The Washington times., 1915-08-08
SEVENTH INSTALLMENT.
CHAPTER XVI.
Divided.

~ room Of the counts palace
n which before now had proved
to be something Of storm
center in the affairs Of the Sretzhoffen
coin-there came to her the conviction
that there might be others beside her
self who would have some inkling as
to the wherea bouts Of the missing por-
ton Of the coin. and who might there
fore arrive upon the scene at much the
same time as that of her own visit.
She was not altogether surprised at the
sudden interruption Of her labors, Just
at the moment Of her success.
Before she had replaced the little se-
cret drawers in the cabinet from which
she had taken them. she paused Just
for an instant to compare the two
pieces Of the broken coin-which now
for the first time were both In her PCS
session-in order to see whether she
could finish deciphering the entire in
scription. That once made plain, as
CHE nsw the riddle Of the buried
locked. She had caught only one or
two Of the missing broken words:
soq %p'h Gs%sFe Tss the tsn cmsEss wssa
meant "of the room Of trial" the tor
naent room.' the torture chamber -
now she began to guess definitely at a
portion at least Of the inscription
The treasure has been hidden in tine
torture chamber-some old medieval
room, no doubt. 1t has been little used
perhaps it was forgotten" said she to
Her process of thought thu. leading
on ahead. she was doing famously
when. as had been indicated. there
came the startling Interruption, 50 that
oil har ouyfff lN,{ nlal
for the time.
AS she saw herself the object Of
poised weapon, she swerved aside in
stinctively-called out instinctively for
"Roleau!" she exclaimed. for, wom-
anlike, she had learned the value Of a
strong mans arm. and her first thought
was Of the faithful servant wtio so
strnnsely had ttaHhed himself to her
came Fastening from his watching place
outside the door.
He saw the little room occupied by
a man-who now suddenly had entered
and who menaced Kitty. so that. to
save her life as she supposed. she was
on the point of surrendering to him
both pieces Of the coin The sight OF
his mistress in danger was enough for
he plunged Immediately into the con-
weapon In the melee the two half
coins both were droped upon the floor.
did not qyite forsake her. She stopped
and regained one of the half coins. but
the Struggling men. shifting here and
there IN the room kept her from Sc:
hall, taking that direction which led
back from the front of the building.
Roleau heard her pass and could
not join her in flight--but he heard
hor civ ~ l,r "A
he could only guess. His energies
were fully occupied by the combat
with this stranger-whom now he saw
to be one of Count Sachio's men. He
He himself had not time to reason as
TO the presence of this new factor 10
the general imbroglio. but at last.
able to bring his own weapons into
play. he stayed the issue for a time.
They both had time to recognize one
another as they stood, the one as
much baffled as the other, and neither
quite comprehending what the other
was doing here.
Very naturally the sounds OF all this
confusion could not be concealed. The
scream of a woman had rung widely
through the halls. and used as they
were to extraordinary circumstances
hereabouts the servants could not fail
to investigate the cause OF this. They
FASTENED In the direction Of the up
roar, but their advance was stayed by
the command of the master Of the
palace himself.
The men in the room. as they paus-
ed for breathing space, heard a steady
footfall advancing to the door, heard
the calm voice Of Count Frederick
himself.
Gentlemen"
The intruders. whatever the errand
Of each. took their eyes from one an
other and turned now, recognizing YET
another man who scarce ha., come in
friendship.
You honor me greatly. gentlemen,
said Count Frederick with his usual
coolness in any extraordinary situa.
tion. But might l ask why you care
thus to disarrange my apartment? Had
! known your own curiosity regard iins
it, / might have asked some of my
servants to assist you in a search
more orderly"
With raised eyebrows he indicated
the tumbled condition of the room
due in part to Kitty's somewhat thor,
ough search. and in part to the late
contest of those who had succeeded
her
Surprised at this calm speech, the,
stood regarding him. their weapons low
cred. each knowing that the master o.
the place alone had a right there, anc
each trying to guess what quick re
venge for these liberties might lie be
hlnd the steel gray eye of the man WHIT
faced them. Well enough they knew tina
this man had been outraged in his right!
as citizen and as nob.eman. They
knew the consequences. Neither found
present word to say
You, sir" continued Count Fredericl
70 the stranger. u know very well. Yo,
also are Of Count Sschio's suite. snS
AAm had always held my friend.