The girl stepped back, startled. Cliff leaped toward the window and raised the receiver to stop the ringing. He placed his hand over the mouthpiece of the telephone.
The interruption had made Madge realize that every minute meant a risk for herself and Cliff.
“Good-by,” came her whispered voice.
Cliff heard the door close behind the girl as she departed. He raised the receiver to his ear and spoke into the telephone.
“You know that watch I left with you?” said the voice. “It belongs to a boarder up here at the house. He wants it on Monday. Send it up by messenger. I’ll sign for it.”
“All right,” agreed Cliff.
The terminating click came over the wire.
“Watch border on sign.” That was the message. Cliff was puzzled for only an instant. Then he gazed from the window and watched the electric sign with its fascinating change of lights.
Two minutes passed; then he detected an irregularity in the flashing of the colored lights that bordered the sign. The code that he had memorized sprang to his mind. He began to read a message, formed by the intervals of the flashes.
He had no trouble in doing so. Cliff had been familiar with codes during the war. He had applied his knowledge during his prison term by communicating with fellow convicts.