that, she would, she feared, bring forth thatman now so hateful to her.
She detested him. No. Rather would she starve and die there than everlook upon his blackguardly face again. The fellow was a coward, a vilescoundrel who had taken advantage of her eagerness to meet her lover,and had matched his brute strength against hers.
What should she do? How could she ever face Frank again?
She must have been carried there and placed upon that bed. She must,too, have lain for fully twelve hours in blank unconsciousness.
What had she done, she wondered, that this shameful trick should beplayed upon her? Alas! she had read accounts in the newspapers of howyoung girls had been decoyed and betrayed in our great world of London.Ah! it was no new thing she knew. Yet how long, she asked herself, washer imprisonment to continue? How long before she would be able atleast to reassure her father of her safety?
For a full hour she sat in bitter tears, alone, disconsolate, and fullof grave apprehension, until of a sudden she heard a footstep outsidethe door.
She held her breath. Horror! It was that man again.
The bolts were withdrawn, the door opened, and on the threshold stood aman, much taller, thinner and slightly older than the false "CaptainWetherton," a pale-faced man she had never seen before.
"Hullo!" he asked, looking her straight in the face. "How are you thismorning, my dear? You haven't had any breakfast, I suppose?"
"I want none, sir," was her haughty reply. "I only wish to leave thisplace. I was entrapped here last night."
"Unfortunately, my dear girl, I know nothing about last night," repliedthe man. "I returned from the Continent only this morning. Thesehappen to be my chambers, and I find they now contain a very charmingtenant!"
She looked at him with her big eyes.
"I hope, sir, you do not intend to add further in suit to that which Ihave already received here," she said in a voice of bitter reproach,holding her torn silk blouse together with her hand.
He noticed the state of her dress, and saw what a fierce struggle musthave taken place between her and Jim Jannaway.
"My dear girl," he said in a reassuring tone, "providing you arereasonable, and don't create a scene, my intention is to treat you withthe deference due to every lady."
"Is that your promise?" asked the girl in breathless eagerness.
"It is my promise--but upon one condition," said the man in a slowvoice. And then she detected in his closely set eyes a strange lookthat she had not hitherto noticed.
She asked him his condition, to which he replied in a few hard concisewords, a smile playing upon his lips.
But the instant she heard him she fell wildly at his feet, and takinghis hand in her trembling grasp, begged of him to show her mercy.
But the man only laughed--a laugh that was ominous in itself.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
CONTAINS AN EXPERT THEORY.
Frank Farquhar had been at the Hotel Angleterre in Copenhagen, the hotelwith the prettiest winter-garden in Europe, for four days.
They had been four days of constant activity. As guide, he had theresident correspondent of the morning newspapers of which he was one ofthe directors, and he had already satisfied himself that, in the Danishcapital, there was but one first-class Hebrew scholar, namely ProfessorAxel Anderson, of the Royal University.
Copenhagen he found a bright pleasant little city full of life andmovement, the shops gay and the streets thronged by well-dressed people.In ignorance of what had befallen Gwen, he was thoroughly enjoyinghimself, even though he saw that his visit could have no satisfactoryresult as far as the quest for the authorship of the mysterious documentwas concerned.
One morning he had called by appointment upon Professor Anderson at hispleasant house in the Norrevoldgade and sat down to chat. TheProfessor, a well-preserved, rather stout man of about forty-five, witha fair beard, spoke English quite well.
"As far as I am aware," he said, "there are only two professors ofHebrew in Denmark beside myself. They are close personal friends ofmine, and I feel sure that neither of them entertains any unusual theoryconcerning the Book of Ezekiel, or they would have consulted me. Ofcourse, we have a good many scholars come to Copenhagen to study theNorthern and Oriental codices in the Royal Library here. Hence I havebecome acquainted with many of the chief professors of Hebrew. Have youconsulted Professor Griffin in London? He is one of the firstauthorities upon the matter in which you are interested."
"Yes, I happen to know him," responded the young man.
"And what is his opinion?"
"A negative one."
"Ah! Then most probably this typewritten manuscript you tell me aboutwas some baseless theory of an irresponsible crank. I would acceptGriffin's opinion before that of anybody else. There is only one otherman of perhaps equal knowledge--old Erich Haupt, of Leipzig. He is agreat Hebrew authority, as well as a recognised expert in cryptography."
"What is your opinion broadly upon the matter?" Farquhar asked.
"Well, candidly, I believe the theory to be without foundation,"answered the Danish scholar. "I do not believe in the existence of acipher in the Hebrew scriptures. There is nothing cryptic about thesacred record. As regards the vessels of gold and silver from Solomon'stemple, they were restored by Cyrus. It is true that an ancientTalmudic tradition exists to the effect that the Ark of the Covenant,together with the pot of manna, the flask of anointing oil and Aaron'sstaff that budded are still hidden beneath the temple mount atJerusalem. And my opinion is that your half-destroyed document issimply based upon this ancient tradition with which every Jew inChristendom is acquainted."
"But, Professor," exclaimed the other, "I know that you yourself are anauthority upon cryptography. Have any ciphers been discovered in theoriginal of the Book of Ezekiel?"
"Well, yes," was the Dane's answer as he stirred himself in hisarmchair, and reaching his hand to a bookcase took down a Hebrew-DanishBible. Then turning to Ezekiel, he said: "There is certainly somethingin the Hebrew of the thirty-sixth chapter which has puzzled scholarsthrough many centuries. It begins at verse 16: `Moreover the word ofthe Lord came unto me saying, Son of man--' Now in the constantrepetition of `Son of man' certain scholars declare they have discovereda numerical cipher. In the first verse of this chapter we have, `Son ofman, prophesy unto the mountains.' In the third verse of the followingone he asks: `Son of man, can these bones live?' Again in verse 9 ofthe same chapter, he says: `Prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind.'And in verse 11, still addressing him by the same title, he tells theprophet: `Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.' Bythe title `Son of man' Ezekiel is so often addressed, `Son of man' is soconstantly sounded in his ears and ours, that it forces on our attentionthat God deals with man through the instrumentality of men, and by mencommunicates his will to men. Hence certain cryptographers have set towork and formed the theory of a hidden meaning in all this."
"But is the actual cipher known?" asked Frank, at once excited.
"Certainly. It was deciphered by Bamberg, of Paris, forty years ago.But the secret message had no bearing whatsoever upon the lost vesselsof Solomon's temple," was the Professor's reply.
"What was the message?" inquired the young Englishman.
"Well--the alleged message which Bamberg deciphered commenced in thethirty-sixth chapter beginning at verse xvi. The passage has peculiarclaims upon the attention of any one searching for cryptic writings.Addressed in the first instance to the Jews, and applicable, in thefirst instance, to their condition, it presents a remarkable summary ofgospel doctrines, and that in a form approaching at least to systematicorder. In the seventeenth verse we have man sinning: `Son of man, whenthe house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by theirown way and by their doings.' In the eighteenth verse we have mansuffering: `Wherefore, I poured my fury upon them.' In the twenty-firstverse man appears an object of mercy: `but I had pity.' In thetwenty-second verse man is an object of free mercy--mercy w
ithout merit:`I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel.' In the twenty-fourthverse man's salvation is resolved on: `I will bring you into your ownland.' In the twenty-fifth verse man is justified: `Then will Isprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean.' In thetwenty-sixth and twenty-seventh verses man is renewed and sanctified: `Anew heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you;and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will giveyou an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and causeyou to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.'In the twenty-eighth verse man is restored to the place and privilegeswhich he forfeited by his sins: `Ye shall be my people, and I will beyour God.' `This land that was desolate is