"It is gonnected with an unusual operation," said Mr. Neilsen, who was getting thoroughly rattled, "and goncerns the diet of the batient." "I see," said the purser. "Well, I'll take your word for it, sir, and tell the operator." At this moment the steward, who had entered Mr. Neilsen's stateroom during his absence, was laying out that gentleman's pyjamas on his berth. He shook them out in order to fold them properly; and in doing so he shook a round ball of paper on to the floor. He unrolled it and discovered two parallel columns of words, which gave a new meaning to the telegram. He put it in his pocket, looked carefully round the room, took all the torn scraps out of the wastepaper basket and put those also in his pocket. Then he went out, just in time to avoid meeting Mr. Neilsen, and trotted by another companionway to the purser's office. Ten minutes later a consultation was held in the captain's cabin. The two messages and the scraps of paper were spread out on the table, while the purser took another large, clean sheet, on which he jotted down as many of the words as could be deciphered, together with their equivalents, in two parallel columns, almost as neat as those of Mr. Neilsen himself. When he had finished there was a very nice little vocabulary--though it was only a small part of the code; and in a very short time they were staring in amazement at the full translation of the messages concerning Uncle Hyacinth. Then they proceeded to business. Captain Abbey was an Englishman who had commanded many ships in many parts of the world. He had worked his way up from before the mast, and in moments of emotion he was still inclined to be reckless with his aitches. He was very large and red-faced, and looked as the elder Weller might have looked if he had taken to the sea in youth. Captain Abbey was not a vindictive man; but the _Hispaniola_ was the finest ship he had yet commanded, and the opportunity had come to him as a result of the war and the general dearth of neutral skippers who were ready to take risks. He was not anxious to lose the ship on his first voyage, and his face grew redder and redder as he sat reading the messages on the table. "What's the translation of '_onions_'?" he said. "I think it means '_abroad_,' according to this column," said the purser. "Put it down. Now, what does '_tonsils_' mean?" "_Tonsils? Tonsils?_ Oh, yes; here we are. It means '_von Tirpitz_.'" "The devil it does," said Captain Abbey. "And what does '_meat_' mean?" "'_German_,' I think." "And '_colossal_'?" "I had it here a moment ago. Ah, '_colossal_' means _twenty_." "Just like 'em," said the captain. "Here's _appendix_! I suppose they find these medical terms useful. How do you translate that?" "_Appendix?_ H'm; let me see. Appendix means _false_." "'E deserves to 'ave it cut out with a blunt saw, blast 'is eyes. And what d'you make of this message 'e's just 'anded in?"