“Who are you?” demanded the physician.
“You would not know my name,” replied the man in calm, even tones.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have come to see you” — the stranger extended a long, black-clad arm, and his hand rested upon the code — “to see you about this. You are anxious to solve it, I believe?”
“I did not hear you come in,” said Doctor Lukens coldly.
“You were engrossed in your work,” replied the stranger, quietly. “I did not care to disturb you.”
The physician rubbed his forehead with both hands. He realized that he had been under a nervous strain.
He supposed that he had not heard the man ring the bell of the front door.
“Perhaps I have been overtaxing myself,” he admitted. “I remember now that I told Oscar to send up any one who might come to see me about the code.
“I must apologize for being brusque. I have been greatly disappointed, because no one has been able to gain results with the code.”