The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1909-08-27

stances, he drew another paper from
climax of proof:
This is the note in which he men.
lions what he wants-ten thousand"
i "Ten thousand" Symonds ex-
claimed. Then he whistled softly.
Yes. You see how cautious he was
about tit is in cipher"
He held it toward them and they
saw that it was the one the detective
had copied.
What does it say?' asked sy-
monds.
He put 1t to his near-sighted eyes
and read slowly:
Il shall come Monday at three,
bringing a receipt for $4,000, which
shall expect to find ready. Send me
your door key and have the way clear.
| must not be SEEM
"Ah, that's how he got I'M" Sy-
monds exclaimed. But" he added,
why didn't he want to be SEEM"
The patient waved his hand.
ASK me an easier one-he's a
queer Case" he answered. And he
added the afterthought, perhaps he
had this very thing in mind then"
touching with his finger the bandage
around his head.
Just give us the key to that there
cipher, Mr.. Hines" said the detective,
In a matter-of-fact tone, as If such q
contingency as refusal were the last
thought in his mind. 1t was in cases
of this nature that his remarkable
stolidity of face stood him in such
\ good stead.
Mr. Hines hesitated the merest
trifle.
Il fancy it would not be violating
confidence now" he said. ut is the
cost-mark used by my father when he
was in business, and Charlie and
made a cipher out of it just for the
fun Of the thing, corresponding by
means of it at times since we were
boys together. We were school
chums, you know"
| 1t seemed to the detective that the
man was playing for time. A hunted,
insincere CLEAN flickered in his eyes,
and the voice and manner suggested
a man who, frightened at the near ap-
proach of calamity, is weakly and
confusedly trying to think up way
of escape.
"Well?" said Symonds, all the more
insistent by reason of this fearful at
titude. He produced pencil, wet it
in his mouth, put the point against a
page of his notebook and looked ex-
pectant Then Hines said in faint
voice:
'The cost-mark is come fluking.
The e. is repeater
Yes" Symonds wrote it down.
Nov, how do you work it when you
write letter."
1t was evident to both the doctor
and the detective that only a pressing
need to conciliate them and avoid all
appearance Of hesitancy prevented the
young fellow from taking high air
over this question, refusing to answer
it and ordering them. or at least the
detective, from the room. AS it was,
he attempted to conceal his anger
under a pretense of careful thought.
And presently he said:
Il can illustrate. Suppose you wish
to write the word Shall The first
letter of that word, s. is the nine
teenth letter of the alphabet; the Sec
ond is h. the eighth of the alphabet;
the third is a. the first of the alpha
bet; the last two are a. the twelfth of
the alphabet. So that If you put
'shall' in these figures you have
19-S-1-12-12' Now see what letters in
the cost-mark stand for these figures.
They are .cikccoco, which means
Shall There you have the key to the
simple cipher"
He threw his hand out carelessly,
as If to drop the note on the table and
have done with the matter, but an
open bottle of ink stood in the way,
with a penholder protruding from its
neck, and his fingers struck and
knocked it to the floor. The paper fell
with it and. reaching quickly to re-
cover it, he succeeded only in pressing
1t into the great blot of ink that lay
thick on the rich carpet. There he
let it remain, with an exclamation
against his clumsiness, but the detec.
tive hastily rescued it. Then he saw
that the characters were hopelessly
blurred. It would be impossible to
make them out with any certainty.
The expression Of relief that flashed
into Hines face when he realized this
amused Symonds. seeing that true
copy of the note, the key to which he
now possessed, lay sprawled over halt
page of the notebook he held in his
hand above that very key. Soon he
would work out solution Of 1t him.
self. He was not satisfied with the
one given, and this desperate and sue
cessful attempt to render the charac
tiers illegible convinced him beyond all
doubt that the Interpretation had been
a false one, IL for NO other reason
j, than that he must have. one that
would be true.
well, it's gone up" he said. But
no matter. You've read 1t to us, and
that's enough. Give me this here
j Charlie Mains address and I'll get q
J, warrant for him."
I. But when he had written down the
street and number he did not hurry
away for the warrant, Instead, he
Z slipped into the study md. with paper
and pencil. set to work on the cryptic
gram. After many blunders and era
sures, for he was NO scribe, he finally
made the following arrangement Of
the alphabet and cost-mark::