"No; I think not. That first day he called on me, as Mr. Pollock, and wanted the pin, I told him he might search the lawn for the dime if he chose, but I don't think he did so."
"I'll find the dime if it's out in the side yard," Fibsy volunteered.
"Now, I'll tell you what this pin is," resumed Stone, holding up the mysterious bit of brass. "It contains a cipher—a cryptogram."
"How can it?" asked Iris, blankly.
"On the head of this pin is engraved a series of letters which form a cipher message telling of the hiding-place of your aunt's jewels."
"On the head of that little pin! Impossible!"
"It does seem impossible, but I assure you that on the surface of the head of this pin there are thirty-nine letters, which, meaningless in themselves, form a cipher statement. If we can solve their message——"
"If we can!" cried Iris. "We must!"
"You bet Mr. Stone will work it out, if it's a cipher," Fibsy declared, looking with pride and confidence at his employer's face.
"Not so easy, Fibs," Stone returned. "It's a cryptogram which necessitates another bit of information, a keyword, before it can possibly be solved. By the way, Miss Clyde, that's what your aunt's diary means by its reference to the jewels being hidden in a crypt. If you read her diary carefully, you'll see that she very frequently abbreviates her words, not only Tues., for Tuesday, and Dec., for December, but other words, just as the whim took her. So, as we may conclude, the word crypt stands for cryptogram. And here's the cryptogram. Now, to explain this seemingly miraculous feat of engraving thirty-nine letters on the head of an ordinary pin, I'll say that it is not an unheard-of accomplishment. Several years ago, I saw on exhibition a pin with forty-five letters to it, and I have seen one or two other similar marvels. They are done, in every instance, by a most expert engraver, who has much time and infinite patience and capacity for carefulness. Indeed, it is an art all by itself, and I doubt if there are many people in the world who could accomplish it at all."