The Great God Gold

by William Le Queux

that," said Jannaway. "Griffin trusts the girl, eventhough she's quite young, absolutely and implicitly."

  And thus the three desperate schemers agreed to leave matters in thehands of the most daring and unscrupulous of men, Jim Jannaway,unconscious that the exterior of the mansion was being watchedindependently by two persons, Doctor Diamond, and a thin-faced, ill-cladwoman, who, noticing the Doctor's keen interest in the place, glanced athim full of surprise and wonder.

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

  REVEALS THE CIPHER RECORD.

  In the study at Pembridge Gardens, the silence only broken by the solemnticking of the little Sheraton clock, Professor Griffin's calm, evenvoice was slowly dictating to Gwen the translation from the Hebrew ofthe cipher record into English.

  The girl, as her father's amanuensis, had long ago become quite anexpert with the typewriter, and in order to make a clear copy she hadseated herself at the machine, her slim, white fingers deftly touchingthe keys.

  "If you are ready dear, we'll begin," said the old man, drawing hisfolios of scribbled Hebrew towards him.

  "I'm quite ready, dad," she assured him, pulling her skirt around her atthe 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 intelligibleor Biblical English. It is really a most astounding statement by ascribe 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 forthe uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess thy land, butfor the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God shall drive themout before thee.

  "_Thou shalt love_ the Lord thy God and keep His charge, His statutesand His commandments.

  "_And_ know ye this day why this secret record is written, that it maybe preserved unto the just... _The_ lapse of years are nearing itsfilling. _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 ofthe Suppression will lose its power, and Israel shall be restored (herefollow seven words undecipherable).

  "..._As_ the Lord God was against Gog, the land of Magog, the chiefprince of Meshech and Tubal, Gomer and all his bands, the house ofTogarmah, of the north quarters, so shall He be against all the enemiesof Israel that spread over the land. _For_ He will make His Holy nameknown in the midst of His people Israel, and will not let them polluteHis 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, Jerusalemthe city shall be restored, the sanctuary shall be set up, and thechildren of Israel shall be gathered there from the four corners of theearth where they will be found scattered.

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

  "_Stay_ yourselves, and wonder, for unto thee, O children of Israel, arethe greater treasures of Solomon's Temple still preserved. _And_ thusit is therein written in a book that is sealed, so that the wicked ofBabylon and the enemies of Israel shall not know. _Verily_ I say untoyou the Ark of the Covenant, and the tablets, and the rod of Aaron, andthe other sacred objects which Solomon placed in the house of the Lordare still with thee, O Israel, until the wastes be builded, the citiesinhabited and the Lord God cometh again unto the mountains ofJerusalem... for your own ways--and the Lord will build up the ruinedplaces--

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

  "_Now_ Zeruiah, a man full of learning, remembered the prayer ofSolomon, and saw that the prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem was to befulfilled, and that Judah was to be led into captivity by theBabylonians... _And_ he went out upon the mountain alone and prayedunto the Lord. _And_ the Lord directed him to take counsel of sixpriests, of whom one was the prophet Ezekiel, to decide how the sacredthings of the house of the Lord should be held from the hands of thedespoiler.

  "_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 thevalley of Jehoshaphat, where the treasures could be concealed beneaththe 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 thewaters.

  "_And the ears of Zeruiah_ the high priest, heard a voice behind himsaying: `This is the way, walk ye in it. Place the treasures of thehouse of Jehovah therein, and seal them with the waters, so that no manshall 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 Rehoboamwas king, and that its entrance had since been unknown to any man.

  "_And returning to_ the inner court of the Temple in darkness of nighthe went into the Holy Place and called unto him Baruch, the son ofNeriah, Sherebbiah, the scribe, Ezekiel the priest, and the five otherpriests. _And_ together both that night and the next and through manynights did they carry forth the most treasured objects of the Templedown into the valley, letting no man know that they were being takenfrom the house of the Lord.

  "_For since the beginning_ of the world men have not seen such greattreasure as was in the darkness removed from the house of Jehovah, fromthe defenceless city upon which the judgment of God was set. _Woe_ untoJerusalem for Nebuchadnezzar was hastening upon the City of Judah, andthe 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 potof manna and the staff of Aaron and the two cherubims of fine gold, theUrim and Thummim with two rubies of great size and a multitude of othergems set around them... And of the other treasures of the house of theLord did they bring forth; of basons of pure gold made by Solomon whichShishak, Ging of Egypt had restored, three thousand and forty; of thechargers of gold eight hundred and two; of the candlesticks of gold fromthe oracle four; of the lamps of gold six hundred and ten, of the tongsof gold six hundred, and of the smaller tablets of gold four score andfive; of spoons of gold two thousand; of censers of gold one thousandand forty-six, and of the bowls which Solomon commanded to be made ofthe gold of Ophir two thousand and seventy... _Furthermore_ of the gemsand precious stones of Solomon they took seven ox-loads of fine gold,three talents together with the archives of the Temple in secret; sothat of the vessels of gold there remained only about six thousand andthese Nebuchadnezzar afterwards carried off to Babylon, where they werededicated unto his god Belus--

  "_It came even to pass_ that when the King of Babylon and his hostsearched 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 andthe two scribes. _Wherefore_ afterwards in my captivity in Babylon, I,Michaiah the scribe, invented this secret writing by which the place ofconcealment of the tablets of Moses should not be lost. Secure shallthey remain, with the great treasure, the war-chest of the house ofIsrael, until the coming of the Messiah, who alone may open their placeof 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 ofthe sacred Ark. _At_ the lower platform of the brazen altar of theTemple turn thy face to the southward, and measure four
reeds andthirty-three legal cubits, unto the north end of the Pool of Siloh._Thence_, to the sunrise, measure one thousand and fifty cubits unto thehighest point on the mount of Solomon's idolatry. _Face_ unto thesouth-west, and measure ten-score cubits and four, down to the hillsideto the face of stone. _From_ the cleft fifteen cubits.

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

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

  "_Of the three entrances_, two are impassable. Know ye therefore thatthe