The Washington times., 1915-06-27
FIRST INSTALLMENT.
CHAPTER I.
The Cryptic Coin.

N OF her typewriter the last sheet
Of paper and piled It on the
little heap Of finished copy which lay At
her right. Then she closed her desk,
stepped to the wardrobe. and took out
her coat and hat.
Taking her little collection Of copy
paper from the desk. with the privilege
OF long tenure In office she walked to
the desk Of the city editor, who, al
though himself q married man, had all
this time without success tried to look
at the work before him and not at the
trim figure Of Kitty Gray making ready
for her luncheon journey.
When will you deisn to return2"
s.ked s1,I ne; with, with certain lapse IN jour-
When have better story than this
guff-in the vernacular."
Kftty's favorite lunching place was III
%Ssrs % women she wsre Se
comfortable. and she bent thither her
steps; but midway In her journey she
paused. as often she did, to gaze into
the window Of the little antique shop
mportant side streets.
Kitty. Gray.'s eyes were arrested by
something that she saw-an object
which she did not recall ever before to
to the glass. just tilted back 30 that 1t
might be the better seen. 1t apparently
was an old coin or part Of one. curious
" done IN some dark metal. probably
As Kitty, bent down to examine It
moro closely. she saw that tho coin
bore an inscription. or what appeared
TO be suoh--an inscrtp tion broken across
sSin Sy the it,sTf sfeeturs which had divided the
Her curiosity excited. Kitty Gray
stepped into the little shop, whose pro-
prtetor she knew very well.
With the customary newspaper inver-
sion Of the order Of the day. how 9
business2 Any new fans. IDOLS. coins-?"
Coins7 Vot? Sure, I got someting
He iss only . part of Einseiluf. Should
i chow him to your"
said Kitty. smiling. you mean the
Sure. Vait till I got him."
Kitty took up the coin now from the
case. and some strange sort OF thrill
came over her as she did SO, she could
not tell why. What was its message
hating, broken. inco1npletef pit 1t hold
tits odd, isn't 1t" said she, and laid
e down agin carele ssly-with a careless
ness well feigned; for Kitty Gray had
bought antique before now. and knew
"Odt? should say i vas odt." re,
up an inlaid meteorological fan and
was studiously examining that now.
How much?" asked she. holding up
'Tor the broken coin7"
mo, the fan"
II want twelf tollar for him."
''For the coin?''
- .;Not for the fan. For the co'n-vat
"why. what earthly use would I have
for broken piece Of metal like that.
Mr.. Mainz7" ,
''Gif me for the fan eleven dollar. und
inH1.y ! make you present OF the broken coin
Kitty Gray's heart gave a sudden little
jump. She would have given twice
eleven dollars for the coin itself. but she
afs GieSen s'0d doIsrs Rssssnss' Is good deal of
money" said she. Il would have to go
without lunch for quite a while" -.
You are a soot sport; Miss Cray.
said the OLD dealer: Il s dank ,9n y9a very
"1he fan-yes. Let me see the coin
again" She pushed across the counter
almost tho last Of the tightly folded
bills in her purse.
Read the inscription for me, and !
said Maink "Vot Is 1t? 1t is not Cher
man. It is not Franzoesisch It is not
English, am all of those. But could
not read him."
hIlIy ntlu DeloEc thS WI ioNc ~
3sct, slight frown puckerins her
well, you see." said she. 'It Is broken
right across on the right hand s'de-al-
most third Of the writing Is gone
"Und vot ncxt?'
'It SAYS something about looking for
something under the floor, under the
pavement or some place Of torture or
torment ,u,, .oros.
A,,k
means a collectlon'-a collection OF
value don't you know
"The next line is one word: its all
there-'Regis." she went on. That
of the king The kings treasures'-
what? I'm down to the last words now.
It Is curious-a proper name, 1t is only
the Latin name Of the kingdom OF
Gretzhoffen! That's a little bankrupt
Kingdom over in southern Europe. near
the Mediterranean. ] know about tt
did a story about 1t once, the time the
kingdom was trying to float loan IN
this country. l had to read up whole
lot"
IT bet you could do it, Miss Cray"
said Mainz, admiringly. Well, goot-by.
Come again aund tell me vot you fina
out. like a goot girl"
Sure" said Kitty. and turned to
leave. her coin clutched tightly IN her
hand. So intent was she on her purchase
that she did not notice she had
dropped the package containing the
shell-ribbed fan. Vaguely missing som"-
thing as she emerged into the open air,
she turned back. and almost ran into
man who had passed her as she came
out. He was a foreign-looking individ-
ual. dark Of hair and eyes and skin.
strongly built q figure such as one
would note. He bowed now courteously
enough as he handed her the package
she had let fall. Kitty thanked him and
hurried on her way. This stranger en-
tered the shop and spoke in some for
eignNtongue to the old dealer. who shook
his head.
'No." said he, answering in English.
'I choost sold ito dot young lady who
"Who is she?" demanded the foreigner
in the same tongue he had first en-
ployed.
who Is she? know her very well.
She Is on der papers. Better you look
out or she put you in der paper. sure.
Miss Kitty Gray vos an odlt trent of
mine. She read like book vot vos on
the coin. Wy didn't you telephone-may-
be she sell II back to you'll don't know.
She wouldn't sell It back to me, l know
dot. Vot! you are going2'
CHAPTER III.
The Big Assignment.
witty Grav did NOT Rn RI her usual