| 1 Substitute. | 2 Substitute. | 3 Substitute. |
When the cypher-flag is put above another, it adds 10,000.
When the 1st substitute is put under a flag, it stands for the same number as that flag.
When placed above the flag, it adds 11,000.
When the 2nd substitute is used, it is the same number as the second flag flying.
When uppermost, it adds 12,000.
When the 3rd substitute is used, it stands for the same as the uppermost flag flying. When above it, it adds 13,000.
“We are not able to make out how the flags are to be used. You must please to explain it to us.”
“Suppose, then, that every ship in the navy had a general signal-book, full of such orders and such sentences as are most likely to be wanted, and every one of them numbered. Do you not see that when flag No. 7 is hoisted by one ship, other ships have only to look at No. 7 in their signal-book, to know what it means.”
“Yes, that is very clear. But can thirteen flags say all that can be wanted to be said?”