CHAPTER 13 THE DEVIL WERSHIPPERS Elan was seated in the drawing-room with Aunt Josephine one afternoon, when her lawyer, Benet, dropped in unexpectedly. He had hardly greeted them when the butler, Jennings, in his usual impassive manner, announced that Aunt Josephine was wanted on the telephone. No sooner were Elan and Benet alone than Elan, turning to him, exclaimed impulsively, I'm so glad you have come. I have been longing to see you and to tell you about a strange dream I have had. What was it, he asked, with instant interest.  I don't know what to think of it. Benet, who had been listening intently, remained silent for a few moments. Then, putting down his teacup, he moved over nearer to Elan and bent over her. Elan, he said, in a low tone, his remarkable eyes looking straight into her own. You must know that I love you. Then give me the right to protect you. It was your Father's dearest wish, I believe, that we should marry. Let me share your dangers and I swear that sooner or later there will be an end to the clutching hand. Give me your answer, Elan, he urged, and make me the happiest man in all the world. Elan listened and not unsympathetically as Benet continued to plead for her answer. Wait a little while until tomorrow, she replied finally, as if overcome by the recollections of her weird dream and the unexpected sequel of his proposal. Let it be as you wish, then, agreed Benet quietly. He took her hand and kissed it passionately. An instant later Aunt Josephine returned. Elan, unstrung by what had happened, excused herself and went into the library. She sunk into one of the capacious armchairs, and passing her hand wearily over her throbbing forehead, closed her eyes in deep thought. Involuntarily, her mind travelled back over the rapid succession of events of the past few weeks, and the part that she had thought, at least, Kennedy had come to play in her life. Then she thought, at their recent misunderstanding, might there not be some simple explanation of it, after all, which she had missed. What should she do? She solved the problem by taking up the telephone and asking for Kennedy's number. I was chatting with Craig in his laboratory, and at the same time was watching him in his experimental work, just as a call came on the telephone. He was pouring some nitro-hydrochloric acid into a test tube to complete a reaction. The telephone tinkled, and he laid down the bottle of acid on his desk, while he moved a few steps to answer the call. Whoever the speaker was, Craig seemed deeply interested, and not knowing who was talking on the wire, I was eager to learn whether it was anyone connected with the case at the clutching hand. Yes, this is Mr. Kennedy, I heard Craig say. I moved over toward him and whispered eagerly, is there anything new?  It occurred to me that he might need a pad and pencil to make a note of some information, and I reached over the desk for them. As I did so, my arm inadvertently struck the bottle of acid, knocking it over on the top of the desk. Its contents streamed out, saturating the telephone wires before I could prevent it. In trying to write the bottle, my hand came in contact with the acid, which burned like liquid fire, and I cried out in pain. Craig hastily laid down the receiver, seized me and rushed me to the back of the laboratory, where he drenched my hand with a neutralizing liquid. He bound up the wounds caused by the acid, which proved to be slight after all, and then returned to the telephone. To his evident annoyance, he discovered that the acid had burned through the wires and cut off all connection. Though I did not know it, my hand was, in a sense at least, the hand of fate. At the other end of the line, Elaine was listening impatiently for a response to her first eager words of inquiry. She was astounded to find, at last, that Kennedy had apparently left the telephone without any explanation or apology. Why, he rung off, she exclaimed angrily to herself, as she hung up the receiver and left the room.  Bennett rose to go, and as he parted from Elaine, found an opportunity to whisper a few words, reminding her of her promised reply on the morrow. Peaked at Kennedy, she flashed Bennett a meaning glance, which gave him to understand that his suit was not hopeless. In the centre of a devious and winding way, quite unknown to all, except those who knew the innermost secrets of the Chinese Quarter, and even unknown to the police, there was a dingy tenement house, apparently inhabited by hard-working Chinaman, but in reality the headquarters of the notorious devil worshipers, a sect of Satanists, banned even in the celestial empire. The followers of the cult compromised some of the most dangerous Chinese criminals, thugs and assassins, besides a number of dangerous characters who belonged to various Chinese secret societies. At the head of this formidable organisation was Long Xin, the High Priest of the Devil God, and Long Xin had, as we knew, already joined forces with the notorious clutching hand. The room in which the uncanny rites of the devil worshipers were conducted was a large apartment decorated in Chinese style, with highly coloured portraits of some of the devil deities and costly silken hangings. Besides, a large dais depended a huge Chinese gong. On the dais itself stood, or rather sat, an ugly-looking figure covered with some sort of metallic plating. It almost seemed to be the mummy of a Chinaman covered with gold glee. It was thin and shrunken, entirely nude. Into this room came Long Xin, a tired in an elaborate silken robe. He advanced and co-toed before the dais, and a strange figure, and laid down an offering before it, consisting of punk sticks, little dishes of Chinese cakes, rice, a jar of oil, and some cooked chicken and pork. Then he bowed and co-toed again. This performance was witnessed by twenty or thirty Chinaman who knelt in the rear of the room. As Long Xin finished his devotions, they filed past the dais, bowing and scraping with every sign of abject reverence, both of the devil deity and his high priest. At the same time an aged Chinaman, carrying a prayer wheel, entered the place, and after prostrating himself devoutly, placed the machine on a sort of blow-stool, or tabaret, and began, turning it slowly, muttering. Each revolution of this curious wheel was supposed to offer a prayer to the God of the Netherworld. A few moments later, Long Xin, who had been bowing before the metallic figure in deepest reverence, suddenly sprung to his feet. His glazed eye and excited manner indicated that he had received a message from the lips from the strange idol. The worshippers, who had prostrated themselves in awe at the sight of their high priest, in their unholy frenzy, all rose to their feet and crowded forward. At the same time, Long Xin advanced the step to meet them, holding his arms outstretched, as if to compel silence while he delivered his message. Long Xin struck several blows on the resounding gong, and then raised his voice in solemn tones. Xin Chu, the terrible, demands a consort. She is to be foreign, fairer face, and with golden hair. Amazed at this unexpected message, the Chinaman prostrated themselves again, and their unhallowed devotions terminated a few moments later amid suppressed excitement as they filed out. At the same time, in a room at the adjoining house, the clutching hand himself was busily engaged, making the most elaborate preparations for some nefarious skiing, which his fertile mind had evolved. The room had been fitted up as a medium's science parlor with black hangings on the walls, while at one side there was a square cabinet of black cloth with a guitar lying before it. Two of the clutching hands, most trusted confederates, and a hard-faced woman of middle age, dressed in plain black, were putting the finishing touches to this apartment when their chief entered. Clutching hand gazed about the room. Now and then giving an order or two to make more effective the setting for the purpose which he had in mind. Finally he nodded in approval, and stepped over to the fireplace, where logs were burning brightly in a grate. Pressing a spring in the mantelpiece, the master criminal effected an instant transformation. The logs in the fireplace, still burning, disappeared immediately through the side of the brick tiling, and a metal sheet covered them. An aperture opened at the back, as if by magic. Through this opening clutching hand made his way quickly and disappeared. Emerging on the other side of the peculiar fireplace, clutching hand pushed aside a curtain which barred the way and looked into the Chinese temple, taking up a position behind the metallic figure on the dais. The Chinaman had by this time finished their devotions. It's such they might be called, and the last one was leaving, while long sin stood alone on the dais. The noise of the departing Satanists had scarcely died away when clutching hand stepped out. Follow me, he ordered Horsley, seized long sin by the arm, and leading him away. They passed through the passageway at the fireplace, and having entered the science room, clutching hand began briefly explaining the purpose of the preparations that had been made. Long sin wagged his head in voluble approval. As clutching hand finished, the Chinaman turned to the hard-faced woman, who was to act the part of medium, and added some directions to those clutching hand had already given. The medium knotted aquasessence, and a moment later left the room to carry out some ingenious plot framed by the mastermind of the criminal world. Elaine was standing in the library, gazing sadly at Kennedy's portrait, thinking over recent events, and above all, the rebuff over the telephone, which she supposed she had received. It all seemed so unreal to her. Surely she felt in her heart she could not have been so mistaken in the man, yet the facts seemed to speak for themselves. In spite of it all, she was almost about to kiss the portrait when something seemed to stay her hands. Instead, she laid the picture down with a sigh. A moment later, Jennings entered with a card on a selva. Elaine took it, and saw, with surprise, the name of her koa. Madam Svetsky, medium. Beneath the engraved name were the words written in ink. I have a message from the spirit of your father. Yes, I will see her, cried Elaine eagerly, in response to the Butler's inquiry. She followed Jennings into the adjoining room, and there found herself face to face with the hard-featured woman, who had only a few moments before left the clutching hand. Elaine looked rather than spoke her inquiry. Your father, my dear, heard the medium, with a great pretense of suppressed excitement, appeared to me the other night, from the spirit world. I was in a trance, and he asked me to deliver a message to you. What was the message? asked Elaine breathlessly, now aroused to intense interest. I must go into a trance again to get it, replied the insinuating Svetsky, and if you like, I can try it at once, provided we can be left alone long enough. Please don't wait, urged Elaine, pulling the porters of the doors closed, as if that might ensure privacy. Seated in her chair, the medium muttered wildly for a few moments, rolled her eyes, and with some convulsive movements, pretended to go into a trance. Svetsky seemed about to speak, and Elaine, in the highest state of nervous tension, listened, trying to make something at the gibberish mutterings. Suddenly the curtains were pushed aside, and Aunt Josephine and Bennett, who had just come in, entered. I can do nothing here, exclaimed Svetsky, starting up and looking about severely. You must come to my science chamber, where we shall not be interrupted. I will, cried Elaine, vexed at the intrusion at that moment. I must have that message, I must. What's all this, Elaine, demanded Aunt Josephine. Hurriedly Elaine poured forth to her aunt and Bennett the story at the medium's visit, and the promised message from her father in the other world. Aunt Josephine, who was not one easily to be imposed on, strongly objected to Elaine's proposal to accompany Svetsky to the science chamber. But Elaine would not be denied. She pleaded with her aunt, urging that she be allowed to go. It might be safe for Elaine to go, Bennett finally suggested to Aunt Josephine, if you and I accompanied her. All this time the medium was listening closely to the conversation. Elaine looked at her inquiringly. With a shrug, she indicated that she had no objection to having Elaine escorted to the parlor by her friends. At last Aunt Josephine, influenced by Elaine's pleadings and Bennett's suggestion, gave in and agreed to join in the visit. A few moments later, in the dodged car, Elaine, the medium, and her two escorts, started for the Chinese quarter. At the house, the medium opened the door with her key, and ushered in her three visitors. Long Xin, who had been watching for their arrival from the window, now hastily withdrew from the science room, and disappeared behind the black curtains. Entering the room, the medium at once prepared for the science by pulling down the window shades. Then she seated herself in a chair beside the cabinet, and appeared to fall off slowly into a trance. Her strange proceedings were watched, with the greatest curiosity by Elaine, as well as Aunt Josephine and Bennett, who had taken seats placed at one side of the room. The room itself was dimly lighted, and the curtains at the cabinet seemed, in the obscurity, to sway back and forth, as if stirred by some ghostly breeze. All of them were now quite on edge with excitement. Suddenly an indistinct face was seen to be peering through the black curtains, as it were. The guitar, as if lifted by an invisible hand, left the cabinet, floated about close to the ceiling, and returned again. It was eerie.  I am Echo, the spirit of Taylor Dodge. I will give no message until one named Josephine leaves the room. No sooner had the words been uttered, than the medium came, writhing out of her trance. What happened? she asked, looking at Elaine. Elaine reported the spirit's words. We can get nothing if your aunt stays here, Savetsky added, insisting that Aunt Josephine must go. Your father cannot speak, while she is present.  I think it will be all right, finally acquiesced Bennett, seeing how bent Elaine was on securing the message. I'll stay and protect her. Aunt Josephine finally agreed. Very well then, she protested, marching out of the room in a high state of indignation. She had scarcely left the house, however, when she began to suspect that all was not as it ought to be. In fact, the idea had no sooner occurred to her, than she decided to call on Kennedy, and she ordered the chauffeur to take her as quickly as possible to the laboratory. Kennedy had not been in the laboratory all the day, after my experience with the acid, and I was impatiently waiting his arrival. At last there came a knock at the door, and I opened it hurriedly. There was a messenger boy who handed me a note. I tore it open. It was from Kennedy, and read, I shall probably be away for two or three days, call up Elaine and tell her to beware of a certain Madam Svetsky. I was still puzzling over the note, and was just about to call up Elaine when the speaking tube was blown, and to my surprise I found it was Aunt Josephine who had called. Where is Mr. Kennedy? she asked, greatly agitated. He has gone away for a few days, I replied blankly. Is there anything I can do? She was very excited and hastily related what had happened at the parlor of the medium. What was her name? I asked anxiously. Madam Svetsky she replied to my surprise. As astounded I picked up Craig's note from the desk, and handed it to her without a word. She read it with breathless eagerness. Come back there with me please, she begged, almost frantic with fear now, something terrible may have happened. Aunt Josephine had hardly left Svetsky when the trance was resumed, and in a few minutes there came all sorts of supernatural manifestations. The table beside Elaine began to turn, and articles on it dropped to the floor. Violent wrappings followed in various parts of the room. Both Elaine and Bennett, who sat together in silence, were much impressed by the marvellous phenomena, not being able to see in the darkness the concealed wires that made them possible. Suddenly from the mysterious shadows of the cabinet there appeared the spirit of Long Sin, whose death Elaine still believed she had caused, when adventurous Mary had lured her to the apartment. Elaine was trembling with fear at the apparition. As before a strange voice sounded in the depths of the cabinet, and again a message was heard in low solemn tones. I am Kika, and I have with me Long Sin, his blood cries for vengeance. Elaine was overcome with horror at the words. From the cabinet ran a thick stream of red like blood, from which she recoiled shuddering. Then a dim ghostly figure, apparently that of Long Sin, appeared. The face was horribly distorted. It seemed to breathe the very odor of the gray. With arms outstretched, the figure glided from the cabinet and approached Elaine. She shrunk back further in fright, too horrified even to scream. At the same moment the medium drew a vapour pistol from her dress, and as the ghost of Long Sin leaped at Elaine, Sovetsky darted forward, and shot a stream of vapour, full in Bennett's face. Bennett dropped unconscious, the lights in the darkened room flashed up, and several of the men at the clutching hand rushed in. Quickly the fireplace was turned on its cleverly constructed hinges, revealing the hidden passage. Before any effective resistance could be made, Elaine and Bennett were hustled through the passage, securely bound, and placed on a divan in a curtain chamber back of the Elka of the devil worshippers. There they lay when Long Sin, now in his priestly robes, entered. He looked at them a moment, then he left the room with a sinister laugh. It was at that moment that I, little dreaming of what had been taking place, arrived with Aunt Josephine at the house of the medium. She answered my ring, and admitted us. To our surprise the seance room was empty. Where is the young lady who was here, I asked. Miss Dodge and the gentleman just left a few minutes ago. The medium explained, as we looked about. She seemed eager to satisfy us that Elaine was not there. Apparently there was no excuse for disputing her word. But as we turned to leave, I happened to notice a torn handkerchief lying on the floor near the fireplace. It flashed over me that perhaps it might afford a clue. As I passed it, I purposely dropped my soft hat over it, and picked up the hat. Securing the handkerchief without attracting Savetsky's attention. Aunt Josephine was keen now for returning home to find out whether Elaine was there or not. No sooner had she entered the car and driven off than I examined the handkerchief. It was torn, as if it had been crushed in the hand during a struggle, and wrenched away. I looked closer in the corner was the initial E. That was enough. Without losing another precious moment, I hurried around to the nearest police station, where I happened to be known, having had several assignments for the star in that part of the city, and gave an alarm. The sergeant detailed several roundsmen and a man in plain clothes, and together we returned to the house, laying a careful plan to surround it secretly, while the plain clothesman and I obtained admittance. Meanwhile the Chinese devil worshippers had again gathered in their cursed temple and long sin in his priestly robe appeared on the dais. The worshippers co-toed reverently to him, while at the back again stood the aged Chinaman, patiently turning his prayer wheel. Two braziers or smoke pots had been placed on the dais, one of which long sin touched with a stick, causing it to burst out into dense fumes. Standing before them he chanted in nasal tones, the white consort at the great Sin Chu has been found. It is his will that she now be made his. As he finished intoning the message, long sin signalled to two young Chinaman to go into the enter room. A moment later they returned with Elan. Frightened though she was, Elan made no attempt to struggle, even when they had cut her bonds. She was busily engaged in seeking some method of escape. Her eyes travelled ever the place quickly. Apparently there was no means of exit that was not guarded. Long sin saw her look and smile quietly. They had carried her up to the dais, and now long sin faced her, and sternly ordered her to co-toe to the gruesome metallic figure. She refused, but instantly the Chinaman seized her arm and twisted it, until they had compelled her to fall to her knees. Having forced her to co-toe, long sin turned to the assembled devil dancers. With magic and rare drugs he chanted, she shall be made to pass beyond, and her body encased in precious gold shall be the consort of Sin Choo, forever and ever. He made another sign, and several pots and braziers were brought out and placed on the dais beside Elan. She was, by this time, completely overcome by the horror of the situation. There was apparently no escape. With callous devil-tree the Oriental Satanists had made every arrangement for embalming and preserving the body of Elan. Pots filled with sticky black material were slowly heated amid weird incantations, while other Chinaman laid out innumerable sheets of gold leaf. At last all seemed to be in readiness to proceed. Holder ordered long sin in guttural Chinese to the two attendants as he approached her. Long sin held in his hand a small, profusely decorated pot from which smoke was escaping. As he approached he passed this receptacle under a nose once, twice, three times. Gradually Elan fell into unconsciousness. While Elan was facing death in the power of the devil worshipers, I had reached the house of Svetsky next door, with the place, and the place had been quietly surrounded. With the plain clothesman, a daring and intelligent fellow, I went to the door and rung the bell. What can I do for you? asked the medium, admitting us. My friend here, I parlayed, is in great business trouble. Can your controlling spirit give him advice? We had managed to gain the interior of the seance room, and I suppose there was nothing else for her to say under the circumstances. But why, yes, if the conditions are good, the control can probably tell us just what he wants to know. Svetsky set to work, preparing the room for a seance. As she moved over to the window to pull down the shades, she must have caught sight of one or two of the policemen who had unconsciously exposed themselves from the hiding places in which I had disposed them before we entered. At any rate, Svetsky did not lose a dot of her remarkable composure. I'm sorry, she remarked merely, but I'm afraid my control is weak and cannot work today. She took a step toward the door, motioning us to leave. Neither of us paid any attention to that hint, but remained seated as we had been before. Go! she exclaimed at length, for the first time showing a trace of nervousness. Evidently, her suspicions had been fully confirmed by our actions. We tried to argue with her to gain time, but it was of no use. Almost before I knew what she was doing, she made a dash for something in the corner of the room. It was time for open action, and I seized her quickly. My detective was on his feet in an instant. I'll take care of her, he ground out, seizing her wrists in his vice-like grasp. You give the signal. I rushed to the window, threw up the shade, and opened the sash, waving our preconceited sign, turning again toward the room. With a sudden accession of desperate strength, Svetsky broke away from the plain clothesman, and again attempted to get at something concealed on the wall. I had just turned in time to fling myself between her and whatever object she had in mind. As the detective took her again and twisted her arm until she cried out in pain, I hastily investigated the wall. She had evidently been attempting to press a button that rung a concealed bell. What did it all mean? Elaine, now completely unconscious, was being held by the Chinaman, while her arm was smeared with sticky black material from the cauldron by long sin. As the High Priest of Satan worked, the devil worshippers co-toed obediently.  Amid a general exclamation of wonder, he walked to the dais and mounted it, turning and facing the worshippers. This is nonsense, he cried in a loud tone. Why should our great Tsing-chu desire a white devil? I, a great grandfather, demand to know. The effect on the worshippers was electric. They paused in their abeyance and stared at the speaker, then at their High Priest. Shaking with rage, long sin ordered the intruder off the dais, but the aged devotee refused to go. Throwing out, he ordered his attendance. For answer, as the two young Chinaman approached, the old Chinaman threw them down to the floor with the quick Dichu movement. His strength seemed miraculous for so aged a man. Furious now beyond expression, long sin stepped forward himself. He seized the beard and queue of the intruder.  It was Kennedy. With his automatic drawn, before the astounded devil dancers could recover themselves, Craig stood at bay. Long sin looped behind the big gong, as the Chinaman rushed forward to seize him. Kennedy shot the leader of long sin's attendance and struck down the other with a blow. The rush was checked for the moment, but the odds were fearful. Kennedy seized a Lone's yielding body, and, pushing back the curtains to the anti-room, succeeded in going it and locking the door into the main temple.  Kennedy released him. At the same time, Chinaman were trying to batter down the door. Kennedy's last full walk. It was swaying under their repeated blows. Kennedy rushed to the door, and fired through it at random to check the attack for a few moments. While Kennedy was thus besieged by the devil worshipers in the anti-room, several policemen and detectives gathered in the seance room with us next door, where Sovetsky was held a defiant and mute prisoner. I had discovered the bell, and taking that as a guide, I started to trace the course of a wire which ran alongside the wall, feeling certain that it would give me a clue to some adjoining room to which Elaine might possibly have been taken. To the fireplace I traced the bell, and in pulling on the wire I luckily pressed a secret spring. To my amazement, the whole fireplace swung out of sight, and disclosed a secret passageway. I looked through it. It was almost at that precise instant that the door at the anti-room burst open, and the Chinaman swarmed in, urged on by the insane exhortations of long sin. To my utter amazement I recognised Kennedy's voice. In the first onslaught, Craig shot one Chinaman dead, then closed with the others, slashing right and left with the Chinese knife he had picked up. Bennett came to his aid, but was immediately overcome by two Chinaman, who evidently had been detailed for that purpose. Meanwhile, Kennedy and the others were engaged in a terrible life and death struggle. They fought all over the room, dismantling it, and even tearing the hangings from the wall. It was just as the Chinese was about to overpower him that I led the police and detectives through the passageway at that fireplace. It was a glorious fight that followed. Long sin and his Chinaman were no match for the police, and were soon completely routed, the police striking furiously in all directions and clearing the room. Instantly Kennedy thought of the fair object of all this melee. He rushed to the demand on which he had placed Elaine. She was slowly returning to consciousness. As she opened her eyes for an instant, she gazed at Craig, then at Bennett, still not comprehending just what had happened. She gave a hand to Bennett. Bennett lifted her to her feet, and slowly assisted her as she tried to walk away. Kennedy watched them, more stupefied than if he had been struck over the head by long sin. Police and detectives were now taking the captured Chinaman away. As Bennett, his arm about Elaine, led her gently out. A young detective had slipped the bracelets over Long Sin's wrist, and I was standing beside him. Kennedy, in a daze at the sight of Elaine and Bennett, passed us, scarcely noticing who we were. As Craig collected, he scattered forces. Long Sin motioned to him, as if he had a message to deliver. Kennedy frowned suspiciously. He was about to turn away, when the Chinaman began pleading earnestly for a chance to say a few words. Step aside for a moment, you fellows. Won't you please? Craig asked. I will hear what you have to say, Long Sin. Long Sin looked about craftily. What is it? prompted Craig, seeing that at last they were all alone. Long Sin again looked around. Swear that I will go free and not suffer. Long Sin whispered, and I will betray the great clutching hand. Kennedy studied the Chinaman keenly for a moment, then seemingly satisfied with the scrutiny, he nodded slowly ascent. As Craig did so, I saw Long Sin lean over and whisper into Kennedy's ear. Craig started back in horror and surprise. End of Chapter 13 Chapter 14 of The Exploits of Elaine This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Exploits of Elaine by Arthur B. Reath Chapter 14 The Recording Pacing up and down his den in the heart of Chinatown, Long Sin was thinking over his bargain with Kennedy to betray the infamous clutching hand. It was a small room in a small and unpretentious house, but it adequately expressed the character of the subtle oriental. The den was lavishly furnished, while the guilful Long Sin himself wore a richly figured lounging gown of the finest and costliest silk, chosen for the expressed purpose of harmonising with the luxurious far east and hangings and furniture so as to impress his followers and those whom he might choose as visitors. At length he seated himself at a tick-wood table, still deliberating over the promise he had been forced to make to Kennedy. He sat for some moments, deeply absorbed in thought. Suddenly an idea seemed to strike him. Lifting a little hammer, he struck a Chinese gong on the table at his side.  A few seconds later a sort of hatchway covered by a rug on the floor, in one corner of the room, was slowly lifted and Long Sin's secretary, a cello Calaveras Chinaman, appeared from below. He stepped noiselessly into the room and shuffled across to Long Sin. Long Sin scowled, as though something had interfered with his own plans, but tore open the envelope without a word, spreading out on his lap the sheet of paper it contained. The letter bore a type-written message, all in capitals, which read, Be at headquarters at 12. Destroy this immediately. At the bottom of the note appeared the sinister signature of the clutching hand. As soon as he had finished reading the note the Chinaman turned to his obsequious secretary, who stood motionless, with folded arms and head, meekly bent. Very well, he said, with an imperious wave of his hand, you may go. Bowing low again, the secretary shuffled across and down again through the hatchway, closing the door as he descended. Long Sin read the note once more, while his inscrutable face assumed an expression of malicious cunning. Then he glanced at his heavy gold watch. With an air of deliberation he reached for a match and struck it. He had just placed the paper in the flame, when suddenly he seemed to change his mind. He hostily blew out the match, which had destroyed only a corner of the paper, then folded the note carefully and placed it in his pocket. A few moments later, with a malignant chuckle, Long Sin rose slowly and left the room. Meanwhile the master criminal was busily engaged in putting the finishing touches to a final scheme of thin-dish ingenuity for the absolute destruction of Craig Kennedy. He had been at work in a small room fitted up as a sort of laboratory in the mysterious house, which now served as his headquarters. On the sides were shelves filled with bottles of deadly liquids and scientific apparatus for crime, jars of picric acid, nitric acid, carboids of other chemicals, packages labelled gunpowder, gun-cotton and nitroglycerine, as well as carefully-stopped bottles of prusic acid, and the cyanides, arsenic and other poisons made the place bear the look of a veritable devil's workshop. Cunching hand at a bench in one corner had just completed an infernal machine of diabolical cunning and was wrapping it carefully in paper to make an innocent package. He was interrupted by a knock at the door. Laying down the bomb he went to answer the summons with a stealthy movement. There stood Long Sin, who had disguised himself as a Chinese laundromat. On time, good, growl clutching hand, surly, as he closed the door with equal care. No time was wasted in useless formalities. This is a bomb he went on pointing to the package. Carry it carefully. On no account let it slip, or you are a dead man. It must be Kennedy's laboratory before night. Understand? Can you arrange it? Long Sin looked the dangerous package over. Then, with an impassive look, replied, Have no fear. I can do it. It will be in the laboratory within an hour. Trust me. Long Sin nodded sagely, while clutching hand growled his approval as he opened the door and let out the Chinaman. Long Sin departed as stealthily as he had come. The frightful engine of destruction hugged up carefully under his wide-sleeved, cooly shirt. For a moment, clutching hand gave himself up to the exquisite contemplation of what he had just done, then turned to clean up his workshop. In Kennedy's laboratory, I was watching Craig make some experiments with an x-ray apparatus which had just arrived. Occasionally, looking through the pleuriscope, when he was examining some unusually interesting object, we were oblivious to the passage of time, and only a call over our speaking tube diverted our attention. I opened the door, and a few seconds later, Long Sin himself entered. Kennedy looked up inquiringly as the Chinaman approached, holding out a package which he carried. A bomb, he said, in the most matter-effect way. I promised to have it placed in your laboratory before night. The placid air with which the grotesque-looking Chinaman imparted this astounding information was, in itself, preposterous. His actions and words as he laid the package down gingerly on the laboratory table indicated that he was telling the truth. Kennedy and I stared at each other in blank amazement for a moment. Then the humour of the thing struck us both, and we laughed outright. Clutching hand had told him to deliver it, and he had done so. Hastily I filled the pail with water, and brought it to Kennedy. If it is really a bomb, I remarked, why not put the thing out of commission? No, no, Walter. He cried quickly, shaking his head. If it's a chemical bomb, the water might be just the thing to make the chemicals run together, and set it off. No, let us see what the new X-ray machine can tell us first. He took the bomb and carefully placed it under the wonderful rays. Then with the fluoroscope over his eyes, studied the shadow cast by the rays on its sensitive screen. For several minutes he continued safely, studying it from every angle, until he thoroughly understood it. It's a bomb, sure enough, Craig exclaimed, looking up from it at last to me. It's time by an ingenious and noiseless little piece of cockwork in there too.  As he spoke, and before I could remonstrate with him, he took the infernal machine and placed it on a table, where he set to work on the most delicate and dangerous piece of dissection, of which I have ever heard. Carefully unwrapping the bomb and unscrewing one part while he held another firm, he finally took out of it a bottle of liquid and some powder. Then he placed a few grains of the powder on a dish, and dropped on it a drop or two of the liquid. There was a bright flash, as the powder ignited instantly. Just what I expected, commented Kennedy with a nod, as he examined the clever workmanship of the bomb. One thing that interested him was that part of the contents that had been wrapped in paper to keep them in place. This paper he was now carefully examining with a hand lens. As nearly as I could make it out, the paper contained part of a typewritten chemical formula which read, Chincture of iodine, three parts of. He looked up from his study at the microscope to long sin. Tell me just how it happened that you got this bomb, he asked. Without hesitation the Chinaman recited the circumstances, beginning with the note by which he had been summoned. A note repeated Kennedy eagerly. Was it typewritten? Long sin reached into his pocket and produced the note itself, which he had not burned. As Craig studied the typewritten message from the clutching hand, I could see that he was growing more and more excited. At last he has given us something typewritten, he exclaimed. To most people, I suppose, it seems that typewriting is the best way to conceal identity. But there are a thousand and one ways of identifying typewriting. Clutching hand knew that. That was why he was so careful to order this note destroyed. As for the bomb, he figured that it would destroy itself. He was placing one piece of typewriting after another under the lens, scrutinizing each letter closely. Look Walter, he remarked at length, taking a fine tip pencil and pointing at the distinguishing marks as he talked. You will notice that all the T's in this note are battered and faint as well as just a trifle out of alignment. Now I will place the paper from the bomb under the lens and you will also see that the T's in the scrap of formula have exactly the same appearance. That indicated, without the possibility of a doubt, taking in connection with the score of other peculiarities in the letters, which I could pick out that both were written on the same typewriter. I had selected the T because it is the most marked. I strained my eyes to look. Sure enough, Kennedy was right. There was that unmistakable identity between the T's in the formula and the note. Kennedy had been gazing at the floor, his face puckered in thought as I looked. Suddenly he slapped his hands together, as if he had made a great discovery. I've struck it, he exclaimed, jumping up. I was wondering where I had seen typewriting that reminds me of this. Walter, get on your coat and hat. We are on the right trail at last. With long sin we hurried out at the laboratory, leaving him at the nearest taxi cab stand where we jumped into a waiting car. It is the clue at the battered T's, Craig muttered. Aunt Josephine was in the library knitting when the butler, Jennings, announced us. We were admitted at once, for Aunt Josephine had never quite understood what was the trouble between Elaine and Craig, and had a high regard for him. Where is Ms. Dodge, inquired Kennedy, with suppressed excitement as we entered. I think she's out shopping, and I don't know just when she will be back, answered Aunt Josephine, with some surprise. Why, is it anything important, any news? Very important, returned Kennedy excitedly. I think I have the best clue yet. Only it will be necessary to look through some of the household correspondence immediately, to see whether there are certain letters. I wouldn't be surprised if she had some, perhaps not very personal, but I must see them. Aunt Josephine seemed non-plus at first. I thought she was going to refuse to allow Craig to proceed, but finally she assented. Kennedy lost no time. He went to a desk where Elaine generally sat, and quickly took out several typewritten letters. He examined them closely, rejecting one after another, until finally he came to one that seemed to interest him. He separated it from the rest, and fell to studying it, comparing it with the paper from the bomb, and the note which Longson had received from the clutching hand. Then he folded the letter so that both the signature and the address could not be read by us. A portion of the letter, I recall, read something like this. This is his contention, whereas truth is the only goal and matter is non-existent. Look at this, Walter, remarked Craig, with difficulty restraining himself. What do you make of it? A glance at the typewriting was sufficient to show me that Kennedy had indeed made an important discovery. The writing of the letter, which he had just found in Elaine's desk, corresponded in every respect with that in the clutching hand note, and that on the bomb formula. In each instance there were the same faintness, the same crooked alignment, the same battered appearance of all the letter Ts. We stared at each other almost two days to speak. At that moment we were startled by the sudden appearance of Elaine herself, who had come in unexpectedly from her shopping expedition. She entered the room carrying in her arms a huge bunch of roses, which she had evidently just received. Her face was half-buried in the fragrant blossoms, but was fairer than even they in their selected elegance. The moment she saw Craig, however, she stopped short with a look of great surprise. Kennedy, on his part, who was seated at the desk, still tracing out the similarities of the letters, stood up, half hesitating what to say. He bowed and she returned his salutations with a very cool nod. Her keen eye had not missed the fact that several of her letters lay scattered over the top of the desk. What are you doing with my letters, Mr. Kennedy? She asked, in an astonished tone, evidently resenting the unceremonious with which he had apparently been overhauling her correspondence. As guardedly as possible Kennedy met her inquiry, which I could not myself blame her for making. I beg pardon, Ms. Dodge, he said, but a matter has just come up, which necessitated merely a cursory examination of some purely formal letters, which might have an important bearing on the discovery of the clutching hand. Your aunt had no idea where you were, nor of when you might return, and the absolute necessity for haste in such an important matter is my only excuse for examining a few minor letters, without first obtaining your permission. She said nothing. At another time such an explanation would have been instantly accepted. Now, however, it was different. Kennedy read the look on her face, and an instant later turned to Aunt Josephine and myself. I would very much appreciate a chance to say a few words to Ms. Dodge alone, he intimated. I have had no such opportunity for some time. If you would be so kind as to leave us in the library for a few minutes, he did not finish the sentence. Aunt Josephine had already begun to withdraw, and I followed. For a moment or two Craig and Elaine looked at each other, neither saying a word, each wondering just what was in the other's mind. Kennedy was wondering if there was any x-ray that might read a woman's heart, as he was accustomed to read others of nature's secrets. He cleared his throat, the obvious manner of covering up his emotion. Elaine, he said at length, dropping the recent return to Ms. Dodge for the moment. Elaine, is there any truth in this morning's newspaper report of, of you? She had dropped her eyes, but he persisted, taking a newspaper clipping from his pocket, and handing it to her. Her hand trembled as she glanced over the item. Society notes, Dane Rumor is connecting the name of Ms. Elaine Dodge, the heiress, with that of Perry Bennett, the famous young lawyer. The announcement of an engagement between them at any time would not surprise. Elaine read no further. She handed back the clipping to Kennedy. As her eyes met his, she noticed his expression of deep concern, and hesitated with the reply she had evidently been just about to make. Still, as she lowered her head, it seemed to give silent confirmation to the truth of the newspaper report. Kennedy said nothing, but his eyes continued to study her face, even when it was averted. He suppressed his feelings with a great effort, then, without a word, bowed and left the room. Walter, he exclaimed, as he rejoined us in the drawing room, where I was chatting with Aunt Josephine. We must be off again. The trail follows still further. I rose, and much to the increased mystification of Aunt Josephine left the house. An hour or so later, Elaine, whose mind was now in a whirl from what had happened, decided to call on Perry Bennett. Two or three clerks were in the outer office when she arrived, but the office boy, laying down a dime novel, rose to meet her and informed her that Mr Bennett was alone. As Elaine entered his private office, Bennett rose to greet her effusively, and they exchanged a few words. I must forget to thank you for those lovely roses you sent me. She exclaimed at length. They were beautiful, and I appreciated them ever so much. Bennett acknowledged her thanks with a smile. She sat down familiarly on his desk, and they plunged into a vein of social gossip. A moment later Bennett led the conversation around until he found an opportunity to make a tactful allusion to the report of their engagement in the morning papers. He had leaned over and now attempted to take her hand. She withdrew it, however. There was something about his touch which, try as she might, she could not like. Was it mere prejudice, or was it her keen woman's intuition? Bennett looked at her a moment, suppressing a momentary flash of anger that had reddened his face, and controlled himself as if by a superhuman effort. I believe you really love that man Kennedy, he exclaimed, in a tone that was almost a hiss. But I tell you, Elaine, he is all bluff. Why, he has been after that clutching hand now for three months, and what has he accomplished? Nothing. He paused. Through Elaine's mind they flashed the contrast with Kennedy's even temper and deferential manner. In spite of their quarrel and the coolness she found herself resenting the remark. Still she said nothing, though her expressive face showed much. Bennett, by another effort, seemed to grip his temper again. He paced up and down the room. Then he changed the subject abruptly, and the conversation was resumed with some constraint. While Elaine and Bennett were talking, Kennedy and I had entered the office. Craig stopped the boy who was about to announce us and asked for Bennett's secretary instead, much to my astonishment. The boy merely indicated the door of one of the other private officers, and we entered. We found the secretary hard at work at the typewriter, copying a legal document. Without a word, Kennedy at once locked the door. The secretary rose in surprise. The Craig paid no attention to him. Instead he calmly walked over to the machine and began to examine it. Might I ask, begun the secretary. You keep quiet, ordered Kennedy, with a nod to me to watch the fellow. You are under arrest, and the less you say the better for you. I shall never forget the look the cross the secretary's face wasn't the surprise of an innocent man. Taking the man's place at the machine, Kennedy removed the legal paper that was in it and put in a new sheet. Then he tapped out, as we watched. Beard headquarters at 12. Destroy this immediately. Tincture of iodine, three-part salt. This is his contention, whereas truth is the only goal and matter is non-existent. Tea, tea, tea, tea. Look, Walter, he exclaimed as he drew out the paper from the machine. I bent over, and together we compared the teas with those in the clutching hand letter. The paper from the bomb and the letter which Craig had taken from Elon's desk. As Craig pointed out the resemblances with a pencil, my amazement gradually changed into comprehension and comprehension into conviction. The meaning of it all began to dawn on me. The writing was identical. There were no differences. While we were locked in the secretary's office, Bennett and Elon were continuing their chat on various social topics. Suddenly, however, with a glance at the clock, Bennett told Elon that he had an important letter to dictate and that it must go off at once. She said that she would excuse him a few minutes, and he pressed a button to call his secretary. Of course, the secretary did not appear. Bennett left his office with some annoyance, and went into the adjoining room, the door to which Kennedy had not locked. He hesitated a moment, then opened the door quietly. To his astonishment, he saw Kennedy, the secretary, and myself, apparently making a close examination of the typewriter. Gliding rather than walking back into his own office, he closed the door and locked it, almost instantly, fear and fury at the presence of his hated rival. Kennedy turned Bennett, as it were, from the jekyll of a polished lawyer and lover of Elon, into an insanely jealous and revengeful Mr. Hyde. The strain was more than his warped mind could bear. With a look of intense horror and loathing, Elaine watched him slowly change from the composed, calm, intellectual Bennett she knew and respected into a repulsive, mad figure of a man. His statue even seemed to be altered. He seemed to shrivel up and become deformed. His face was terribly distorted, and his long, sinewy hand slowly twisted and bent until he became the personal embodiment of the clutching hand. As Elaine transfixed with terror, watched Bennett's astounding metamorphosis, he ran to the door, leading to the outer office, and hastily locked that, also. Then with his eyes gleaming with rage, and his hands working in murderous frenzy, he crouched, nearer and nearer, towards Elaine. She shrunk back, screaming again and again in terror. He was the clutching hand. In spite of closed doors, we could now plainly hear Elaine shrieks. Craig, the secretary, and myself made a rush for the door to Bennett's private office. Finding it locked, we began to batter it. By this time, however, Bennett had healed himself upon Elaine, and was slowly choking her. Kennedy quickly found that it was impossible to batter down the door in time by any ordinary means. Quickly he seized the typewriter, and healed it through the panels. Then he thrust his hand through the opening, and turned the catch. As we flung ourselves into the room, Bennett rushed into a closet in a corner, slamming the door behind him. It was composed of sheet iron, and effectually prevented anyone from breaking through. Kennedy and I tried vainly, however, to pry it open. While we were thus endeavouring to force an entrance, Bennett, in a sort of closet, had put on the coat, hat, and mask, which he invariably wore in the character of the clutching hand. Then he cautiously opened a secret door in the back of the closet, and slowly made an exit. Meanwhile, the secretary had been doing his best to revive Elaine, who was lying in a chair, hysterical and half unconscious, from the terrible shock she had experienced. Intent on discovering Bennett's whereabouts, Kennedy and I examined the wall at the office, thinking there might possibly be some button or secret spring, which would open the closet door. While we were doing so, the door of a large safe in the secretary's office gradually opened, and the clutching hand emerged from it, stepping carefully towards the door leading to the outer office, intent on escaping in that direction. At that moment I caught sight of him, and leaping into the secretary's office, I drew my revolver, and ordered him to throw up his hands. He obeyed. Holding up both hands, he slowly drew near the door to his private office. Suddenly he dropped one hand, and pressed a hidden spring in the wall. Instantly a heavy iron door shot out, and closed over the wooden door. Entrance to the private office was absolutely cut off. With an angry snail, the clutching hand looped at me. As he did so, I fired twice. He staggered back. The shots were heard by Kennedy and Elaine, as well as the secretary, and the same instant they discovered the iron door which barred the entrance to the secretary's office. Rushing into the outer office, they found the clerks excitedly attempting to open the door at the secretary's office, which was locked. Kennedy drew a revolver, and shot through the lock, bursting open the door. They rushed into the room. Clutching hand was apparently seated in a chair at a desk. His face buried in his arms, while I was apparently disappearing through the door. Kennedy and the clerks pounced upon the figure in the chair, and tore off his mask. To their astonishment they discovered that it was myself. My shots had missed, and clutching hand had looped on me with madden fury. Dressed in my coat and hat, which he had deftly removed after overpowering me, and substituting his own clothes, clutching hand had by this time climbed through the window of the outer office, and was making his way down the fire escape to the street. He reached the foot of the iron steps, leaped off, and ran quickly away. Shouting a few directions to the secretary, the clerks, and Elane, Kennedy climbed through the window, and darted down the fire escape in swift pursuit. The clutching hand, however, managed to elude capture again. Turning the street corner, he leaped into a taxi, which happened to be standing there, and hastily giving the driver directions, was driven rapidly away. By the time Kennedy reached the street, clutching hand had disappeared. While these exciting events were occurring in Bennett's office, some queer doings were in progress in the heart of Chinatown. Deep underground in one of the catacombs, known only to the innermost members of the Chinese secret societies, was Longxin's servant Tonghua, popularly known as the Hyder, engaged in some mysterious work. A sinister-looking Chinaman, dressed in curly costume, he was standing at a table in a dim and musty, high-ceilinged chamber, faced with stone and brick. Before him were several odd-shaped Chinese vials, and from these he was carefully measuring certain proportions, as if concocting some powerful potion. He stepped back and looked around suspiciously, as he suddenly heard footsteps above. The next moment, Longxin, who had entered through a trapdoor, climbed down a long ladder and walked into the room. Approaching Tonghua, he asked, When will the death drink be ready? It is now prepared, was the reply. Longxin took the bowl in which the liquor had been mixed, and having examined it, he gave a nod and a grunt of satisfaction. Then he mounted the ladder again and disappeared. As soon as he had gone, Tonghua, picking up several of the vials, went out through an iron door at the end of the room. A few minutes later, the clutching hand drove up to Longxin's house in the taxi cab, and, after paying the chauffeur, went to the door and knocked sharply. In response to his knocking, Longxin appeared on the threshold, a motion to Bennett to come in, evidently astonished to see him. As he entered, Bennett made a secret sign and said, I am the clutching hand. Kennedy is close on my trail, and I have come to be hidden. In a tone which betrayed alarm and fear, the Chinaman intimated that he had no place in which Bennett could be concealed, with any degree of safety. For a moment Bennett glared savagely at Longxin. I possessed hidden plunder worth seven million dollars, he pleaded quickly, and if by your aid I can make a getaway, a seventh is yours. The Chinaman's cupidity was clearly excited by Bennett's offer, while the bare mention of the amount at stake was sufficient to overcome all his scruples. After exchanging a few words, he finally agreed to all the clutching hand said, opening a trapdoor in the floor of the room in which they were standing, he led Bennett down a step later into the subterranean chamber in which Tonghua had so recently been preparing his mysterious potion. As Bennett sunk into a chair and passed his hands over his brow in utter weariness, Longxin poured into a cup some of the liquor of death, which Tonghua had mixed. He handed it to Bennett, who drunk it eagerly. How do you propose to help me to escape? asked Bennett huskily. Without a word Longxin went to the wall, and grasping one of the stones pressed it back, opening a large receptacle in which there were two glass coffins apparently containing two dead Chinaman. Pulling out the coffins, he pushed them before Bennett, who rose to his feet and gazed upon them with wonder. Longxin broke the silence. These men, he said, are not dead, but they have been in this condition for many months. It is what is called, in your language, suspended animation. Is that what you intend to do with me? asked Bennett, shrinking back in terror. The Chinaman nodded in affirmation as he pushed back the coffins. Overcome by the horror of the idea, Bennett, with the groan, sunk back into the chair, shaking his head as if to indicate that the plan was far too terrible to carry out. With a sinister smile and a shrug of his shoulders, Longxin pointed to the cup, from which Bennett had drunk. But, dear Master, he remarked swavly, you have already drunk a full dose of the potion, which causes incessibility, and it is overcoming you. Even now, he added, you are too weak to rise. Bennett made frantic efforts to move from his seat, but the potion was already taking effect. And through sheer weakness, he found he was unable to get on his feet, in spite of all his struggles. With a malicious chuckle, Longxin moved closer to his victim, and spoke again. Devolged where your seven million dollars are hidden, he suggested craftily, and I will give you an antidote. By this time Bennett, who was becoming more rigid each moment, was unable to speak.  Where have you hidden the seven million dollars, repeated Longxin? Slowly and after a desperate struggle, Bennett managed to raise one hand and pointed to his breast pocket. The Chinaman instantly thrust in his hand and drew out a map. For some moments Longxin examined the map intently, and with a grin of satisfaction, he placed it in his own pocket. Then he mixed what he declared was a sure antidote, and pouring some of the liquor into a cup, he held it to Bennett's lips. As Bennett opened his mouth to drink it, Longxin with a laugh slowly pulled the cup away and poured its contents on the floor. Bennett's body had now become still more rigid. Every sign of intelligence had left his face, and although his eyes did not close, a blank stare came over his countenance, indicating plainly that the drug had destroyed all consciousness. By this time I was slowly recovering my senses in the Secretary's office, where Bennett had left me in the disguise of the clutching hand. A line the Secretary and the clerks were gathered round me, doing all they could to revive me. Meanwhile Kennedy had enlisted the aid of two detectives, and were scouring the city for a trace of Bennett or the taxi cab in which he had fled.  Though we did not know it, Longxin, at that moment, when Kennedy knocked at his door, was feeling in his inside pocket to see that the map he had taken from Bennett was perfectly safe. Finding that he had it, he smiled with his peculiar oriental guile. Then he opened the door and stood for a moment silent. Where is Bennett? demanded Kennedy. Longxin eyed us all. Then with a placid smile said, follow me, I will show you. He opened a trapdoor and we climbed down after Craig, entering a subterranean chamber led by Longxin. There was Bennett seated rigidly in the chair beside the table, from which the vials and cups, about which we then knew nothing, had been removed. How did it happen? asked Kennedy. He came here, replied Longxin, with a wave of his hand, and before I could stop him, he did away with himself.  While we've got him, news Kennedy, shaking his head sadly, adding after a pause, that he is dead. Elaine, who had followed us down, covered her eyes with her hands, and was sobbing convulsively. I thought she would faint, but Kennedy led her gently away into an upper room. As he placed her in an easy chair, he bent over her soothingly. Did you really love him? he asked, in a low tone, nodding in the direction from which he had led her. Still shuddering, and with an eager look at Kennedy, Elaine shook her beautiful head. Then slowly, rising to her feet, she looked at Craig appealingly. For a moment he looked down into her two great lights, abysed. Forgive me, murmured Elaine, holding out her hand. Then she added, in a voice tense, with emotion. Thank you for saving me. Kennedy took her hand. For a moment he held it. Then he drew her towards him, unresisting. End of Chapter 14 End of Exploits of Elaine by Arthur B. Reeve


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