"Not I," said Harry; "there's some thing here which it will amuse me to puzzle out."
"If you like to kill time that way, Harry," answered young Jack, laughing, "no harm; there's plenty of time to kill in this dreadful dungeon."
And puzzle over this precious treasure Harry did.
The cloth upon which were the cabalistic signs was headed with certain words, which were all but illegible, and this he managed to construe.
"Simple cypher, left in hopes that it may yet serve some unfortunate Englishman to escape from the tender mercies of this hole."
Below this were the following figures and signs—
3. 15. 21. 14. 20.—6. 15. 21. 18.—19. 20. 15. 14. 5. 19.—21.
16.—6. 18. 15. 13.—7. 18. 15. 21. 14. 4.—20. 23.
15.—6. 15. 21. 18.—19. 9. 4. 5.—15. 6.—3. 8. 9.
Neath)
13. 14. 5. 25.— > C.—23.
Press)
it.
8. 1. 20.—9. 19—
revealed.
Now when Harry Girdwood had got through the above puzzle once or twice, he was in a regular fog. The only result was to get himself heartily laughed at by his fellow-prisoner.
So Harry Girdwood kept what he knew of the matter to himself.
Upon that same day towards sundown, when Sebastian came round to bring their food, Harry Girdwood said—