IN VAS MONVrEfsT SHAKLSPEARE:\i^T1 ^:WOME . QTIGK NATVRE D!DE:WH0SE NAFE.DOTJ DECKt TOMBE . !aR MORE JEN COST: SlEH ALL.'V' HE HATH WRITT, Leaves LIVING ART, BVT page, to serve hiswitt. OBIIT ANO do' r 6 1 6 /tTATIS i-) DIE iJA^ • DIRECTIONS AND RULES For Deciphering the Secret Message Hidden in the Inscriptions Near or within the words or parts to be joined are Word-signs or other marks to indicate sequences. Search these out. If they agree with the Working List of words, or the Rules, join the parts so marked. There are no exceptions. RULES 1 . Like joins Like. Marks or Words that are Alike are used for signs, — For example : Parts marked with misplaced dots are to be joined to other parts similarly marked. 2. All forms of the same word are alike. WORKING UST 3. Words having Like Forms or Like Meanings are alike and may be joined. 4. Words may be joined to the words they define. * The word ART is also used as a sign (or Shakespeare, The verb That This Who Go Leave Tobe^* ^ These Joining-words bring parts together. Cloase Die Pass Spare 1 These Directing-words J are guide-posts These words hint at Stops or Omissions. V ^ T'R^lt-'' '?y Copyriglit 1911 by Ckarles B. Stilwell Entered at Stationers riall London 1911 All rights reserved ©CI.A283312 Tke Mystery of tke Marbles "And these are your wonderful rub- bings ? You know that I saw Shakes- peare's Tomb when I was abroad last summer and I recognize these copies of the inscriptions, but why do you call them rubbings ?" "Because these facsimiles were made by rubbing a preparation of plumbago upon the sheets of paper while they lay upon the stones : just as children make paper money from coins by rubbing the paper on top of the coin with a lead- pencil. It insures true reproductions of all the characters upon the original. Did you read the inscriptions when you saw them?" "What a curious question. Of course, I read them. Do you imagine I could pass by without?" "If you really read them, my dear young lady, you are, probably, the only one who ever did, in nearly three hun- dred years." "Pardon my stupidity, but I don't catch the gist of your jest, my dear sir." "I am not jesting. The inscriptions were designed so as not to be read — without a key. They are great hypo- crits ; they profess to be what they are not." "Do not the words mean what they say ?" "The words ; yes. The sentences ; not at all. They are the loveliest liars in Modern Latin and mixed English that ever led a learned man astray." "Really, I fancy we could see these rubbings of yours blush for very shame, if their faces were not so black. Don't you ?" "No more than the originals, my dear, which never have been known to change expression since they were born. They have a most generous heart, but a con- science as hard as Stone. For deception is their business, or rather a Fine Art ; as you shall see. If you will honor me bv taking this seat beside me at the table. I will show you my promised wonder — the Mystery of the Marbles. "For convenience sake we will spread out the sheets of cipher writings, for such they are, on the table, and will place the one marked Stone at the top ; the one marked Monument just below it, and under these, where we can see it at a glance, this sheet of Directions and Rules. We must utterly ignore the pretences and bold declarations of these writings and use them as did their Author ; simply as storehouses full of words to carry a cipher message. This we will unfold and develope by a method very like solv- ing a jig-saw puzzle, in which the irregu- lar little blocks fit together so beautifully and reproduce the form of the original picture, when properly matched. In our puzzle we are to use words instead of wooden blocks and, if we can pick them out of our storehouses and match them correctly, we shall have the original form of the secret message, just as it was before the words were separated and all jumbled up, as they are in tlie inscrip- tions before us." "Who do you suppose did such a crazy thing and why did he do it?" "We will find out why it was done as soon as we solve our puzzle. I will show you who did it afterward. Will you now please take the pencil and tablet before you and write down the words of the message as we find them. Now what words shall we choose for a beginning?" "Why, the first one on the Stone, of course. A message always begins at the upper left-hand corner, doesn't it?" "No, my dear, cipher messages don't as a rule. You happen to be right about the word, however ; it is the first one we want. Not because of its position in the inscriptions, it might have been tucked in anywhere, but because it is the most obvious beginning. The Decipherer is plainly addressed as 'C700D fren'd' ; so please write that down at the top of your paper 'GOOD frend: Now after 'frexd' write the three words that follow 'FOR JESUS sake: Before we go any -further I will ask you to please me by carefully reading over the Directions and Rules. Try to fix them in your mind. There are but few of them and they are very simple." "I think perhaps I have them now. If I forget, I can pretend I remember without peeking in the book. Can't I ?" "At school it would be very repre- hensible, but here, in our game of 'Hide and Seek,' peeking is the greatest virtue and should be carefully cultivated. Now do you see anything that makes the words on the Stone, 'for Jfsus s.\ke,' appear odd?" "Why there is a dot over the J." "Are not j's usually dotted?" "Yes, sir, but this is a capital letter J and we never dot them; do we?" "No, my dear. This is a misplacerl dot and we will see what the rules say about it. Please read that portion to me." " 'Parts marked with misplaced dots are to be joined to other parts similarly marked.' " "Very well, then, let us search for another part so marked." "There is no other dot out of place, that I can see, on the Stone." "Then look on the Monument, please." "I see two there." "All right. Now v\diich one of the two shall be our choice." "Well, of course, I don't know any- thing about this kind of match making, but if I am to pick it out we'll try our luck with this dot at the beginning of the third line." "What gives you that hint?" "Why — this dot is at the top of the line, more like our dot over the J than the other dot, wdiich appears to be below the line. Is that right ?" "Quite right, my dear; that is the idea. 'To join like likes, and kiss like native things', is the Great Rule. Now what words are next to your dot ?" " 'Stay P.vssenger why goest.' " "Please write down the first and third words." "STAY li'HY." "May I use your third word to ask zi'hy you didn't take 'P.vssenger' and 'goest' and all the rest of the line?" "Yes indeed, and I hope you will use it very often during the game. Our Pas- senger has a P.\ss, therefore we must let him alone; pass him by. Do you get the hint?" "Sure. Pass is in the List." " 'Goest' tells us to go away from the Monument, before we take any other word, to the Stone, where we shall find the ne.xt one." ' 'Go' is in the list, too. Why this is becoming interesting." "Now examine these markings for a moment; observe the beauty of their re- markable simplicity and perfection. The Author writes a message that he wishes to conceal and, at the same time, desires that it shall be read just as he wrote it. So he writes an epitaph and a doggerel that any one may read. These he com- poses so as to include the words uf his secret ihessage, together with certain other words and marks, to insure its correct unfolding. There must be no guess work about it. Please look at our sentence 'St.JiY P.v.ssenger why goest'. N'otice how 'St.\y' and 'why' are not only found, but are hedged in against error by the misplaced dot at one end of the sentence and by the word 'go' at the other. Besides that, he tells us which word to omit by a syllable of that very word itself. What could be plainer? No guessing to be done here; is there? Then the barrier 'go' is also used to tell us where to find our next word. Only one who was born with a genius for the very highest order of lit- erary work could so skilfully use ordi- nary words to do double writing like this. But now having arrived at the Stone, how shall we find our next word?" "You may search me, as Jack says." 'As you are not a culprit and as I am not an officer of the law, I forbear. forbeare' is our next word." "How do we know that?" "Because we are guided bv dots. We have just been forbidden to take another word from the Monument, so we must use the only dot on the Stone for our sign and take the rest of its line and sentence. Please write 'FORBEARE TO DIGG THE DqST'." "But why not take 'encloased here'? It seems to sound familiar." 'Ah yes, and the new arrangement sounds strangely, does it not ? But we must not disdain the hint whispered by "ENCLOASED.' The sentence is closed." ■'Well; who would have thought it?" "The Author, my dear. lie was a most skilful but wilful wizard with words, and I want you to particularly notice, as we progress, how he manages to get double duty out of his little ser- vants. We will come back again to this place presently, for further help from this same word. We are still guided by dots, I believe. Where is the next one?" "The only one we have not used is under 'Socratem' on the Monument." "Where is it located ?" "Under the letter 'O'." "Well, as that dot is under the middle letter of two words which are flanked by punctuation marks, we will take both and write "GENIO SOCRATEM."- "What does that mean ?" "A Genius like Socrates. Now hav- ing finished with the dots we must find a different sign to lead us to our ne.xt word. What word follows 'Socr.xtem'?" " 'arte'." "Art is a form of the verb 'To be,' one of the joining words given in the List. This Latin word 'arte' means artist, but it has a like form, therefore in accordance with Rule 3 we must look for another 'art'. Can you find one ?" "Oh, yes sir. There is the word 'art' in the eighth line, but it is not spelled like the first one." "The spelling, my careful scholar, does not signify. What words are on either side of it?" "living' and 'rut'." "Is there a comma after 'art'?'' "Yes, sir." "Then we will exclude 'but' and scan the words in the sentence ending with 'art.' What are they ?" ■ "There is only one other word ; 'Leaves'." " 'Leaves living art'. If we choose the first of the two I think we shall come out all right. If not, we will dis- cover our error and correct it. So please write down "LEAVES." Our joining words are still forms of the verb 'To be.' What do you find?" No other on the Monument, but there are two 'be's' on the .Stone." "If they were on the Monument we should be stung if we touched either of them for the word 'Leaves' has given us that warning. It commands us to leave the Monument and go to the Stone ; this is the reason why I chojfise 'Leaves,' alone, just now. But 'Blest be you be's that make these locks of counsel' on the Stone. What sweet word tempts the first 'be'?" "Blest if I know. It reacLs — 'Bleste be' something. There is an 'e' over a 'v' and a 't' over a 'y'." "That's an old way of writing the words 'the,' 'that' and 'this.' The letter 'y' stands for 'tli,' and should be so pro- nounced. Now please read it again." " 'Bleste be the man that'." "We will take 'the man that' as these words follow 'be' and because 'That' is one of the joining words in our List and it will lead us to the next word, so you may write "THE MAN THAT." Now please find another 'That'." "That is no trouble. The 'that' we used is standing on top of another 'that'." "We must get rid of sucli a rude fel- low. Suppose we put the down trodden one in his place and also move up the word next following," "Why don't we write 'my bones'?" "They are not yours, but only dead bones, and we will leave them alone." "But the word 'spares' seems to be in the way." "Not at all. Acting upon the hint it gives we will spare 'spares' from our company and write the sentence with 'moves' in 'spares' place. "MO]'ES THES STONES." Now what joining word is near 'stones' ?" "The word 'these'." "How do you know 'these' is a join- ing word ?" ,/ "Why it's the plural of 'This' in the List." "Then please seek its mate." "I find two words "this' on the Monu- ment. The first, in the fifth line in the sentence "within this monument', the second in the sixth line in the sentence 'deck this Tombe'." 'T think we will take the second 'this'. To my mind there is suggested a rela- tionship between 'Tombe' and 'stones,' as we have it in the word tomb-stone ; also there are decked stones for tombs. Sometimes we are obliged to reason it out, to get at the thought of the Author, in places where he was compelled to re- peat his joining-signs. We must ever keep a sharp lookout for such faint hints as he was able to give us." "Oh, my dear friend, I can never learn that part of your cipher." "Aly dear child you can. One can learn to read a cipher as one learns to read very illegible writing, full of mis- used and misspelled words ; by becoming familiar with the chirography, the writer's thought and mode of expression. But let us proceed. The word follow- ing "this' is 'Tombe'. Now it is made plain by the sense that the testator 'Leaves the man' something the tomb contains, but not the tomb itself. We will therefore skip that word for the present and let our joining word 'this' give us the rest of the sentence follow- ing 'TOAIBE' which you will please write down ■■FAR MORE THAN COST.- And the next joining word is?" "Why, sir, I can't find any." "Quite true, and neither directing word 'Go'~nor 'Leave'. So we must remain at 'this Tombe' and take a survey of our surrovmdings. Just over the word 'Tombe' is the pronoun 'whome' (spelled with an e), and iu our 'Tombe' line is the word 'whose', so 'Who' seems to be our joining word, and you may write down -HE WHOSE name:' "But the word 'he' is not there. Why do I write it?" "I will answer a little later in some ex- planations about another word. Now please find another 'whom' (without the e) in the fourth line and write the words before it -READ IF THOU CANST." Now the wortls that follow ■'HATH PLACED WITHIN THIS MONUMENT." "Why did you skip 'envious Death'?'' "I suppose because I have been fortu- nate. But the words 'envious Death' give us the hint that they are dead words. \\'e have 'Die' in our List. We now come to the joining words of Rule 3 again. Please read it." " 'Words having like forms or like meanings are alike and may be joined'." "In our last line we have the words 'placed within', while on the Stone we have the word 'Ex\clo.\sed' conveying the same idea ; for whether your letters to Jack are placed within envelopes or en- closed therein, it means just the same to him. So we will connect the two parts bv the conjunction 'and,' then add the word following 'enci.oased' and you will please write and -ENCLOASED HEARE.'' Now let us go back to the Monument and make use of our familiar acquaint- ance, which now write ■■THIS TOMBE." We must Use these words to define 'heare' and join them in accordance with Rule 4. Again, 'this Tombe', which proves to be a sort of central station or key, gives us the half of the line just below it. So please write ■■ALL THAT HE HATH WRITT.'' Now tell me what word is just before our last sentence." "I don't know what the word is or how to pronounce it. It is spelled S-I-E-H." "Well, my dear, it is not a familiar word and is quite unpronounceable, nevertheless it is a most remarkalile word and there is a very remarkalile thing to be said about it. Please bear in mind that this word is on Shakespeare's Monu- ment ; that Shakespeare died in the year 1616, and that the monument was erected sometime after his death, probably about 1623, the date of the publication of the First Folio Edition of the Shakespeare plays. I will now turn to one of the Shakespeare Tragedies and will read to you some curious lines that actually tell us how to interperet this strange word. The play is "Timon of Athens" and the suggestion is in Act V in Scenes 4 and 5. This play, by the way, appeared for the first time in the Folio Edition of 1623. Scene IV is very short. .A. soldier enters, reads only eleven lines, and exits. But in his few lines he is made to say " 'There does not live a man, dead sure: and this his grave. What's on his tomb I can not read, the character I'll take in zi^'ax — zchose soft impression in- terprets for my poor ignorance.' "The last line is in Scene V. Now if we were to take a wax impression of SiEH it would show us the word re- versed. So if we reverse the reading, that is, read S-i-e-h backward we get HE iS; please write it down "HE IS." And now I will show you how we got the word 'he' which you thought should not be written before "whose name." It is not the 'he' in the words 'he iS' just found in "Sieh" which we have 'chosen, but the 'he' on the Stone in the line 'cursed he he.' We joined the latter 'he' to 'whose name' because the re- versed word 'iS in 'Sieh' was placed directly under the word "whose.' Our joining word was 'Who' ; so we came from the sign 'whome' through 'whose' to 'iS," which carried us to "be he' and gave us the word we needed. We must be very careful to choose the specific word required and not another just like it, or we shall be switched off on the wrong track before we know it and come to grief in a wreck. Besides 'he' and 'is' must not be put asunder, because the couple were made one by their maker ; but we may join the pair to other com- pany. Please find another match for 'iS'.'"' "On the line below, nearly underneath, is the word 'art' which we used with the Latin word. Can you match with the same word twice?" "As many times as it wins words, my dear. Please write down the word just before 'art.' "L/r/.YC." Now all the words that follow 'living' except the very last line which shall 'die' in its tracks for the present. "ART BUT PAGE TO SERINE HIS WIT. OBIIT ANO DO! 1616." "But please, teacher, I know obit means died. Why does the sentence say Art died in 1616?" "You will please answer your own question by recollecting the footnote in the Directions." "Oh ! 'art' is to be translatetl Shakes- peare just as 'doi' is to be translated 'of Our Lord." I see. The little word is only a sign for the big word intended. But where did you find these Directions and Rules and how did you guess what words to work with?" "They are all given to us in cipher .in the Shakespeare plays, all except the words in the Working List. We are not expected to guess at anything, so these words are indicated on the Monument and Stone. I must tell you something about this Cipher. Different words are used as keys to unlock the doors of the several secret chambers ; that is, to en- able us to find the scattered parts of the cipher story. These words are called 'keys' and they are always intimately re- lated to and suggested by the subject mat- ter of the te.xt. .\s we here are dealing with a tomb and a monument, the words 'Tom be' and 'monument' are the key- words used in these Inscriptions. Now will you please notice the little words that are nestled so closely about these keys MVHO WHO T1I5 MONVTErr WHO tlOMBE BE BE ^ ^ By this device we are shown the joining words 'This' and 'Who.' They are both near a key-word and each is repeated. S The verb 'To be' is universally used as a joining word and is indicated by two 'be's on the Stone. The word 'That' is shown by the simple device of locating two 'that's' very close to each other near the verb 'be.' The directing words "Go" and 'Leave' are universally used as guide- posts, as are also all other words meaning departure. The words that give hints are shown by their suggestive implica- tion. We have now come to the end of our journey through the maze, and if you will look at this graphic illustration which I have prepared, it will show you at a glance just what we have been doing and what we have gleaned from the in- scriptions by strict adherence to Direc- tion and Rule. I have arranged the parts as if they were the little blocks of a puzzle, solved, with all the extraneous verbiage swept out of the way. I,t shows very clearly, I think, how the parts have been brought together and follow each cither in their proper sequences by match- ing the joining signs correctly. What do you think of it?" "I don't know what to think of it. It is truly so wonderful and unexpected that I am just a little bit bewildered. I see now why the people have not really read the inscriptions. But who put them on the grave-stone and on the monument ? And what writings do you imagine he hid in such a very strange place ?", "I will let the man himself answer your question. He has written a letter about it." "A letter? That's more surprising still. Where did you get hold of the letter and to whom did the man write it?" "To the first one who could read the writing on the wall and should discover the letter, I suppose. Let me tell you about it. In the first Folio Edition ( 1623 ) of the Shakespeare plays there is a Dedication, in which is 'The Epistle Dedicatory', an address 'To the Great X'ariety of Readers' ; followed by some commendatory verses signed with differ- ent names. I was led to suspect a con- nection between the grave-stone and these writings by the suggestive word 'Digg.' There is the word 'Digg,' (with a double g), on the stone and "Digges' is the signature to one of the poems ; so I took the hint and began to do a little digging. I searched these Dedicatory epistles carefully and a very little 'similar matter' in The Plays and by the very same method that we have just used to get the message of the marbles, I de- veloped and brought out the hidden let- ter. These writings, by the way, are as misleading as the Inscriptions on the marbles : they were all written by the same man ( though signed with several real names) for no other purpose than to furnish store houses of words for his letter. It will be too great a tax on you to work this out to-day, as you did the other. There is so much more luatter t(5 be searched and the words are not found so readily. Besides that, you would have to listen to some further instructions in the cipher methods, which would be tedious. I will therefore show you the message and the letter ; each in its true form." THE MESSAGE Deciphered from Grave Stone and Tablet on Monument \Vhy iorb< Good Frend; For Jesus sake, stay, w ny roroeare to cligg the dust? A Genius like Socrates leaves the man that moves tries stones far more then cost. He, Avhose name read ir thou canst, hath placea Avithin tnis Monument and encloased keare (this XomDe) all tnat He nath Avritt. He IS living. Shakespeare, (but page to serve his witt), died m the year of Our Lord 1616. Bacon 1623 THE LETTER Deciphered from the Dedication London 1623 Most Notle and ^A^ortky Friend, Xo make a roome, withm whose strong emures tkese plays noAv lye, a Moniment Avitnout a tombe doth rise. Here thou seest put, as a lance Drandisn t at tke eyes of Ignorance, This Figure cut for Shake- speare. Wken Dy tny -works tnat stone aoove tn Stratford Moniment is rent, turne tne same (and kimself witn it) and spare not. If need \vere I should tell how far from thence to seek. Xnere you Avill fmde enough Dotn to draAV and nold you, for tnese remaines of our servant Snakespeare ; that corp s, that coffin, no'v^ be gone. (Deaths publique tyring-nouse) the Nuncius is; committed by a payre so care- full Guardians, most Dounden to sncAv tneir grat- itude Doth to tne living and tne dead. Go no\v to the Graves— roome NVherem, (as we nave observed no man to come neere, but ^vitn a kind of religious addresse,), it hatn bin tbe neigbt of our care and paine to bave collected all tbe Plays contained in tbis Catalogue. In tbese t\vo places are tbe true origmall copies of tbe Comedies, Histories and Tragedies, and all tbe rest— all tbat was ever writ before 1623 — absolute m tbeir numbers. Finde tbem soone, we pray, for seeliest Igno- rance or blmde Affection or crafty Malice on tbese by cbance may ligbt. If tberefore you come not m confidence and soone, you are in some manifest danger not to be first. \Vilst we studie in our particular to bonour you botb in designes and Avorkes, ^ve cannot ^o beyond our owne powers. And so we leave you. JDut stay, for names, see tbose of Tbe Principall Actor m all tbese Playes. Tbe first of tbe Comedies bast one: To sbo"w^e To wbom all scenes Of Europe bomage o^ve. He ^vas not Sbakespeare, as said, but— Bacon. Francis. *News "Francis Bacon? Does that name ap- pear in the Inscriptions and in the Dedi- cation of the Shakespeare plays?" "Yes, my dear, plainly — to the De- cipherer. As from the Monument we got the name Shakespeare in the mes- sage, not from the word 'Shakespeare' there, which any man may read, but from the secret word-sign 'art' ; so here, in the letter, the names are shown by word-signs. 'Age' is used for Shakes- peare, 'Time' for Bacon. 'The first of the comedies' referred to is Merry Wives of Windsor. From Act II, Scene 3, we get the first name 'of The Principle Actor in all these plays,' Francis, from 'Fran- cisco' there shown. This word is 'fran- coyes' in both of the earlier ( 1602 and 1619) editions of this play and our let- ter makes it plain that the word was in all probability changed for this purpose. 'Francisco' does not appear elsewhere in the Comedies. By the way, if you will study ']\Ierry Wives of \\ indsor' care- fully in the light of knowledge just gained, using the play as a store house qf words only, you will find a lot of in- structions about the cipher methods, which you may be able to unfold for yourself, after a few trials. You must lose sight of the Play entirely and think only of the Lesson. Learn to recognize the language addressed directly to the cipher student. For instance, in Act III, Scene 3, 'Ford' is made to say, 'Here, here, here be my keys: search, seek, find out.' In this very plain and open way the author tells the Decipherer that 'search,' 'seek,' and 'find out' are key- words. In like manner and by the repe- tition of words are many hints given to the student, quite as plainly, throughout all of the plays. But while we are on the subject of names would you like to see the name Francis Bacon in another of the Shakespeare plays where both parts are in plain type?" "Is it there?" "The two names are not together, of course; but as you have learned how words are to be joined I will show you the places where they occur in the play and you shall find the little joining word and bring the parts together." "But I can't find the joining word without a list ; can I ?" "Oh, yes, you will be able to find it easily. It is repeated many times just to attract your notice. Here is the play — First Part of King Henry the Fourth, Act II, Scenes 2 and 4." "Yes, I see the word 'bacon' with a small 'b' in 'bacon feci knaves.' ' Oh ! Here is another, 'On bacons on.' Why 'on' must be the joining word ; let me look for Francis. Oh, dear, there are so many Francises, but I don't see my little word 'on'. Oh, yes, .here it is, 'Francis on Thursday.' " "Suppose you take the other one, 'Anon Francis? No, Francis'." "But there is no 'on' in that one." "Yes, my dear, there are two ; so we have each part of the name flanked by 'on,' 'on Francis on' and 'on bacons on.' It is made doubly plain that they are to be joined." "But it isn't 'on Francis on', it's 'Anon Francis. No'." " 'No' is only 'oN' backwards, one of the cipher tricks you have just learned; and please notice how many times Fran- cis has been trying to tell us that the joining word is 'on.' He keeps repeat- ing 'anon,' 'anon,' an on. an on. "And now I will show you the name Bacon on the Monument. We have de- ciphered a challenge to find the name of the Testator. 'Who.se name read if THOU canst' would be meaningless if the name could not be read ; so the letters that spell the name are indicated by let- ter-signs and are to be joined like words. We must always go first to our key- words to find joining signs, as I showed you for 'This' and 'Who.' Now please look at 'monument' and 'Tombe' again. You notice that just beneath the letter 'O' in each of these words is placed the letter 'I.' LTnder 'monument' is 'dide,' its mate in the lower line of the dating is 'die' and just above this word is 'doi' with the 'O' and 'I' joined. We must therefore take both of these letters, com- bined, as our sign. In 'obiit' between O and I we get B. In 'obiit ano' between I and O. and over an I, we get A. In 'JcDicio' before I and O we get C. In 'iioi' where I and O join we get O. In 'cENio' before I and O we get N. Latin words were of some use here, if not to Shakespeare, hving or dead. Speaking of Latin words leads me to tell you that if you care to know how the student is instructed in the use of combined letters there is much informa- tion to be obtained from 'Love's Labour's Lost,' Act V. Scene i, which will repay the careful study of all lovers of puz- zles. "But let us resume. Please note that the dot under the letter O in 'Socratem' is a part of a letter 'i,' and 'cienio So- cr.atem' is the name used for the Tes- tator, which is now shown (by O and I) to be related to our deciphered word B.\coN. This name begins at the usual place for a signature, so we have the message commencing with 'Good frend' and signed b.acon. Another point of in- terest is shown in the discovered coup- ling (by O and I) of the words 'DOI' and 'DIE,' '16' follows 'DOI" and -2^ follows 'DIE'; so we have the year 1623 on the Monument at the expense of Shakespeare's birthday. 'APL,' the last word of all, is a clever ending. '.Vprilis' is April, but '.\perilis, means open." "Where in the world did you learn to read the cipher." "Right here in the Shakespeare plays." "Who taught you?" "Unfortunately I was obliged to dig out all the instructions without help. The discovery of the Word-Cipher was made by Dr. Orville W. Owen sometime before 1893, the year when I first learned of it, but the instructions and rules for deciphering had not been published. "As an example of the cipher's verity, however, I will tell you how I tested it with these very decipherings that lie be- fore us. I worked the messages out in the fall of 1903 and was very desirous of having them verified by Mrs. Eliza- beth Wells Gallup, who is without a peer in this line of literary work and knows how to read the Baconian ciphers better, I believe, than any living person. She is the Discoverer of the use of Bacon's Bi-Literal Cipher in the type of the first folio edition of the Shakespeare plays. So in the spring of i<;04 ^Irs. (jallup was informed of my discovery of these cipher messages, which reveal the hiding place of the manuscripts. As no atten- tion had been given to the writings on the Marbles or in the Dedication, by either Dr. Owen or Mrs. Gallup, neither one was aware that they contained such a find. However, Mrs. GallWj:) at once most kindly consented to oblige me by searching out the proof of my assertions. To avoid the possibility of any influence by suggestion it was agreed that Mrs. Gallup's search be made without other information than the sources from which I had obtained the story. So I mailed Blue Prints from Tracings of the rub- bings and with this meagre information she went to work on the Inscriptions and on the Dedication. I had given her no list of key-words, nevertheless in a very short time I received her decipherings. They agreed with mine almost word for word ; the very few and slight differences in 'the choice of omissions were of no ini])ortance. The point to be noted is, that each of us learned to read this Word- Cipher from the instructions which we independently dug out of the Shakes- peare plays and that the results of our work were brought to an exact agree- ment, independently." "I wonder you did not go straight to Stratford, have the false monument pulled down, the desecrated grave opened, and get the hidden things. Aren't they worth going after?" "My dear child they are priceless, and at first I entertained fond hopes of a Discoverer's meed. But you don't know the English people, nor how profound is their reverence for everything that bears Shakespeare's name. To attempt to force entry into his tomb with nothing better than the scribblings of a cipher quill would be like trying to break into the Bank of England with a seamstress' bod- kin. Then, besides all this, my investi- gations leave me in some doubt about things can have happened in three hun- finding the manuscripts in this tomb or dred years. Some day this grave and monument to-day. They were placed some others will probably be opened there at first, beyond question, but many and then we shall all know." POSTSCRIPTUM. Thus come to us ; on wings of woven words, across the gulch and gap of time, plowed out by speeding centuries ; these Messengers of Truth. They tell us a story, its like was never told before. About Devices, of such cunning kind they dulled discenmient and tricked our senses so, we thought all magic in the Wand, not seeing the Magi- cian. But now the story's told ; the trick exposed ; what's best to do? Smother good common sense in sentiment for a servant clad in garments of his master's wit? Or, bring our gifts to Him who was so much the Master of his Art, that though his lines are hurt and hobbled with a Cipher chain they yet outstrip all praise and to our astounded gaze reveal a Genius who will ever be a world's sublime Masterpiece. 10 \QV One copy del. to Cat. Div. t":- -1 i5,5 LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS illllllllllllllllllllll!llllll!!llinilllllllll 014 150 066 1 «