ll he has finished his letter. You see, now, how
the correspondent who receives the note must begin. He finds the page
indicated, and then each figure represents a word."

"Nothing could be clearer," said the magistrate, approvingly.

"If this note," pursued Lecoq, "had been exchanged between two persons
at liberty, it would be folly to attempt its translation. This simple
system is the only one which has completely baffled inquisitive efforts,
simply because there is no way of ascertaining the book agreed upon.
But in this instance such is not the case; May is a prisoner, and he has
only one book in his possession, 'The Songs of Beranger.' Let this book
be sent for--"

The governor of the Depot was actually enthusiastic. "I will run and
fetch it myself," he interrupted.

But Lecoq, with a gesture, detained him. "Above all, sir," said he,
"take care that May doesn't discover his book has been tampered with.
If he has returned from his promenade, make some excuse to have him sent
out of his cell again; and don't allow him to return there while we are
using his book."

"Oh, trust me!" replied the governor, hastily leaving the room.

Less than a quarter of an hour afterward he returned, carrying in
triumph a little volume in 32mo. With a trembling hand Lecoq turned to
page 235, and began to count. The fifteenth word on the page was
'I'; the third afterward, 'have'; the eighth following, 'told'; the
twenty-fifth, 'her'; the second, 'your'; the sixteenth, 'wishes.' Hence,
the meaning of those six numbers was: "I have told her your wishes."

The three persons who had witnessed this display of shrewdness could not
restrain their admiration. "Bravo! Lecoq," exclaimed the magistrate. "I
will no longer bet a hundred to one on May," thought the smiling clerk.

But Lecoq was still busily engaged in deciphering the missive, and soon,
in a voice trembling with gratified vanity, he read the entire note
aloud. It ran as follows: "I have told her your wishes; she submits. Our
safety is assured; we are waiting your orders to act. Hope! Courage!"

XIX

Yet what a disappointment it produced after the fever of anxiety and
expectation that had seized hold of everybody present. This strange
epistle furnished no clue whatever to the mystery; and the ray of hope
that had sparkled for an instant in M. Segmuller's eyes speedily faded
away. As for the versatile Goguet he returned with increased conviction
to his former opinion, th