urs
undisturbed, I shall be able to read the cipher. I'll promise, dear,
to bring it back the very first thing in the morning."

"Of course, you may have it, Guy!" The young girl rose impulsively,
and went to the little desk in the corner. "I hid it last night after
you had gone, among some old receipts; here it is. You need not return
it to-morrow. Keep it for several days, if you like, until you have
studied it thoroughly. I don't see how you or any one could solve it
without possessing the key, but I should feel as if a load were taken
off my shoulders if you will try."

She gave him the letter, and after a long, tender farewell, he took
his departure. Going straight to his room at Mrs. Quinlan's, he
lighted the lamp, so that if Emily chanced to look over the way, she
would fancy him at work upon the cryptogram. Morrow waited until the
little house opposite was plunged in darkness; then very stealthily he
crept down the stairs and let himself out, the precious letter
carefully tucked into an inside pocket.

Morrow proceeded at once to Blaine's office and found his chief
awaiting him.

"Here's the letter, sir," he announced, as he placed the single sheet
of paper on the desk before the detective. "I can't make anything out
of it, but you probably will. It's curious, isn't it! Why, for
instance, are those little dots placed near some of the crazy figures,
and not others?"

Blaine picked the letter up, and examined it with eager interest.

"It's comparatively simple," he remarked, as he spread it flat upon
the desk, and taking up pen and paper, copied it rapidly. "Symbolic
cryptograms are usually decipherable, with the expenditure of a little
time and effort. There is a method which is universally followed, and
has been for ages. For instance, the letter _e_ is recognized as being
the most frequently used, in ordinary English, of the whole alphabet;
after that the vowels and consonants in an accepted rotation which I
will not take up our valuable time in discussing with you now, since
we will not even need to use it, in this case.--Here, take this copy,
and see if you can follow me."

He passed the sheet of paper across to his operative and Morrow gazed
again upon the curiously shaped characters which from close scrutiny
had become familiar, yet still remained maddeningly baffling to him:

[Illustration: An image of a coded message is shown here in the text.]

"Now," resumed Blaine, "presupposing that in an o