He had them on when I came in, but they
disappeared almost at once, and I saw them no more.
"He asked me about my degree,--though I didn't remember having spoken of
it. I couldn't but mention 'Shakespeare'--as the word goes; and you know
that when I mention him, it always makes the other man mention Bacon. He
did mention Bacon, and smiled. 'I've studied the cipher,' he said. 'All you
need to make it go is a pair of texts--a long one and a short one--and two
fonts of type, or their equivalent in penmanship. Two colors of ink, for
example. You can put anything into anything. See here.' He reached up to a
shelf and brought down a thin brown square note-book. 'Here's the
alphabet,' he said; 'and here'--opening a little beyond--'is my use of it:
one of my earliest exercises. I have put the first stanza of "Annabel Lee"
into the second chapter of "Tom Jones."' He ignored the absent eye-glasses
and picked out the red letters from the black with perfect ease. 'Simplest
thing in the world,' he went on; 'anybody can do it. All it needs is time
and patience and care. And if you happen to be waggishly or fraudulently
inclined you can give yourself considerable entertainment--and can
entertain or puzzle other people later.
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