Жах Данвіча
Chapter 8
Armitagehadanideathatthealphabetmightbesomethingesotericallyusedbycertainforbiddencultswhichhavecomedownfromoldtimes,andwhichhaveinheritedmanyformsandtraditionsfromthewizardsoftheSaracenicworld. Thatquestion,however,hedidnotdeemvital; sinceitwouldbeunnecessarytoknowtheoriginofthesymbolsif,ashesuspected,theywereusedasacipherinamodernlanguage. Itwashisbeliefthat,consideringthegreatamountoftextinvolved,thewriterwouldscarcelyhavewishedthetroubleofusinganotherspeechthanhisown,saveperhapsincertainspecialformulaeandincantations. AccordinglyheattackedthemanuscriptwiththepreliminaryassumptionthatthebulkofitwasinEnglish.
DrArmitageknew,fromtherepeatedfailuresofhiscolleagues,thattheriddlewasadeepandcomplexone; andthatnosimplemodeofsolutioncouldmeritevenatrial.
