I was one of the first in to tea, and Lorian came racing out to meet me. "Not a word yet," he said, "but if the Colonel is agreeable, I shall tell them all at dinner!" "Tell them what?" I began---- Then I saw Sybil Reynor standing in the shadow of the porch, and, even from that distance, saw her rosy blushes. I understood. "Lucky man!" I cried, and wrung his hand warmly. "The very best of good wishes, old chap. I am delighted!" "So am I!" replied Lorian. "But come and see the print." We went into the house together; and Sybil blushed more furiously than ever when I told her how I envied Lorian--and added that he deserved the most beautiful girl in England, and had won her. Lorian had a very clear print of the photograph pinned up to dry on the side of his window. "We shall be busy to-night!" he said mysteriously. He had planned to preserve his great secret until dinner-time; but, of course, it came out whilst we sat over tea on the balcony. The Colonel was unfeignedly delighted, and there is nothing secretive about Colonel Reynor. Consequently, five minutes after he had been informed how matters were between his daughter and Lorian, all the house knew. I studied the face of Hulme, to see how he would take the news. But he retained a perfect mastery of himself, though his large dark eyes gleamed at discord with the smile which he wore. Our photographic experiments were forgotten; and throughout dinner, whereat Sybil looked exquisitely lovely and very shy, and Lorian preserved an unruffled countenance, other topics ruled. It was late before we found ourselves alone in Lorian's room, with the print spread upon the table beneath the light of the shaded lamp. We bent over it. "Now," said Lorian, "I assume that this is some kind of cipher!" I stared at him surprisedly. "And," he continued, "you and I are going to solve it if we sit up all night!" "How do you propose to begin?" "Well, as it appears to mean nothing in particular, as it stands, I thought of beginning by assuming that the letters have other values altogether. Therefore, upon the basis that _e_ is the letter which most frequently occurs in English, with _a_, _o_, _i_, _d_, _h_, _n_, _r_, afterwards, I had thought of resolving it into its component letters." "But would that rule apply to mediæval English?" "Ah," said Lorian thoughtfully, "most sage counsellor! A wise and timely thought! I'm afraid it wouldn't." "What now?" Lorian scratched his head in perplexity. "Suppose," he suggested, "we write down the words plainly, and see if, treating each one separately, we can find other meanings to them." Accordingly, upon a sheet of paper, I wrote: Wherso eer thee doome bee Looke untoe ye strypped tree Offe ragged staffe. Upon itte ley Golde toe greene ande kay toe kay. Our efforts in the proposed direction were rewarded with poor success. Some gibberish even less intelligible than the original was the only result of our labour.