placed it, gives as his opinion that there is probably, somethingin the theory, but he will not quite commit himself to any absolutedeclaration."
"Is he really competent to judge?" Diamond queried.
"Competent! Why, my dear sir, he's one of the first Hebrew scholars inthe world! He is daily engaged in making researches. History, as weare acquainted with it, may negative the theory advanced in those scrapsof typewriting, yet Old Testament history is, as you know, very involvedand often very contradictory."
"Well," exclaimed the Doctor, "to tell the truth, Mr Farquhar, I'mgetting anxious. What I fear is that too many people will get knowledgeof it. Then, with the secret out, we shall have others trying toinvestigate. And with such a gigantic business before us, is it anywonder that I'm becoming impatient?"
"Many a good business is spoilt by being in too great a hurry," Frankdeclared. "Remain patient, and leave matters entirely to me," he addedreflectively. "I've been wondering whether, if we made diligent andsecret inquiry, we might not discover the actual person, whoever he maybe, who made the curious declaration. It certainly was not your deadfriend."
The Doctor hesitated. The idea at once commended itself to him.
"No," he said. "Often when I have recalled all the romantic facts, Ihave been inclined to suspect that the man who died, although a scholar,had no right to possession of those papers. He intended to make moneywith them if death had not come so unexpectedly. His very words provedthat."
"Exactly my opinion," declared Frank. "Now if we could but find out whothe mysterious discoverer really is, we might approach him underpretence of handing back to him the remains of the papers."
"Ah! You still have them safely, eh?" demanded the Doctor.
"Certainly. They are locked in from prying eyes in my desk yonder."
"May I have them?"
"Of course," was Frank's unhesitating reply, though he had no desire topart with them at that juncture. Yet he had, unfortunately, no excusefor keeping them further. He could not say that the Professor heldthem, as he had given his visitor a solemn promise not to allow thedocuments out of his possession.
So he rose, unlocked a drawer with the key upon his chain, and handed tothe deformed man the packet containing the half-burnt statement.
"Well," remarked Diamond, as he took the precious documents in his hand,"if you think it a wise course, let us adopt it."
"Yes, but where are we to commence our search?"
"The stranger said he was a Dane. He came from Copenhagen. Is it notprobable," suggested the Doctor, "that the discoverer was some friend ofhis residing in that city?"
"More than likely," Farquhar agreed. "Yes. Let us try Copenhagen. Wemust first find out who are the professors of Hebrew resident there. Iwill write to our Copenhagen correspondent to-night and ask for a list.Then, if necessary, I will run over there myself. In this matter wemust lay out a decisive line of inquiry and follow it up."
"Quite so," exclaimed the hunchback. "Copenhagen must be ourstarting-point. The initial difficulty, however, as far as I discern,is that we do not know our dead friend's name. If we did and couldtrace him, we might discover whether he knew anybody who was a Hebrewscholar."
"The Danish police would furnish us with names and descriptions ofpersons lately missing from the capital."
"So they would, that's a brilliant idea," exclaimed the Doctor. "Myopinion is that the reason why he refused his name to me, even at thefinal moment, was because he was wanted by the police, and intended thatthey should remain in ignorance of his end."
"If so, it makes our inquiry far easier," declared Frank. "And supposewe find him?" he asked.
"If we find him," answered Diamond, looking straight into the eyes ofthe ambitious man opposite--"if we find him, we will compel him tofurnish to us the context of the statement."
"Compel--eh?" repeated the other, a hard smile playing about the youngman's lips. Diamond was a queer figure and strange persons had alwaysattracted him. Through the ugly little doctor he had gained thisremarkable knowledge of an uncanny secret withheld from the world forover two thousand years. He was reflecting what a "boom" the discoverywould be for that great daily newspaper of which he was one of the Boardof Directors.
"Then you agree that we shall at once turn our attention to Copenhagen--eh?" he asked.
"Certainly--the sooner the better."
"We have no photograph of your friend--a most unfortunate fact."
Diamond gave a detailed description of the dead man, and his friend,crossing to his writing-table, wrote it carefully at his dictation.
"I've been in Copenhagen several times," Frank remarked, "so I know thatcity fairly well. I wonder whether the man we seek is a professor atthe University?"
"Our first object is to establish the dead man's identity."
"He may have lied, and perhaps was not a Dane after all! He may havebeen a Norwegian, or even a Swede."
Diamond raised his deformed shoulders and answered:
"True, as he was so bent upon concealing his identity he may well havelied to me regarding his nationality. Yet we must risk that, don't youthink?"
"But you told me that you were convinced that he was a Scandinavian."
"Yes. But he might have come from Stockholm, or Gothenburg orChristiania."
"Our first inquiries must be of the Danish police," Frank saiddecisively. "I'll write to-night to our correspondent in Copenhagen."
"Would it not be best for you to go there and make inquiries yourself?"
"I may do that. Most probably I shall."
"Stories of treasure are always attractive," remarked the Doctor,casting a crafty glance at his young friend. "I hope, Mr Farquhar, youwill make no mention in any of your papers regarding it."
"My dear Doctor, don't worry yourself about that," Frank laughed. "Oftreasure stories we've of late had a perfect glut. For a long time, forinstance, I've taken a deep interest in the wrecks of vessels known tohave contained treasure, the exact location of which are known. As anexample, we have the ship _Grosvenor_ now lying off the Pondoland Coastwith over a million and a half pounds of treasure in her rotting hold.Then there's the _Ariston_, in Marcus Bay, with 800,000 pounds worth;the _Birkenhead_, on Birkenhead Reef, with a similar amount; the_Atlas_, near Yarmouth, with 700,000 pounds, the _Dorothea_, on TenedosReef, with 460,000 pounds; the _Abercrombie_, lying under the BlackRock, with 180,000 pounds; and the _Merenstein_, on the coast of YuttonIsland, with 120,000 pounds. In addition to these there are H.M.S._Chandos_ with 60,000 pounds in coin in her hold, the troopship_Addison_ with 20,000 pounds in gold, and the _Harlem II_, lying halfcovered by sand with her hold full of silver bars. All these and manyothers are lying in positions perfectly well known, and only awaitsalvage. Why, in one gale off the West African coast in 1802 sevenships were wrecked, all of them containing a vast treasure. Besides,the contents of the vessels I have mentioned have all been verified fromtheir bills of lading still in existence. No, my dear Doctor," theyoung man added with a laugh, "had the story been an ordinary one oftreasure it would not have interested me in the least, I assure you; andas for publishing any details, why, my dear sir, is it not to my ownpersonal interest to keep the matter as secret as possible? Please donot have any apprehension on that score."
"I have not," declared the hunchback; "my great fear, however, is thatthis professor friend of yours may chatter."
"He will not. I have impressed upon Griffin the value of silence," saidFrank. "Besides, he is a `dry-as-dust,' silent man, who says nothing,so absorbed is he in his studies in his own particular sphere."
"Good. Then we will now transfer our attention to Copenhagen."
"I shall write to-night. Remain patient and wait the reply of theDanish police. I'm open to bet anything that your friend was compelledto make himself scarce from Denmark, and carried with him confidentialdocuments which were not his property and with which he had no right todeal."
"Then if that really turns out so, it
also proves another thing."
"What's that?"
"Why, if the documents were to be of any commercial value, they musthave contained the actual key to the secret."
"No doubt. The key was written clearly in those manuscript folios, allof which were burned save one," was Frank's reply. "It is the contextof that document which we must obtain at all costs and at all hazards.And if the dead man has not lied I'm firmly of opinion that it will befound within the city of Copenhagen."
CHAPTER TWELVE.
DESCRIBES AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.
Professor Griffin, for a scholar was a man of unusually rapid action.
He was convinced that another person was following the same course ofinquiry as himself. Therefore he determined to act quickly anddecisively.
Next day he returned to the British Museum, and after three hours' workcompleted the copy of the manuscript. Then he turned his attention totwo fragments of the Hebrew manuscript of the Book of Ezekiel, one ofthe fourth century in the Oriental Room, and the other of the fifthcentury in the Harleian collection.
While studying these, he recollected that some fragment of earlymanuscript of Ezekiel had been recently found in the Genisa in Old Cairoby Mr Alder and his companions, and that several of them were in theBodleian Library at Oxford. Therefore, he searched the catalogue, notedthe numbers, and that evening took the train to the university centre,staying the night at the Randolph Hotel.
Next morning he was in consultation with his friend, Professor Cowley,and Number 2611 of the Hebrew manuscript was brought. It proved to bethe text of Ezekiel from chapter xiv, 22 to chapter xlvii, 6.
"Ah!" exclaimed Griffin, the instant he glanced at it. "It is toomodern, I fear, for it contains the vowel-points."
"Yes," answered his friend. "I fear it will be of no value to you, ifyou seek a very early manuscript."
Griffin had made no explanation of the reason of his inquiry.
"The oldest manuscript of Ezekiel is, as you know, in the ImperialLibrary in St Petersburg," Professor Cowley remarked. "I have heresome photographic reproductions," and from a portfolio he produced somefacsimiles which had been published by the Paleographical Society someyears ago. They were splendid reproductions, and to Griffin of mostintense interest.
He sat and for a long time examined them most carefully. He made noremark to his friend, but from the expression upon his face after makinga pencilled calculation upon the blotting-pad before him, it was evidentthat his search had not been unrewarded.
The only other actual manuscript in the Bodleian proved to be aparchment fragment of chaps, x, 9 to xiv, 11. But this containingvowel-points and accents on both Mashrahs, was, at a glance, dismissedas comparatively modern, its age being about A.D. 220.
The facsimile of the St Petersburg manuscript was to him mostinteresting and from it Griffin made copious notes. Then, that sameafternoon, he left for Cambridge, where next day he inspected severalearly manuscripts in the University Library, and at evening was backagain in Pembridge Gardens, where he dined alone with Gwen.
The girl was anxious to ascertain what her father had discovered, but hewas most reticent, knowing well that all would be told to Frank Farquharon the following day.
Suddenly she said:
"Frank has gone abroad, dad."
"Abroad? Where to?"
"To Copenhagen. He left Victoria at eleven this morning and travels byFlushing, Kiel and Korsor. I saw him off."
"Copenhagen!" repeated the Professor thoughtfully, and in an instant herecollected that the dead stranger was a Dane, from Copenhagen. Whatclue was young Farquhar following?
That night he sat alone in his study reading and re-reading the copy ofthe first manuscript he had consulted in the British Museum, andcomparing it most carefully with the extracts he had made from thefacsimile of the St Petersburg codex.
Then he took from a shelf a copy of the Old Testament in Hebrew andEnglish, and compared the Hebrew with the early texts.
"After all," he remarked aloud to himself, "there is little or nodifference in our modern Hebrew text, except that in the oldermanuscripts the name of the Deity is written larger, in order to renderit prominent. Ah! if I could only reconstruct the context!"
From his table he took up a large envelope, and breaking it open, drewforth the whole-plate photographic reproductions of the preciousfragments of the dead stranger's manuscript. These he placed before himbeneath his reading-lamp, and studied them long and carefully,especially the scrap of handwriting.
Turning again to the extract he had made from the codex in StPetersburg he re-examined it. The portion was Ezekiel, ii, 9-10 inHebrew, the English of which was as follows: "And when I looked, beholdan hand _was_ sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book _was_ therein.And he spread it before me; and it _was_ written within and without: and_there_ was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe."
These two verses had attracted him at Oxford, and they again riveted hisattention. It almost seemed as though he read in them some riddlemeaning something tangible, for he was making upon a slip of paperfrequent and rapid arithmetical calculations.
At half-past ten Gwen came, and kissing him good-night, urged him to goto bed, but nevertheless he continued his work far into the night, untilthe fire had burned itself out and he rose cold and tired.
He sighed, for though he had alighted upon something mysterious andhitherto undiscerned in that early text, yet its meaning was altogetheruncertain.
Its discovery only served to increase the mystery a hundredfold.
As he lay in bed, two facts caused him apprehension. The first was theexistence of the mysterious foreigner who was following the same line ofinquiry as himself, and the second was the true reason of FrankFarquhar's visit to Copenhagen.
That the mysterious foreigner was making active investigations had againbeen proved by Professor Cowley at Oxford, for he had remarked that onlyon the previous day those selfsame fragments of Ezekiel had beencarefully inspected by a white-bearded man whose description answered inevery detail to the man who had searched in the Oriental Room of theBritish Museum.
"He seemed extremely interested in the text of Ezekiel," professorCowley had remarked. "He was a scholar, too, from the north of Europe Ishould say."
The mysterious searcher seemed a kind of will-o'-the-wisp, who had takenexactly the same course as himself, only he had progressed a day or soahead. Was it possible that he held the selfsame knowledge as thatcontained on the half-destroyed statement?
Next day Griffin again visited the British Museum, in order to makefurther researches, and on entering, his friend the assistant-keeperexclaimed:
"Oh! Professor! That foreign old gentleman, who is interested inEzekiel, was here again yesterday afternoon."
"Here again!" echoed Griffin. "Have you found out who he is?"
"No--except that he is evidently a scholar."
"What manuscripts did he consult?"
"Only one--the early fragment of Deuteronomy," was theassistant-keeper's reply.
"May I see it?"
"Certainly," and the official gave orders for the precious piece offaded parchment to be brought.
It proved to be a Hebrew manuscript of a portion of the fifth chapter ofDeuteronomy beginning at the twenty-third verse, and ending at thethirty-first Griffin who read Hebrew as he did English, glanced throughit, and saw that in English, the first verse could be translated as,"And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of thedarkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire), that ye came near untome, _even_ all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; And ye said,`Behold the Lord our God hath shewed us His glory and His greatness, andwe have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen thisday that God doth talk with man, and He liveth.'"
As he read rapidly the Hebrew words his face brightened. Something wasrevealed to him. The stranger was evidently following an exactlysimilar line to himself, and had, by copying that Biblical fragment,
advanced a stage nearer the truth!
"This fragment is published in facsimile, if I remember aright?" heasked the assistant-keeper of manuscripts.
"Yes, by the Paleographical Society. I have a copy if you wish the loanof it."
And the Professor gladly accepted the loan of the large thin volume ofreproductions of the rarest treasures among the Biblical manuscripts.
The researches of the foreigner showed him to be in possession of someadditional facts. What were they? Ah! if he could only meet the manwhose footsteps he was following, if he could only watch unseen, andnote what authorities he was consulting.
For a week he haunted the Museum at all hours, hoping to meet the oldman who held possession of the dead man's secret.
He wrote to Professor Cowley at Oxford, and received a reply statingthat the foreigner had been again to the Bodleian on the previous dayinspecting the two fragments of early texts of Deuteronomy preservedthere.
Griffin lost no time in again going down to Oxford, and next morningearly called at the library. He remained there all day, but to hisdisappointment the mysterious old man did not reappear. He had no doubtleft Oxford before the Professor's arrival.
From those two fragments of Deuteronomy which had so interested thestranger, Griffin could make out nothing. They did not contain anythingbearing upon the theory that he had been following. Yet