"'American.'"
She pointed to the four words which she had written. Counting from the TOP of the page downward the first two words were "Anagraph ambrosia." But counting from the BOTTOM upward the two words formed the phrase: "AN AMERICAN."
"Try page 730, first column, seventh word from the bottom," she said, controlling her excitement with an effort.
"The word is 'who.'"
"Page 212, second column, first word!"
"'For.'"
"Page 507, first column, seventh word!"
"'Reasons.'"
"We have the key!" she exclaimed. "Look at what I've written!'An American who for reasons!' And here, in the cipher letter, it goes on'of the most'Do you see?"
"It certainly looks like the key," he said. "But we'd better try another word or two."
"Try page 717, first column, ninth word."
"The word is 'vital.'"
"Page 274, second column, second word."
"'Importance!'"
"It is the key! Here is what I have written: 'An American who for reasons, of the most vital importance!' Quick. We don't want a Secret Service man to find us here, Mr. Vaux! He'd object to our removing this book from Lauffer's apartment. Put it into your pocket and run!" And the pretty Miss Erith turned and took to her heels with Vaux after her.
Through the disordered apartment and down the stairs they sped, out into the icy darkness and around the corner, where her car stood, engine running, and a blanket over the hood.
As soon as the chauffeur espied them he whisked off the blanket;
Miss Erith said: "Home!" and jumped in, and Vaux followed.
Deep under the fur robe they burrowed, shivering more from sheer excitement than from cold, and the car flew across to Fifth Avenue and then northward along deserted sidewalks and a wintry park, where naked trees and shrubs stood stark as iron in the lustre of the white electric lamps.
"That time the Secret Service made a mess of it," he said with a nervous laugh. "Did you notice Cassidy's grin of triumph?"
"Poor Cassidy," she said.
"I don't know. He butted in."
"All the services are working at cross-purposes. It's a pity."
"Well, Cassidy got his man. That's practically all he came for. Evidently he never heard of a code-book in connection with Lauffer's activities. That diagonal cipher caught him."
"What luck," she murmured, "that you noticed that cook-book in the pantry! And what common sense you displayed in smuggling it!"
"I didn't suppose it was THE book; I just took a chance."
"To take a chance is the best way to make good, isn't it?" she said, laughing. "Oh, I am so thrilled, Mr. Vaux! I shall sit up all night over my darling cipher and my fascinating code-book-dictionary."
"Will you be down in the morning?" he inquired.
"Of course. Then to-morrow evening, if you will come to my house, I shall expect to show you the entire letter neatly deciphered."
"Fine!" he exclaimed as the car stopped before her door.
She insisted on sending him home in her car, and he was very grateful; so when he had seen her safely inside her house with the cook-book-dictionary clasped in her arms and a most enchanting smile on her pretty face, he made his adieux, descended the steps, and her car whirled him swiftly homeward through the arctic night.
CHAPTER II
THE SLIP
When Clifford Vaux arrived at a certain huge building now mostly devoted to Government work connected with the war, he found upon his desk a dictionary camouflaged to represent a cook-book; and also Miss Erith's complete report. And he lost no time in opening and reading the latter document:
"CLIFFORD VAUX, ESQ.,
"D. C. of the E. C. D.,
"P. I. Service. (Confidential)
"Sir:
"I home the honour to report that the matter with which you have entrusted me is now entirely cleared up.
"This short preliminary memorandum is merely to refresh your memory concerning the particular case herewith submitted in detail.
"In re Herman Laufer:
"The code-book, as you recollect, is Stormonth's English Dictionary, XIII Edition, published by Wm. Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London, MDCCCXCVI. This book I herewith return to you.
"The entire cipher is, as we guessed, arbitrary and stupidly capricious. Phonetic spelling is indulged in occasionallyI should almost say humorouslywere it not a Teuton mind which evolved the phonetic combinations which represent proper names not found in that dictionarynames like Holzminden and New York, for example.
"As for the symbols and numbers, they are not at all obscure. Reference to the dictionary makes the cipher perfectly clear.
"In Stormonth's Dictionary you will notice that each page has two columns; each column a varying number of paragraphs; some of the paragraphs contain more than one word to be defined.
"In the cipher letter the first number of any of the groups of figures which are connected by dashes () and separated by vertical (|) represents the page in Stormonth's Dictionary on which the word is to be found.
"The second number represents the column (1 or 2) in which the word is to be found.
"The third number indicates the position of the word, counting from the bottom of the page upward, in the proper column.
"Roman numerals which sometimes follow, enclosed in a circle, give the position of the word in the paragraph, if it does not, as usual, begin the paragraph.
"The phonetic spelling of Holzminden is marked by an asterisk when first employed. Afterward only the asterisk (*) is used, instead of the cumbersome phonetic symbol.
"Minus and plus signs are namely used to subtract or to add letters or to connect syllables. Reference to the code-book makes all this clear enough.
"In the description of the escaped prisoner, Roman numerals give his age; Roman and Arabic his height in feet and inches.
"Arabic numerals enclosed in circles represent capital letters as they occur in the middle of a page in the dictionaryas S, for example, is printed in the middle of the page; and all words beginning with S follow in proper sequence.
"With the code-book at your elbow the cipher will prove to be perfectly simple. Without the code it is impossible for any human being to solve such a cipher, as you very well know.
"I herewith append the cipher letter, the method of translation, and the complete message.
"Respectfully,
"EVELYN ERITH: E. C. D."
Complete Translation of Cipher Letter with Parenthetical Suggestions by Miss Erith.
To
B 60-02,
An American, who for reasons of the most vital importance has been held as an English (civilian?) civic prisoner in the mixed civilian (concentration) camp at Holzminden, has escaped. It is now feared that he has made his way safely to New York. (Memo: Please note the very ingenious use of phonetics to spell out New York. E. E.)
(His) name (is) Kay McKay and he has been known as Kay McKay of Islaa Scotch titlehe having inherited from his grandfather (a) property in Scotland called Isla, which is but a poor domain (consisting of the river) Isla and the adjoining moors and a large white-washed manor (house) in very poor repair.
After his escape from Holzminden it was at first believed that McKay had been drowned in (the River) Weser. Later it was ascertained that he sailed for an American port via a Scandinavian liner sometime (in) October.
(This is his) description: Age 32; height 5 feet 8 1/2 inches; eyes brown; hair brown; nose straight; mouth regular; face oval; teeth white and evenno dental work; small light-brown moustache; no superficial identification marks.
The bones in his left foot were broken many years ago, but have been properly set. Except for an hour or so every two or three months, he suffers no lameness.