It was the same for the seven last letters of the paragraph, _p s u v
j h d,_ of which the series also commences with a _p,_ and which in
no case could stand for the _d_ in _Dacosta,_ because these letters
were in like manner twelve spaces apart.
So it was not his name that figured here.
The same observation applies to the words _arrayal_ and _Tijuco,_
which were successively tried, but whose construction did not
correspond with the cryptographic series.
After he had got so far, Judge Jarriquez, with his head nearly
splitting, arose and paced his office, went for fresh air to the
window, and gave utterance to a growl, at the noise of which a flock
of hummingbirds, murmuring among the foliage of a mimosa tree, betook
themselves to flight. Then he returned to the document.
He picked it up and turned it over and over.
"The humbug! the rascal!" he hissed; "it will end by driving me mad!
But steady! Be calm! Don't let our spirits go down! This is not the
time!"
And then, having refreshed himself by giving his head a thorough
sluicing with cold water:
"Let us try another way," he said, "and as I cannot hit upon the
number from the arrangement of the letters, let us see what number
the author of the document would have chosen in confessing that he
was the author of the crime at Tijuco.
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