" He then shortly recapitulated the facts which have
already been recorded. "I have here in front of me these
singular productions, at which one might smile had they not
proved themselves to be the fore-runners of so terrible a
tragedy. I am fairly familiar with all forms of secret
writings, and am myself the author of a trifling monograph upon
the subject, in which I analyze one hundred and sixty separate
ciphers; but I confess that this is entirely new to me.
The object of those who invented the system has apparently been
to conceal that these characters convey a message, and to give
the idea that they are the mere random sketches of children.
"Having once recognised, however, that the symbols stood for
letters, and having applied the rules which guide us in all
forms of secret writings, the solution was easy enough.
The first message submitted to me was so short that it was
impossible for me to do more than to say with some confidence
that the symbol XXX stood for E. As you are aware, E is the
most common letter in the English alphabet, and it predominates
to so marked an extent that even in a short sentence one would
expect to find it most often.
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