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Show JMiyfflll and Motion Picture Drama j Presented by The Salt Lake Tribune in Collaboration With the 'Famous Pathe Players and the Eclectic Film Co. WRITTEN BY ARTHUR B. REEVE, I ho Well-Known Novelist and the Creator of the "CRAIG KENNEDY" Stories. Dramatized Into a Photo-Play by CHARLES GODDARD, Author of "The Perils of Pauline." Introducing MISS PEARL WHITE, MR. ARNOLD DALY and "CRAIG KENNEDY," The Famous Scientific Detective of Fiction. Cast of leading characters in the motion picture reproduction by the popular ! Pathe Players. ! F.LAINE DODGE Miss Pearl White ! CRAIG KENNEDY Mr. Arnold Daly HARKY BENNETT Mr. Sheldon Lewis Kverything vou road bere today you can see in fascinating Pathe motion pictures at, tCo'Rex theater this week. Next. Sunday another chapter of i "Tho Exploits of Elaine" and new Pathe reels. Synopsis of Previous Chapters. I The Xew York police are mystified by a serins of murders of prominent men. The principal clue to the murderer is tne warning letter which is sent the victims, signed "with a. "clutching hand.' The latest victim of the mysterious assassin is Tavlor Podge, the Insurance presi-i presi-i dnt. His daueliter. Elaine, employs j iaig Kennedy, the famous scientific de- : tective, to try to unravel the mystery. : "What Kennedy accomplishes Is told by l 1ms friend Jameson, a newspaper man. Knr.ieed at the determined effort whien 1 Elaine and Craig Kennedy are making to put an end ro his crimes, the Clutch- I ins Hand as this strange criminal is 1 known, resorts to all sorts of the most I diabolical schemes to put them out of the wav. L'-aeh chapter of the story tells of a hew plot against their lives and of the wav the ereat detective uses all his skill to' save this pretty girl and himself him-self from death. -, CHAPTER VIII. THE HIDDEN VOICE. j , l Copyright. 1015. bv the Star company. All foreign rights reserved.) ' LI T AMESOX, wake up! " I Tljo strain of the Dodge case I was beginning to tell on me, for it was keeping us at work at all hours to circumvent the Clutch- in? Hand, by far the cleverest crim- ' iniil with whom Kennedy had ever had j anything to do. ! i 1 had slept later than usual that morning, and, in a hair' doe, I heard a w voice calling me, strangely like Ken-nedv's, Ken-nedv's, and yet unlike, it. 1" leaped out of bed, still in my pa- L. about. Then I ran into the living I room. I looked about, rubbing my . eye?, startled. Xo one was there. "'Hey Jameson wake up." it was spooky. I I ran back into Craig's room. He T was gone. There was no one in any j of our rooms. The surprise had now I thoroughly awakened me. I "Where the deuce are you?" I f demanded. f Suddenly I heard the voice again I no doubt about it, either, i ''Here I am over on the couch!" 1 I scratched my head, puzzled. Ther6 was certainly no one on that couch. A laugh greeted me. Tlainly, : though, it- came from the couch. I went over to it, and, ridiculous as it seemed, began to throw aside the pil-l pil-l lows. There lay nothing but a little oblong oaken box, perhaps eight or ten inches i long and three or four inches square I at the ends. In the face were two pe- euliar holes, and from the top project-! project-! cl a black disk, about the size of a :, watch, fastened on a swinging metal arm. In the face of tho disc were several sev-eral perforated holes. ''Come over to the laboratory right away.'' pealed forth a merry voice. 'I've something to show you." "Well," I gasped, "what do you know about that ? ' ' I Very early that moraine Craig had j got up, leaving me snoring. Cases never wearied him. He thrived on excitement. ex-citement. He had gone over to the laboratory and set to work in a corner another of those peculiar boxes, exactly like - liar which he had already left in our ! 1 coin--. In the face of each of these boxes, as 1 have said, were two square holes. The sides of these holes converged inward in-ward into the box in the manner of a fuiir-sided pvramid. ending at the apex in a little circle of black, perhaps hail an inch across. Satisfied at last with his work, Craig had stood back from the weird apparatus appara-tus and shouted my name. He had enjoyed en-joyed niv surprise to the fullest extent, ex-tent, then had asked me to join him. Half an hour afterward I walked into the laboratory, feeling a little sheepish over the practical joke, but none the less curious to find out all about it. "What is it:' I asked, indicating the apparatus. "A voeaphone, ' ' he replied, slill I laughing, " the loud speaking telephone, I the iittle box that, hears and talks. It talks right out in meeting, too no transmitter to hold to the mouth, no receiver to hold to the ear. You see. This transmitter is so sensitive tliat it pii up even a whisper, and the receiver re-ceiver is placed back of those two nicaplione-like pyramids. ' ' He was standing at a table, carefully pa-'king up one of the voaphoDc3 and a lor. fif wire. "I believe the Clutching Hand has lpeu shadow ing tile Dodge house, ' he continued though t fully. "As long as v.-o wat-'h tho place, too. he will du nothing. But if we. should seem, 03 tentatiously, not to be watching, perhaps per-haps he may trv something, and we iikiv be aide to get a clue to his id'-n-ritv over this voeaphone. Sice?'' 7 nodded. "We've got to run hini ' 'lowp somehow. '' I nrjree.-l. . "Ye-.''' he said, tai.ing Ins coat and j hat. "1 am going to connect up one of thc--e thin:-- 'in Mi.., odgc', - library and arrange v.irh the telephone eompanv (or a 'dear -'ire w, that v. e 011 lis-c n in here, where that, fellow will never suspect." At about the same time that v-ar and I sallied forth on I hi.-: new Mies-siori, Mies-siori, ClHine ..-as arranging s,,m,. ff,-.v-T-; on a stand near the corner of trie Hodge iiii.-ary -..in-re tile sncrei panel -a-, in u!:"-h l.e- fatlor iial hidden Ihe paper', to" fri' po--ie.--.ou of v-.;.-h. li" ( Intel, :,,u,l ,ad niuroer... him. '! ': .lid .li:-oc I'M niridlt'-, v.,. '.lie--,-, b"t tj." -.'id give direction-. In :t loei '' or his hnngoul.. end cere I t ie-retoi e 1 rv important . 1 '- 1 1 e 1 a ! ineveo jmv f,-r..,, lie table. It. 'he V. Ijrr !,-.- fT.fflit in orpet'i r -n the oo -1 -.. or 1: sin. tried to loo-en it end io un .;,,in . l.ill'-lie') he lit-;.. ; ..J- re-, i,.. ,, vVi.-l, her .ire-. I,;., car,, -1,1. I m- la nl 1- . 1 , her lit le, ,- 1 , ; ... (he (-mi. I te- - : i: , I,, 1 ,,,.. , ;,.. io . .., . II -!-o, bos. I I i l:,ir 1 !l. I .., . :.i i' , 0 moment, then carried it to a table and started to cry it open. It was o.-.e of those tin dispatch boxes which, so tar as 1 have ev--.r ben able to determine, are chiefly valuable for allowing one to place a lot of stuff in a receptacle which is very convenient con-venient for a criminal. She had no trouble in opening it. Inside were some papers, sealed in an envelope and marked "Limpy Red Correspondence." ! "TllDV must l.o tko CI i, f el, ' e ,t PToTld papers! ' she exclaimed to herself, hesitating hesi-tating a moment, in doubt what to do. The fatal documents seemed almost uncanny. un-canny. Their very presence frightened her. What should she do? She seized the telephone and eagerly called Kennedy's number. "Hello," answered a voice. "Is that vou, Craig?" she asked excitedly. ex-citedly. ".No, this is Mr. Jameson." "Oh, Mr. Jameson, I've discovered the Clutching Hand papers," she began, be-gan, more and more excited. "Have you read them?" came back the voice quicklv. "Xo; shall I?"" "Then don't unseal them." cautioned the voice. "Put them back exactlv as you found them and I'll tell Mr. Kennedy Ken-nedy the moment I can get hold of him. : ' "AH right," nodded Elaine. "I'll do that. And please get him as soon as vou possiblv cau." "I will." "I'm going out shopping now," she returned, suddenly. "But tell him I'll be back right awav. " " Very well." Hanging up the receiver, Elaine dutifully duti-fully replaced the papers in the box to its secret hiding place, pressing the spring and sliding the panel back. A few minutes later she left the house in the Dodge car. Outside our laboratory, leaning up against a railing, Dan ' the Duke, an emissary of the Clutching Hand, whose dress now greatly belied his underworld "monniker," had been shadowing us, watching to see when we left. The moment we disappeared, he raised his hand carefully above his head and made the sign Oj the Clutching Hand. Far down the street, in a closed car, the Clutching Hand himself, his face masked, gave an answering s-ign. A moment later he left the car. gazing gaz-ing about stealthily. Not a soul was in sight and he managed to make his way to the door of our laboratory without with-out being observed. Then he "opened it was a pass key which he must have obtained in some way by working the janitor or the university "of ficials. Probably he thought that the pape.s might be at the laboratory, for he had repeatedly failed to locate them at the Dodge house. At any rate he was busily bus-ily engaged in ransacking drawers and cabinets iu the laboratory, when the telephone suddenlv rang. Ho did not want to answer it. but if it kept on ringing someone outside might come in. An instant he hesitated. Theu, disguising dis-guising his voice as much as he could to imitate mine, he took off the receiver. "Hello!" he answered. His face was a study in all that was dark as he realized that it was Elaine calling. He clenched his crooked hand even more viciously. "Hae you read them?" he asked, curbing his impatience as she unsuspectingly unsus-pectingly poured forth her story, supposed sup-posed iv to me. "Then don't unseal them." he hastened hast-ened to reply. "Put thein back. Then tiiere can be no question about them. You can open them before witnesses." For a moment he paused, then added, "Put them back and tell no one of their discovery. T will tell Mr. Kennedy Ken-nedy the moment I can get him." A" smile spread over his sinister faco as Elaine confided in him her intention inten-tion to go shopping. "A rather expensive expedition for you, voting ladv, " he muttered to himself him-self as he ret imed tho receiver to the hook. Clutching Hand lost no further time at tho laboratory. Be bad thus, lucki'v for him, found out what he wanted. The papers were not there after all, but at the Liouge nouse. Hnppo-e she should really lie gone on onh- a short shopping trip and should return' to find that she had been fooled over the wire? Quickly he went to the. teler-hone again. "liello. Dan," he called w lieu he got his number. "Miss Dodge is going chopping. I want vou and the otriei Facers to follow her delay her all you can. X'se your own judgment. ' ' It, was nna;. 'had come to be known in his re gauization as the " Brotherhood Brother-hood of labors. " There, in the back room of a low oive, were Dan tho .Dude, the ernissory who had been loitering loiter-ing abo:;t the labora torv ; a gnuman, I.'aco Mike; a couple of women, slatterns, slat-terns, one known as Kitty the Hawk, and a hov of eight or ten, v hom they caip-d H.iily. Heforc them stood largo sehooncrs of beer while the precious jiinria-t'-r grumbled over mill:. "AH right. ' hie!'." shonled back Imi. their leader, a-, he hunt up the telephone alter noting carefully the ha-tv inidructions. "We'll do it-lri.tt u-.. The oilier?., knov.-ing that a job was to lighten tiiis monotony of exi.-lence, gat ;-,e,-er about h'ui. Thev listened intent lv a;-; he detailed to 1 l.e'ii tin- orders of Ihe Hutching Han. I, hastilv planning out the earn-p-ii"-- Pl.e a dnision commander dis. to. lug his for'-e-; in haftln and ;i:'f,ign-ing ;i:'f,ign-ing en.-jj Ins pari. With ala'-'ity the Brotherhood went, t h'-i r S'-pa rf t e v, ny.-, , I'.ri'i.i' had not. bren ..one long from the hoes v hen (' r.'iig and I arrived t 1 ere. Kl,f had f O : 1 , e, (lie t I e-1 ,),,,,,, . in '.le-tion- of' the ( lut.-hilig Hand and hri.i to!. I no one. ' ' Too had. ' ' ;..i ee, .!,., , . I,,,, Me- Ish-piie ha- i'l-t ;''ine shopi.mi-' run! I ,:.,tl I 1. -. h-.n - he '! l.e l.aeh. ' ' . ie...iiig le lug an 1. 11 '' I 1 a 1 11 eli-Mi' lit as far as time was concerned, Kennedy asked if anyone else was at home. "Mrs. Dodge is in the librarv reading, read-ing, sir," replied Jennings, taking it for granted tliat we would see her. Aunt Josephine greeted us eordiallv, and Craig set down the voeaphone pact-age pact-age he was carrying. She nodded to Jennings to leave us and iie withdrew. "I'm not going to let .my thing- happen hap-pen here to Miss Elaine again if I can help it," remarked Craig in a low tone, a moment later, gazing about the librarv. li-brarv. "Vhat are you thinking of doing?' asked Aunt Josephine keenly. "I'm going to put in a voeaphone," he replied, unwrapping it. "What's that ? she asked. "A loud-speaking telephone connected con-nected with my laboratory," he explained, ex-plained, repeating what he" had alread told me, while she listened almost awestruck awe-struck at the latest scientific wonder. He was looking about, trying to figure fig-ure out just where it should be placed to best advantage, when he approached the suit cf armor. "I see you have brought it back and had it repaired," he remarked to Auut Josephine. Sudenly his face lighted up. "Ah an idea!" he exclaimed. "No one will ever think to look inside that." It was indeed au inspiration. Ken-, Ken-, nedy worked quickly now, placing the little Pox inside tne nreastpiate ot tne ancient armor with the top of the instrument in-strument projecting right up into the heJmet. It was a strange combination the medieval and the ultra-modern. "Now, Mrs. Dodge," he said finally, as he had completed installing the thing and hiding the wire under carpets and rugs until it ran out to the connection connec-tion which he made, with the telephone, " don t brer.the a word of it to anyone. any-one. We don't know whom to trust or suspect." "I shall not," she answered by this time thoroughly educated iu the value of silence. Kennedy looked at his watch. ".I've got an engagement with the telephone compauy now," he said rather brisKly, although I knew that if Elaine had been there the company and everything every-thing ec.uld have gone hang for the pieseut "Sorry not to have seen Miss Elaine." he added, as we bowed ourselves our-selves out, "but I. think we've got her protected now. ' -' "I hope so," sighed her aunt. 1 ' Elaine's car had stopped finally at a V..io en Vit'rl, ovemio Shp stepped out and entered, leaving her chauffeur to wait. As she did so, Dan and Billy sidled along the crowded sidewalk. "There she is, Billy," pointed out Dan as Elaine disappeared through the swinging doors of the shop. "Now, you wait right here," he instructed stealthily, "and when she comes out you know what to do. Onlv, be careful." care-ful." Dan the Dude left Billy and Billy surreptitiously drew from under his coat a dirty half loaf of bread. With a glance about, he dropped it into the gutter close to the entrance to Elaine's car. Theu be withdrew a little dis-tati'-e. When Elaine came out and approached ap-proached her car. Billy, looking as cold and forloru as 1 ould be, shot forward. Pretending to spy the dirty piece of bread in the gutter, he made a dive for it. just as Elaine was about to step into the car. Elaine, surprised, drew back. Billy picked up the piece of bread, and with all the, actions of having discovered a treasure, began to gnaw at it vora-ciouslv. vora-ciouslv. Shocked at the disgusting sight, she tried to take the bread away from him. "I know it's dirtv, miss," whimpered whim-pered Billy, "but it's the first food I've seen for four days." Instantly Elaine was full of sympathy. sympa-thy. She had taken the food away. Tliat would not. suffice. "What's your name, little boy?" she asked. "Billy." he replied, blubbering. "Where do you live?" "With me ! mother and father thev 're sick nothing to eat" He was whispering an address far over on tho east side. "Get into the car." Elaine directed. ,' "Gee but. this is swell," he cried, with no fake, this time. On they went, tlirontfi the tenement canvons, dodging children and push-cart's, push-cart's, stopping first at a grocer's, then at a butcher's and a delicatessen. Final Fi-nal I v the car stopped where Hilly directed. di-rected. Bill v hobbled out, followed by-Elaine by-Elaine and h'or cbauffour, his arms piled high with provisions. Shfi was, indeed, a lovelv Ea.lv Bountiful as a crowd of kids quicklv surrounded t lie ear. In the ineanlime, Dago Mike and Kitty the Hawk had gone to a wretched flat, before which Billy stopped. Kit-tv Kit-tv sat on the bed, putting dark circles cir-cles under her eves with a blackened cork, ribe was very thin and emaciated, but it was dissipation that had done it. Dago Mike vvas correspondingly poorly dressed. lie nal pause. ursine iu-, ,..-see ie look out. "She's coining," he announced an-nounced finally. Kittv hastilv- jumped into the rickety bed, while Mike tooj: up a crutch that was standing idlv in a comer. .-'he coughed resiguedlv and he limped about, forlorn. Thev has assumed their pails, which were almost, to the burlesque of povertv. when the door was pushed open and Billv hurst in, followed by Elaine and the 'chauffeur. "Oh, ma oh. pa," he cried, running run-ning forward and kissing his ps udo pareuts, as Elaine, overcome with sym-pathv. sym-pathv. directed the chauffeur to lay the things on a. shakv table. "God hies.- you, lady, for a benevolent benev-olent angel, "' muttered tho pair, to which Eiainc responded by moving over to the wretched bed and bending down to stroke the forehead of tho sick w ollian, Billy and Mike exchanged a sly w i 11 1 ; . Just, then the door opened again. All were tenuiuelv surprised this time, for a prim, spick and spau, middle aged woman entered. "I am Miss f-itali.stix, of the organi.ed clia rii i'-s. ' ' ahe announced, looking nrnnnd sharplv. "T saw vour car stand-iiir stand-iiir outside, iuiss, and the children below be-low told me vou were up here. I came to see who; iter you uero aiding rcly de ;ervi ng pour. ' -' She hud a marked etupliasis on the word, pnr-.ing up In-r lip-. There vvas no mistaking the apprehension that these tine birds of i.rev hud of lu-r, either. Miss Staiislii took a step forward, looking in a very superior niariiler from plame' lo Ihe package of fond and llien at. these plle It 1 1 ' 1 1 ' J o ' 1' of tip- f '. I" I . t 1 1 r -boo.. She sliorle.l con t elllpl lloilsl , . Win w h- vv lull, 's I Io- mal p'-r ? ' ' a he. I l.'auie, i,;;eliiig 11 n.-oiii lorl a I.I v, a , if ; he v, e,e i , i -1 . ( 1 1' gillll J , III I in ky atmosphere that now seemed to envelope en-velope all things. "This man is a gunman, that woman is a bad woman, "the boy is Bill the Bread Snateher," she answered precisely, pre-cisely, drawing out a card on which to record something, "and you, miss, are a fool! ' ' "Yal" snarled the two precious Falsers, "get out o' here!" There was no combating Miss Statis-tix. Statis-tix. She overwhelmed all arguments by the very exactness of her personality. "You get out!" she continued. Kitty and Mike, accompanied by Billy, Bil-ly, sneaked out. Elaine, now very much embarrassed, looked about, wondering won-dering at the rapid-fire change. Miss Statirjtix smiled pityingly. "Such innocence!" she murmured, sadly, shaking her head as she led Elaine to the door. "Don't know better than to try to help anybody without investigating!" inves-tigating!" Elaine departed, speechless, properly-squelched, properly-squelched, followed bv her chauffeur. vi Meanwhile, a closed car, such as had stood across from the laboratory had drawn up not far from the Dodge house. Near it was a man in rather shabby clothes and a visored cap on which" were the words in dull gold lettering, let-tering, "Metropolitan Window Cleaning Company." He carried a bucket and a small extension ladder. I In the darkened recesses of the car was the Clutching Hand himself, masked as usual. He had his watch in his hand and was giving most minute instructions to the window cleaner about something. As' the latter turned to go, a sharp observer would have noted that it was Dan the Dude, still further disguised. A few momeuts later, Dan appeared at the servants' entrance of the Dodge house and rang the hell. Jennings, who happened to bo down there, came to the door. "Man to clean the windows," saluted salut-ed the bogus cleaner, touching his hat in a way quietly to call attention to the words on it and drawing from his pocket pock-et a faked written order. "All right." nodded Jennings, examining exam-ining the "order aiid finding it apparently apparent-ly all right. Dan followed him in. taking the ladder lad-der and bucket upstairs, where Aunt Josephine was still reading. "The man to clean the windows, ma'am," apologized Jennings. "Oh. very well," she nodded, taking up her book, to go. Then, recalling the frequent injunctions of Kennedy, she paused King vnuu-ii iu sj.t nr. i... i'.' Jennings. "Stay here and watch him," she whispered as she went out. Jennings nodded, while Dan opened a window and set to work. Elaine had started again in her car down the crowded narrow street. From her position she could not possiblv have seen John'.ie, another of the Brotherhood, Brother-hood, watching her eagerly up the street. But as her car approached. Johnnie, with great determination, pulled himself him-self together and ran forward across the street. She saw that. "Ob!" she screamed, her heart almost al-most stopping. He had fallen directly in front of the wheels of the car. apparently, and although al-though the chauffeur stopped with a jolt, it seemed that the boy had .been run over. . Thev jumped out. There he was. sure enough, under -the very wheels. People came running now in all directions and lifted him up. groaning piteouslv. lie seemed literally twisted into a knot, which looked as if every bono in his bodv was broken or dislocated. Elaine was overcome. . For, following f their natural instincts, the crowd began be-gan pushing in with cries of "Lvtich the driver! " It would have gone hard with him, too, if she. had not inter fered. "Here!" cried Elaine, stepping in. "It wasn't his fault. The boy ran across tho street, right iu front of the car. Now we're just going to rush this hov to the hospital right away!" She lifted Johnnie gently into the car herself, and they drove off, to a very vigorous blowing of the horn. A few moments later they pulled up before the ambulance entrance to the hospital. "Ouick!" beckoned Elaine to the attendants, at-tendants, who ran out and carried Johnnie, John-nie, slill a complicated knot of broken bones, inside. In the reception room were a couple of nurses and a young medical sMulent. w hen Johnnie was curried iu and laid on the bed. The student, more intei-es'ed in Elaine than the boy, examined him. His face wore a pu.zled look, and there was every reason to believe that Johnnie John-nie was seriously injured. At that moment the door opened and an elderly, grav-beariled house physician physi-cian entered. The oilier stepped bach from (he bed respectfully. He advanced ad-vanced and e.Miinined Johnnie. The doctor looked at the bov- a moment, mo-ment, then at Elaine. "T will now effect a miraculous cure bv the laying on of hands." he an; nonnce.l, adding qmcKiv, "and ot feet!" To the litter surprise ol all, he seized the boy by the coat collar, lifting lift-ing him up and actually bouncing him on the floor. Then he picked him up, shook hini and ran him out of Ihe room, delivering one last kick as he went through the door. Bv the way Johnnie wept, it was quite evident, that he vvas no more injured than the chauffeur. Elaine did not know whether to bo angry an-gry or to laueli, but finally joined in Ihe general laugh. "That was Double Jointed Johnnie." puffed the doelor. as he returned to them, "ono ol' the greatest accident fakirs iu the cily. ' ' IJainc. having had two unfortunate1 oxprricnees during Tho day, now- decided de-cided to go home, and the docfor politely po-litely eseorted her to her car. From his .dosed car, the Clutching Hand gazed intently lit Ihe kludge house, lie could see Dan on the ladder, now washing tho library window, hU back turned toward linn. Dan turned slowly and make the sign of the hand. Turning to his chauffeur, the piaster criminal spoke a. lew words in a low tone and the driver hurried off. A few minutes Infer Hie driver might have lieen seen entering a nearbv drug store and going into the telephone booth. Without A moment 's li es 1 1 n ion he called up Ihe, llodgo house and Mane, Elaine's inni'l, u usw er''.l. "Is .1 eunings I here .' " he a.sl. e.l. "Tell him a friend want', to speak (o kini." .. , ' ' Wait a li 1 1 1 1 1 r t ", :-he ; w ere. I, ' ' 1 II get hiln. ' ' Ma in' vv en! lov ,ird I he librrii v. en v illlf Hie teleplioue'j-e.'ei' .',- ,,T . Ipe'lc. I la n cio. washing the tvindev'., I. nil in sole, hall' oiil'ode' Hie I -''. while .',',, iiing-. wn,, living Io bo vci Ini; - , 1 1 though it was apparent that he was watching Dan closely. "A friend of yotirs wants to speak to you over the telephone, Jennings," said Marie, as she came into the, library. li-brary. The butler responded slowly, with a covert glance at Dan. No sooner had they gone, however, Dan climbed all the way into Jin room, ran to the door and looked atter them. Then lie ran tu the window. Across and down the street, the Clutching Clutch-ing Hand was gazing at the house. He had seeu Dan disappear and suspected that the time had come. Sure enough, there was the sign of the hand. He hastily got out of the car and hurried up the street. All this time the chauffeur was keeping Jennings Jen-nings busy over the telephone with some trumped-up story. As the master criminal came in by the ladder through the open window, Dan was on guard, listeuiug down the hallway. A signal from Dan, and Clutching Hand slid back of the portieres. por-tieres. Jennings was returning. "I've finished these windows," announced an-nounced Dan as the butler reappeared. "Now, I'll clean the hall windows." Jennings followed like a shadow, taking tak-ing the bucket. No sooner had thev gone than Clutch-ng Clutch-ng Hand stealthily camo from behind the portieres. One of the maids was sweeping in the (hall as Dan went toward tho wiudow, about to wash it. "I wonder whether I locked those windows?" muttered Jennings, pausing .n the, hallway. "I guess I'd better make sure." He had taken only a step toward the librarv again, when Dan walchfullv caught sight of hini. It would never do to have Jennings snooping around there now. Quick action was necessary. Dan knocked over a cosily Sevres vase. "There clumsv see what you ve done!" breathed" Jennings, starting to pick up the piexes. Dan had acted his part well and promptly. In the library t bitching Hand was bus'ilv engaged at that moment beside be-side the secret panel searching for the spring that released it. He ran his finger fin-ger along th.e woodwork, pausing here aud tiiere without succeeding. Kennedy, having made the arrangements arrange-ments with the telephone company by which iie had a clear wire from the Dodge house to his laboratory, had rejoined re-joined me there and was putting on the finishing touches on bis installation of Everv now and then he wouldwitch i it ou, and we would listen iu as he demonstrated the wonderful little in- ! strument to me. He had heard the ; window cleaner and Jennings, but thought nothing of it at the tune. Once, however, Craig paused, ami I j saw him listening more intently than usual. I "They've gone out, ho muttered. , "but surely tiiere is someone iu the j Dodge librarv." i I listened, too. The thing w-as so sensitive that even a whisper could be j magnified, and I certainly did hear something. Kenne.lv frowned. hat was that scratching noise7 ' ould it be Jennings? Perhaps "it was Rusty. .lu-t then we ' could distinguish a sound as though someone had moved about. , "No that's not Jenuings,' cried Craig. "He went out. ' ' lie looked at me a moment. The same noise was repented. "It's the Clutching Hand! he exclaimed ex-claimed excitedly. A moment later Dun hurried inlo the Dodge liPrarv. , ,. "For heaven's sake. Chief, hurrv. he whispered hoarsely. "The falsers must have fallen down. The girl herself her-self is coming! ' ' Dan himself had no time to waste. He retreated, into the hallway just as Jennings was opening the door for Elaine. , , , , Marie took he; wraps and lett her, w hile Elaiue handed her numerous pack-aces pack-aces to Jennings. Dan watched every motion. "Put them away. Jeuniugs." she said softlv. Jennings had obeyed aud gono upstairs up-stairs Elaine moved toward t lie library. Ian took a quiet step or two behind her, in the same direction. Tn the librarv Clinching llanil was now franticaJIv searching for the spring, lie heard Elaine coming and dodged behind be-hind the curtains again just as she entered. en-tered. With a hastv look about, she saw no one. Then she went, quickly to the panel, found the spring, and pressed it. So man v queer things bud happened to her since she went out that she had begun be-gun to worry over the safely of the papers. , Tip. panel opened. Thev were tnere. all right. She opened the box aud took them mil, hesitating to break the seal before Kennedy arrived. Stealthily and tiger-like, the bitch-in" bitch-in" Hand crept up behind her. As ho did so. Dan gazed in through the per- lli'li's limn I"" With a spring, Cltuching Hand leaped al Elaine, snatching at the papers. Elniiie citing to them tenaciously. in spite of the sui-prisc. and they si niggled nig-gled for tlu'iii. Clutching Hand holding one hand over her mouth to prevent, her screaming. Instantly Dau was I hen:, aiding his chief. "(' hoke her! Strangle her! Dou t let her screnm!" he ground out. Thev fought, viciously. Would they succeed,' It was two desperate. unscrupulous un-scrupulous men against one frail girl. Suddi'iilv, from the man in arinor in the comer, as if by a miracle, came a deep, loud Voice. "Help! Help! Murder! Police! Thev are strangling me!" The effect was terrific. ( bitching Hand and Dau, burdened iu crime as they were, fell bach, daa ,1, overcome foi the moment al. the strut ling elVcci. They looked about. Not a soul. Then, to their utter consternation, from the visor of Ike helmet, agaiu came tne tii'i ', i.i'iim..':, " " "Help! Murder! Police: Kennedy and I had been listening over tin- vin -a phone, for I hi' moment nonplussed at the fellow 's daring. Then w e heard from the uncannv- i n-d r'Uilleit I : "for heaven's sake, chief, linrrv! The fal-ern have falleu down. Tho girl her-self her-self is coming'.'' Vhnl il meant we did no! know. But I'rnig was almost l.e-ide himself a., he ol.li'H'.l IIIC Io try to get tie' police by telephone, if there vv.'o. any w.iv o blo.'i; them. I'nilv initnnl action would el. howler. lie could hear III" matter cbniiioil pkiiiih' Iu in 1 . 1 1 n .' now. es, Hut s ' Ihe 1 hitching lllili'l." he iep -l" l. " . a.i. ' ' I caul inuc.l, " nun hit el " is i i i .-1 '':; By a sort, of instinct he seemed to recognize the sounds. "Elaine!" he exclaimed, paling. Tustautlv followed, in loss than I can tell it, tlie sounds of a suppressed scuffle. "He has seized her gagged her," I cried in an agonv of suspense. We could now: hear everything that was going ou in the library. Craig was wildlv excited. As for me, I was speechless. Here was the voeaphone we had installed. It had warned us. But what could we. do? I looked blankly at Kennedy. ' He w-as equal to the emergency. He calmly turned a switch. Then, at the top of his lungs, he shouted: "Help! Help! Police! They are strangling me!" I looked at him m amazement. What did he think he could do blocks away. "It works both wavs, " he muttered. "Help! Murder! Police!" We could hear the astonished cursing of the two men. Also, down the hall, now, we could hear footsteps approaching approach-ing iu answer to his call for help Aunt Josephine, Jennings, Mario and others, all shouting out that there were cries in the librarv. "The deuce! What is it?" muttered a gruff voice. "The man in armor!" hissed Clutching Clutch-ing Haud. , , "Here thev come, too, chief. There was'a parting scuffle. "There take that! " A loud metallic ringing came from the vocanhone. Then silence! What had happened? Tn the librarv, recovered from their first shock of 'surprise, Dan cried out to the Clutching Hand. "The deuce! What is it ? " , Theu looking about. Clutching Hand ! quicklv took iu the situation. "The man in armor! " he pointed out. Dan was almost dead with fright at the wierd thing. "Here thev come, too. Chief. he gasped, as. down the hall he could hear the family shouting out that someone was- jn Ihe library. With a parting thrust, Clutching Hand sent Elaiue reeling. She held on to onlv a corner of the papers. He had the greater part of them. They were torn and destroyed, tiny w ay. f inallv, with all the venomousness of which ho was capable, Clutching Hand rushed at the armor suit, drew back his gloved :ist, and let it shoot out squarely in a vicious solar plexus. "There take that!" he roared. The suit rattled furiously. Out of il spilled the voeaphone, with a bang or tlie floor. An instant later those in the hali rushed in. But the Clutching Hand and Dan were gone out of the window the criminal carrying the greater pari of the precious papers. Some ran to Elaine, others to the window. The ladder had ben ekiekeej away, aud the criminals were gone Leaping into the waiting car, they had been whisked awav. "Hello! Hello!, Hello!" called a voice, apparently from nowhere. "What is that?" cried Elaiue. She had risen by this time, and wai fn gazing about, wondering at the strang ' voice. Suddenly htir eye fell on tbif ' ' armor scattered all over the floor. Shi ,.f spied the little oak box. ,j f "Elaine!" , ; j Apparently the voice came from that I ' Besides it had a familiar ring to he: ' ears. " Yes Craig! " she cried. 1 "This is my voeaphone the littb box that hears tnd talks," came bad to her. "Are you all right?" "Y"es-all right thanks to the vo caphone." She bad understood in an instant She seized the helmet and breastplate ti which the voeaphone still was attacher and was holding them close to herself ! Kennedy had been calling and listen i ing intently over the machine, wonder ' ing whether it had been put out of busi f uess in some way. :' "It works yet!" he cried excitedlj to me. . ' ' tilaine! ' ' I "Yes, Craig," came back over th( faithful little instrument. j ' ' Are you all right ?" f "Yes all right." i "Thank heaven!" breathed Craig i pushing me aside. Literally he kissed the voeaphone as if it had' been human! ( j rV (Continued Next Sunday.) t |