THE RECKONING
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 guileful Long Sin himself wore a richly
figured lounging gown of the finest and costliest silk, chosen for the
express purpose of harmonizing with the luxurious Far Eastern hangings
and furniture so as to impress his followers and those whom he might
choose as visitors.
At length he seated himself at a teakwood 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. At the same time, he
leaned over and turned a knob at the side of a large roll-top desk.
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 sallow, cadaverous 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 typewritten 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 hastily 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 fiendish 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 all sides were shelves filled with bottles of deadly liquids and
scientific apparatus for crime. Jars of picric acid, nitric acid,
carboys of other chemicals, packages labelled gunpowder, gun cotton and
nitroglycerine, as well as carefully stoppered bottles of prussic acid,
and the cyanides, arsenic and other poisons made the place bear the
look of a veritable devil's workshop.
Clutching 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 laundryman.
"On time--good!" growled Clutching Hand surlily 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
in 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 coolie 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
a new X-ray apparatus which had just arrived, occasionally looking
through the fluoroscope 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 of fact 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 humor 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 a 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 timed by an ingenious and noiseless little piece of
clockwork, in there, too. And it's powerful enough to blow us all, the
laboratory included, to kingdom come."
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 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:
TINCTURE OF IODINE
THREE PARTS OF---
He looked up from his study of 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 tipped 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, taken in connection with a score of other
peculiarities in the letters which I could pick out that both were
written on the same typewriter. I have 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 of the laboratory, leaving him at the
nearest taxicab stand, where we jumped into a waiting car.
"It is the clue of 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--Miss 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 nonplussed 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 Long Sin 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 T's.
We stared at each other almost too dazed 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 salutation 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 unceremoniousness 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, Miss 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 Miss 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 "Miss
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
Dame Rumor is connecting the name of Miss 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 mustn't 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 there 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 offices,
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, but Craig paid no attention to him.
Instead he calmly walked over to the machine and began to examine it.
"Might I ask--" began 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 that crossed the secretary's face. Was it
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:
BE AT HEADQUARTERS AT 12. DESTROY THIS IMMEDIATELY
TINCTURE OF IODINE
THREE PARTS OF----
This is his contention:--whereas TRUTH is the only goal and MATTER is
non-existent--
T T T T
"Look, Walter," he exclaimed as he drew out the paper from the machine.
I bent over and together we compared the T's with those in the
Clutching Hand letter, the paper from the bomb and the letter which
Craig had taken from Elaine'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 Elaine were
continuing their chat on various social topics. Suddenly, however, with
a glance at the clock, Bennett told Elaine 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 Elaine 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 stature 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 shrank back, screaming again and again in terror.
He WAS the Clutching Hand!
. . . . . . . .
In spite of closed doors, we could now plainly hear Elaine's 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 hurled 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 hurled
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 endeavoring 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 of 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 snarl, the Clutching Hand leaped 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 at 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 of 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 leaped on me with maddened
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 Elaine,
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 Long Sin's servant, Tong
Wah, popularly known as "the hider," engaged in some mysterious work.
A sinister-looking Chinaman, dressed in coolie 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 Long Sin, who had entered through a
trap door, climbed down a long ladder and walked into the room.
Approaching Tong Wah, he asked: "When will the death-drink be ready?"
"It is now prepared," was the reply.
Long Sin 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 Tong Wah, 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 Long Sin's house in
the taxicab and, after paying the chauffeur, went to the door and
knocked sharply.
In response to his knocking Long Sin appeared on the threshold and
motioned 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 Long Sin.
"I possess 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 trap door in the floor of the room in which they
were standing, he led Bennett down a step-ladder into the subterranean
chamber in which Tong Wah had so recently been preparing his mysterious
potion. As Bennett sank into a chair and passed his hands over his brow
in utter weariness, Long Sin poured into a cup some of the liquor of
death which Tong Wah had mixed. He handed it to Bennett, who drank it
eagerly.
"How do you propose to help me to escape?" asked Bennett huskily.
Without a word Long Sin 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 Chinamen. Pulling
out the coffins, he pushed them before Bennett, who rose to his feet
and gazed upon them with wonder.
Long Sin 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 a groan, sank 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 Long Sin pointed to
the cup from which Bennett had drunk.
"But, dear master," he remarked suavely, "you have already drunk a full
dose of the potion which causes insensibility, 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 Long Sin moved closer to his victim and spoke
again.
"Divulge 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, but by a movement of his head and an expression in his
eyes he indicated that he was ready to agree to the Chinaman's proposal.
"Where have you hidden the seven million dollars?" repeated Long Sin.
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 Long Sin 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, Long Sin 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. Elaine, 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 was
scouring the city for a trace of Bennett or the taxicab in which he had
fled.
Somehow, Kennedy suspected, instinctively, that Long Sin might give a
clue to Bennett's whereabouts, and a few moments later, we were all on
our way in a car to Long Sin's house.
Though we did not know it, Long Sin, at the 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.
Long Sin eyed us all, then with a placid smile, said, "Follow me. I
will show you."
He opened a trap door, and we climbed down after Craig, entering a
subterranean chamber, led by Long Sin.
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 Long Sin, with a wave of his hand, "and before
I could stop him he did away with himself."
In dumb show, the Chinaman indicated that Bennett had taken poison.
"Well, we've got him," mused Kennedy, shaking his head sadly, adding,
after a pause, "but 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--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 lakes of eyes.
"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.
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's The Exploits of Elaine, by Arthur B. Reeve