CHAPTER XXIII
PROGRESS
When Fred had completed his task the following result appeared:
20-1-11-e-1-3-15-21-18-19-e-4-25-e-n-15-18-20-h-15-n-e-h-21-n-4-18-e-4-6-e-e-20-6-18-15-13-2-h-e-19-15-21-20-h-e-18-n-e-24-20-18-e-13-9-20-25-15-6-19-h-1-18-11-18-15-3-11-20-h-e-n-e-1-19-20-6-9-6-20-25-6-e-e-20-1-n-4-n-15-18-20-h-2-25-e-1-19-20-20-h-9-18-20-25-20-h-18-e-e-4-9-7.
"Is it coming out all right, Grant?" asked John. "It doesn't look likevery much to me just yet."
"It doesn't spell any words yet," said Fred.
"Yes, indeed, it certainly does," exclaimed Grant. "There's _he_ acouple of times. That spells something, doesn't it!"
"Yes, that does," admitted Fred, "but what can _n-e-h_ be? I neverheard of that word or _e-n-e_ either."
"You must remember that it isn't all done yet by a good deal," Grantprotested. "You see we've substituted only three letters so far and itspells two words already. I call that pretty good work."
"Yes, and in a minute you may run up against a snag and find that you'reall wrong," said George.
"Quite right," admitted Grant. "If my system is wrong we'll find it outpretty soon, too. It seems to me to be worth trying though."
"Oh, I think so, too," exclaimed Fred readily. "Let's try another now."
"Why can't you substitute two at once?" said John. "That would save alot of time."
"I know it would," admitted Grant. "It would also double the chances ofmistakes and we don't want to make any if we can help it."
"We'll be careful," said George. "Go into another trance, Grant, andtell us two letters this time. You're a regular Hindoo fakir and for allI know you may have hypnotized the whole crowd of us."
"Come on, Pop! Be serious," exclaimed John.
"I am serious and I'm just as anxious to solve this as you are. Youdon't mind if I get a little fun out of it though, do you?"
"Got the letters, Grant?" demanded Fred of the owner of the secret, whowas busily engaged in more calculations. His eyes were half shut and hedid a great deal of counting on his fingers.
"Ssh," hissed George softly, but no one noticed him.
"All right," said Grant suddenly. "Put _r_ in place of eighteen and_t_ in place of twenty."
"I've got your system," exclaimed John all at once. "I had an ideabefore and now I'm quite sure of it."
"What is it, String?" inquired George eagerly.
"I won't tell you. Wait and see if I'm right."
"I thought you said you were."
"I think I am."
"Don't tell him, String, if you know," urged Grant.
"I won't; don't worry about that. Isn't it simple?"
"Just like you," muttered George, but no one heeded him.
"Go ahead, Fred," said Grant. "Write it out again."
When Fred had complied the code had the following appearance,--
t-1-11-e-1-3-15-21-r-19-e-4-21-e-n-15-4-t-h-15-n-e-h-21-n-4-r-e-4-6-e-e-t-6-r-15-13-t-h-e-19-15-21-t-h-e-r-n-e-24-t-r-e-13-9-t-25-15-6-19-h-1-r-11-r-15-3-11-t-h-e-n-e-1-19-t-6-9-6-t-25-6-e-e-t-1-n-4-n-15-r-t-h-2-25-e-1-19-t-t-h-9-r-t-25-t-h-r-e-e-4-9-7.
"Well, you've got more letters in it than you had anyway," exclaimedGeorge, "and right down at the end there it spells the word_three_. Grant, I believe you may be on the right track after all."
"Yes, sir, we'll all be rich soon," exclaimed John. "Just think of usgoing home with great bags of gold and jewels slung over each shoulder."
"Say!" cried Sam, his eyes sparkling and his ivory teeth showing in adazzling smile. "Wouldn't dat be great?"
"See any ships coming to rescue us?" said John. "Who wants to be rescuedanyway? We're going to find the gold; we're going to find the gold!" andhe danced joyously around, waving his arms about his head while hechanted over and over again the same refrain, "We're going to find thegold; we're going to find the gold!"
"I'm afraid you're a little previous, String," laughed Grant, looking upfrom the code which he had been studying intently. "We haven't got ityet, you know."
"But we shall," insisted John joyously. "We'll find it all right."
"Let's keep at it," exclaimed Fred. "That's the best way I know toaccomplish anything. Talking about it doesn't do much good."
"Give him a couple more letters then, Grant," exclaimed George.
"Let me give him one," said John. "See if I can guess right."
"All right," said Grant, "you try it this time and see if you know thetrick."
"Give me two," said Fred. "We worked two at a time before and we oughtto be able to do it again."
"What numbers do you want letters for?" inquired John.
"Let me see," mused Fred. "How about eleven and fifteen?"
"Just a second now," and John began to calculate and count on hisfingers just as Grant had done.
"Another fakir," whispered George, but as usual no one paid theslightest attention to him. Every one was intent upon the code and toomuch interested in it to be diverted by anything else.
"Put _k_ in place of eleven, and _o_ in place of fifteen,"said John after he had apparently satisfied himself as to thecorrectness of his calculations. "Is that correct, Grant?"
"Absolutely," said Grant. "You know the system all right."
"You might tell us," exclaimed George enviously.
"Keep quiet, Pop, and watch me," ordered Fred, and once more he rewrotethe code while his companions watched him eagerly. This is what hewrote:
t-1-k-e-1-3-o-21-r-19-e-4-21-e-n-o-r-t-h-o-n-e-h-21-n-4-r-e-4-6-e-e-t-6-r-o-13-t-h-e-19-o-31-t-h-e-r-n-e-24-t-r-e-13-t-25-o-6-19-h-1-r-k-r-o-e-k-t-h-e-n-e-1-19-t-6-9-6-t-25-6-e-e-t-1-n-4-n-o-r-t-h-2-25-e-1-19-t-t-h-9-r-t-25-t-h-r-e-e-4-9-7.
"You're getting rid of the numbers fast enough anyway," exclaimedGeorge. "It looks like Greek to me though."
"Maybe it's written in some foreign language," suggested Fred. "Wouldn'tthat be awful?"
"Perhaps it's Finnish," said George. "We got it from a Finn."
"Dey's always ha'd luck," exclaimed Sam soberly. "Ef some Finn donewrote dat we don't stan' no chance ob eber findin' de treasah."
"You mean it will be our finish, is that it?" laughed George.
"Ah wouldn't be at all s'prised," said Sam solemnly.
"What makes you think it's not written in English?" demanded Grant.
"Well, just look along there in the middle," said George. "It saysr-k-r-o, and then k-t-h-e-n-e. Did you ever hear of any words thatsounded like that?"
"No, but towards the end it spells two words distinctly," protestedGrant, "Just see there, n-o-r-t-h, and t-h-r-e-e. Certainly they spell_north_ and _three_, don't they?"
"They do," admitted George. "That's what puzzles me. Part of it seems tobe all right and part wrong. Are you sure your system is right?"
"Not yet, but I'm getting surer all the time. How about you, String?"
"I agree with you, Grant. We'll have it all in a minute."
"Maybe it's written in two languages," said Fred. "Sometimes they do athing like that, you know, to make it all the harder."
"You're a cheerful soul," exclaimed Grant grimly. "If it's written intwo languages we'll be about as badly off as we were before."
"And we shan't know whether we're right or not," added George.
"I say go ahead anyway the way we have been doing," exclaimed Fred. "Weseem to be making some sort of progress."
"Tell us what letter corresponds to number one," said George.
"A," almost shouted John and Grant together.
"You seem to agree on that at any rate," laughed George. "Why don't youtell us what your system is?"
"I should think you'd have guessed it by this time," said Grant. "Why,it's just as simple as rolling off a log."
"Oh, yes, of course," said George sarcastically. "Everything is when youknow all about it. I think you might let Fred and me into your secret."
"One stands for _a_," was Grant's reply. "Nineteen stands for_s_. That's all I'll tell you now. Go ahead and put those down ifyou want to."
"Write it down, Fred," said George sorrowfully. "My," he added under hisbreath, "I hate stingy people."
Again Fred wrote:--
t-a-k-e-a-3-o-21-r-s-e-4-21-e-n-o-r-t-h-o-n-e-h-21-n-4-r-e-4-6-e-e-t-6-r-o-13-t-h-e-s-o-21-t-h-e-r-n-e-24-t-r-e-13-9-t-25-o-6-s-h-a-r-k-o-3-k-t-h-e-n-e-a-s-t-6-9-6-t-25-6-e-e-t-a-n-4-n-e-r-t-h-2-25-e-a-s-t-t-h-9-r-t-25-t-h-r-e-e-4-9-7.
"Keep it up," urged George. "Let's not discuss it any more until it isall written out. Give him some more letters."
"Take _u_ for twenty-one and _f_ for six," said Grant.
"Give me three this time," said Fred. "There aren't many left."
"All right. Take _i_ for nine."
Once more Fred wrote it out as follows:
t-a-k-e-a-3-o-u-r-s-e-4-u-e-n-o-r-t-h-o-n-e-h-u-n-4-r-e-4f-e-e-t-f-r-o-13-t-h-e-s-o-u-t-h-e-r-n-e-24-t-r-e-13-i-t-25-o-f-s-h-a-r-k-r-o-3-k-t-h-e-n-e-a-s-t-f-i-f-t-25-f-e-e-t-a-n-4-n-o-r-t-h-2-25-e-a-s-t-t-h-e-r-t-25-t-h-r-e-e-4-i-7.
"That's the way," cried George. "Give him some more. Clean it up thistime."
"Let's see," said Grant musingly. "What numbers are left?"
"Three, four, thirteen, twenty-four, twenty-five, two and seven," saidGeorge. "I think that's all."
"All right," exclaimed Grant, "we'll finish it up. Go ahead, Fred, andin place of three put _c_, in place of four _d_, put _m_for thirteen, _x_ for twenty-four, _y_ for twenty-five,_b_ for two, and let's see, _g_ for seven. That ought to doit."
"Here I go," said Fred, beginning to write at once. "You tell me what todo when I come to those numbers."
Grant prompted him and the whole code of numbers was soon translatedinto letters, reading as follows in its final form:
t-a-k-e-a-c-o-u-r-s-e-d-u-e-n-o-r-t-h-o-n-e-h-u-n-d-r-e-d-f-e-e-t-f-r-o-m-t-h-e-s-o-u-t-h-e-r-n-e-x-t-r-e-m-i-t-y-o-f-s-h-a-r-k-r-o-c-k-t-h-e-n-e-a-s-t-f-i-f-t-y-f-e-e-t-a-n-d-n-o-r-t-h-b-y-e-a-s-t-t-h-i-r-t-y-t-h-r-e-e-d-i-g.