SECRET CODES - Part 4

Articles In This Section:

· The Message on the Birchbark

· BIRCHBARK STRIPS

· PICTURE WRITING

· INVISIBLE INKS

· SECRET CODES - Part 1

· SECRET CODES - Part 2

· SECRET CODES - Part 3

· SECRET CODES - Part 4

· SECRET CODES - Part 5

For example, take a code word like ACCOMPLICE. If the message you want to send is MEET ME AT JOE'S CAVE, then write the code word under the message again and again: MEET ME AT JOE'S CAVE ACCO MP LI CEA C COMP

From every vertical pair of letters in the original message and the code word, make a single letter by using the pattern. The first pair is M/A. Find the text letter (M) in the left column, and follow this horizontal row until you arrive at the vertical column under the code word letter (A). In this case, you find the letter N in the horizontal column. E/C gives you H, and so on. The coded message will read:

Nhhi zu me mtfv cpoyz.

Without knowing the code word, it is almost impossible to decipher this code, for it conceals the frequency with which certain letters are repeated.

To decode the message, write the code word under the coded message. Look up the letter of the code word in the left-hand column, then follow the horizontal row to the letter of the coded message. The letter above this vertical column will be the letter of the original message.

Writing with a Stencil

With the help of a stencil you can encode a message which can be written and read very quickly. Cut a stencil of thin cardboard exactly according to the design shown in the illustration below.

Stencil

Writing in stencil position

Lay the stencil on a piece of paper so that the figure 1 is in the upper left-hand corner. Then start writing your message in the openings, one letter per hole. When all the holes are filled, turn the stencil so that 2 is at the top. Continue the same way with 3 and 4. Fill all the remaining holes at the end of the message with some meaningless letter such as X to make it harder for an outsider to decode.