Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: _In the case was a clue to the gold coin theft_] THE VICKI BARR FLIGHT STEWARDESS SERIES _THE CLUE OF THE GOLD COIN_ BY HELEN WELLS _GROSSET & DUNLAP_ PUBLISHERS _New York_ © BY GROSSET & DUNLAP, INC., 1958 _All Rights Reserved_ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA _CONTENTS_ CHAPTER PAGE I SUNSHINE ASSIGNMENT 1 II A STRANGE TRIP 21 III AN ODD OFFER 35 IV PIRATE GOLD 43 V THE FBI TAKES OVER 49 VI NEW YORK INTERLUDE 66 VII YBOR CITY 71 VIII MR. QUAYLE AGAIN 97 IX SKULL AND CROSSBONES 104 X THE TORCHLIGHT PARADE 114 XI THE FRENCH SAND 121 XII THE DISAPPEARANCE 132 XIII HAVANA 136 XIV THE THIRD MAN 157 XV THE MYSTERY SOLVED 169 CHAPTER I _Sunshine Assignment_ Swirls of heavy snowflakes, driven by a brisk wind that whistled across the vast expanse of concrete runways that is New York City’s Idlewild Airport, dashed against the big picture window in the Personnel Lounge and spiraled back into the murky whiteness of the winter morning. Inside the comfortable room, four girls, all dressed in the trim, blue uniform of Federal Airlines stewardesses, sat in soft leather armchairs. “Of all the luck!” One of the girls, a tall brunette, grinned as she shook her head in mock despair. “Here it is, the middle of the worst winter we’ve had in years, and what do I draw as my new assignment? New York to Chicago! The two coldest towns in the world! And you two, you lucky kids, get the Florida run!” Vicki Barr tucked a strand of her ash blond hair in place, and her laugh tinkled like Chinese chimes stirred by a gentle breeze. “Your trouble, Sue,” she said, “is that you don’t wish on stars. Now the other night, flying down from Boston, I looked out the window and there was Venus hanging up in the sky as bright and pretty as you please. So I just said, ‘Star light, star bright, first star I’ve seen tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might get the wish I wish tonight ...’” “Oh, now, go away!” “No. I really mean it. I said, ‘I wish I am assigned to the Florida run.’ And the next morning the Chief Stewardess called me into her office and told me that my new assignment was New York to Tampa.” Sue chuckled. “Vicki, you little vixen, I don’t know whether to believe you or not. But just the same I envy you. When I think of Chicago in this weather ...” She shuddered. “B-r-r-r-r! And I do mean B-r-r-r!”