The Daily Alaska empire., 1930-03-07
Chapter %
THE CODE MESSAGE

Enid leaned forward, picked UT the pad of paper, and sharp excited cry escaped her as she scanned the top sheet more closely There were words here-not very distinct and some of them quito andecipherable to the naked eye but unmistakable words.
 ouEer heart began to beat furious ly. Roy had crumpled up anc carried away with him the second sheet on which he had written thc translation--but on the next sheet there showed the pressure marks, . great many of them at least, of his pencil when he had set down the translationl
 t She took up a pencil, and swiftly but with extreme care, traced over the words and groups of letters that were lcgible. The result, oi course, did not make sense--lt was just lot of fragmentary writing strewn all over the sheet.
 si Yes-naturallyl She has not ex- pected anything else. But she was not through yeti She opened the drawer of her desk, her lips quiy- ering in sudden reminiscence, took out her reading glass.
 The last time she had used it had been the night she had got that snapshot of Roy from Shiye Frank. It seemed as though every thing went back to Shiye Frank. Even this pad of paper here Tn front of her! Roy would never have been in this room. would never have written anything here, if it had not been indirectly due to Shive Frank. That was two nights ago. This was the third night.
 The phrase repeated itself in her mind. Was there any significance in the fact that this was the third night? It had begun in so-so pre- monitory way with things she scarcely dared to contemplate.
 Roy's lovel Suppose she could never make him believe he was her brother? Suppose he wasn't? She had seen him once in a tigerish mood. Where was Phil?
 Would the two meet? Which would have the upper hand? One of them must go down or perhaps both of theml Was what Shive Frank had written trueP Was there Evidence in that paper in Schnaff- ncrs safe to send Roy to the chair? Was Roy-a murderer? Nol A thousand times mol It could not bel Her mind was in riot again. Premonitory? What had she meant by the night beginning in pre- monitory way? Wha. more did she expect would happen? Oh, yes, this paper s peShe passed the reading glass rapidly up and down over the sheet.
 Where she had left blanks be- fore, she could quite easily make out wholly or partially formed let ters now. She began to work This wasn't so easy--it took long CT. She wondered what the origi- nal code had been like, From what she had seen as she had watched him, Roy had seemed to be setting down long lines of connected let- ters and figures. What did it mat ter? He had broken them up mo words here as he had decoded, the message.
 At the end of perhaps 10 min utes she set aside the reading glass. There still remained a few blanks here and there, but the missing letters were so obvious that they supplied themselves. She ,1iiiea them in-and sat for moment strangely quiet and white of 1ace' as she read the completed text:
 "P J. Murkman. Wall safe Li- brary. Second floor. Panel behind books, top left large bookcase. Press lower edge. One right, then ls. Two le1t, then oz. Olc tAeAA'' " 27 Throw to lock. Basement window areaway."
 AaThere was no question as to what it meant. It was brutally pialhT- cruelty clear. They were planning to rob somebody's wall safe-no Roy wasl Roy had said over the ruhone that he would take 1t on bimself-with a couple of lookoutS. She remembered, too. what else ne had said-that there was Hnopooy home" there tonight.
 She hunched her shoulders so- eether, shiyering. as though witn nhysical cold. That was the com bjnation of the wall safe. of course' staring her there in the face. she She knew that much about safes, any how. for she had opened her laeii- cr's safe for him many times. what was in the saieY wia. @ d,d # matter? It was something yaIuable. extremely valuable un- doubtedly. or Roy. these men or