Жах Данвіча
Chapter 8
AllthroughlateAugusthefortifiedhimselfwiththemassloreofcryptography; drawinguponthefullestresourcesofhisownlibrary,andwadingnightafternightamidstthearcanaofTrithemius’Poligraphia,GiambattistaPorta’sDeFurtivisLiterarumNotis,DeVigenere’sTraitedesChiffres, Falconer’sCryptomenysisPatefacta,Davys’andThicknesse’seighteenth-centurytreatises, andsuchfairlymodernauthoritiesasBlair,vanMartenandKluber’sscriptitself, andintimebecameconvincedthathehadtodealwithoneofthosesubtlestandmostingeniousofcryptograms,inwhichmanyseparatelistsofcorrespondinglettersarearrangedlikethemultiplicationtable,andthemessagebuiltupwitharbitrarykey-wordsknownonlytotheinitiated. Theolderauthoritiesseemedrathermorehelpfulthanthenewerones,andArmitageconcludedthatthecodeofthemanuscriptwasoneofgreatantiquity,nodoubthandeddownthroughalonglineofmysticalexperimenters. Severaltimesheseemedneardaylight,onlytobesetbackbysomeunforeseenobstacle. Then,asSeptemberapproached,thecloudsbegantoclear. Certainletters,asusedincertainpartsofthemanuscript,emergeddefinitelyandunmistakably; anditbecameobviousthatthetextwasindeedinEnglish.
OntheeveningofSeptembersecondthelastmajorbarriergaveway,andDrArmitagereadforthefirsttimeacontinuouspassageofWilburWhateley’sannals.
