CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

REVEALS THE CIPHER RECORD.

In the study at Pembridge Gardens, the silence only broken by the solemn ticking of the little Sheraton clock, Professor Griffin’s calm, even voice was slowly dictating to Gwen the translation from the Hebrew of the cipher record into English.

The girl, as her father’s amanuensis, had long ago become quite an expert with the typewriter, and in order to make a clear copy she had seated herself at the machine, her slim, white fingers deftly touching the keys.

“If you are ready dear, we’ll begin,” said the old man, drawing his folios of scribbled Hebrew towards him.

“I’m quite ready, dad,” she assured him, pulling her skirt around her at the little table by his side upon which the typewriter was fixed.

“Very well, then. I’ll translate slowly. Forgive me if I hesitate, child, for some of it may perhaps be difficult to put into intelligible or Biblical English. It is really a most astounding statement by a scribe of the Temple.”

Then, after a brief pause, he began to dictate to her the hidden record, which was as follows:

“_Remember and forget not, O Israel. Not_ for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess thy land, but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God shall drive them out before thee.

“_Thou shalt love_ the Lord thy God and keep His charge, His statutes and His commandments.

“_And_ know ye this day why this secret record is written, that it may be preserved unto the just... _The_ lapse of years are nearing its filling. _The_ relief of the Doom will come, in spite of all. _The_ people’s right is nearing. _The_ period of the Blood-debts, and that of the Suppression will lose its power, and Israel shall be restored (here follow seven words undecipherable).

“..._As_ the Lord God was against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, Gomer and all his bands, the house of Togarmah, of the north quarters, so shall He be against all the enemies of Israel that spread over the land. _For_ He will make His Holy name known in the midst of His people Israel, and will not let them pollute His Holy name any more; and the heathen shall know that He is the Lord, the Holy One in Israel...

“_And the desolate_ places of the Land shall become populated, Jerusalem the city shall be restored, the sanctuary shall be set up, and the children of Israel shall be gathered there from the four corners of the earth where they will be found scattered.

“_Be thou prepared_, and prepare thyself, for the Lord God will make a covenant of peace with His chosen people; it shall be a peace everlasting and His tabernacle shall be set in the midst of them for evermore, even upon Mount Moriah.

“_Stay_ yourselves, and wonder, for unto thee, O children of Israel, are the greater treasures of Solomon’s Temple still preserved. _And_ thus it is therein written in a book that is sealed, so that the wicked of Babylon and the enemies of Israel shall not know. _Verily_ I say unto you the Ark of the Covenant, and the tablets, and the rod of Aaron, and the other sacred objects which Solomon placed in the house of the Lord are still with thee, O Israel, until the wastes be builded, the cities inhabited and the Lord God cometh again unto the mountains of Jerusalem... for your own ways--and the Lord will build up the ruined places--

“_Know ye the truth_ concerning the sacred treasures of Israel, the vessels out of the house of the Lord. _In_ the third year of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, cameth one night into Jerusalem one Hashbbiah, a secret messenger from Antioch, who seeking Zeruiah, the high priest, told him in private that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, had advanced upon the hosts of Pharaoh-Necho at Carchemish and defeated him, and that the King of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained unto the King of Egypt.

“_Now_ Zeruiah, a man full of learning, remembered the prayer of Solomon, and saw that the prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem was to be fulfilled, and that Judah was to be led into captivity by the Babylonians... _And_ he went out upon the mountain alone and prayed unto the Lord. _And_ the Lord directed him to take counsel of six priests, of whom one was the prophet Ezekiel, to decide how the sacred things of the house of the Lord should be held from the hands of the despoiler.

“_And to one of the priests_, Uzziah, son of Haziah who came from Gaza, was revealed a hiding-place outside the gates of Jerusalem, beyond the valley of Jehoshaphat, where the treasures could be concealed beneath the earth in a dry-room, in connection with a series of water-tunnels, which could be emptied only by those who knew the secret gate of the waters.

“_And the ears of Zeruiah_ the high priest, heard a voice behind him saying: ‘This is the way, walk ye in it. Place the treasures of the house of Jehovah therein, and seal them with the waters, so that no man shall know.’

“_So_ at night he went with Uzziah onto the place that was revealed, which is on the side of the mount.

“_And_ he saw that it had been used by thieves in the days when Rehoboam was king, and that its entrance had since been unknown to any man.

“_And returning to_ the inner court of the Temple in darkness of night he went into the Holy Place and called unto him Baruch, the son of Neriah, Sherebbiah, the scribe, Ezekiel the priest, and the five other priests. _And_ together both that night and the next and through many nights did they carry forth the most treasured objects of the Temple down into the valley, letting no man know that they were being taken from the house of the Lord.

“_For since the beginning_ of the world men have not seen such great treasure as was in the darkness removed from the house of Jehovah, from the defenceless city upon which the judgment of God was set. _Woe_ unto Jerusalem for Nebuchadnezzar was hastening upon the City of Judah, and the hour of her destruction was approaching.

“_And they took from_ the Holy of Holies the Ark of the Covenant, together with the stone tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, the pot of manna and the staff of Aaron and the two cherubims of fine gold, the Urim and Thummim with two rubies of great size and a multitude of other gems set around them... And of the other treasures of the house of the Lord did they bring forth; of basons of pure gold made by Solomon which Shishak, King of Egypt had restored, three thousand and forty; of the chargers of gold eight hundred and two; of the candlesticks of gold from the oracle four; of the lamps of gold six hundred and ten, of the tongs of gold six hundred, and of the smaller tablets of gold four score and five; of spoons of gold two thousand; of censers of gold one thousand and forty-six, and of the bowls which Solomon commanded to be made of the gold of Ophir two thousand and seventy... _Furthermore_ of the gems and precious stones of Solomon they took seven ox-loads of fine gold, three talents together with the archives of the Temple in secret; so that of the vessels of gold there remained only about six thousand and these Nebuchadnezzar afterwards carried off to Babylon, where they were dedicated unto his god Belus--

“_It came even to pass_ that when the King of Babylon and his host searched for the other holy vessels of the Temple they found them not, for they knew not their hiding-place, and none knew save the priests and the two scribes. _Wherefore_ afterwards in my captivity in Babylon, I, Michaiah the scribe, invented this secret writing by which the place of concealment of the tablets of Moses should not be lost. Secure shall they remain, with the great treasure, the war-chest of the house of Israel, until the coming of the Messiah, who alone may open their place of concealment, in order that He may furnish proof of the faith. _He_ hath chosen Jerusalem that His name may be there.

“_And be it now known_ unto you in what place to seek for the chamber of the sacred Ark. _At_ the lower platform of the brazen altar of the Temple turn thy face to the southward, and measure four reeds and thirty-three legal cubits, unto the north end of the Pool of Siloh. _Thence_, to the sunrise, measure one thousand and fifty cubits unto the highest point on the mount of Solomon’s idolatry. _Face_ unto the south-west, and measure ten-score cubits and four, down to the hillside to the face of stone. _From_ the cleft fifteen cubits.

“_Moreover, at the gate_ of the Priests at the north-west corner of the sanctuary, face the south-east, and pace four hundred and three cubits unto the centre of the tomb in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and thence to the south nine reeds and three-score cubits, which bringest thee unto the same wall of rock, fifteen cubits from the cleft.

“_And the distance_ from En-rogel is, to the north-east, of cubits three hundred and ninety-four, where the entrance faceth directly the bend of the Valley of Hinnom.

“_Of the three entrances_, two are impassable. Know ye therefore that the third is in the face of the rock, concealed from the sight of all men at the point where the valleys converge, at the base of the mount, from the cleft fifteen legal cubits.

“_To learn_ the whereabouts of the secret chamber of the Ark, O ye Israel, measure from the hidden entrance up the face of the rock and over the mount with thine eyes set to the east two reeds and fourscore cubits and three, till thou comest to the gate of stone set in the rock which, when opened, will let forth the flood to admit thee from the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

“_O hear me_, ye enemies of the Lord! Curses, yea, sixty times six curses shall be upon the head of any who dare to attempt to violate the sacred treasure-house of Israel.

“_Moreover the Lord_ hath performed the word that He spake, and Judah remaineth beneath the heel of the oppressor.

“_Now therefore these acts_ are not written in the book of the chronicles of Israel lest thine enemies search to recover the holy things.

“_Hearken O Lord_ God of Israel to the supplications of Thy servant. If Thy people be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against Thee, and shall return and confess Thy name, then hear Thou from the heavens and bring them again unto the land which Thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

“_Wherefore I beseech Thee_ to stay Thine hand, and seek not to discover what is hidden until the Lord have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the Land, which the Lord your God hath given them.

“_For he who entereth therein_ shall be accursed. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out _The_ Lord shall send thee cursing, vexation and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings. _Fear_ the Lord thy God.

“_These words am I commanded_ by Zeruiah the high priest to write in our captivity in secret script, that only those of the faith shall know and shall understand.”

And when the girl had finished typing, she raised her head, and stared at her father in abject wonder. Here was the complete solution of the problem! The truth was written there!