The Glenwood post., 1911-08-05

lips be1ore ne spoke. There was a
silence after that Then. with little
effort. the girl spoke.
Philip. do you remember my say.
ing what = contempt you must have
for the world that didn't know how to
ny? Do you remember that and the
answer you made to it1''
He nodded.
philip. is that still therss Your
contempt. I mean, for the world"
II don't believe" he said. that you
can even ask that seriously-you. who
gave me nrst my soul back again and
then. in these last weeks. my ufe
For it's been your life that has lived
in me these last days-thsy must be .
good many-just n 1t was your
warmth and faith and fragrance that
gave me back my soul. long ago" He
paused . moment; then. when Ne went
on bis voice had = somewhat different
quality. But the other contempt
Jeanne. that still exists, or would s1-
ist II gave 1t the chance. the worlds
contempt for me. Not even your faith
could shake that"
She had been half-reclining beside
him. but now she sat erect purposeful-
ly. like one who has taken q resolu-
ton.
Tn not 30 sure Of that" she said,
in . mattsr-of-faot tone. though there
was an underourrent Of excitement In
It Philip. have been trying to
solve q puzzle since you were Ill
hoped could solve It BY myself. II
were Intelligent enough I'm sure 1
could; but I'll have to ask you to help
me- It's . string Of letters written
around a picture. in 4 iocket."
"A locket Of yours!" he asked, sur
prised.
Never mind about that Just now"
She spoke hastily and the undercur-
rent of excitement wa. growing
stronger in her voice.
DO you want mo to try 1t now" he
asked. IF you'll make . light and
show me the thing III see what l
can do"
Perhaps you won't need that" she
said Il can remember the letters
They are divided up into words, but
I'm sure they are not any foreign Ian
guage; they are in 4 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 como little quicker.
The first letter was all by ITSELF"
she said. trying to keep her voice
steady. 1t was N. And then, In
one word. came the letters p-b-j-n-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, so
she took It in both OF hers and held
1t tight
IT'S q CODE" he said, "a boyish code
OF my own. l remember that for a
long time after l invented It be-
lieved 1t to be utterly insoluble; yet It
WAS childishly simple. 1t consists
simply OF splitting the alphabet in
two and using the last half for the
| first. and vice versa 1t must have oc.
CURED to hundreds of boys. at one
time and another. and yet" his voice
faltered. yet. it's 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 means betrayed" he said.
almost instantly "Was-was there any
more"
One little word. three letters,
'u-v-z.' But l 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. Il knew" she said, 81
knew it was something like that"
and clasped him tight In her arms
Philip. that was written around your
picture. an old picture OF you it must
have been. which fell out of your
pocket when l was undressing you
that night after your fight with Ros-
coe. I recognized the locket 1t was en-
closed in as Mr.. Hunters. I had often
seen It on his watch fob, and it's en-
Eraved with his initials"
1T fell out of my pocket" said
Philip, incredulously.
Yes" she said. that puzzled me,
too. for awhile: and finally figured
II out You must have found It
THAT night in Roscoe's cave. whom
l was waiting for him. l had forgot
ten 1t until this moment"
II knew It must be like that" she
said. something like that And wasn't
1t. she began
Hunters code a. well as mine!
Yes. We made 1t up together when
We were boys" he said, "and We used
1t occasionally even after We loft the
Point. We wrote in 1t. both Of US. n
easily a. in English: and read 1t the
same way"
Her yvun4 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 IL
faded. He's carried 1t with him ever
alma rA-.iplAr - k> =