What is the next word ?" "'Three,'" replied Christy.
"One means large, two medium, and three small," explained his father.
"Three what, does it say ?" "'Three veal.'" "Veal means ship's company, or crew." "Putting the pieces together, then, 'three veal' means that the Scotian and the Arran have small crews," said Christy, intensely interested in the information.
"Precisely so.

Read the rest of the message," added Captain Passford.
"'Four sea chickens,'" the commander read.
"'Four' means some, a few, no great number; in other words, rather indefinite.

Very likely Warnock could not obtain exact information.
'C' stands for Confederate, and 'sea' is written instead of the letter.
'Chickens' means officers.

'Four sea chickens,' translated means 'some Confederate officers.'" Christy had written down on a piece of paper the solution of the enigma, as interpreted by his father, though not the symbol words of the cablegram.

He continued to write for a little longer time, amplifying and filling in the wanting parts of the message.