“Absolutely,” said Grant. “You know the system all right.”
“You might tell us,” exclaimed George enviously.
“Keep quiet, Pop, and watch me,” ordered Fred, and once more he rewrote the code while his companions watched him eagerly. This is what he wrote:
t - 1 - k - e - 1 - 3 - o - 21 - r - 19 - e - 4 - 21 - e - n - o - r - t - h - o - n - e - h - 21 - n - 4 - r - e - 4 - 6 - e - e - t - 6 - r - o - 13 - t - h - e - 19 - o - 31 - t - h - e - r - n - e - 24 - t - r - e - 13 - t - 25 - o - 6 - 19 - h - 1 - r - k - r - o - e - k - t - h - e - n - e - 1 - 19 - t - 6 - 9 - 6 - t - 25 - 6 - e - e - t - 1 - n - 4 - n - o - r - t - h - 2 - 25 - e - 1 - 19 - t - t - h - 9 - r - t - 25 - t - h - r - e - e - 4 - 9 - 7.
“You’re getting rid of the numbers fast enough anyway,” exclaimed George. “It looks like Greek to me though.”
“Maybe it’s written in some foreign language,” suggested Fred. “Wouldn’t that be awful?”
“Perhaps it’s Finnish,” said George. “We got it from a Finn.”
“Dey’s always ha’d luck,” exclaimed Sam soberly. “Ef some Finn done wrote dat we don’t stan’ no chance ob eber findin’ de treasah.”
“You mean it will be our finish, is that it?” laughed George.
“Ah wouldn’t be at all s’prised,” said Sam solemnly.