become like the garden ofthe Lord.' We have our security for these blessings in the assurance ofthe thirty-sixth verse: `I, the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it;'and we are directed to the means of obtaining them in the declaration ofthe thirty-seventh verse: `I will yet for this be inquired of by thehouse of Israel, to do it for them.'"
"And in these verses the French professor discovered a hidden message?"
"Yes. It read curiously, and was most difficult to decipher. Butaccording to Bamberg it was an additional declaration of God's kindnessto man. God was named as `the God of Salvation,' and `the author andfinisher of man's faith.' It consisted briefly in an exhortation tothose who discovered the cipher to read, and to believe. But as for thehiding-place of the treasure of Israel being therein designated--well,even Bamberg, whom half the scholars of Europe denounced as a crank, hadnever dreamed of such a thing. No, Mr Farquhar," he added, "you mayrest assured that the remarkable screed never emanated from a Hebrewscholar in Denmark. Perhaps it might have come from Gothenburg," helaughed; "more than one hare-brained theory has come from over there!"Anderson was a Dane, and the Danes have no love for the Swedes.
"You mentioned some one in Leipzig. Who is he?" asked Farquhar.
"Oh! Haupt--Erich Haupt," replied the other. "He's Professor of Hebrewat the University, and author of several well-known books. His`Christology of the Old Testament' is a standard work. Besides Griffinin London, he is, I consider, the only other man in Europe competent togive an opinion upon the problem you have put before me."
"How can I find him?"
"You'll no doubt find him in Leipzig."
Frank felt that this German was a man to be consulted, yet he wasanxious to pursue the inquiry he had started in Denmark. The man whohad died in Paris, and had been so careful to destroy his secret, hadbeen a Dane, and he felt that the originator of the remarkable theorymust have been a Dane himself. Briefly this was what Farquharexplained, but Professor Anderson assured him that no such theory couldhave come out of Denmark without his knowledge.
"Search in Gothenburg, or in Stockholm, if you like," he answered with asmile. "My own idea is that the unfortunate man was deceived by some`cock-and-bull' story, probably an attempt to raise money in order tocarry out a scheme to recover the treasure of Solomon. He believed thestory of the existence of the temple treasure, and in order that noother person should obtain knowledge of the secret destroyed it beforehis death."
"But who was the discoverer of the secret?" asked the Englishman.
"Who can tell," remarked the Danish professor, shrugging his shoulders."Perhaps it was only some ingenious financial swindle. You have surelyhad many such in London in recent years. You call them in English, Ibelieve, `wild-cat' schemes."
"There are many `wild-cat' schemes in the City of London at the presentmoment," Frank remarked with a laugh, "but I guarantee that none is soextraordinary as this."
"Probably not," laughed the Dane. "I confess that, to me, the wholething seems like a fairy tale."
"Then you don't discern any foundation in fact?"
"Only of tradition--the Old Testament tradition that the treasures arestill hidden in the temple mount. Yet, in opposition to this, we haveanother tradition to the effect that the vessels of Solomon's templewere used in Persia four hundred years after the captivity. Mention ismade of this in a Persian manuscript preserved in your British Museum inLondon. I forget the number, but it can easily be looked up in thecatalogue of Oriental manuscripts."
"You believe that statement authentic?"
"As authentic as any statement in the ancient records," was his reply."But I would suggest that you consult Haupt. He knows more of Hebrewcryptograms and ciphers than any one else on the Continent of Europe.What does Professor Griffin think?"
"He's inclined to treat the whole theory with levity."
Professor Anderson smiled.
"Of course," he said. "Supposed ciphers in certain books of the OldTestament are many. And as you know quite well, a cipher may beinvented to fit any message or record desired. Your Baconian theory inregard to Shakespeare was sufficient proof of that."
"Then in your opinion no real cipher exists in the Book of Ezekiel?"asked the Englishman.
"The Bible was inspired," was his reply. "If so, there is no cipher init except what cryptographers invent."
Frank Farquhar was silent. His inquiries in the Danish capital hadnearly carried him into a _cul-de-sac_.
The dead man was, according to his own story, a Dane. But what morenatural than that he had received the extraordinary manuscript fromGermany, or from Sweden?
"To me," remarked the Professor, "the situation of the man who died inParis was this. Either he himself was the inventor of the whole storyor else he had paid something for it and was trying to dispose of it tosome financier or other."
"Doctor Diamond, my friend who attended him before his death, says thatthe man was evidently a scholar."
"Then possibly he was the inventor," remarked Anderson decisively. "Butif he was a scholar he was certainly unknown to us. Therefore we may bepermitted to doubt his _bona-fides_. My advice to you is to findHaupt."
"Yes, Professor," answered the young man, "I will."
And an hour later he sent a long telegram to the Doctor at Horsford,while that same afternoon he received a brief telegraphic message fromProfessor Griffin, asking him to return to London at once.
His belief was that the great expert had found some clue, and he leftthat same evening direct for London, by way of Kiel, Hamburg andFlushing.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
SHOWS THE ENEMY'S TACTICS.
The tall, thin man into whose chambers Gwen Griffin had been enticedtreated the trembling girl with a certain amount of politeness. Herhead reeled. She hardly knew where she was, or what had occurred.
The stipulation he had made, at the instructions left by Jim Jannaway,was that she must remain there in order to meet some person who wasdesirous of making her acquaintance. He did not say who this personwas, but she, on her part, had a dozen times begged him to release her,or at least to telegraph to her father assuring him of her safety.
"My dear girl," the tall man had answered, "don't distress yourself.Come, do calm yourself." And he assisted to raise her to her feetagain. "No harm will befall you, I assure you."
"I--I don't know you, sir," she faltered through her tears, "thereforehow can I possibly trust you?"
"I can only assure you that I am acting upon instructions. As far asI'm concerned, you might walk out free--only I dare not disobey myorders."
"You dare not--and you a man!" she cried.
"There are some things that a man such as myself dare not do, miss--pardon me, but I haven't the pleasure of knowing your name."
"Griffin--Gwen Griffin is my name," and she also told him where shelived. Then she asked: "Why have I been brought here?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," was the stranger's reply. "These are mychambers, and a friend of mine has had the key during my three years'absence abroad. I returned only this morning to find you locked up inhere and a note left for me, giving me instructions to keep you hereuntil a gentleman calls to see you."
"Ah! that horrid blackguard!" she screamed. "That man who met me, andcalled himself `Captain Wetherton.' He told me I should find Frank inhiding here."
"And who's Frank?" asked the stranger.
"The man to whom I'm engaged."
"H'm," grunted the other; "and he wouldn't be very pleased to find youhere, with me, would he?"
"No. That is why I've been entrapped herein order to compromise me inthe eyes of the man who loves me."
"Why?" asked the owner of those bachelor chambers, leaning upon thebed-rail and looking at her.
"How can I tell?" said the frightened girl. "As far as I know, I'vedone nothing whatever to warrant this."
"Ah! in this world it is the innocent who mostly suffer," he remarked.
"But will you not allow me to go?" sh
e implored eagerly. "Remember thatall my future happiness depends upon your generosity in this matter."
"My dear child," he replied, placing his hand upon her shoulder, "if Idare, I would. But to tell you the truth, I, like yourself, am in thehands of certain persons who are utterly unscrupulous. I tell you,quite frankly, that I couldn't afford to excite their animosity bydisobeying these orders I have received."
"But who is this gentleman who desires to see