Page:The Master of Mysteries (1912).djvu/187

 Valeska studied a minute, and then scribbled out:

Dans le garden au dessous le rose buch le plus near le pommier.

"Partly in English', partly in French, you see," said Astro. "One word, 'buch', looks like German, but it's not: 'In the garden under the rose bush nearest to the apple tree!' The Greek character Chi was the nearest the writer could get to the English 'sh,' you see, and note the use of the Sigma's, too. How childish to consider this a hard puzzle!"

"It is the location of Mrs. Dalrymple's missing letter, I suppose," ventured Valeska. "I suppose she was afraid it would be stolen, and so buried it there."

"You forget, however, that, if Mrs. Dalrymple was a good Greek scholar, she wouldn't have written this so laboriously."

Valeska looked quickly up at him. "Could some one have found the letter and buried it there for his own purpose?"

"It is possible; but it seems an unnecessary thing to do. The most suspicious thing about the cipher is that it is so easy."

"Then I give it up." Valeska shook her head sadly.

"Don't give up, little girl. Simply keep your mind on the fact that there are clever brains at work upon this unsuspecting young woman." He edged his chair over closer and tapped with his finger on the table. "Look here! Who stole this locket in the first place? Why was it stolen? Was the person who took it the one who returned it? Or was the person who returned it a friend of Miss Dalrymple's? If he or she were,