"It must be, if Nairn paid for an extra word—highly's not in the code."
Then he went on with the deciphering:
"Result of reduction exceeds anticipations. Stock thirty premium. Your presence not immediately required."
"That's distinctly encouraging," declared Vane. "Now that they are getting farther in, the ore must be carrying more silver."
"It strikes me as fortunate. I ran through the bank account last night, and there's no doubt that you have spent a good deal of money. It confirms my opinion that you have mighty expensive friends."
Vane frowned, but Carroll continued undeterred.
"You want pulling up, after the way you have been indulging in a reckless extravagance which, I feel compelled to point out, is new to you. The check drawn in favor of Gerald Chisholm rather astonished me. Have you said anything about it to his relatives?"
"I haven't."
"Then, judging by the little I saw of him, I should consider it most unlikely that he has made any allusion to the matter. The next check was even more surprising—I mean the one you gave his father."
"They were both loans. Chisholm offered me security."