"It's all up now," he announced. "I've got it. Take the first letter of each word separately…."
"F I N D―" Dorothy read, and then looked round, her eyes very bright. "That's it. S I G-What comes next?"
"We need an N. Yes. `What spawns dark stars and fear?"' the doctor read. "The next word is `Night.' Next, the place where the white Diana rose — Ephesus. The next line is bad, but Dido's city was Tyre. So we have FIND SIGNET. I told you it would be simple."
Sir Benjamin was repeating, "By Jove!" and slapping his fist into his palm. He had a burst of inspiration, and added:
"Good fortune growing on four leaves: that must mean a shamrock, or clover, or whatever they call the dashed things. Anyway, the answer is Ireland."
"And," Rampole put in, "after you've taken away east, west, and south, the only thing left is north. North. That adds an N. FIND SIGNET IN — "
Dr. Fell's pencil added four words and then four letters.
"Complete," he said. "In the last verse, the first word has to be `Waterloo.' The second is `Eve.' That line about a green the same as the shiretown's name-why, Lincoln, of course. Lincoln green. Finally, we find Newgate Gaol in London. -The whole word is WELL." He threw down his pencil. "Crafty old devil! He kept his secret for over a hundred years."
Sir Benjamin, still muttering imprecations, sat down blankly. "And we solved it in half an hour…."
"Let me remind you, sir," rumbled Dr. Fell, thoroughly roused, "that there is absolutely nothing in this cipher I couldn't have told you already. The explanation was all made. This is only proof of the explanation. If this cryptogram had been solved without that previous knowledge, it would have meant nothing. Now we know what it means, thanks to — ah-that previous knowledge." He finished his beer with a swashbuckling gesture, and glared.