Jack wrote down the letters of the English alphabet, placing the key-words below as before:—
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
J O S E P A L A F O X J O S E P A L A F O X J O S E
"S is either c, n, or y this time, and E is either d, o, or a. We can drop d and e, because they can't follow any of the first three; that leaves co, no, and yo. This is getting interesting, Juanita."
"Yes, I am getting quite excited. Now for the next letter, O. That can stand for b, j, m, u, x. I'll write down all the combinations, and see how they look."
They were fifteen, as follows:—
cob nob yob
coj noj yoj
com nom yom
cou nou you
cox nox yox
"Some of these are too comical for anything," said Jack; "but we've one complete word, you. Let us see what the next comes to. S again; that's c, n, or y. Then F; that's i or t. No English word begins with ct, nt, or yt, so t goes out. Now for L; that's g or r; and the combinations now are:—
cig nig yig
cir nir yir
I say, your father wouldn't begin by addressing me as 'you nigger', would he? The next letter is S; c, n, or y again. Not a single one of them helps to make a word. We are on the wrong track, Juanita."
"Perhaps the first word is not you at all."