Come both. Bad troubles. Am in danger.
The scientists and Mrs. Brant were looking over Rick's shoulder now, too.
The ninth group stopped them for a moment because the pair of figures standing for the word was 14. If the figure 1 was a null, the word was "the." But there were more than 14 words in the line, and the 14th was "my."
Rick looked at the faces around him. "I think it's 'my' because he must have had a reason for using nulls. If I were making up the code, I'd use them because sometimes there are enough words in a line so you need two figures and sometimes not. But you always have to put down two figures so the groups will be even."
"Good thinking," Rick's father complimented him. "Go ahead on that basis. But hurry up. The suspense is awful."
There was a chorus of agreements.
The next word was "boss."
"He was working, then," Scotty guessed. "That must be it, if he has a boss."
Rick hurried to the next group. It produced "Carl." Page 439, the 96th line, gave "Bradley." Then the boss's name was Carl Bradley.
Hartson Brant gave a muffled exclamation. Scotty turned quickly. "Do you know that name, Dad?"