“I presume so. They must have your signature, as well as that of your mother. In fact, I doubt if they could get possession of the property, even if you and your mother did sign. You see, it belongs to you, your mother, and the other children jointly. It would be necessary for you all to sign, and, as you and the other children are not of age, your signatures would be of no value. The courts would have to be appealed to to appoint a guardian for you. But the gang evidently think that if they get your signature, and that of your mother, they can pass the deed off for genuine on some unsuspecting purchaser, without waiting for the other names.” “Have you any idea about why they are so anxious to get the land?” asked Larry. “Nothing, except I am sure there is some big move afoot in that part of town. It concerns the city, but what it is I can’t learn, though I’ve tried in all the ways I know. I’m only afraid some other paper will find out before I do, and get a beat on me as well as spoiling our chance to get the deed back. But that’s one of the risks you take in this business.” “Then the only thing to do is to wait?” asked Larry. “That’s all.” It was three days after this that a strange letter came, addressed to Larry. And an odd enough one it was. Instead of the address being written, or printed by hand, or on a typewriter, the name, number, and street had all been cut from some paper or book, and pasted on the envelope. It was a slow and laborious piece of work, and the persons who sent it must have had plenty of time at their disposal. At first Larry thought it was a joke. But when he had opened the envelope, and taken out the single sheet of paper it contained, he was sure it was no joke, but something quite different. “Phew!” he whistled, softly. The words in the letter had been cut separately from a newspaper, and pasted one after another to make sentences. “This is odd,” thought Larry. “I wonder why anyone who wanted to write me a letter could not do it in the usual way. This was a lot of work.” But when he had read the missive through he was more puzzled than ever. It seemed to be nothing but a lot of words jumbled together. There was no sense to it. “If it was Valentine’s day, I’d think someone was sending me a new-fashioned kind,” thought Larry. “But as it is, I guess it’s a Chinese puzzle.” Once more he read the letter through slowly. This is what he saw: