My first
endeavor was to divide the sentence into the natural division
intended by the cryptographist."
"You mean, to punctuate it?"
"Something of that kind."
"But how was it possible to effect this?"
"I reflected that it had been a POINT with the writer to run his
words together without division, so as to increase the difficulty
of solution. Now, a not overacute man, in pursuing such an object,
would be nearly certain to overdo the matter. When, in the course
of his composition, he arrived at a break in his subject which
would naturally require a pause, or a point, he would be
exceedingly apt to run his characters, at this place, more than
usually close together. If you will observe the MS., in the
present instance, you will easily detect five such cases of unusual
crowding. Acting upon this hint I made the division thus:
"'A good glass in the bishop's hostel in the devil's seat--forty-
one degrees and thirteen minutes--northeast and by north--main
branch seventh limb east side--shoot from the left eye of the
death's head--a bee-line from the tree through the shot fifty feet
out.
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