Arthur B. Reeve

“ Then he deliberately walked to the window and placed the beaker on the ledge in a most prominent position.
Elaine and Bennett, to say nothing of myself, gazed at him, awe-struck.
"Is—is there no other way but to surrender?" she asked.
Kennedy mournfully shook his head.
"I'm afraid not," he answered slowly. "There's no telling how far a fellow who has this marvellous power might go. I think I'd better leave to save you. He may not content himself with innocent outsiders always."
Nothing that any of us could say, not even the pleadings of Elaine herself could move him. ”

“ But Rusty stood still.
Kennedy pointed to the ground.
Nothing doing. In leading us where he had been before, Rusty had reached the end of his canine ability.
Everything we could do to make Rusty understand that we wanted him to follow a trail was unavailing. He simply could not do it. Kennedy coaxed and scolded. Rusty merely sat up on his hind legs and begged with those irresistible brown eyes.
"You can't make a bloodhound out of a collie," despaired Craig, looking about again helplessly.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a police whistle. He blew three sharp blasts. ”

“ 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." ”

“ Could it be Jennings?
Perhaps it was Rusty.
Just then we could distinguish a sound as though someone had moved about.
"No—that's not Jennings," cried Craig. "He went out."
He looked at me a moment. The same stealthy noise was repeated.
"It's the Clutching Hand!" he exclaimed excitedly.
. . . . . . . .
A moment later, Dan hurried into the Dodge library.
"For heaven's sake, Chief, hurry!" he whispered hoarsely. "The falsers must have fallen down. The girl herself is coming!"
Dan himself had no time to waste. He retreated into the hallway just as
Jennings was opening the door for Elaine. ”

“ Clutching Hand opened the door and, still wearing the muzzle, beckoned to Michael. Michael could scarcely control his fears. But he obeyed, entering Elaine's room after the Clutching Hand, who locked the door.
"Were you watching me?" demanded the master criminal, with rage.
Michael, trembling all over, shook his head. For a moment Clutching
Hand looked him over disdainfully at the clumsy lie.
Then he brutally struck Michael in the face, knocking him down. An ungovernable, almost insane fury seemed to possess the man as he stood over the prostrate footman, cursing. ”

“ This is a final decision and I beg that you will not try to see me again regarding the matter.
"Very truly yours, ELAINE DODGE."
If it had been a bomb I could not have been more surprised. A moment before I think I had just a sneaking suspicion of jealousy that a woman—even Elaine—should interest my old chums. But now all that was swept away. How could any woman scorn him?
I could not make it out.
Kennedy impatiently worked the receiver up and down, repeating the number. "Hello—hello," he repeated, "Yes—hello. Is Miss—oh—good morning, Miss Dodge." ”

“ Life in the Coste had assumed something of its normal aspect, and Craig had succeeded in getting an elevator.
It was just as Mary was led in threatening and pleading by turns that he stepped off in the lobby.
There was, however, still just enough excitement to cover a little pantomime. Long Sin had been about to slip out of a side door, thinking all was well, when he caught sight of Mary being led back. She had also seen him, and began to struggle again.
Quickly he shook his head, indicating for her to stop. Then slowly he secretly made the sign of the Clutching Hand at her. ”

“ Still, I fancied that Elaine was not averse to trying to pique her visitor and determined at least to try it.
"Miss Dodge," I pleaded, bowing as if I had known them all my life, "I've been trying to find your father all the evening. It's very important."
She looked up at me surprised and in doubt whether to laugh or stamp her pretty little foot in indignation at my stupendous nerve.
She laughed. "You are a very brave young man," she replied with a roguish look at Bennett's discomfiture over the interruption of the tete-a-tete. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Anxiously, therefore, Elaine looked at her visitor.
"Do you know why the servant allowed us to leave the apartment?" whispered Mary with a glance about fearfully, as if the walls had ears.
"No—why?" inquired Elaine anxiously.
"He's a tong man who has been chosen to do away with the Prince. He followed me, and says you have done his work for him. If you will give him ten thousand dollars for expenses, he will attend to hiding the body." ”

“ While the flames leaped up, the crooks closed the last door into the room.
"Run!" shouted Clutching Hand, as they opened a secret gate disclosing a spiral flight of iron steps.
A moment later all had disappeared except Clutching Hand himself. The last door would hold only a few seconds, but Clutching Hand was waiting to take advantage of even that. With a last frantic effort he sought to direct the terrific ray at us. Elaine acted instantly. With all her strength she rushed forward, overturning the machine. ”

“ There was a second innocent pedestrian lying on the sidewalk while a crowd, almost panic-stricken, gathered about him.
We watched, almost stunned by the suddenness of the thing, until finally, without a word, Kennedy turned away, his face set in tense lines.
"It's no use," he muttered, as we gathered about him. "We're beaten. I can't stand this sort of thing. I will leave to-morrow for South America."
I thought Elaine Dodge would faint at the shock of his words coming so soon after the terrible occurrence outside. She looked at him, speechless. ”

“ Where was Kennedy?
In the next house Clutching Hand had literally come out of an upright piano into the room corresponding to that he had left. Hastily he threw off his handkerchief, slouch hat, old coat and trousers. A neat striped pair of trousers replaced the old, frayed and baggy pair. A new shirt, then a sporty vest and a frock coat followed. As he put the finishing touches on, he looked for all the world like a bewhiskered foreigner.
With a silk hat and stick, he surveyed himself, straightening his tie. At the door of the new headquarters, a few seconds later, I stood with the police. ”

“ Elaine, now completely unconscious, was being held by the Chinamen, while her arm was smeared with sticky black material from the cauldron by Long Sin. As the high priest of Satan worked, the devil worshippers kowtowed obediently.
Suddenly the aged Chinaman with the prayer wheel stopped his incessant, impious turning, and rising, held up his hand as if to command attention.
Amid a general exclamation of wonder, he walked to the dais and mounted it, turning and facing the worshippers.
"This is nonsense," he cried in a loud tone. "Why should our great Ksing Chau desire a white devil? ”

“ Shaking with rage, Long Sin ordered the intruder off the dais. But the aged devotee refused to go.
"Throw him out," he ordered his attendants.
For answer, as the two young Chinamen approached, the old Chinaman threw them down to the floor with a quick jiu-jitsu movement. His strength seemed miraculous for so aged a man.
Furious now beyond expression, Long Sin stepped forward himself. He seized the beard and queue of the intruder. To his utter amazement, they came off!
It was Kennedy!
With his automatic drawn, before the astounded devil dancers could recover themselves, Craig stood at bay. ”

“ Slowly Clutching Hand started to obey. Then he stopped. Kennedy was just about to thunder, "Go on," when the criminal calmly remarked, "You've got ME all right, Kennedy, but in twenty minutes Elaine Dodge will be dead!"
He said it with a nonchalance that might have deceived anyone less astute than Kennedy. Suddenly there flashed over Craig the words: "THE TRICK WILL BE PULLED OFF AT THREE O'CLOCK!"
There was no fake about that. Kennedy frowned. If he killed Clutching
Hand, Elaine would die. If he fought, he must either kill or be killed. ”

“ They looked about.
"See," cried the third. "See that old boiler down there at the edge of the water? Why not put her in there? No one'll ever think to look in such a place."
Down by the water's edge, where he pointed, lay a big boiler such as is used on stationary engines, with its end lapped by the waves. With a hasty expression of approval, the rough-neck picked Elaine up bodily, still struggling vainly, and together they carried her, bound and gagged, to the tank. ”

“ There, in the back room of a low dive, were Dan the Dude, the emissary who had been loitering about the laboratory, a gunman, Dago Mike, a couple of women, slatterns, one known as Kitty the Hawk, and a boy of eight or ten, whom they called Billy. Before them stood large schooners of beer, while the precocious youngster grumbled over milk.
"All right, Chief," shouted back Dan, their leader as he hung up the telephone after noting carefully the hasty instructions. "We'll do it—trust us." ”

“ Clutching Hand was now holding Elaine near the door where she could not help seeing, laughing diabolically while he directed LeCroix and the rest to work the infra-red ray apparatus through the trap.
As we dodged from corner to corner, endeavoring to keep the red ray from touching us, the crooks seemed in no hurry, but rather to enjoy prolonging the torture as does a cat with a mouse. ”

“ I was about to prolong the waiting time by some jolly about such a stunning girl not having by any possibility such a cannibal of a parent, when the rattle of the changing gears of a car outside told of the approach of a limousine.
The big front door opened and Elaine flung herself in the arms of an elderly, stern-faced, gray-haired man. "Why, Dad," she cried, "where have you been? I missed you so much at dinner. I'll be so glad when this terrible business gets cleared up. Tell—me. What is on your mind? What is it that worries you now?" ”

“ I ground out, covering my own crook with the pistol, "and if you attempt a getaway, I'll kill you, too!"
He followed, trembling, unnerved.
We bent over the man. It seemed that every bone in his body must be broken. He groaned, and before I could even attempt anything for him, he was dead.
. . . . . . . .
As Kennedy let himself slowly and painfully down the lightning rod, Elaine seized him and, with all her strength, pulled him in through the window.
He was quite weak now from loss of blood.
"Are you—all right?" she gasped, as they reached the foot of the ladder in the belfry. ”

“ Elaine and the others alighted and approached the church, while the ancient vehicle rattled away.
"They're coming," whispered the crook, peering cautiously out of the window.
Clutching Hand moved silently and snake-like into the closet and shut the door.
"How do you do, Dr. Carton?" greeted "Weepy Mary." "I guess you don't remember me."
The clerical gentleman looked at her fixedly a moment.
"Remember you?" he repeated. "Of course, my dear. I remember everyone I marry."
"And you remember to whom you married me?"
"Perfectly. To an older man—a Taylor Dodge."
Elaine was overcome. ”

“ We bowed and shook hands with Bennett.
Elaine's Aunt Josephine was in the room, a perfect duenna.
"That's the limit!" exclaimed Bennett. "Miss Dodge has just been telling me,—"
"Yes," interrupted Craig. "Look, Miss Dodge, this is it."
He handed her the letter. She almost seized it, examining it carefully, her large eyes opening wider in wonder.
"This is certainly my writing and my notepaper," she murmured, "but I never wrote the letter!"
Craig looked from the letter to her keenly. No one said a word. For a moment Kennedy hesitated, thinking. ”

“ Miss Statistix took a step forward, looking in a very superior manner from Elaine to the packages of food and then at these prize members of the Brotherhood. She snorted contemptuously.
"Why—wh-what's the matter?" asked Elaine, fidgeting uncomfortably, as if she were herself guilty, in the icy atmosphere that now seemed to envelope all things.
"This man is a gunman, that woman is a bad woman, the boy is Billy the Bread-Snatcher," she answered precisely, drawing out a card on which to record something, "and you, Miss, are a fool!" ”

“ Kennedy looked up calmly from the rack of scientific instruments that surrounded him, test tubes, beakers, carefully labelled bottles.
He had been examining a piece of cloth and had laid it aside in disappointment near his magnifying glass. Just now he was watching a reaction in a series of test tubes standing on his table. He was looking dejectedly at the floor as I came in.
"Indeed?" he remarked coolly going back to the reaction.
"Yes," I cried. "It is a scientific criminal who seems to leave no clues." ”

“ 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?" ”

“ As I looked at the sorrowful party, Aunt Josephine rose slowly from her position on her knees where she had been weeping silently beside Elaine, and pressed her hands over her eyes, with every indication of faintness. ”

“ Kennedy was a dangerous prisoner.
He calmly sat down in an arm chair, leaning back as he carefully balanced the deadly little box of fulminate of mercury on his knee. He placed his finger tips together and smiled at the seven crooks, who had gathered together, staring breathlessly at this man who toyed with death.
Gertie ran from the room.
For a moment they looked at each other, undecided, then one by one, they stepped away from Kennedy toward the door.
The leader was the last to go. He had scarcely taken a step.
"Stop!" ordered Kennedy.
The crook did so. ”

“ As we neared the crossroad, I gave an involuntary exclamation. Beside the road, almost on it, lay the figure of a man. Our driver pulled up with a jerk and I was out of the car in an instant.
There lay Kennedy! Someone had blackjacked him. He was groaning and just beginning to show signs of consciousness as I bent over.
"What's the matter, old man?" I asked, helping him to his feet.
He looked about dazed a moment, then seeing me and comprehending, he pointed excitedly, but vaguely.
"Elaine!" he cried. "They've kidnapped Elaine!" ”

“ 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. ”

“ She was pantomiming someone approaching stealthily while Kennedy watched her with interest, tinged with doubt. Behind Craig, in his closet, Dan was reaching for the switchboard button.
"You see," she said advancing quickly and acting her words, "he placed his hands on my shoulders—so—then threw his arms about my neck—so."
She said no more, but imprinted a deep, passionate kiss on Kennedy's mouth, clinging closely to him. Before Kennedy could draw away, Dan, in the closet, had pressed the button and the switch several times in rapid succession. ”