Випадок Чарльза Декстера Варда

           Willettplacedtheentirelotinhisvaliseandcontinuedhisexaminationofthefiles.SinceyoungWard’simmediateconditionwasthegreatestmatteratstake,theclosestsearchingwasdoneamongthemostobviouslyrecentmatter;andinthisabundanceofcontemporarymanuscriptoneverybafflingodditywasnoted.TheodditywastheslightamountinCharles’snormalwriting,whichindeedincludednothingmorerecentthantwomonthsbefore.Ontheotherhand,therewereliterallyreamsofsymbolsandformulae,historicalnotesandphilosophicalcomment,inacrabbedpenmanshipabsolutelyidenticalwiththeancientscriptofJosephCurwen,thoughofundeniablymoderndating.Plainly,apartofthelatter-dayprogramhadbeenasedulousimitationoftheoldwizard’swriting,whichCharlesseemedtohavecarriedtoamarvelousstateofperfection.OfanythirdhandwhichmighthavebeenAllen’stherewasnotatrace.Ifhehadindeedcometobetheleader,hemusthaveforcedyoungWardtoactashisamanuensis.

           Inthisnewmaterialonemysticformula,orratherpairofformulae,recurredsooftenthatWilletthaditbyheartbeforehehadhalffinishedhisquest.Itconsistedoftwoparallelcolumns,theleft-handonesurmountedbythearchaicsymbolcalled"Dragon’sHead"andusedinalmanacstoindicatetheascendingnode,andtheright-handoneheadedbyacorrespondingsignof"Dragon’sTail"ordescendingnode.