"Well, I give up," he said, with a sigh of disappointment. "I sure thought I could make something of it, but I can't."
"Maybe Will could send it to some of his Secret Service friends," suggested Grace.
"Yes, I could do that," her brother assented. "Let's let the government experts take a crack at it, Allen."
"I'm willing," assented the young lawyer.
Betty was in a corner of the big sitting room, the bay window of which gave a beautiful view of the ocean. She had the queer box in her lap, and was turning it from side to side, now and then holding it to her ear and shaking it.
"What are you doing, Betty Nelson?" asked Grace, coming in from a walk to town.
"I was just listening to see if there was any hidden mechanism in this box," answered the Little Captain. "I wonder if there's a ruler anywhere about?" she went on.
She found a foot ruler, and with that began measuring inside and outside the box, jotting down some figures on a piece of paper.
"What's this—a new way to work out the cipher I couldn't solve?" asked Allen, coming in.
"Don't talk to me for a minute, please," said Betty, puckering up her forehead.