"
"Oh, trust me!" replied the governor, hastily leaving the room.
Less than a quarter of an hour afterward he returned, carrying in
triumph a little volume in 32mo. With a trembling hand Lecoq turned to
page 235, and began to count. The fifteenth word on the page was
'I'; the third afterward, 'have'; the eighth following, 'told'; the
twenty-fifth, 'her'; the second, 'your'; the sixteenth, 'wishes.' Hence,
the meaning of those six numbers was: "I have told her your wishes."
The three persons who had witnessed this display of shrewdness could not
restrain their admiration. "Bravo! Lecoq," exclaimed the magistrate. "I
will no longer bet a hundred to one on May," thought the smiling clerk.
But Lecoq was still busily engaged in deciphering the missive, and soon,
in a voice trembling with gratified vanity, he read the entire note
aloud. It ran as follows: "I have told her your wishes; she submits. Our
safety is assured; we are waiting your orders to act. Hope! Courage!"
XIX
Yet what a disappointment it produced after the fever of anxiety and
expectation that had seized hold of everybody present. This strange
epistle furnished no clue whatever to the mystery; and the ray of hope
that had sparkled for an instant in M. Segmuller's eyes speedily faded
away. As for the versatile Goguet he returned with increased conviction
to his former opinion, that the prisoner had the advantage over his
accusers.
"How unfortunate," remarked the governor of the Depot, with a shade
of sarcasm in his voice, "that so much trouble, and such marvelous
penetration, should be wasted!"
"So you think, sir, that I have wasted my time!" rejoined Lecoq in a
tone of angry banter, a scarlet flush mantling at the same time over his
features.
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