"What is the first word?"
"Mutton," replied the commander.
"Mutton means armed; that is to say the Scotian and the Arran took an
armament on board at some point south of England, as indicated by the
fact that the intelligence comes from Warnock. In about a week the mail
will bring me a letter from him in which he will explain how he obtained
this information."
"He must have chartered a steamer and cruised off the Isle of Wight to
pick it up," suggested Christy.
"He is instructed to do that when necessary. What is the next word?"
"'Three,'" replied Christy.
"One means large, two medium, and three small," explained his father.
"Three what, does it say?"
"'Three veal.'"
"Veal means ship's company, or crew."
"Putting the pieces together, then, 'three veal' means that the Scotian
and the Arran have small crews," said Christy, intensely interested in
the information.
"Precisely so. Read the rest of the message," added Captain Passford.
"'Four sea chickens,'" the commander read.
"'Four' means some, a few, no great number; in other words, rather
indefinite. Very likely Warnock could not obtain exact information.
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