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Show H H 111 wHt I The Exploits of Elaine f ln I: I IH A Detective Novel and a Motion Picture Drama BBBflL ..I. i .. LB . By ARTHUR B. REEVE . BBBBJ The IVetl-Known Noaelht and the jjBBBjl Creator of the "Craig Kennedy" Storte$ BBBBj f BBBjB ', Presented in Collaboration With the Pathe Players and the Eclectic Film Company H 0 Copyright, 1C14. by the Star Company. AH Foreign nights ItPBcnred 4t BjBjBfl Tho New Yorlc pollco aro mystified by a lB lorlos of murders and other crimes. The KBH principal cluo to tho criminal In tho warn- H lnr lottcr which In Kent the victims, signed H with n "clutching1 hand." The latent vlc- m tint of the mysterious assassin Is Taylor j Dodge, the Insurnnco president. Mil KHHM daughter, lClalno, employs Crnlg Kennedy, H (he famous scientific detective, to try to H anravol thn mystery. What Kennedy ao- H rompllshrs Is told by his friend Jameson, K nowspnper man. Enraged at thn deter. H mined ofTort which Maine and Craig Ken- 1 ne'lv aro making to put nn end to his KKH cn...s, tho Clutching Hand, ns thj H strnngo criminal Is known, resorts to all H sorts of tho most diabolical schemes to H put them out of the way. Each clmnlnr H of the story tolls of a now plot against H tholr lives and nf thn wny thn (treat de- KKH toctlvo uses nil his skill to snvo this prct- KKKfl y girl and himself from dentil. M V THIRTEENTH EPISODE H THE DEVILWORSHIPERS. BBH Elalno wan seated In tho drawing BBBfl rOcm with Aunt Josephlno ono nftor- BBBfl noon, whon lier lawyer, Furry Hon B actt, dropped In unexpectedly. BBH Ho had hardly grcoted them when BBBfl tho butlor, Jennings, In his usual lm- BBflJ passlvo manner announced thnt Aunt BBflJ Josephine was wantod on tho tele- fl No sooner wore Elaine and Dennett B alono than Elalno. turning to him, ex- H "Last night I dreamed that father H camo to mo and told mo that if I H would' glvo up Konnody and put my H trust In you, I would find tho Clutch- H fng Hand. I don't know what to think J of fl Dcnnott, who had been llstonlng In- fl tontly, moved ovor nearer to Elalno H and bont ovor H 1 "Elalno," ho said In n low tone, his JBBflJ romnrkablo eyes looking straight into Jz hor own, "you must know that I lovo Hi you. Then glvo mo tho right to pro- Ht tcct you. It was your father's dcarcBt Hf wish, I bcllovo, that wo should marry. BflH Lot mo sharo your dangers and I BflBj nwcar that sooner or later thoro will BflH bo an ond to tho Clutching Hand. , Olvo mo your answer, Elaine," ho BflH, urged, "and mako mo tho happiest BflBj j man In all tho world." BflHi I , Elalno listened, and not unsytnpa- BflB' ( thetlcally, as Dennett contlnuod to Hf I plead for her answer. i "Walt a little while until tomor- Bfl ' row," slip ropllcd finally. Bi-1 "Lot it bo as you wish, then," Hf ' agreed Dennott quietly, BBJj; Ho took her hand and klBscd It pas- BflB slonatoly. ' An Instant later Aunt Josophlne ro- BflB turned. Elalno, unstrung by what BflB had happened, oxcusod herself and BflB went into tho library. BflB ' Involuntarily, her mind traveled BflB f back ovor tho rapid succession of BBS events of tho past fow weeks and BBflf tho part that sho had thought, at BBByI least, Kcnnody had coma to play in BBBf bor BBB ' Then sho thought of tholr recent BBB misunderstanding. Might there not BBB bq somo simple explanation of it, aft- BBfl or, all, which sho had missed? What BBBf ( should she do? BBB Sho solved tho problem by taking BBB,9 1 up tho telophono and asking for Ken- BBB? f, nody's nurabor. r I waB chatting with Craig in his BBBkU laboratory, and, at tho samo time, BBr'u was watching him in his experimental BBJ ' work. Just as a call camo on tho tole- BBfl X phono, ho was pouring somo nltro- BBfl ( hydrochloric acid Into a test tubo to BBfl complete a reaction, BBfl Tho tolophono tinkled nnd ho laid BBb down tho bottlo of ncld on his desk, BBf whtlo ho moved a fow stops to answer BBJ tho BB''' Whoever tho Bpcaker was, Craig BBJ, seemed deoply interested, and, not BBj knowing who was talking on tho wire, BBf I was eager to learn whother it was BBJ anyono connected with tho caso of BBJ thb Clutching Hand. BBJ "Yes, this is Mr. Kennedy," I heard BBJ Craig Bay. BJB I moved ovor toward blm and whls- BJB pored eagerly, "Is thoro anything BBJ BBf A llttlo impatient at being interrupt BBj ed, Kennedy waved mo off. It oc- BBJ currod to mo that ho might need a ! ' pad and poncll to mako a noto of somo Information, and I reached over tho desk for thom. KB' I As " (1,tl 8 my arm inadvertently BJ I Btruck tho bottlo of acid, knocking it BBI ( ovor on the top of tho desk. Its con- BB tents streamed out saturating tho tele- BB . phono wires beforo I could prevent It. BB In trying to right tho bottlo my hand BBJ , camo in contact with tho acid which BBJ , Ijurned like liquid, flro, and I cried out BBjj In pain. IBS CraJii hastily laid dowii tho re-Rk re-Rk cehor, seized mo and rushod mo to fH ' ' ' the buck of the laboratory, where ho ftBYg drenched my hand with a noutrallz- tfmM i lug liquid. BBe Ho Dound up tho wounds caused by BJfr :ho acid, which proved to bo Blight, ijHf Rftor all, and then returned to tho telo- Bu phono, BJji' j To his evident annoyance, ho dls- BJtl, covered that tho acid had burned BBC f through the wires and cut off all con-BjJS con-BjJS ' ncctlon, BBS i At tho other end of tho line, Elalno BJJB f Kas llsienlag impatiently for a ro- BJJp Bponso to her first eager words of in- BJt1 Tjlrv. She was astonished to find, I i bT HHHH) at last, that Kennedy had apparently left tho telcphono without any explanation expla-nation or npology, "Why ho rnng off," alio exclaimed angrily to herself, as sho hung up tho rocolver and left tho room. In tho center of a dovlous and winding wind-ing way, qulto unknown to nil except thoso who knew tho Innermost secrets at tho Chlncso quarter, and even unknown un-known to tho police, thero was a dingy tenoment house, apparently inhabited by hard-working Chinamen, but in reality re-ality tho hcadquartcrsof tho notorious notori-ous devil worshlpors, a sect of satan-Ists, satan-Ists, banned even In tho Celestial empire. em-pire. Tho followers of the cult comprised somo of tho most dangerous Chinese criminals, thugs and assassins, besides be-sides a number of dnngorous characters charac-ters who belonged to various Chinese-eocret Chinese-eocret societies, At tho head of this formidable organization was Long Sin, tho high priest of tho devil god, nnd Long Sin hnd, as wo know, nlrendy Joined forces with tho notorious Clutching Hand. Tho room In which tho uncanny rites of tho dovll worshipers were conducted conduct-ed was a large apartment decorated In Chinese stylo, with highly colored portraits por-traits of somo of tho dovll deities and costly silken hangings. Desido a largo dais depended a hugo Chlncso gong. On tho dais Itself stood, or rather sat, an ugly figure covered with somo sort of metallic plntlng. It almost seemed to bo tho mummy of a Chinaman China-man covered with gold leaf. Into this room camo Long Sin' attired at-tired In an elaborato silken robe. Ho advanced and kotowed boforo the dais with its strnngo figure, and laid down nn offering boforo It. This porformnnco waB witnessed by twenty or thirty Chinamen who knolt In tho rear of tho room. At tho samo tlnio an aged Chinaman carrying a prayer wheel entored tho plnco and, after prostrating himself dovoutly, placed tho machine on a sort of low stool or tabouretto and began turning It slowly, muttering. A fow moments lator Long Sin, who had been bowing boforo tho metallic flguro in deepest reverence, suddenly sprang to his feet. His glazed oyo and oxcltod manner indicated that bo bad received a mensago from tho lips of tho strnngo g6d. Tho worshipers who had prostrated thomsolves, in awe at tho sight of their high priest In tho unholy fronzy, all rose to tholr foot and crowded forward. for-ward. Long Sin struck sovoral blowa on tho resounding gong and then raised his voice in solotnn tones. "Kslng Chnu, tho Torriblo, demands a consort. Sho Is to bo foreign fair of faco and with golden hair." a At tho samo tlmo, in a room of tho adjoining house, tho Clutching Hand himself wus busily engaged in making mak-ing tho most elaborato preparations for somo nefarious schomo which his fertllo mind had evolved. Tho room had beon fitted up as a mcdlum'B seanco parlor. Two of tho Clutching Hand's most trusted confederates and n hard-faced woman of middlo age, dressed in plain 'ack, wero pulling tho finishing touches to this upartment, when their chlof ontorcd. Clutching Hand gazed about tho room, now and thon giving nn order or two to mako moro effectlvo tho setting for tho purposo which he had in mind. Finally ho nodded In approval and stoppod over to tho fireplace whero logs were burning brightly in a grate. Pressing a spring in the nantelpleco, tho master criminal effected an Instant transformation. Tho logs in tho fireplace, fire-place, still burning, disappeared immediately imme-diately through tho bottom of the brick tiling and a metal sheet covered them. An nporturo opened at tho back, aa It by magic. Through this opening Clutching Hand mado his way quickly and disappeared. dis-appeared. Emerging on tho other stdo of tho peculiar fireplace, Clutching Hand pushed asido a curtain which barred tho way niid looked into tho Chineso toinplc, taking up a position behind tho metallic flguro on tho dais. Tho Chinamen had by this time finished fin-ished their devotions, It such they might bo called, and tho last ono was leaving, whilo Long Sin stood alono on tho dais. Tho nolso of tho doparting satanists had scarcoly died away when Clutching Clutch-ing Hand stepped out. "Follow me," ho ordered hoarsely, seizing Long Sin by tho arm and leading lead-ing him away. They passed through tho passageway passage-way of tho fireplace- and, hnvlng entored en-tored the seance room, Clutching Hand began briefly explaining tho purposo of tho preparations that had boon mado. Long Sin wagged his head la volublo approval. Elalno was etandlng In tho library gazing sadly at Kennedy's portrait, thinking over recent events and abovo all thb rebuff ovor the telophono which oko suppouod' sho bad received. Jc.nnfrigg entered with, a card on a salver. Elalno- took it and -saw with surprlso tho name of hor caller: MADAME 8AVET8KY, Medium. Doncath tho engraved namo wero tho words written in Ink: "I have a tnessago front tho spirit of your father." fa-ther." "Yes, I will see her," cried Elalno eagerly, in response to the butler's Inquiry. In-quiry. Sho followed Jennings Into tho adjoining ad-joining room and there found herself faco to faco with tho hard-featured woman who had only a few moments boforo loft tho Clutching Hand. Elalno looked rather than spoko her Inquiry. "Your father, my dear," purred tho medium, with a great pretenco of suppressed sup-pressed excitement, "appeared to mo tho other night from tho spirit world. I was in a tranco and ho asked me to deliver a message to you." "What was tho message?" -nsked Elalno breathlessly, now aroused to intonso Interest. "I must go into a trance again to get It," ropllcd tho Insinuating Savetsky, "and If you llko I can try it at once, provided wo can bo left alono long enough." Seated In her chair, tho medium muttered wildly for a few moments, rolled her eyes and with some convulsive con-vulsive movements pretended to go into in-to a tranco. Suddenly tho curtains uero pulled asido and Aunt Josephlno and Dennett, Den-nett, who had just como in, entered. "I can do nothing here," exclaimed Savetsky, sturtlug up and looking about severely. "You must como to my seanco chambor whero wo shall not bo Interrupted." "I will," said Elaine, voxed nt tho Intrusion nt that moment. "I must have that message I must." "What's all this, Elaine?" demanded Aunt Josophlne. Hurriedly, Elalno poured forth to her aunt and Dennett tho story of the medium's visit and the promlsod mes-sago mes-sago from her fathor in tho other world. Aunt Josophlne, who was not one easily to bo imposed on, Btrongly objected ob-jected to Elaino's proposal to accompany accom-pany SavotBky to tho seanco chamber, but Elalno would not bo donlcd. "It might bo safo for Elalno to go," Dennott finally suggested to Aunt Josophlne, Jo-sophlne, "If you and I accompanied her." v A fow moments later, in tho Dodgo car, Elalno, tho medium and her two escorts started for' tho Chinese quarters. quar-ters. At tho houso tho medium opened the door with hor key and ushered in her three visitors. Entering tho room, tho medium at onco prepared for tho seanco by pulling pull-ing down tho window shades. Suddenly an Indistinct face was seen to bo peering through tho black curtains. cur-tains. A voice, deep, sepulchral, was heard in slow and solemn tones. "I am Eeko tho spirit of Taylor Dodgo. I will glvo no message until ono named Josephlno leaves tho room." No sooner had tho words beon uttered ut-tered than tho medium camo writhing out of her tranco. "What happened?" she asked, looking look-ing at Elaine. Elaine reported tho spirit's words. "Wo can got nothing if your aunt stays hero," SavotBky added, Insisting y$ HKjkNbbVbV f JBBbVbb f BbVBSf wwnl i .fJBbVBbVj . BBBBBBBB3?lPigrt-.I t VBBw p BBBBBBB?-.' J s W- TBBBt BBJBjnrp :v ' j-l O' VmBwBbH Elaine la Hurried Through the Hidden Hid-den Passage In the Fireplace. that Aunt Josephine must go. "Your father cannot speak whilo sho Is present." pres-ent." Aunt Josophlne, annoyed by what she had heard, indignantly refused to go and was deaf to all Elaino's pleadings, plead-ings, "I think It will bo all right," finally acquiesced Donnett, seeing how bent Elalno was on securing tho message. "I'll stay and protect hor." Aunt Josephine finally agreed. "Very woll, thon," she protested, marching out of tho room in a high Btato of ludignatlon. Sho had scarcely left the house, however, when sho began to suspect that all was not as It ought to be. In fact, tho idea had no sooner occurred to her than sho decided to call on Kennedy and sho ordered tho chauffeur chauf-feur to tako her as quickly as possible to the laboratory. Kennedy had not boon in the laboratory labo-ratory all tho day after my experience experi-ence with tho acid, and I was impatiently impa-tiently awaiting his arrival. At last there came a. knock at tho door and I opened It hurriedly. Thero was a messenger mes-senger boy who handed mo a noto. I tore It open. It was from Kennedy and red: "I shall probably bo away for two or three days. Call up Elaine and tell her to bownre of a certain Madame Savetsky." I was still puzzling over tho noto and was just about to call up Elaine when tho speaking tube was blown nnd to my surprise I found that it waB Aunt Josephlno who had called. "Whero Is Mr. Kennedy?" sho asked, greatly ngltated. "Ho hns gone awny for a few days," I replied blankly. "Is there anything I enn do?" She was very excited and hastily related re-lated what had happened at tho parlor of tho medlun)i '$What was her nnmo?" I cried nnx-louBl'y, nnx-louBl'y, "Madamo Savetsky," sho replied, to my surprise. Astounded, I picked up Craig's noto from the desk and handed It to her without a word. Sho read It with breathless eagerness. "Como back there with mo, pleaso," she begged, almost frantic with foar now. "Something terrible may have happened." Aunt Josephlno had hnrdly left Savetsky Sa-vetsky when the trance wob resumed. - Suddonly, from tho mysterious shadows shad-ows of the cabinet, thoro appeared tho spirit of Long Sin, whoso denth Elaine still believed sho had caused when Adventuress Mary had lured her to tho apartment. Elaine was trembllnc with fear at the apparition. As beforo, a strange voice sounded In tho depths of tho cabinet and again a message was heard, In low, solemn tones: "I nm Keka, and I have with mo Long Sin. His blood cries for ven-gennce." ven-gennce." Elaine was overcome with horror nt the words. Thon a dim, ghostly figure, apparently appar-ently that of Long Sin. appeared. With arms outstretched, the figure glided from the cabinet and approached Elalno. Sho shrank back farther In fright, too horrified oven to scream. At tho same moment, the medium drew n vapor pistol from her dress, and, as the ghost of Long Sin leaped at Elaine, Savetsky darted forward and Bhot a stream of vapor full in Dennett's face. Dennett dropped unconscious, the lights In the darkened room flashed up, and several of tho men of tho Clutching Hnnd rushed In. Quickly tho fireplace was turned on its cleverly constructed hinges, revealing re-vealing tho hidden passage. Doforo any effectlvo resistance could be made, Elalno and Dennett were hustled through tho passage, securely bound, and placed on a divan In a curtained chamber back of tho altar of tho devil worshipers. It was at that momont that I, little dreaming of what had been taking place, arrived with Aunt Josephlno at tho houso of the medium. Sho answered my ring nnd admitted us. To our surprise, tho seanco room wob empty. "Whore Ib tho young lady who waB here?" I asked. "Miss Dodge and the gentleman Just left n few minutes ago," tho medium oxplained, as we looked nbout. I happened to notice atom hnndker-chief hnndker-chief lying on tho floor. It flashed over me that perhaps it might afford a cluo As I passed it, I purposely dropped my soft hat over It and picked up the hnt, securing the handkerchief without with-out attracting Savetsky'B attention. Aunt Josephlno wob keen now for returning homo to And out whother Elalno was thero or not. No sooner had she ontered the enr and drtyen off, than I examined the handkerchief. It was torn, as If it hnd been crushed in the hnnd during a struggle and wrenched away. I looked closer. In tho corner was tho Initial "E." That wob enough. Without losing another precious moment I hurried around to the nearest police station, Tho sergeant detailed several roundsmen nnd n man in plain clothes, and together wo returned to tho house, laying a careful plan to surround it secretly, while tho plainclothes man nnd I obtained admittance. Meanwhile, the Chinese devil worshipers wor-shipers had again gathered In their cursed temple nnd Long Sin, in his priestly robe, appeared on the dais. The worshipers kotowed reverently rever-ently to him, whilo nt the back again stood the aged Chlnnmnn patiently turning his prayer wheel. Two braziers, or Bmoke pots, had been placed on the dais, ono of which Long Sin touched with a stick, causing caus-ing it to burst out into dense fumes. Standing before them, he chanted In nasal tones: "Tho white consort of tho grcnt KBlng Chan hns beon found. It is his will that sho now be made his." Ab he finished Intoning the message, Long Sin signaled to two young Chinamen China-men to go into tho anteroom. A moment mo-ment later they returned with Elalno. Frightened though she was, Elalno made no attempt to struggle, even when they had cut her bondB. They carried her up to the dais, and now Long Sin faced her and sternly ordored hor to kotow to tho gruesome grue-some metnlllc figure. Sho rofused, but Instantly the Chinamen China-men seized her arm nnd twlstod it, until they hod compelled her to fall to her knees. Having forced her to kotow, Long Sin turned to tho assembled devil dancers. "With rnagto and raro drugs," ho chanted, "sho shall bo mado to pass boyond and hor body encased la precious pre-cious gold shall bo the consort of ICslajt Chau forovor and evor" With callous deviltry, the oriental satanists mado evory arrangement for embalming and preserving the body of Elaine. At last all seemed to bo in readiness to proceed. "Hold her," ordored Long Sin in gut-tural gut-tural Chinese, to the two attendants, as ho approached her. Long Sin held In his hand a small, profusely decorated pot from which smoko was escaping. As ho approached ap-proached ho passed this rcceptaclo under un-der her noso once, twlco, threo times. Gradually Elaine fell into unconsciousness. uncon-sciousness. Whilo Elalno was facing death In the powor of tho devil worshipers, I had reached tho houso of Savetsky next door with the police, and the place had been quietly surrounded. With tho plainclothes man, a daring and Intelligent fellow, I went to tho door and rang tho bell. "What can I do for you?" asked tho medium, admitting us. "My friend hero," I parleyed, "Is In great business trouble. Can your controlling con-trolling spirit give him advice?" Savetsky set to work preparing tho room for a seance. Ab sho moved ovor to tho window to pull down tho shades leader of Long Sia'a attendants aa4 struck down tho other with a blow. Kennedy seized Elaine's yloldlag body, and, pushing back tho curtain to tho anteroom, succeeded in gaining it and locking tho door into tho main templo. Donnett waa still lying on the floor tightly bound. With a fow deft cuts with a Chinese knife which ho had picked up, Kennedy released him. , -j At tho samo tlmo Chinamen wero' trying to bntter down tho door, Kon- - nedy'a last bulwark. It was swaying; . tf under their repeated blows. Whilo Konnody was thus besieged by tho devil worshipers in tho anteroom, ante-room, soveral policemen and dotcctlvc gathered In the seanco room with ua next door, whero Savetsky was held n defiant and muto prisoner. I had discovered tho boll and, taking that as a guide, I started to trace th courso of a wire which ran alongside tho wall. To tho fireplace I traced the bell and, In pulling on tho wire, I luckily pressed a secret spring. To my amazement amaze-ment tho wholo fireplace swung our of sight and disclosed a socrot passageway. pas-sageway. I looked through It. It was almost at that precise instant that the door of tho antoroom burst open and the Chinamen swarmed in, BBBPk'!BBBBBBBBv9pBr aaaaaaav. eh. wF'4' i-gff $8wffllBaay .2M H ,, I. AT' tiiMt.xjl&aJttezLaaaBl)C5'Aw' Hbwhbm aatAA' -5lkr i'aaaaB ' I aBP "im i '-aK'aS BBBBIV l dBKBBBHp BMiCHiBBBBy. 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At any rate, Savetsky did not lose a jot of her romarkablo ro-markablo composure "I'm sorry," Bho remarked merely, "but I'm afraid my control Is weak and cannot work today." Sho took a stop toward the door, motioning us to leave. Neither of us paid any attention to tho hint, but ro-malned ro-malned seated as we had been before. be-fore. Almost beforo I knew what sho was doing, sho mado a dash for something in the corner of tho room. It was time for open action, and I seized her quickly. My detective wns on his feet In an instant. "I'll tako care of her," ho ground out, seized her wrists In his visellko grasp. "You glvo tho signal." I rushed to the window, threw up the shade and opened tho Bash, waving wav-ing our preconcerted sign and turned again toward tho room. With a sudden accession of desperate desper-ate strength, Snvetsky broko away from the plainclothes man and again attempted to get at something concealed con-cealed on tho wall. I had turnod just In tlmo to fling myself between her and whatever object sho had In mind. As tho detective took her again and twisted her arm until sho cried out In pain, I hastily investigated tho wall. She had evidently been attempting to press a button that rang a concealed bell. What did it mean? ' Elaine, now completely unconscious, was being hold by tho Chinamen, while her nrm was Bmeared with sticky, black material from the cauldron caul-dron of Long Sin. Suddenly tho nged Chinaman with tho prayer whool stopped his incessant, inces-sant, impious turning, and, rising, held up his hand as if to command attention. atten-tion. "This is nonsense," ho cried In a loud voice. "Why should our great Kslng Chou desire a white devil? I, a groat-grandfather, demand to know." Slinking with rngo, Long Sin ordered or-dered tho Intruder oft the dais. Dut tho aged devoteo refused to go, "Throw him out," ho ordered his attendants. at-tendants. For answer, as tho two young Chinamen approached, tho old Chinaman China-man throw thom down to tho floor with a quick Jiu-jitsu movement. Furious 'riow beyond 'expression, Long Sin stepped forward.' Ho seized tho beard and queue of tho Intr.udor. To his utter amazement they camo off! It was Kennedy. With his automatic drawn, beforo tho astonished devil dancers could rocover themselves, Craig stood at bay. Long Sin leaped behind tho big gong. As tho Chinaman rushed forward for-ward to setzo him, Kennedy shot Ute urged on by tho insane exhortations of Long Sin. To my utter amazement, I recognized recog-nized Kennedy's voice. In tho first onslaught Craig shot one Chinaman dead, then closed with tho others, slashing right and left with tho Chinese knife ho had picked up. Dennett camo to his aid, but was immediately overcomo by two Chinamen, China-men, who evidently had been detailed for that purpoBo. Meanwhile Kennedy and tho others wero engaged in a terrible lifo and death struggle. Finally, Long Sin, solzing a larg wall-hanging, leaped upon Kennedy from tho back and throw it over his head, almost suffocating him. It was JuBt aa tho Chineso was about to overpower him that I led tho po-lico po-lico and detectives through tho pas- . sageway of tho fireplace It was a glorious fight that followed. ' Dut Long Sin and his Chinamen wero no match for the police and wero soon completely routed, tho pollco striking furiously In all directions and clearing tho room. Instantly Kennedy thought of tho fair object of all this moleo. He rushed to tho divan on which ho had placed Elalno. Ab sho opened hor eyes for an Instant In-stant Bho gazed at Craig, thon nt Donnett. Don-nett. Still not comprehending Just what bad happened, she gavo her hand to Dennett. Dennett lifted her to hor feet and slowly assisted her ns she tried to walk away. Kennedy watched them, moro stupefied stupe-fied than if ho had been struck over tho head by Long Sin. ,, Pollco and detectives wero now taking tak-ing tho captured Chinamen away, as Dennett, his arm about Elaine, led her gently out. v A young detective had slipped the bracelets over Long Sin's wrist, and I was standing beside him. Kennedy, In a dazo at tho sight of Elalno and Dennett, passed us, scarcely scarce-ly noting who we wero. As Craig collected his scattered forces Long Sin motioned to him, ni If ho had a message to deliver. Kennedy frowned suspiciously, jftw was about to turn away when tho ClAi naman began pleading earnestly for 4t chance to Bay a few words. "Step. asido for a momont, you fellows, fel-lows, won't you, plenBO?" ho asked. "I will hear what you have to say, Long Sin." Long Sin looked about craftily. i, "What Is It?" prompted Craig, see- j lng that at last they wero all alono. f Long Sin again looked around. "Swear that I will go froo and not '. suffor," ho whispered, "and I will be. f tray the great Clutching Hand." Kennedy studied tho Chlnam&a 'i keonly for a moment. Thon, soemlnjr- ly satisfied with tho scrutiny, ho nod- . ded slowly assent. ,: As Craig did so, I saw Long Sin lean I ovor and whisper Jnto Konnedy'B ear. J j? Craig started back in horror and but- ( ,, prise. I (TO SB CONTINUED.) |