be our finish, is that it?" laughed George.

"Ah wouldn't be at all s'prised," said Sam solemnly.

"What makes you think it's not written in English?" demanded Grant.

"Well, just look along there in the middle," said George. "It says
r-k-r-o, and then k-t-h-e-n-e. Did you ever hear of any words that
sounded like that?"

"No, but towards the end it spells two words distinctly," protested
Grant, "Just see there, n-o-r-t-h, and t-h-r-e-e. Certainly they spell
_north_ and _three_, don't they?"

"They do," admitted George. "That's what puzzles me. Part of it seems to
be all right and part wrong. Are you sure your system is right?"

"Not yet, but I'm getting surer all the time. How about you, String?"

"I agree with you, Grant. We'll have it all in a minute."

"Maybe it's written in two languages," said Fred. "Sometimes they do a
thing like that, you know, to make it all the harder."

"You're a cheerful soul," exclaimed Grant grimly. "If it's written in
two languages we'll be about as badly off as we were before."

"And we shan't know whether we're right or not," added George.

"I say go ahead anyway the way we have been doing," exclaimed Fred. "We
seem to be making some sort of progress."

"Tell us what letter corresponds to number one," said George.

"A," almost shouted John and Grant together.

"You seem to agree on that at any rate," laughed George. "Why don't you
tell us what your system is?"

"I should think you'd have guessed it by this time," said Grant. "Why,
it's just as simple as rolling off a log."

"Oh, yes, of course," said George sarcastically. "Everything is when you
know all about it. I think you might let Fred and me into your secret."

"One stands for _a_," was Grant's reply. "Nineteen stands for
_s_. That's all I'll tell you now. Go ahead and put those down if
you want to."

"Write it down, Fred," said George sorrowfully. "My," he added under his
breath, "I hate stingy people."

Again Fred wrote:--

t-a-k-e-a-3-o-21-r-s-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-s-o-21-t-h-e-r-n-e-24-t-r-e-13-9-t-25-o-6-s-h-a-r-k-o-3-k-
t-h-e-n-e-a-s-t-6-9-6-t-25-6-e-e-t-a-n-4-n-e-r-t-h-2-25-e-a-s-t-t-h-9-
r-t-25-t-h-r-e-e-4-9-7.

"Keep it up," urged George. "Let's not discuss it any more until it is
all written out. Give him some more letters."

"Take _u_ for twenty-one and _f_ for six," said Grant.

"Give me three this time," said Fred. "There aren't many left."

"All r