Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 March 1916 — Page 3

TH* story throbs With realism In the word’s narrowest meaning. It is a faithful rendering of an authentic experience In the career of a high official of a detective agency whose name is a household word throughout the Englishspeaking world. Real names of persons and places are sometimes disguised. In all other respects the amazing, often thrilling, always gripping facts are recorded Just as they happened.

I. Felix Hazard snorted •with disgust and eyed with vast disparagement the sheet of paper spread flat open upon the desk between himself and Helen Bertel. The sheet bore what was seemingly a meaningless jumble of typewritten letters, after this fashion: QUPVHXNTWPZYSUCLOYEN QVUHOWFLPWUEHKLOKQHX . KKPNPSNMSUZXDRWGKKQLP RZUNDTWUFQWRYDN CXZLPX LLQJQKSMQTRCMLONOGLOUH MDUURMQKOLRQWKHHUMC. "And you can’t find the weak place?" asked the girl—“the joint in its armor?” For Hazard had descanted at considerable length on the principles, of cryptography, or secret writing, pointing out the number of weaknesses that render all such writings susceptible of Interpretation when one diligently and Intelligently sets himself to the task of bringing to light their hidden meaning. “Cryptography is a fascinating study,” averred Hazard discursively, leaning back and rumpling his hair. "But no system has ever been devised that meets all requirements. The principles by which most ciphers are solved have been given a good deal of study and have been so classified that the expert usually has pretty plain sailing when he brings himself to the task of reading a message not Intended for his eyes. Toe's ’Gold Bug’ holds the interest almost solely by a description of the solution of a cryptogram, and the same is true of Sherlock Holmes’ so-lutibn-of the "dancing men cipher.’ These two examples, however, are ebbut the simplest forms of cipher writing." The speaker abruptly banged the open sheet on his desk with his palm. “This thing, though, is not going to be easy to interpret. I believe it is based upon what is known as the Key-Square system; but as it is one that lends itself to innumerable variations and combinations, only time and laborious effort are going to give us the clue we need—unless, indeed, we should stumble upon it accidentally." Helen Bertel’s fine gray eyes slowly took stock of the man’s outward evidences of perturbation —rumpled hair, wrinkled clothing, disarranged tie, three days’ growth of beard —and her expression softened. She consulted a second sheet of paper that lay upon the desk, which bore numerous memoranda. Said she: “if the fixed rules for deciphering cryptograms amount to anything at all, I don’t see why they shouldn’t apply to every case. You tell me that E ls the letter most frequently used, T next, and then come in the following groups, arranged according to their respective degree of frequency: AONI; RSH; DL; CWUM; FYGPB; VK; XQJZ We know that all words of single letters must be A, I or O, and that the double letters that occur most frequently are EE, 00, FF, LL, and SS. Am I correct so far?” Hazard nodded. “Go on," he encouraged. “Next, then, the commonest words Of according to their fre-“ quence, are: of, to, in, it, is, be, he, by, or, as, at an, so. Disregarding ‘the,’ which is almost never used in ciphers, •and’ and ‘are’ lead the words of three letters, then follow —” Hazard glumly broke in. “Never mind the words of four letters. Did you apply all these tests to this cipher?” Helen signified that she had. “And the result was quite as silly and meaningless as it already is,” she added. "The reason is not hard to find,” Hazard explained. “This cipher doesn’t contain enough repetitions of letter-groups to suggest anything at all; done of the commonest words are even remotely suggested; and as for E, or T, or any of the rest, one is not justified even in guessing at a Tetter. All this signifies that a system has been used that avoids repetitions. “Such a system is the,so-called KeySquare. If it has been used my work is all cut out for me.” ~ “The Key-Square,’’ repeated the girl —"what is it?” With his pencil Hazard drew a square containing twenty-five smaller squares. In each of the latter he inscribed a letter of the alphabet At the top of each of, the five vertical columns he wrote a numeral —1,2, 3, 4 and s—and5 —and likewise at one end of

The Complex Cipher

Taken from ths Notebook of an Old Detective

And With Name* and Phces Hidden Published as a Proof That Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

each of the five horizontal columns. The completed figure appeared thus:

“Here is the key,” said he. “Every the square is indicated by two or the bordering numerals. By agreement one letter is dropped, in this case the letter X, which is represented by two zeros. “To manufacture or decipher a message by this key, assuming, let us say, that the first two words will be ‘Meet me,’ the first letter, ‘m,’ is in the third vertical; column and also the third horizontal column. The numerals 33, therefore, would indicate the letter ‘m*. In like manner 51 would be ‘e,’ 22 would be *t,’ and so on. The cipher would appear thus: 335151223351. Note that out of six combinations of two numerals three —one half —are repetitions, 51, or the letter ‘e’. “But the authors of our hidden message have offered us a problem that is far from being so simple as my illustration is. This cryptogram is composed of letters instead of numerals and—please remember this —contains every letter with three notable exceptions. The only letters that don’t appear are A, B, and I. Perhaps those three exceptions will supply us with the clue we are seeking. “Let us proceed a step farther. By enlarging our square with the addition of one vertical column and one horizontal ‘column we have thirty-six smaller squares instead of twenty-five, thus providing spaces for not only all the letters of tho alphabet but the nine numerals and the cipher or zero as well. And instead of numerals around the borders of the square let us try the effect of capital letters.” The enlarged key-square appeared thus:

"Now observe,” pursued Hazard. “The capital letters around the border take the place of numerals and will supply the cipher letters. Furthermore, by extending the letters entirely around the border, as I have here, there are eight possible different combinations of two capital or cipher letters to designate any desired letter or numeral inside the key-square. For instance, suppose you want to indicate the letter ‘e’, which is in the first horizontal column and the fifth vertical column. The small square produced by this intersection is indicated by Q at the top and S at the right— QS, which is the letter ‘e’. In like manner S at the right and B at the bottom, or B at the bottom and L at the left, or L and Q all designate ‘e’. Proceed around the key-square in the -reverse direction and four more different combinations will all indicate *e’—as: QL LB BS SQ. Yet this is no more difficult to read with the key than the simpler numeral form. “The possibilities inherent in this extension and elaboration of the keysquare system are almost endless in their, variety. Any arrangement of the alphabet may be made inside the square, and around the border the capital or cipher letters need follow nosequence or any special order. But the result will always be the same — eight possible combinations to designate any desired letter, with this tremendous disadvantage for any one trying to read the message without the key—that is to say, in a message of ordinary length the most common letters and words need never be repeated!” ~ Helen made a despairing gesture. “What’s the use'!” she exclaimed. “Well, let’s see if it’s any use. There are four clues in this cipher which promise that the task of solving it is not altogether hopeless. “Have you counted the characters in our cryptogram? No? Well, there are 123 of them. In that number it is a bit singular, and not without cause, that three of-the commoner letters of the alphabet are entirely missing—A, B and I. , ; “There? VThose letters are three

by Charles Edmonds Walk

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

of our clues. The fourth is quite as significant, and all together they enable us to advance with considerable assurance another step. “Let us see. Counting ground the outside of the key-square, we learn that there are twenty-four spaces or column ends, opposite each of which is set one of the capital or cipher letters. This leaves two letters of the alphabet that are not utilized, and my temporary rejection of X and Z is not altogether arbitrary, as you will presently see. ***• \ “For one thing they are two letters —Z particularly—that are used comparatively seldom; but in our cipher X appears five times and Z four; once XZ appear in combination, and ZX once. Furthermore it is significant that both appear among the first eleven letters of the cipher message, and nqf at all among the last forty-one. If X and Z were inserted merely to mislead and obscure, such would be the natural psychological tendency of the writer with mind intent on getting the correct letters for his message. “Again, subtract 9, the number of. times these two letters appear,.from 123: the result is 114, an even number susceptible of being grouped into pairs. “We may now go forward still another step, then if my hypothesis is wrong we shall soon know it. "Consider once more A, B and 1, the three letters that do not appear. Here, * trust, is our clue not only to the arrangement of the letters inside the square, but of tho cipher capitals around the border. "Here is a detail our cipher writer never considered: The last ten squares of the key-square are occupied by the nine numerals and the zero. If this cipher message contains no number expressed in numerals, there are eighty' different two-letter combinations that would not be used, eight for each of these ten squares. The bottom horizontal column contains nothing but nunderals; conse-. quently the two cipher letters at either end of this column would not appear if the message contains no number. The column next above contains only the last two letters of the alphabet, y and- z, two letters that are comseldom used. ; • “Now then, is it not likely that A is at one end or the other of jeither the last horizontal column or the one immediately above it, that B is also a designator of one or the other of these two columns and the capital I still a third designator? “But I believe I can determine the value of still a 6 fourth cipher letter, the letter J. It appears just once in our cryptogram, then between two Q’s. This determines a fifth cipher capital letter; because if A is the designator at the right of the horizontal column next the bottom, the capital B the. designator at the right of the bottom horizontal column, and C, D, E, F, G and H the bottom designators in sequence from right to left, I would be opposite B and J opposite A. Still in sequence, Q w’ould designate at the top the third vertical column. Thus either QJ or JQ would indicate the numeral 1. ’ O '

“We are pretty positive now where the cipher capitals belong around the border outside the key-square. If, in addition, my arrangement Of the alphabet Mnside the square Corresponds with the key used by the writer of the cipher, the reading of his message means only the matter of a little time and trouble. "While I make a few tests you group the letters of the cipher message into pairs, eliminating X and Z, of course, every time they appear.” For some minutes there was silence while the two bent their heads over their tasks. With the first eight or tan .pairs of letters of the cipher before him Hazard made several false beginnings; then by and by, very gently and undemonstratively, he leaned across the desk and patted Helen’s hand. “My dear girl,” he announced, “we’ve got it. Take this key and try for jyourself.” The key-square he handed across the desk to her appeared thus:

' nFor months Chicago —had—been dominated by a gang of jewel and express thieves conveniently called by the police and the Sutherlands the "Secret Six,” although they had confederates all over the country. Their activities, up to the time of Miss

Bertel’s abduction, had been confined almost solely to J stealing valuable packages from the. Transcontinental Express Company, and robbing woman guests of costly jewels at notable social functions: which last consideratluu made It almost certaiirtbaT qsoihe one or more members of the gang had enirea to-tba ctty’S HMMrt fashionable circles. In connection with the,,fact that all stolen packages and their contents' were known at the principal Chicago office of the company, which was also a sort of auditing for the balance of the country, and that the manager of the local office, who was also the son of the company's president, was a leader in the Lake Shore set, suspicion was directed toward- thia, young man at an early stage. So in a night the fashionable young man, Harry Butler, was transformed into a thief and a fugitive from justice. The kidnaping of Helen Bertel by the "Six,” her rescue by Hazard and other operatives of the Sutherland Detective agency, the sensational escape of the "Six,” have all been narrated in a previous story of this series. Suffice it to say that Harry Butler was disgraced, the gang scattered and for the time being at least their criminal activities checked. However, the Sutherland’s resources had been taxed to the utmost and the officials were not inclined to let the rascals continue to defy them or be able to boast that they had outwitted the world’s chief detective concern. Arguing that the dispersed criminals would endeavor to communicate with one another at an early date, a number of methods, among which was active co-operation of the post office authorities, were put in operation to intercept any messages that might be interchanged. Every crook hang-out in the city was closely watched and suspects were constantly being put through the “third-degree.” The “Six,” however, were cunning as well as daring;andHazard intently scanned all issues of the daily papers for the appearance of a cipher message of some sort. Within a very few days his patience was rewarded by the appearance of the cipher already transcribed. This was rapidly followed by others, all of which (Hazard was confident) were to be attributed to the “Secret Six.” It behooved him, therefore, to solve the secret messages as soon as possible. They were desperate and dan-

t ' »■ Miss Fowler Was on the Point of Ask Ing What Might Be the Matter When titter Darkness Fell Upon Her.

gerous and there was no knowing what mischievous or damaging undertaking they might be planning to inflict upon the community. Among the very latest and most audacious exploits of the “Secret Six” was the theft of the Charters $40,000 diamond dog-collar. This desperate enterprise Helen Bertel came within an ace of witnessing, while one of the Sutherland operatives only narrowly escaped with his life. With this explanation, the cipher, as it begins to appear, becomes at once full of meaning and confirms all of Hazard’s theories respecting it. - The first two letters of the cipher message, interpreted by aid of the resolved key-square, gave this result: QU equals *c’. And so with the balance of the message, as arranged by Helen —it was solved thus:

QU PV HN TW PY SU CL OY ch arters EN QV UH OW FL PW UE HK d jam / onds LO KQ HK KP . NP SN m u s t b e MS UD SW GK KQ LP RU ND TW fr', apt “ n d e r UF QW EY DN CL PL LQ JQ coxe. X- n o J. KSMQTVCM IXJNOGLOUHMDU w i 1 1 man a g e RU MQ KO LR QW KH HU CM d 1 a P o sal

"Charters diamonds must be- kept under cover. No. 1 will manage disposal.” Harry Butler was "No. 1” of the "Secret Six,” their brains and leader. During the ensuing days the daily papers, morning and evening?’fairly bristled with key-square cipher messages, alt of which, Of course. Were translated by a Sutherland clerk to whom had been assigned this now -easy detail. Other plunder was mentioned from time to time: the movements of different members of the “mob” described, and it was obvious at all times that they were extremely chary of attempting to meet one another at a prearranged place. But shortly it began to appear that a big enterprise was being planned—indeed, that it had already been determined upon. There were numerous references to the “coup,” and more than once the name “Belle” was deciphered. One of the messages, at last, was rendered in this fashion: “Big coup Jan. 2. Instructions midnite New Year.” This cipher appeared on the morning of December 22, and it was plain ttaV If the“coup” were to be checkmated no time eould be lost. How were the instructions to be given? The issuance of newspaper extras at such an hour could not be counted on, and if some other medium was to be used, or the "Six” were to attempt a rendezvous, Felix Hazard was one who was very anxious to know all about it. A few minutes* reflection brought a sly smile to his lean, hawklike countenance. He hastily sketched a key-square and set himself to the task of preparing a cipher message on his own account. He felt safe in doing this, for only rarely was any of the messages signed. That afternoon a certain newspaper contained among Its personals a cryptogram which, rendered into plain English, read: “Am being shadowed. Instruct in usual way.” - - And the fish rose promptly to the bait. The very next morning a long cipher appeared in the columns of another newspaper, which, owing to its length and numerous typographical errors, required some precious hours of Hazard’s time to solve. “No. 4,” it was finally translated, “must use every precaution. Before Jan. 2 shadow must be thrown off the track. Belle positively at Mack-

lin reception. No. 4 instead of approaching house as prearranged will wait with No. 6 at auto. No. 3 will take No. 4’s place. Notify at once when shadow is eluded.” A brief Inquiry supplied the information that the Macklin reception was to be held the night of January 2, and that it was to be one of the most elaborate society affairs of the season. The New Year with its customary revel had come and gone. Exclusive folk, who take their pleasure more in accord with the canons of good taste if less hilariously, were looking to the forthcoming function at the Macklin mansion as a correct expression of their desires in this respect. The night of January 2 was mild and pleasant, and as the hour waxed late berlines and limousines and taxis passed in and out between the huge stone pillars of the Macklin carriage entrance and discharged their cargoes of richly bedecked humanity beneath the Macklin porte-cochere. It was a scene of activity amid which many minor details might well be overlooked by the unsuspecting guest. Thus a big curtained touring car that stood, dark and apparently unguarded, in a nearby alley drew to itself no particular attention, Aad dafk forms that moved quietly among the dense shadows of trees and shrubbery of the spacious yard were not noticed at all. .. Inside the great granite house yas a scene and-gajLspiendor;

a house so safeguarded by all conventional surroundings that the bare thought of any untoward event never entered the head of any of the throng of guests; —* —- -r Still, if one had been observant, it would have been Seen that a numberof silent, formally garbed men moved, through the crowds with a singularly’’ deft, insinuating manner; that they were alert as they paused here and there near some group engaged in low-voiced conversation, sat* isfied themselves that no conspiracy was afoot, and moved on; that faces* of many of the man guests were keenly if furtively scanned; and. finally., that no one of the young woman guests went outside with a male escort that she was not followed at a respectful distance and watched. = At eleven o’clock came the denoue* ment; but so quietly was it conducted,, until the' shooting began, that notT more than three or four of those presn ent knew that anything out of thel ordinary was happening. A few minutes before the hour the! curtained automobile left Its station, in the alley and vanished. Pres* ently when a big curtained auto* mobile, but with its lights all glaring,) drew up across the avenue from the* Macklin gates it was at once inconspicuously surrounded by haiMozenf individuals who viewed it with suspl-< cion. Now this particular reception wasi being given in honor of Miss Evelyn) Fowler, whose name Is as familiar to* newspaper readers as our president’s/ or any other individual’s who is constantly in the public eye. Miss Fowler could not be termed beautiful nor even pretty. Neither was she young, nor wise, nor witty. But her father was accounted one of the nation’ richest men; Miss Evelyn herself was many times a millionaire, and her—eccentricities, we shall say —were matters of common knowledge. So when this lady passed out upon the broad stone-flagged piazza in company with no other than Edgar MackHn, son of herhostesa, the watchers within and without were not so alert and vigilant as they were in following the movements of more cherished and admired beauties, and nothing was thought of it when young Mr. Macklin was heard to remark that: "Some prank of Billy's, I’ll wager;, he's always pulling off some new stunt. Well, we’ll just go see what it Is.” Thus it was that the two strolled along a path that passed some sunken gardens, just now inundated for winter skating, scarcely noticed by anybody. Mr. Edgar Macklin’s head all at once jerked upward and back with a little gurgling sound. Miss Fowler was on the point of asking what might be the matter when utter darkness fell upon her. What happened was this: a strong arm was- nassed under the young man’s ibtfJLn behind and was .dexterously tokfedo, fcHrTrom behind, so that it instantaneously enveloped the surprlsedTady from her head to her feet. Edgar Macklin was left lying in the gravelled path; but the lady was borne by stout arms to a hedge that separated .the Macklin property from, adjoining premises. A big curtained touring car darted into one of the carriage entrances of this yard just as the helpless captive was handed across the hedge. The tonneau curtains • were lifted and she was deposited upon the cushions. So expeditiously did every detail work out that the* automobile scarcely paused. . ■ The machine sped around the circuit of the drive, unchecked until its return to the entrance. Here its further progress wah blocked. Ajeo ond machine was crowding the gate* way. ' Voices cursed and argued hoarsely and commanded furtively. Miss Fowler contrived a scream, muffled and subdued, but despairing enough. Then a pistol barked, Followed another and another shot. The big machine backed and dashed headlong into the second and lighter car. Both were hopelessly wrecked. By this time men were running from every direction. One man fought desperately, almost overpowering the four who were trying to subdue him; another submitted docilely when handcuffs were snapped on his wrists. Altogether, either in captured or more or less seriously wounded, six prisoners were accounted for, Miss Evelyn Fowler, after being revived, was gushing with gratitude, and Felix Hazard was jubilant The "Secret Six” at last had rua their course. "You know,” Hazard was confiding shamefacedly to Helen Bertel some time later, “it was an idiotic little thing that misled me. It was that, word ‘belle*; They did not mean Miss Belle Surtoris, the debutante, whom E hit upon as being the most likely victim to abduct and hold for ransom, and whom we watched like hawks, all evening, but it was the appellation chosen to designate a name which they would not even trust to their confounded cipher. “They nearly got her, and nearly made a monkey of me again.” (Cepyright. -by 'W,-&. Chapman.) - Experts Puzzled. The dovetailing of the new city plan, of 1807-1811 on the old line of New? York streets resulted in a curious complication whereby Fourth street crossed both Tenth and Eleventh streets, a fourth dimensional achievement warranted to stagger the brainlest of mathematicians. American Settlers in Canada. Since the outbreak of the war 30,000 settlers the United States have entered Canada. ' »