per on the table between the Baronet's elbows. There were a
few lines written on the paper and the man's faculties were concentrated
on them. He did not see the jewel dealer until that person was half
across the room, then he called to him.

"Hello, Hargrave," he said. "Do you know anything about ciphers?"

"Only the trade one that our firm uses," replied the jewel dealer. "And
that's a modification of the A B C code."

"Well," he said, "take a look at this."

The jewel dealer sat down at the other side of the table and the Baronet
handed him the sheet of paper. The man expected to see a lot of queer
signs and figures; but instead he found a simple trade's message, as it
seemed to him.

P.L.A. shipped nine hundred horses on freight steamer Don Carlow from N.
Y.

Have the bill of lading handed over to our agent to check up.

"Well," said the jewel dealer, "somebody's going to ship nine hundred
horses. Where's the mystery?"

The Baronet shrugged his big shoulders.

"The mystery," he said, "is everywhere. It's before and after and in the
body of this message. There's hardly anything to it but mystery."

"Who sent it?" said Hargrave.

"That's one of the mysteries," replied the Baronet.

"Ah!" said the jewel dealer. "Who received it?"

"That's another," he answered.

"At any rate," continued Hargrave, "you know where you got it."

"Right," replied the Baronet. "I know where I got it." He took three
newspapers out of the pocket of his big tweed coat. "There it is," he
said, "in the personal column of three newspapers--today's Times printed
in London; the Matin printed in Paris; and a Dutch daily printed in
Amsterdam."

And there was the message set up in English, in two sentences precisely
word for word, in three newspapers printed on the same day in London,
Paris and Amsterdam.

"It seems to be a message all right," said Hargrave: "But why do you
imagine it's a cipher?"

The Baronet looked closely at the American jewel dealer for a moment.

"Why should it be printed in English in these foreign papers," he said,
"if it were not a cipher?"

"Perhaps," said Hargrave, "the person for whom it's intended does not
know any other language."

The Baronet shrugged his shoulders.

"The persons for whom this message is intended," he said, "do not
confine themselves to a single language. It's a pretty well-organized
international concern."

"Well," said Hargrave, "it doesn't look like a mystery that ought
t