Chapter 8

           Inthemeantimeaquieteryetevenmorespirituallypoignantphaseofthehorrorhadbeenblacklyunwindingitselfbehindthecloseddoorofashelf-linedroominArkham. ThecuriousmanuscriptrecordordiaryofWilburWhateley,deliveredtoMiskatonicUniversityfortranslationhadcausedmuchworryandbafflementamongtheexpertsinlanguagebothancientandmodern; itsveryalphabet,notwithstandingageneralresemblancetotheheavily-shadedArabicusedinMesopotamia,beingabsolutelyunknowntoanyavailableauthority. Thefinalconclusionofthelinguistswasthatthetextrepresentedanartificialalphabet,givingtheeffectofacipher; thoughnoneoftheusualmethodsofcryptographicsolutionseemedtofurnishanyclue,evenwhenappliedonthebasisofeverytonguethewritermightconceivablyhaveused. TheancientbookstakenfromWhateley’squarters,whileabsorbinglyinterestingandinseveralcasespromisingtoopenupnewandterriblelinesofresearchamongphilosophersandmenofscience,wereofnoassistancewhateverinthismatter. Oneofthem,aheavytomewithanironclasp,wasinanotherunknownalphabet—thisoneofaverydifferentcast,andresemblingSanskritmorethananythingelse. TheoldledgerwasatlengthgivenwhollyintothechargeofDrArmitage,bothbecauseofhispeculiarinterestintheWhateleymatter,andbecauseofhiswidelinguisticlearningandskillinthemysticalformulaeofantiquityandthemiddleages.