New Britain Herald Newspaper, December 13, 1922, Page 5

© 1092 NEA Servi THE GREAT CIPHER, Begin Here Today It was evening and a group of men were seated on the porch of the Executive Mansion listening to M. JONQUELLE, greatest of French detectives tell the story of CHAUVANNES, the explorer who was killed in Africa and who left the record that caused everyone to be- lleve he was mad. P “But he was not mad,” exclaimed ;V‘onqualln turning to the Chiet Execu- ve, Then Jonquelle told how Chau- vannes had gone into the Congo with three worthless white men, had found the preclous emeralds and had then begun to write the diary which caused every reader to doubt his sanity—par- ticularly when he wrote of the crea- ture which entered his tent—that strange creature which he alone could see. CHAPTER I1II, “It was on the third night, after the two men had departed and he was alone in the tent with the sleeping Leturc, that Chauvannes saw this creature, He says it was about 3 o'clock in the morning. He had been awake through the entire night, his eyes usually closed. ¢He does not know how he happened to open them. It was precisely 17 minutes to 3, by the watch which he wore on his wrist. He opened his ey‘ precisely at the moment when the "treature entered the tent—a thing it did with-out dis- turbing the flap and without making any sound whatever, “Chauvannes says that he saw it distinctly. It paused for a moment after it had entered, remaining for some seconds quite motionless. He says that in proportion to the other parts of the creature's body, the head was enormous. It was cubical in contour. The outline was perfectly clear, but what we would call fea- tures were hardly distinguishable. The thing seemed to lack features. That was one of the distinguishing horrors of it—a head big in propor- tion to its body, cubical in outline and lacking features! The chest and abdomen were also big, estimating the creature by its own proportions. The limbs were long, marrow and jointed. The#hole creature was of a repulsive, reddish color, and without any of the wsual covering of animals with which the human race is familiar. The body seemed to be of some hard, red substance, Chauvannes sald—trozen and polished flesh, after the skin had been removed, was the idea he got. “The creature remained only a mo- ment visible to him; then it disap- peared. It seemed to Chauvannes that it disappeared merely by turning about. He was unable to see it again, although the doorway where it en- tered was clear in the moonlight, and there was only the grass floor of the tent.” ‘Monsieur Jonquelle stopped here in his narrative, like one Who would h a hearer to grasp the whole conception of the story before he went on. But he did not seek a comment. The man beyond him walted for him to go on, and he presently continued: b 1 shall not follow. the detall of all the experiences. nated down by Chau- varnes, and which, finally, brought him to the conclusions at which he at length arrived. He was able, after this night, to observe the creature and a number of its companions, although the man Leturc, who was always with him, seems never to have observed it. “He was also able to discover, al- though he does not give .all the de- tafls of that discovery in the journal, that these creatures lived ' under- ground, and that one of their under- ground cities was very close to the camp. He had, in fact, by some sinister hazard, put down his camp al- most at the doorway of the under- ground habitat of these extrn.ordmnz beings—if one could call a creature this character a being in our sense. “Now, these are among the dlu: tinguishing incidents of Chnuvamne:l journal, that led Your Excellency, an the Paris authorities, to believe that Chauvannes was mad. The culmina- tion of events seemed to establish it. “You know how the journal = goes on, giving the minute details that Ch‘n,uvannea observed during the week that he was alone with Leturc, while the American beachcomber Dix and the Finn made their fourney to the Nyanza. And you know how Chau- vannes finally came to’the conclusion that the seven great emeralds, which ried sewed up in the lining of e Ccar :u waistcoat, were the things that set e creatures on him. u‘?:l‘he emeralds are in the Louvre. They are seven of the most extraor- dinary jewels in the world. They are larger and purer than any other kngwn emerald. They are cut in & manner of which we have no knowl- edge, and the backs of them are covered with a heiroglyphic writing that antedates any language that we know, and which, at: {ll‘. has baffled effort to transiate. “5'1; a.’:ytnte, although the French- man Leturc was with Chauvannes all the time—on the very day before the return of Dix and the Finn, the emer- disappeared! .Iq‘.Chn.uvunnes wrote it down in de- e journal. u“’]-‘[: t:uj certain, accurate, without any trace of doubt: the emeralds—no longer in his possession—were in the underground habitat of these crea- tures! And the opening to this habi- tat was close beside the very place of th?'l:‘ :.2 hardly any wonder thatl the men with him considered him o that the journal may be carried M CHRISTMAS GIFT SUGGESTIONS 'FOR HER ' +FOR HIM FOR THE KIDDIES Today’s Want Ad Page oc;ulflafl:m 65 A-B-C-D / fant " it . NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1922, Qriumphs of ~ M.Jonquelle- % | by Mervitie DavissoN PosT : ice, Inc ' mad, especlally when one reads the closing pages of the journal, He takes, in writing, an elaborate and tender farewell of the three men, He thanks them In detail for their cour- age, their unfalling kindness to him and their devotion to the expedition, No man could have written a higher testimonial of the fidelity of his com- panions. He points out that his death is impending and certaln, He begs to France, and he urges the French gov- ernment to send out an expedition to recover the emeralds, which, he says, are concealed in the first underground dwellings of the creatures, which he has described, as though he were aware of the fact that there were other dwellings of these creatures about. The emeralds are in the one closest to the camp, and they can be recovered! He is persistent on this point, as he is insistent on the fact that his death is near and inevitable, and as he is insfstent on the fidelity of the three men with him. “And when on the following day, as THE MEN WERE CONVINCED THAT HE WAS MAD. Leturc reported, he seized the Finn’s rifie and shot himself, the men were, of course, convinced that he was mad.” There came a sudden vigor into Monsieur Jonquelle's voice. “But he was not mad! Don't you see, Excellency, that the whole nar- rative of the journal was an immense cipher? Don't you see what the man was doing?” The voice beyond Monsieur Jon- quelle, in the darkness of the portico, boomed in a sudden big expletive. There was the sound of a doubled fist crashed into the palm of a hand. “Wonderful,” he cried. ‘It's clever beyond words. Good God! Think of the man in that deadly position working out a clever thing like that. He knew what was going to happen to him. He knew it as soon as he picked up those jewels under the overturned stones on the Congo. He knew he would never come out alive, and he worked out the cipher in this journal. to show where the emeralds were concealed, 8o the French au- thorities could recover them. And he worked out all the details to be sure | that the journal would finally get into Paris. It's wonderful! It's amaz- 1" He beat his leg with his big hand, thumping it as one might thump grist in a bag. “I never dreamed that what the man was after. he was mad!"” “Surely,” replied Monsieur Jon- quelle. “It .was the first impression of everybody. But he was not mad. He was merely making a great ciher with all the details of this journal. that was I thought Eternal City’s Beauty Queen A committee of Italian artists and sculptors recently selected “He knew there was no chance that he would ever come out alive! But he wished to rob these assassihs of the treasure which they coveted, and he wished the record of his expe- dition and these incomparable emer- alds to reach France. He therefore prepared a journal in which was con- cealed, as in a code, all the actual facts connected with his expedition and his assassination, and at the same time disclose the place in which the emeralds were concealed. It would also bring the assassins to that jus- tice which they deserved. He fore- saw that Dix and the Finn would as- sume that Leturc had stolen the em- eralds. He knew that the Apache Frenchman was shrewder than these two, that he would realize their sus-| picion and that he would forestall it by their murder—a thing we know immediately happened after the as- sassination of Chauvannes on the| morning of their return. This was | established by the fragmentary con- | fession of the Apache Leturc, shortly before he was executed.ly Monsieur Jonquelle stopped. | “I maintain, Excellency, that this whole journal is the finest example of code writing that was ever undertaken in the world.” He paused. And his voice todk on a note of profound courtesy. “You know, Excellency, what the creature was that Chauvannes de- P~ ask for Horlick's The ORIGINAL Malted Milk For Infants, Invalids & Children The Original Food-Drink for All Ages. QuickLunchat Home OfficesFountaina, RichMilk, Malted Grain ExtractinPow- | ders Tabletforms. Nourishing-Nocooking. 3" Avoid Imitations and Substitutes | | | Signorina Rita Guarini as the most beautiful girl in Rome. scribed, and where the emeralds were hidden?"” Again the big voice boomed. “Surely,” it cried. “Our concep- tion of a thing depends on the man- ner in which it is described and the mental state which has been pre- pared to receive that description. It was the ant! The red ant! And the emeralds were concealed in the ant- heap nearest to the point where the camp was located.” THE END. Prize Winner The junior exhibit at the White Plains, (N. Y.) Hutch Show brought |forth. a fine display of rabbits and guinea pigs with their proud young owners. Here is Alice Iaulkner with “Jay Gould" her prize winning gray IFlemish rabbit. - WANTED—300 Christmas Club Check Holders THE BIG STORE Offers a Special Extraordinary Christmas Thrift Plan THE PLAN IN DETAIL: 1. For the first 100 persons from each of the three banks who cash their CHRISTMAS CLUB CHECKS, and who make purchases at —— THE BI G STORE — each one will receive a HOLIDAY DISCOUNT OF 5% OF THE TOTAL PURCHASE MADE Example:— If your check amounts to $50.00, for instance, and you make a of $20.00, you will receive. 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