"'Three veal.'"

"Veal means ship's company, or crew."

"Putting the pieces together, then, 'three veal' means that the Scotian
and the Arran have small crews," said Christy, intensely interested in
the information.

"Precisely so. Read the rest of the message," added Captain Passford.

"'Four sea chickens,'" the commander read.

"'Four' means some, a few, no great number; in other words, rather
indefinite. Very likely Warnock could not obtain exact information.
'C' stands for Confederate, and 'sea' is written instead of the letter.
'Chickens' means officers. 'Four sea chickens,' translated means 'some
Confederate officers.'"

Christy had written down on a piece of paper the solution of the enigma,
as interpreted by his father, though not the symbol words of the
cablegram. He continued to write for a little longer time, amplifying
and filling in the wanting parts of the message. Then he read what he
had written, as follows: "'The Scotian and the Arran are armed; there
are some Confederate officers on board, but their ship's companies are
small.' Is that it, father?"

"That is the substance of it," replied Captain Passford, as he restored
the key of the cipher to his pocket-book, and rose from his seat. "Now
you know all that can be known on this side of the Atlantic in regard to