Vixley laughed for almost five minutes. He had to dry his eyes with a silk handkerchief.
"Oh, Professor," said Flora, "I almost forgot what I came for. You know Harry's doing the Middle West now with Mademoiselle Laflamme, the Inspirational Contralto, and he wanted me to ask you if you had anything on Missouri and Iowa. Would you mind lending him your test-book? You was out there a few years ago, wasn't you?"
"Sure. I'll look and see if I can find it," and Vixley arose and left the room. He was gone a few minutes, and returned with a small, blue-covered note-book.
"Here's my test-book," he said, handing it over. "It's rather behind the times. It was five years ago that I was out there, but maybe Harry can get something out of it."
"How did you get the dope, swapping?"
"Oh, no, I done it all myself, and it's O.K. I went through the country first as a book-agent, and I kep' my eyes and ears open. I took a look or two through the cemeteries, when I had time, and I read up the local papers pretty good. Of course I wouldn't go back till a year after I got a town planted, but then it was easy graft."
"I suppose these abbreviations are all plain?"
"Yes, Harry will read that all right, he knows the regular cipher. The name after the first one is the party's control. I've writ in a few messages that'll work, and all the tests I know."
She opened the book and ran through the pages which ran something like this:
Jefferson City, Mo.
Mrs. Henry Field "Mayflower" hb John died
pneumonia 1870 good wishes from little
Emily broken leg.