"All he could manage was just the slightest possible pressure of the hand. A succession of numbers then."
"Do you want to tell me what the numbers were?"
"Of course. They were 1-4-2-4-8. I am sure I got them correctly."
"Not much to be made out of that," I commented.
"No, but I feel certain that he meant something by the message, something of importance."
"To whom?"
"How can anyone say? Will you write the figures down, so that there can be no possibility of my forgetting."
I pulled out my note-book, and inscribed the unintelligible formula: 1-4-2-4-8. The resolution of the problem naturally intrigued me, and the obvious first line of approach was the application of the old Russian "knock" system in which each letter is identified with its numerical position in the alphabetical sequence. I explained the theory to Betty, and she was all eagerness for me to try it out. It took but a moment or two to replace the numbers by their corresponding letters; for example, the figure 1 stands for A, the first letter of the alphabet, and the figure 4 represents the fourth letter or D. The complete series read: A-D-B-D-H.
"Not even a vowel to juggle with," I said ruefully. "Blinder than ever, I should say."
"But it does mean something," returned Betty stoutly. "And some day we shall know."