"Then you must surely realize how insecure is the present position of both of us," I said.
"I do. But disaster cannot be averted," was her sorrowful response.
"Unless you unite with me in avenging the attack made upon us at Spring Grove."
"What is the use?" she queried. "They have all left London."
"What?" I exclaimed quickly. "You know that?"
"Yes," she replied. "I know they have."
"How?"
"By an advertisement I saw in the paper three days ago," she answered. "They use a certain column of a certain paper on a certain day to distribute general information to all those interested."
"In a code?"
"In a secret cipher—known only to the friends of M'sieur Vernon," she said. "They always look for his orders or his warnings on the eighteenth of each month. My uncle is back at Algiers."