“And thus there are in this paragraph, after we have done our
subtraction, sixty-four vowels and two hundred and twelve consonants.
Good! that is the normal proportion. That is about a fifth, as in the
alphabet, where there are six vowels among twenty-six letters. It is
possible, therefore, that the document is written in the language of
our country, and that only the signification of each letter is
changed. If it has been modified in regular order, and a _b_ is
always represented by an _l,_ and _o_ by a _v,_ a _g_ by a _k,_ an
_u_ by an _r,_ etc., I will give up my judgeship if I do not read it.
What can I do better than follow the method of that great analytical
genius, Edgar Allan Poe?”
Judge Jarriquez herein alluded to a story by the great American
romancer, which is a masterpiece. Who has not read the “Gold Bug?” In
this novel a cryptogram, composed of ciphers, letters, algebraic
signs, asterisks, full-stops, and commas, is submitted to a truly
mathematical analysis, and is deciphered under extraordinary
conditions, which the admirers of that strange genius can never
forget. On the reading of the American document depended only a
treasure, while on that of this one depended a man’s life. Its
solution was consequently all the more interesting.
The magistrate, who had often read and re-read his “Gold Bug,” was
perfectly acquainted with the steps in the analysis so minutely
described by Edgar Poe, and he resolved to proceed in the same way on
this occasion. In doing so he was certain, as he had said, that if
the value or signification of each letter remained constant, he
would, sooner or later, arrive at the solution of the document.
“What did Edgar Poe do?” he repeated. “First of all he began by
finding out the sign–here there are only letters, let us say the
letter–which was reproduced the oftenest. I see that that is _h,_
for it is met with twenty-three times. This enormous proportion
shows, to begin with, that _h_ does not stand for _h,_ but, on the
contrary, that it represents the letter which recurs most frequently
in our language, for I suppose the document is written in Portuguese.
In English or French it would certainly be _e,_ in Italian it would
be _i_ or _a,_ in Portuguese it will be _a_ or _o_. Now let us say
that it signifies _a_ or _o.”_
After this was done, the judge found out the letter which recurred
most frequently after _h,_ and so on, and he formed the following
table:
_h_ = 23 times
_y_ = 19 —
_u_ = 17 —
_d p q_ = 16 —
_g v_ = 13 —
_o r x z_ = 12 —
_f s_ = 10 —
_e k l m n_ = 9 —
_j t_ = 8 —
_b i_ = 8 —
_a c_ = 8 —
“Now the letter _a_ only occurs thrice!” exclaimed the judge, “and it
ought to occur the oftenest. Ah! that clearly proves that the meaning
had been changed. And now, after _a_ or _o,_ what are the letters
which figure oftenest in our language? Let us see,” and Judge
Jarriquez, with truly remarkable sagacity, which denoted a very
observant mind, started on this new quest. In this he was only
imitating the American romancer, who, great analyst as he was, had,
by simple induction, been able to construct an alphabet corresponding
to the signs of the cryptogram and by means of it to eventually read
the pirate’s parchment note with ease.
The magistrate set to work in the same way, and we may affirm that he
was no whit inferior to his illustrious master. Thanks to his
previous work at logogryphs and squares, rectangular arrangements and
other enigmas, which depend only on an arbitrary disposition of the
letters, he was already pretty strong in such mental pastimes. On
this occasion he sought to establish the order in which the letters
were reproduced–vowels first, consonants afterward.
Three hours had elapsed since he began. He had before his eyes an
alphabet which, if his procedure were right, would give him the right