Grimm went straight to a quiet nook of the smoking-room and there,
after a moment, Mr. Campbell joined him. The bland benevolence of the
chief's face was disturbed by the slightest questioning uplift of his
brows as he dropped into a seat opposite Mr. Grimm, and lighted a cigar.
Mr. Grimm raised his hand, and a servant who stood near, approached
them.
"An ice--here," Mr. Grimm directed tersely.
The servant bowed and disappeared, and Mr. Grimm hastily scribbled
something on a sheet of paper and handed it to his chief.
"There is a reading, in the Morse code, of a message that seems to be
unintelligible," Mr. Grimm explained. "I have reason to believe it is
in the Continental code. You know the Continental--I don't."
Mr. Campbell read this:
"St5ut man fed qaje neaf j5nsefvat5f," and then came the unknown,
dash-dot-dash-dash. "That," he explained, "is Y in the Continental
code." It went on: "d55f bfing 5vef when g g5es."
The chief read it off glibly:
"Stout man, red face, near conservatory door. Bring over when G goes."
"Very well!" commented Mr. Grimm ambiguously.
With no word of explanation, he rose and went out, pausing at the door
to take the ice which the servant was bringing in.
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