The first step is to take an actual illustration of the cipher and Mr. Donnelly’s use of it, in order that the public may see just how the thing works. The names “Shakespeare” and “Cecil” do not occur in the plays. To obtain them, Mr. Donnelly’s arithmetical process points him to the words “shakes” and “peere,” and to the other words “seas” and “ill;” combining the former he gets Shakespeare, and the latter give him Cecil. Now if the reader is the happy possessor of a copy of “The Great Cryptogram,” let him turn to page 718 as a base of operations. If his library is not so enriched, what he finds here is ample for purposes of illustration. This chapter deals with the revelations growing out of the root number 516, judiciously modified. There are 167 words in the second column of page 74 of King Henry IV, following the subdivision made by a stage direction. There are 21 words in brackets, and one hyphenated word, making 22 in all. Add 22 to 167, and you have 189. Subtract 189 from 516, and you have 327. This 327 is combined with other numbers, derived from previous operations; the number of words on an antecedent page or a former column, or some of the “modifiers” that wait modestly till their assistance is needed. Out of these additions and subtractions, perfectly arbitrary in their nature, comes finally a number which directs the searcher to a word on page 76. How intricate are these mathematical operations will be perceived only upon examination. Therefore, the following, taken literally from pages 718, 719, is subjoined as fairly illustrative of the cipher gambols: