The Mummy's Curse (17 page)

When the students were done, Dr. Jordan asked, “Do any of you see the message yet?”

The kids shook their heads no.

“All right, here's another hint. The hieroglyphic script is very flexible. It can be read from left to right, right to left, or
up and down.
”

M.E. raised her hand. “How do we know which direction to read it?”

Dr. Jordan smiled mysteriously. “Good question! To figure out how to read the text, you need to notice which way the animals or people glyphs are facing. They always look toward the beginning of the text.”

A collective “ooh” came from the students. Pencils busily moved into action as the kids took another stab at the translation. Cody studied the symbols carefully, and finally noticed the trick. She began reading the translation, first moving down the column, then up, and so on. Moments later, she had cracked the coded message!

“Seriously?” Cody squealed as soon as she knew the answer. Ms. Stad winked at her. She had known what the message said all along! Moments later, Cody heard the rest of the students gasping, giggling, and slapping high fives.

“It sounds like you've figured out the message,”
Ms. Stad said. “It's true—we're going on a trip to Washington, DC, to visit the Smithsonian museums, experience the Cherry Blossom Festival, and check out the International Spy Museum.”

The students yelled “Yippee!” “Awesome!” “Cool!” and “Sweet!”

Cody raised her hand. “Ms. Stadelhofer, did you draw that message?”

Ms. Stad nodded. “Ah, you figured that out. Well, I have another surprise for you.” She turned to their guest. “Dr. Jordan?”

He glanced around at the students, then finally he began, “I was trying to think of a way to say thanks to the kids who helped catch the thief. I'm happy to say, the Egyptian Museum is paying for your tickets to DC.”

More whoops, hollers, and high fives. The students were ecstatic. Cody couldn't believe it. A free trip to the nation's capital! And who knew? Maybe they'd even discover some secret codes while they were there—especially at the Spy Museum. She couldn't wait for the trip to begin!

Morse Code:

A .-

B -…

C -.-.

D -..

E .

F ..-.

G –.

H ....

I ..

J .---

K -.-

L .-..

M --

N -.

O ---

P .--.

Q --.-

R .-.

S ...

T -

U ..-

V ...-

W .--

X -..-

Y -.--

Z --..

Phonetic Alphabet:

A = Alphabet

B = Bravo

C = Charlie

D = Delta

E = Echo

F = Foxtrot

G = Golf

H = Hotel

I = India

J = Juliet

K = Kilo

L = Lima

M = Mike

N = November

O = Oscar

P = Papa

Q = Quebec

R = Romeo

S = Sierra

T = Tango

U = Uniform

V = Victor

W = Whiskey

X = X-ray

Y = Yankee

Z = Zulu

Semaphore Code:

Finger Spelling:

Egyptian Hieroglyphics:

Code Busters' Glyph Code:

Chapter 2

Hidden word puzzle:
Can you read me

Maze puzzle:
You can hide a whole sentence as long as you follow the words

Hidden letter code:
spy

Hidden Morse code:
Code Busters

Semaphore code:
busters