"You are a very clever girl. I've decided to turn this case over to
you. After all, your business is to decipher cipher, and you can't
do it without the book."

They both laughed.

"I don't see how you ever solved that," he said, delighted to tease
her.

"How insulting!--when you know it is one of the oldest and most
familiar of codes--the 1-2-3 and _a-b-c_ combination!"

"Rather rude of you to read it over my shoulder, Miss Erith. It
isn't done--"

"You meant to see if I could! You know you did!"

"Did I?"

"Of course! That old 'Seal of Solomon' cipher is perfectly
transparent."

"Really? But how about THIS!"--touching the sheets of the Lauffer
letter--"how are you going to read this sequence of Arabic
numerals?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," said the girl, candidly.

"But you request the job of trying to find the key?" he suggested