Повернення Шерлока Холмса

           Asyouareaware,EisthemostcommonletterintheEnglishalphabet,anditpredominatestosomarkedanextentthateveninashortsentenceonewouldexpecttofinditmostoften.Outoffifteensymbolsinthefirstmessage,fourwerethesame,soitwasreasonabletosetthisdownasE.Itistruethatinsomecasesthefigurewasbearingaflag,andinsomecasesnot,butitwasprobable,fromthewayinwhichtheflagsweredistributed,thattheywereusedtobreakthesentenceupintowords.Iacceptedthisasahypothesis,andnotedthatEwasrepresentedby

           “Butnowcametherealdifficultyoftheinquiry.TheorderoftheEnglishlettersafterEisbynomeanswellmarked,andanypreponderancewhichmaybeshowninanaverageofaprintedsheetmaybereversedinasingleshortsentence.Speakingroughly,T,A,O,I,N,S,H,R,D,andLarethenumericalorderinwhichlettersoccur,butT,A,O,andIareverynearlyabreastofeachother,anditwouldbeanendlesstasktotryeachcombinationuntilameaningwasarrivedat.Ithereforewaitedforfreshmaterial.InmysecondinterviewwithMr.HiltonCubitthewasabletogivemetwoothershortsentencesandonemessage,whichappeared—sincetherewasnoflag—tobeasingleword.Herearethesymbols.Now,inthesinglewordIhavealreadygotthetwoE’scomingsecondandfourthinawordoffiveletters.Itmightbe‘sever,’or‘lever,’or‘never.’Therecanbenoquestionthatthelatterasareplytoanappealisfarthemostprobable,andthecircumstancespointedtoitsbeingareplywrittenbythelady.