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L. CHAHDA

CHAPTER II

The Cipher Message

Barby, Rick, and Scotty were in the library when Hartson Brant walked
in. They were reduced to the point of staring at each other helplessly
because of the magnitude of the task that confronted them.

The famous scientist, who looked like an older version of his son,
greeted them with a smile. "What is this, a meeting of the Silent Three?
I can't ever remember finding you all together when one of you wasn't
talking."

Rick handed him the cable. "What do you make of that, Dad?"

Hartson Brant scanned it quickly. "From Chahda, in Singapore, and in
cipher. Am I supposed to gather that you don't have the key to the
cipher?"

"That's right," Scotty said. He held up a heavy volume called
_Cryptography for the Student_. It was the only book on the subject in
the scientist's library. "We've been going through this, trying to find
some kind of clue. Honest, it's impossible."

"There are so many codes and ciphers," Barby added. "Dozens. And it says
some of them can only be broken by days of work, by experts."

"There's not an expert in the house, either," Rick concluded. "I didn't
think, when Bill called us up about it, that Chahda would use a code we
couldn't figure out, but I didn't expect a page like that."

Hartson Brant read through the cable again. "How do you know you can't
figure it out? Perhaps a little reasoning will clear the air. Chahda
must have put a key in the message somewhere. How about this 'L' in
front of his name?"

"That's right," Barby said excitedly. "That must mean something, because
his name is Chahda Sundararaman. There isn't an L in it anywhere."

The scientist handed the cable back to Rick. "I'm about as curious as I
can get," he said, "but I refuse to think any more about it until you
hand me the clear version. I agree that Chahda wouldn't send a code you
couldn't solve, so my advice is put the code book away. You won't need
it, I'm sure. This isn't any code you'll find in there."

He started out of the room, then paused at the door, his eyes twinkling.
"Will you have dinner at the table with us, or shall I ask mother to
break out some emergency rations so you can stay on the job?"

"We'll eat with the family," Scotty replied. "We can keep on thinking
while we eat, can't we?"

Rick watche