It is not easy to fathom why the captain of the good ship Rubicon should have chosen to make such entries as this in the log. This much is clear, however, that he longed to say what was in his heart and he wished to keep it safe from prying eyes. He left no key to his cipher, but his code was almost childish in its simplicity, and was promptly unraveled by the finder of the manuscript, David Mason Little of Salem. The old shipmaster reversed the alphabet, setting down “Z” for “A,” “Y” for “B,” and so on, or for convenience in working it out, the letters may be placed as follows:
| A—Z | N—M |
| B—Y | O—L |
| C—X | P—K |
| D—W | Q—J |
| E—V | R—I |
| F—U | S—H |
| G—T | T—G |
| H—S | U—F |
| I—R | V—E |
| J—Q | W—D |
| K—P | X—C |
| L—O | Y—B |
| M—N | Z—A |
Reading from the top of the column, the letters of the reversed alphabet are to be substituted for the letters standing opposite them in their normal order. The passage already quoted therefore translates itself as follows:
“O, Dear Wife, what shall I write to fill this sheet. I will tell you that I look your letters over and over and wish me in your arms, but I wait in patience, thinking on a happy meeting. I am well.”
Log of the good ship Rubicon, showing the captain’s cipher at the bottom of the page
Other messages which this sailor wrote from his heart and confided to his cipher in the log of the Rubicon read in this wise:
“My Heart within me (is) ashes. I want to see my loving Wife and press her to my bosom. But, O, my days are gone and past no more to return forever.”
“True, undivided and sincere love united with its own object is one of the most happy Passions that possesses the human heart.”