“Well，Jupiterpickeduptheparchment，wrappedthebeetleinit，andgaveittome。Soonafterwardsweturnedtogohome，andonthewaymetLieutenantG。Ishowedhimtheinsect，andhebeggedmetolethimtakeittothefort。Uponmyconsenting，hethrustitforthwithintohiswaistcoatpocket，withouttheparchmentinwhichithadbeenwrapped，andwhichIhadcontinuedtoholdinmyhandduringhisinspection。Perhapshedreadedmychangingmymind，andthoughtitbesttomakesureoftheprizeatonce-youknowhowenthusiasticheisonallsubjectsconnectedwithNaturalHistory。Atthesametime，withoutbeingconsciousofit，Imusthavedepositedtheparchmentinmyownpocket。
“YourememberthatwhenIwenttothetable，forthepurposeofmakingasketchofthebeetle，Ifoundnopaperwhereitwasusuallykept。Ilookedinthedrawer，andfoundnonethere。Isearchedmypockets，hopingtofindanoldletter，whenmyhandfellupontheparchment。Ithusdetailtheprecisemodeinwhichitcameintomypossession；forthecircumstancesimpressedmewithpeculiarforce。
“Nodoubtyouwillthinkmefanciful-butIhadalreadyestablishedakindofconnexion。Ihadputtogethertwolinksofagreatchain。Therewasaboatlyinguponasea-coast，andnotfarfromtheboatwasaparchment-notapaper-withaskulldepicteduponit。Youwill，ofcourse，ask’whereistheconnexion？’Ireplythattheskull，ordeath’s-head，isthewell-knownemblemofthepirate。Theflagofthedeath’sheadishoistedinallengagements。
“Ihavesaidthatthescrapwasparchment，andnotpaper。
Parchmentisdurable-almostimperishable。Mattersoflittlemomentarerarelyconsignedtoparchment；since，forthemereordinarypurposesofdrawingorwriting，itisnotnearlysowelladaptedaspaper。Thisreflectionsuggestedsomemeaning-somerelevancy-inthedeath’s-head。Ididnotfailtoobserve，also，theformoftheparchment。Althoughoneofitscornershadbeen，bysomeaccident，destroyed，itcouldbeseenthattheoriginalformwasoblong。Itwasjustsuchaslip，indeed，asmighthavebeenchosenforamemorandum-forarecordofsomethingtobelongrememberedandcarefullypreserved。”
“But。”Iinterposed，“yousaythattheskullwasnotupontheparchmentwhenyoumadethedrawingofthebeetle。Howthendoyoutraceanyconnexionbetweentheboatandtheskull-sincethislatter，accordingtoyourownadmission，musthavebeendesignedGodonlyknowshoworbywhomatsomeperiodsubsequenttoyoursketchingthescarab鎢s？”
“Ah，hereuponturnsthewholemystery；althoughthesecret，atthispoint，Ihadcomparativelylittledifficultyinsolving。Mystepsweresure，andcouldaffordbutasingleresult。Ireasoned，forexample，thus：WhenIdrewthescarab鎢s，therewasnoskullapparentupontheparchment。WhenIhadcompletedthedrawingIgaveittoyou，andobservedyounarrowlyuntilyoureturnedit。You，therefore，didnotdesigntheskull，andnooneelsewaspresenttodoit。Thenitwasnotdonebyhumanagency。Andneverthelessitwasdone。“AtthisstageofmyreflectionsIendeavoredtoremember，anddidremember，withentiredistinctness，everyincidentwhichoccurredabouttheperiodinquestion。Theweatherwaschillyohrareandhappyaccident！，andafirewasblazinguponthehearth。Iwasheatedwithexerciseandsatnearthetable。You，however，haddrawnachairclosetothechimney。JustasIplacedtheparchmentinyourhand，andasyouwereintheactofin。inspectingit，Wolf，theNewfoundland，entered，andleapeduponyourshoulders。Withyourlefthandyoucaressedhimandkepthimoff，whileyourright，holdingtheparchment，waspermittedtofalllistlesslybetweenyourknees，andincloseproximitytothefire。AtonemomentIthoughttheblazehadcaughtit，andwasabouttocautionyou，but，beforeIcouldspeak，youhadwithdrawnit，andwereengagedinitsexamination。WhenI
consideredalltheseparticulars，Idoubtednotforamomentthatheathadbeentheagentinbringingtolight，upontheparchment，theskullwhichIsawdesigneduponit。Youarewellawarethatchemicalpreparationsexist，andhaveexistedtimeoutofmind，bymeansofwhichitispossibletowriteuponeitherpaperorvellum，sothatthecharactersshallbecomevisibleonlywhensubjectedtotheactionoffire。Zaffre，digestedinaquaregia，anddilutedwithfourtimesitsweightofwater，issometimesemployed；agreentintresults。Theregulusofcobalt，dissolvedinspiritofnitre，givesared。Thesecolorsdisappearatlongerorshorterintervalsafterthematerialwrittenuponcools，butagainbecomeapparentuponthere-applicationofheat。
“Inowscrutinizedthedeath’s-headwithcare。Itsouteredges-
theedgesofthedrawingnearesttheedgeofthevellum-werefarmoredistinctthantheothers。Itwasclearthattheactionofthecalorichadbeenimperfectorunequal。Iimmediatelykindledafire，andsubjectedeveryportionoftheparchmenttoaglowingheat。Atfirst，theonlyeffectwasthestrengtheningofthefaintlinesintheskull；but，uponperseveringintheexperiment，therebecamevisible，atthecorneroftheslip，diagonallyoppositetothespotinwhichthedeath’s-headwasdelineated，thefigureofwhatIatfirstsupposedtobeagoat。Acloserscrutiny，however，satisfiedmethatitwasintendedforakid。”
“Ha！ha！”saidI，“tobesureIhavenorighttolaughatyou-amillionandahalfofmoneyistooseriousamatterformirth-butyouarenotabouttoestablishathirdlinkinyourchain-youwillnotfindanyespecialconnexionbetweenyourpiratesandagoat-
pirates，youknow，havenothingtodowithgoats；theyappertaintothefarminginterest。”
“ButIhavejustsaidthatthefigurewasnotthatofagoat。”
“Well，akidthen-prettymuchthesamething。”
“Prettymuch，butnotaltogether。”saidLegrand。“YoumayhaveheardofoneCaptainKidd。Iatoncelookeduponthefigureoftheanimalasakindofpunningorhieroglyphicalsignature。Isaysignature；becauseitspositionuponthevellumsuggestedthisidea。
Thedeath’s-headatthecornerdiagonallyopposite，had，inthesamemanner，theairofastamp，orseal。ButIwassorelyputoutbytheabsenceofallelse-ofthebodytomyimaginedinstrument-ofthetextformycontext。”
“Ipresumeyouexpectedtofindaletterbetweenthestampandthesignature。”
“Somethingofthatkind。Thefactis，Ifeltirresistiblyimpressedwithapresentimentofsomevastgoodfortuneimpending。I
canscarcelysaywhy。Perhaps，afterall，itwasratheradesirethananactualbelief；-butdoyouknowthatJupiter’ssillywords，aboutthebugbeingofsolidgold，hadaremarkableeffectuponmyfancy？
Andthentheseriesofaccidentsandcoincidences-theseweresoveryextraordinary。Doyouobservehowmereanaccidentitwasthattheseeventsshouldhaveoccurreduponthesoledayofalltheyearinwhichithasbeen，ormaybe，sufficientlycoolforfire，andthatwithoutthefire，orwithouttheinterventionofthedogattheprecisemomentinwhichheappeared，Ishouldneverhavebecomeawareofthedeath’s-head，andsoneverthepossessorofthetreasure？”
“Butproceed-Iamallimpatience。”
“Well；youhaveheard，ofcourse，themanystoriescurrent-thethousandvaguerumorsafloataboutmoneyburied，somewhereupontheAtlanticcoast，byKiddandhisassociates。Theserumorsmusthavehadsomefoundationinfact。Andthattherumorshaveexistedsolongandsocontinuous，couldhaveresulted，itappearedtome，onlyfromthecircumstanceoftheburiedtreasurestillremainingentombed。HadKiddconcealedhisplunderforatime，andafterwardsreclaimedit，therumorswouldscarcelyhavereachedusintheirpresentunvaryingform。Youwillobservethatthestoriestoldareallaboutmoney-seekers，notaboutmoney-finders。Hadthepiraterecoveredhismoney，theretheaffairwouldhavedropped。Itseemedtomethatsomeaccident-saythelossofamemorandumindicatingitslocality-haddeprivedhimofthemeansofrecoveringit，andthatthisaccidenthadbecomeknowntohisfollowers，whootherwisemightneverhaveheardthattreasurehadbeenconcealedatall，andwho，busyingthemselvesinvain，becauseunguidedattempts，toregainit，hadgivenfirstbirth，andthenuniversalcurrency，tothereportswhicharenowsocommon。Haveyoueverheardofanyimportanttreasurebeingunearthedalongthecoast？”
“Never。”
“ButthatKidd’saccumulationswereimmense，iswellknown。I
tookitforgranted，therefore，thattheearthstillheldthem；andyouwillscarcelybesurprisedwhenItellyouthatIfeltahope，nearlyamountingtocertainty，thattheparchmentsostrangelyfound，involvedalostrecordoftheplaceofdeposit。”
“Buthowdidyouproceed？”
“Iheldthevellumagaintothefire，afterincreasingtheheat；
butnothingappeared。Inowthoughtitpossiblethatthecoatingofdirtmighthavesomethingtodowiththefailure；soIcarefullyrinsedtheparchmentbypouringwarmwateroverit，and，havingdonethis，Iplaceditinatinpan，withtheskulldownwards，andputthepanuponafurnaceoflightedcharcoal。Inafewminutes，thepanhavingbecomethoroughlyheated，Iremovedtheslip，and，tomyinexpressiblejoy，founditspotted，inseveralplaces，withwhatappearedtobefiguresarrangedinlines。AgainIplaceditinthepan，andsufferedittoremainanotherminute。Upontakingitoff，thewholewasjustasyouseeitnow。”HereLegrand，havingre-heatedtheparchment，submittedittomyinspection。Thefollowingcharacterswererudelytraced，inaredtint，betweenthedeath’s-headandthegoat：
“53噰？056*；48264？4？806*；48？？085；1-；：*8-83885*？
；46；88*96*？；8*？；485；5*？：*？；4956*25*-48？*；40692
85；6？4；1？；48081；8：8？；48？5；4485？28806*81？；48；
88；4？34；484？161；：188；？；“
“But。”saidI，returninghimtheslip，“Iamasmuchinthedarkasever。WereallthejewelsofGolcondaawaitingmeuponmysolutionofthisenigma，IamquitesurethatIshouldbeunabletoearnthem。”
“Andyet。”saidLegrand，“thesolutionisbynomeanssodifficultasyoumightbeleadtoimaginefromthefirsthastyinspectionofthecharacters。Thesecharacters，asanyonemightreadilyguess，formacipher-thatistosay，theyconveyameaning；
butthen，fromwhatisknownofKidd，Icouldnotsupposehimcapableofconstructinganyofthemoreabstrusecryptographs。Imadeupmymind，atonce，thatthiswasofasimplespecies-such，however，aswouldappear，tothecrudeintellectofthesailor，absolutelyinsolublewithoutthekey。”
“Andyoureallysolvedit？”
“Readily；Ihavesolvedothersofanabstrusenesstenthousandtimesgreater。Circumstances，andacertainbiasofmind，haveledmetotakeinterestinsuchriddles，anditmaywellbedoubtedwhetherhumaningenuitycanconstructanenigmaofthekindwhichhumaningenuitymaynot，byproperapplication，resolve。Infact，havingonceestablishedconnectedandlegiblecharacters，Iscarcelygaveathoughttothemeredifficultyofdevelopingtheirimport。
“Inthepresentcase-indeedinallcasesofsecretwriting-
thefirstquestionregardsthelanguageofthecipher；fortheprinciplesofsolution，sofar，especially，asthemoresimpleciphersareconcerned，dependupon，andarevariedby，thegeniusoftheparticularidiom。Ingeneral，thereisnoalternativebutexperimentdirectedbyprobabilitiesofeverytongueknowntohimwhoattemptsthesolution，untilthetrueonebeattained。But，withtheciphernowbeforeus，alldifficultywasremovedbythesignature。Thepunupontheword’Kidd’isappreciableinnootherlanguagethantheEnglish。ButforthisconsiderationIshouldhavebegunmyattemptswiththeSpanishandFrench，asthetonguesinwhichasecretofthiskindwouldmostnaturallyhavebeenwrittenbyapirateoftheSpanishmain。Asitwas，IassumedthecryptographtobeEnglish。
“Youobservetherearenodivisionsbetweenthewords。Hadtherebeendivisions，thetaskwouldhavebeencomparativelyeasy。InsuchcaseIshouldhavecommencedwithacollationandanalysisoftheshorterwords，and，hadawordofasingleletteroccurred，asismostlikely，aorI，forexample，Ishouldhaveconsideredthesolutionasassured。But，therebeingnodivision，myfirststepwastoascertainthepredominantletters，aswellastheleastfrequent。
Countingall，Iconstructedatable，thus：