, 1911-07-06

Perhaps you won't need that" she
said. Il can remember the letters
They are divided up into words. bu,
I'm sure they are not AMI foreign Ian.
guage; they are in a code OF some
sort"
She did not turn to look at him. but
She felt him stir . little, with sudden.
ly aroused attention. and heard his
breath come = little quicker.
The nrst letter was all by itself"
shs said. trying to keep her voice
steady. II ~ N. And then. in
one word. came the letters p-b-tn-e-q."
That means "A coward" he said.
His voice was unsteady. and he
clutched suddenly At her hand. She
could feel that his was trembling. no
she took II in both of hers and held
II tight
IT'S . code" he said, n boyish code
Of my own. remember that for a
Ions time after I invented It be-
lisved It to be utterly insoluble; yet II
was ohildishly simple. It consists
simply Of splitting the alphabet In
two and using the last half for the
arst and vice versa II must have %
CURED to hundreds Of boys, at ono
time and another, and yet" his voice
fAltered. yet. it's q little odd that
you should have stumbled upon an
other example of it."
The next word was o-r-g-e-n-lr-q."
That mean betrayed" he said,
Almost instantly. "Was-was there n
more"
Ono little word, three letters,
'u-v-z. But I know already what they
mean, Philip" There was a moment
ary silence. then she repeated the
whole phase-".A coward betrayed
him." She was trembling all over
now. herself. II knew" she said. 81
knew 1t was something like that"
Then she dropped down beside him
and clasped him tight in her arms.
Philip. that was written round your
picture. an old picture of you 1t must
have been, which fell out of your
pocket when l was undressing you
tina night after your fight with Ros-
coe. recognized the locket It was en-
closed In as Mr.. Hunters. | had often
seen 1t on his watch fob. and it's en-
gravsd with his initials"
1T fell out Of my pocket" said
Philip. incredulously.
Yes" she said, that puzzled me.
too. for awhile; and finally l figured
It out. You must have found 1T"
That night in Rosooe's cave. when
was waiting for him. had forgot
ten It until this moment"
Il knew It must be like that" she
said. something like that. And wasn't
It she began
Hunters code a. well as miner
Yes. We made It up together when
We were boys" he said. and w used
It occasionally even after we left the
Point. We wrote in II, both Of US. as
easily a in English: and read 1t the
same way"
Her young arms still held him fast.
Philip, he must have been sorry
. long time-almost since 1t happened.
it's an old. old picture Of you.
dear, and the ink of the letters is
faded. He's carried 1t with him W
since, As q reminder Of the wrong he
did you and of his oowsrdice In let
ting you suffer under it."
Il suppose It was hat from the
nrst."
Il don't believe he aver meant"
She let the sentence break off there.
and there was a long. long silence.
Il suppose that's true" he said at
last. II suppose I might have saved
him then. Just as l might have saved
him later. from Roscoe's dart I can
think Of . hundred ways that 1t might
lave happened-the accusation against
me, l mean-without his having any
part in IT." Then he said rather abb
ruptly: "Tanshaw told you the story.
didn't hef"
She assentsd. Most Of it. that Is.
Perhaps not quite all he knew"
81 don't know 1t all myself" he told
her, that is, l have nllsd It in with
Euesses. knew about the girl. Hunt
er was half mad about her. and she.
l suppose. was in love with him. Any
way. he came to mo n night-the
last time I ever talked with him-rag
Ing with excitement. The girls father
had found out about him and meant
."S ooiu, I u hiii niAh' anu Poinopo, AN'
too. Anyhow. she had forbidden Hunt
sr seeing her again. We took a drink
or two. together. before I started. and
suppose he must have DRUM
himself half mad after that; for he
started right on my trail and did wha'
Ieu know. have always supposed
Until Just now. that he had used my
name a. his own with her. to screer
himself from pSssibls trouble. Blu
hat may not have been the case. HI
may simply have spoken Of me as hi
friend.
The girl was in love with him
ana 1t would be natural for her Il
uNe her father my name instead o
hunters, and make the accusation
against ne. suppose he though