Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1936-10-22
Secret Code
BY RICHARD HILL Will K[NsoN
g Associated Newspapers.-wNU:ss Service

LILO SuPS11OI OllFC6ES. DTS, ne
said, II beg to report the presence
OF "a suspicious looking craft plying
about in the bay"
Major Rinehart looked up sharp
". Suspicious, Why?''
"a bunch as much as anything,
sir. That and the fact that there ap-
pears to be NO obvious reason Tor
the crafts presence. He's
Colonel Bradley, who sat across
from the major, interrupted iirri-
taoly: We're not interested in
lunches, ii eutenant Hitchcock.
These are trying times, and there
are too many other things-things,
incidentally, based on fact-that
need attention. Unless you have
something more important than
mere sHr1nise-~." He gestured.
Lieut.. Hitchcock colored. 81 beg
your pardon, sir. It seemed to me
that it was important to"
What seems important to you
doesn't carry:a great deal of weight,
Lieutenant. You may GO"
Outside, Maj Rinehart overlook
the young lli9itenant. "Just a min
ute, Lieutenant Hitchcock" He laid
a paternal hand on the youths
shoulder. "Now, get that look out
OF your eye and forget about what
just happened. Bradley's a hard
man. At times he appears unrea-
sonable, Init take my word for 1t
he's a good soldier, aand his attitude
toward yGu was, i'm his mind, justi-
fed. 49,.
Now i'm regard to your suspicious
looking 'crafteard this is strictly
confidential, inainn ,you-the skipper
OF that fishing ssmack is taking
soumdIngs. He's in the employ 'ot
our intelligence department. Best
l can say for 5yOu is that you were
pretty smant Ito notice anything
! strange
'tSOrrn9ings, $R? You mean in re-
gard to the troop ships-?"
The less you say about those
troop ships the tbetter. Now, mind,
keep what I've told you in stric4est
confidence and don't fret about
hard-headed Colonel Bradley"
Two days later Lieut.. Hitchcock
took it upon himself to again visit
Maj. Rinehart.
I'm sorry, ssir. It's about the
same fishing craft"
"Well?''
"Pm positive the fellow is signal
ing to some one on shore. He may
be employed by the intelligence de
partment as you say, but why
should he emrlpysa code signaf?''
Major Rinehartl leaped to his feet.
Code? What sort aof code?"
why, quite simple, sir. His boat
is comparatively new and carries
fairly good canvas. Yet there are
patches on the sails. That's what
aroused my suspicious first.
wasn't positive until I discovered
that some days there were more
!, patches than ON others"
Major Rinehart reached for his
that. He ordered Hitchcock to RE
turn to his quarters and to ,stsy
there and above al else to mention
no word of what he had just re-
lpeated.
Toward evening of the same day,
Major Rinehart dropped around at
Hitchcock's quarters. He was smil
ing pleasantly.
''Well, son, you've earned your
promotion. It's ali arranged. To be-
gin with, the information which you
gave me this morning led to the
arrest of one of the caeverest spies
ever employed by an enemy. Now
that hes in custody can give you
the particulars.
''Your fisherman was the spy. We
have suspected him for a long time,
hut have been unable to put our
finger ON any evidence that would
convict the fellow. When word
reached us about the coming of the
troop ships, Col. Bradley con-
ceived the idea of employing the
fisherman ITO take soundings, lead
ing him to think that the troop ships
would drop anchor in the bay. We
knew that the fisherman would real
ize he would he under surveillance
when on shore, whether he was sus-
pected or not, hence would be forced
to communicate the nature of his
activities to his superiors by means
of some secret code. For more than
a week our operators watched his
activities through powerful tele-
scopes in the hopes of apprehending
the nature Of his code. But not one
OF them was able to hazard even a
remote possibility"
"You mean that I was the only
one who noticed the patches on the
sails?"
Rinehart nodded. That's it in a
nutshell, son. And that's why, to-
morrow, you're going to be made
captain"
''Holy cowI I beg your pardon,
sir, but"
Forget it. incidentally, the troop
ships landed yesterday, safely, at
secret rendezvous down the coast.
And now please come up to head
quarters with me. Colonel Bradley
has a word to say to you that will
prove my statement about his being
. ,ood co1dier and a fair man."