I've been intrigued with secret writing since I was in grade school. Those were network radio days, and that meant heroic stories of action and danger and offers of secret decoder rings, decoder belt buckles (which glowed in the dark) and enough other junior spy equipment to keep life very interesting for the young.
   After I'd sent in my cereal box tops and quarters I'd wait patiently for several weeks for my "contact." Finally, one day when I'd almost given up hope I'd get home from school and see it on the dining room table: a small brown pasteboard box with crushed corners and a white label, glued on crooked:

Even though the island is usually deserted, Legrand has moved here from New Orleans with his man Jupiter, a manumitted negro slave. He's a learned man, but he doesn't seem to have much interest in reading, preferring to spend his days hunting and fishing and collecting insects from the island and nearby marshes.

On the day of the author's visit, Legrand and Jupiter have found an unknown species of scarab, which Jupiter insists on calling "the goole bug."

Legrand describes the beetle to his friend by drawing a picture of it on a scrap of rough paper he pulls from his pocket. But the author sees Legrand's drawing as significantly different from Legrand's description of the bug. To him it more nearly resembles a skull–to Legrand, no such thing. He grabs the drawing from his friend and looks again at what he has drawn. His reaction is violent. Is he sick? Is the seclusion driving him mad?

A month later, in the afternoon, Jupiter appears at the author's apartment bearing an urgent, somewhat frantic letter asking him to come back to the island and assist with an important project. As he steps into the little sailboat with Jupiter he notices a new scythe and shovel in the stern.

They arrive at Legrand's shack about four. He's planned an expedition for that very night which, he says, will end his strange distraction once and for all. The object of the night's work is to be a treasure hunt on the mainland nearby. Jupiter is certain Legrand has been bitten by "the goole bug." He's heard of the danger of that all his life.

In spite of the author's attempt to change Legrand's mind, the expedition is on; in a few hours, just at sunset, they find themselves at the foot of a huge tulip tree in the center of an oak grove in very rough country. The secret to the treasure is up the tree, where Legrand sends Jupiter.

After several hours of unsuccessful digging at a spot marked by Legrand, he is terribly disappointed. The three gather their tools and prepare to return to the island. Suddenly Legrand, in an angry fit, questions Jupiter about a measurement he made while he was in the tree. The old negro has made an error! Legrand's rage instantly turns to joy.

They move the mark for the digging spot to a place only a few yards from the first and begin digging again. As they dig their dog suddenly seems to go mad. He howls wildly, leaps into the hole, and begins to claw furiously at the ground. In a few moments he's uncovered a skeleton wearing a moldy woolen coat with metal buttons. In a few more minutes of digging, the trio uncovers the top of an iron-bound wooden chest, too heavy for them to lift.

Hours later, back at Legrand's shack the treasure is counted. The end of a successful treasure hunt! But Poe has more for us–the story of Legrand's clues to the treasure and his hunt for its landmarks.

The Gold Bug is the definitive treasure tale. To make it even better Poe includes the detailed story of the secret code and Legrand's solution. It's no coincidence that Poe is one of the few Americans who's written anything serious about cryptography; his essays on secret writing remain to show us his genius.

But the book is a little deep for me; I have only a very general interest in cryptography. What is valuable in her book is her bibliography and her collection of useful appendices. She has included tables of letter frequency in various languages, and an excellent discussion of solving ciphers of unknown types.

Gardner has included another very odd chapter on sending secret messages in various physical ways–knotted strings, paper strips, writing on playing cards and on creases on folded paper. There are lots of strange, but workable surprise methods of passing coded messages.

As an example of one of Gardner's discussions I was able to devise a very simple way to make cryptoquizzes for my mother and her friends to solve. I call it the day code. First write the letters of the alphabet in a straight line:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n...etc.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n...etc.
s a t u r d y b c e f g h i...etc.

The simple codes in Gardner's book can be used as games or for simple messages for fun. Obviously, a skilled codebreaker would have little trouble breaking them. Mom and her group were, of course, totally successful.