New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-07-05

of La Travinta; but when he came in
sight of the castle he forgot to play his
" accompaniment, I'VE forgot for a
few moments the business which had
brought him to Stoke d'Estcourt.
1t really was Il very fine and striking
ruin. Christopher drove very slowly
To take in its full magnificence, and
finally stopped Scarlet Runner in the
shadow of the dark, towering walls,
though he did not stop her engine.
Looking up from his seat in the gen
%tly-purring ear, the huge Norman keep
looEHed above him. Suddenly there was
framed in a small, ivy-draped window
Il face as lovely as any for which Il
knight of Old ever did battle.
a girl was gazing down at him-a
girl whose yellow-brown hair was
bright gold-against a background of
darkness. The large eyes met his in
appeal the lips opened without speak
ing: IA hand and arm We're thrust
through the aperture, and something
small that glittered as it fell was
thrown to him.
A cry from the girl attracted his at
tcntion. She was signing him to ride
away.
1t was not until the first turn, when
the castle towers We're hidden from
sight by an intervening hill, that Race
Slack"ned the ears pace and looked ut
the thing which the girl had thrown to
I:.. ur,.., H.. .,., tl,t ~ ,,.,, q, r,,r,
handsome though small cigarette case,
ornamented with the letters IN. N" in
diamonds.
Completely puzzled, Christopher
stopped for a II in the empty
road to satisfy his curiosity by exam
ming the cigarette case inside as well
AS out. There was nothing in it, not
wen Il cigarette; but there was n pc
culiarity which caused christopher to
jump to the conclusion that the thing
had been made by special order, and
for Il lady. The inner part of the case
was entirely covered OF one side with
ii mirror set into the gold and sur
rounded by Il frame of tiny brilliants,
thus leaving place for cigarettes on the
opposite side only. He then put the
dainty little affair into his pocket and
drove along his intended route in al
most hopeless quest of ~. L. H.
His first thought, on seeing the girl
at the window Of the castle keep, vas
that he had found V. l.. H.-that V.
l.. ii. had been waiting there for him,
in the hope of Il rescue, like some per-
secuted damsel of old. But, though
she had certainly flung him Il gage, she
had shown no desire to go with him.
When he had put away Scarlet Run
ner he shut himself up for another look
at the cigarette case. Opening it, the
broken pieces of glass fell out, and he
saw what he had not guessed at before.
The mirror concealed II false back to
photograph of Il young IA And be-
tween the photograph and the thin
strip of gold which held it in place VAS
II slip of paper on which were written
close together and all in capitals, the
letters TVBXCHTAY.
"A key to a cipher, perhaps" Chris
TOPPER said to himself. Was he in
tended to pluck out its secret. and
profit by what it taught him? He could
not tell. And after staring ut the nine
end, hazarding all kinds of %conjectures
and trying to fit them together, he was
no wiser than before.
II could not be, he thought, that the
girl had wished him to keep the Gig
arctic case. For some reason it had
been necessary for her to get rid of the
thing ut the moment. to hide it from
perhaps; and seeing him pass,
she had believed him gentleman enough
to help her. OF course she would
count upon his taking the first oppor-
tunity to return her property and the
only possible place where she could ex-
pect him to look for her was at Ken
nerwick castle. He decided, as the
person from whom the girl wished to
conceal the cigarette case might have
e e a fleeing motor car, that it would
be well for her sake to appear on the
Scere next time in the guiSe of an Or
binary tourist.
In half an hour he had reached the
castle, and was knocking at the door
of a cottage built up against n of the
%half-hidden walls. This was the dwell
ing of the c%aretaker. Presently the
door opened and an old woman ap-
peared.
Christopher said civilly that he had
come to visit the castle.
They went from room to room, many
Of which were open to the sky, with
mere stony suggestions of what the
upper stories had been. Going up a
steep stone stairway which would lead,
he knew, to a certain window, his heart
began to beat rather more quickly than
usual. He hoped, and nor than half
believed, that he would find a beautiful
girl waiting for him ut the top of the
steps; but he Tombstone walls and
emptiness.
Deeply disappointed. Christopher
walked about, pretending to be inter-
ested in the thickness of the walls. The
old woman stood still, watching him as
he went to the window and looked out.
Turning quickly he caught, or fancied
that he caught, a cynical expression on
the dried-apple face.
81 suppose you have a great many
IL