Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, April 04, 1915, EDITORIAL SOCIETY, Image 26

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    TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY HEE: APK1L 4, 1915.
A Detective Novel and a Motion Picture Drama
Presented by The Omaha Beo in Collaboration with the Famous Pathe
Players and the Eclectic Film Co.
& Miss Pearl White,
Arnold Daly and "Craig Kennedy'
iJL
The Famous Scientific Petectiye of Fiction.
IX
' . :
l I III ....
Written by Arthur B. Reeve
The Well - Known Novelist and the
Creator of the "Craig Kennedy' Stories
Dramatized Into a Photo-Play by Charles Goddard
Author of "The Perils o. Pauline"
Cm of Xfadlnf Character lm th Motloa Plot up Ksprodoetloa by t
Turnout rath Pltrin
ELAINE DODGE - - Miss Pearl White
CRAIG KENNEDY - - Mr. Arnold Daly
HARRY BENNETT - Mr, Sheldon Lewis
Everything 7011 read here today
you can see In the fascinating Pathe
Motion Picture at the Motion Pict
ure Theater this week. Next Hun
day another chapter of "The Exploits
f Elaine" and new Pathe reels.
(Copyright. IMS. by th Btar Co. All For
eign RizhU Reserved.)
SynopaU of lrTlooa Chapter.
The Now Tork police are mystified by
rlee of murders and other crime. The
rirlrtclpl clue to the criminal la a warring-
letter which la aent the victims,
signed with a clutching hand." The lat
est victim of the mysterious assassin la
Taylor iJorfge, the wealthy lnaurance
president. HI daughter, KlaJne, employ
Craig Kennedy, the Nmoui sclontlflc de
tective, to trv to unravel the mystery.
Whet Kennedy accompltHhes I told by
his friend, Jameson, a newiaper man.
Enraged at the determined effort which
Klalne and CrtlK Kennedy are making; to
r'Ut an end to his crimen, the Clutching
land, as this strange criminal I known
resorts to all sorts of the moat diabolical
schemes to r"t them out of the way. Kach
charter of the story tells of a now pint
RKalnst their lives and of th- way the
Kreat rtetoetlre use all his skill to save
this pretty girl and himself from death.
CHAPTER XIV.
The Draught of Death
Pacing up and down his den In th
heart of Chinatown, Long Fin was think
ing over his bargain with Kennedy to be
tray the Infamous Clutching Hand.
At length he seated himself at a teak
wood table, still deliberating over the
rromlse he had been forced to make to
Kennedy. "Tie sat for some momenta,
deeply absorbed In thought.
Suddenly sn Idea seemed to strike him.
lifting a little hammer, he struck a Chi
nese gong on the table at his side. At the
same time ha leaned over and turned a
knob at the side of a large rolltop desk.
A few seconds later a sort of hatchway,
covered by a rug on the floor. In one cor
ner of the room, waa alowly lifted, and
long Sin s secretary, a pale, cadaverous
Chinaman, 'appeared from below. Ho
stepped noiselessly Into the room and
ahuffled acroaa to Long Bin.
Long Bin scowled, as though something
had Interfered with his own plans, but
tore open th envelope without a word,
spreading out on hi lap th aheet of
paper It contained.
Th letter bore a typewritten message,
all in capitals, which read:
"BE AT HEADQUARTERS AT 11
DESTROY THIB IMitEDIA TEXT."
At th bottom of th not appeared th
Inlatar signature of th Clutching Hand
A soon as he had finished reading th
note th Chinaman turned to his obse
quious secretary, who stood motionless,
with folded arm and head meekly bent
"Very well,- he aald. with an imperious
wave of his hand. "You may go."
Bowing low again th secretary ahuffled
across and down again through the
hatchway, closing th door as he de
scended. Long Bin read th note one more,
while his Inscrutable fee assumed an
expression of malicious cunning. Then he
glanced at hla heavy gold watch.
A few moments later, with a malignant
chuckle. Long Bin rose slowly and left
the room.
Meanwhile the master criminal was
busily engaged in putting the finishing
touches to a final scheme of fiendish In
genuity for the abaolute destruction of
Craig Kennedy.
He had been at work In a small room,
fitted up as a sort of laboratory., in the
myaterioue house which now served a hla
headquarters.
Clutching Hand, at a benoh In one cor
ner, had Just completed an Infernal ma
chin of diabolical cunning, and was
wrapping It carefully in psper to make
an Innocent package.
He was Interrupted by a knock at th
door. Laying down the bomb he went to
answer the summons with a stealthy
movement There stood Long sin wno
had dlsguUed hlmelf a a Chinese laun
dryman. "On tlmegood: growled Clutching
Hand hurldly a he closed the door with
equal car.
No time wa waated In uaeleaa formali
ties. "This is a bomb." he went on. pointing
U th package. "Carry It carefully. On
n account let It slip, or you are a dead
man. It must be in Kennedy labora
tory before nlht I'nderstand? Can you
arrange Itr
long Bin glanced at th dangerous
packag. then with an Impassive look,
replied: "Have no feer. I can do " Tt
will b In th laboratory within an hour
Trust me."
For a moment Clutching Hand gave
op u exqui.it. contemplation of
what had Just done, then turned to
clear p hi workshop.
In Kennedy Isboratory I was wait.
tng Cs-alg make aom experiments with
a new X-ray apparatua which had Just
arrived, occasionally looking through
th fluoroecope hen he was examining
some unusually Interesting object.
W were onlWIou to th paa of
lime, and only a call over our speaking
tub diverted our attention.
I opened th door and a few second
later Long Hla himself entered.
Kennedy looked up Inquiringly the
Chiuainaa approached, holding out a
packag which h carried.
"A bomb," he .ld. in the mot matter-of-fact
way. "I promised to hav it
placed in your laboratory before night."
The placid air with whtcU tit grotesque-looking
Chinaman Imparted this
astounding- Information was In Itself pre
posteroua His act ons and aorda as he
laid the package down gingerly on the
abort tory table indicated that ha was
Veiling the truth.
Kennedy and I stared at each ottwr
In blank amasrment 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 sol
Hastily I filled a 'pail with water and
brought It to Kennedy.
"If It I really a bomb," 1 remarked,
"why not put the thing out of commis
sion T"
"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.
He took th bomb and carefully placed
It under the wonderful rsys, then with
the fluoroiicope over his eyes studied the
ahadow csst by tiie ray on Its sensitive
screen. For several minutes he con
tinued safely studying It from every
anglo, until he thoroughly understood !t
"It's a bomb, sure enough," Craig ex- '
claimed, 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 ua all, the laboratory Included, to
kingdom come."
Aa he apoke, and before I could remon
strate with h'm, he took the Infernal
machine and placed It on a table, where
he aet to work on the most delicate and
dangerous piece of dissection of which I
have ever heard.
Carefully unwrapping the bomb, and un
screwing one pert while he held another
firm, he finally took out of It a bottle of
liquid and some powder. Then he placed
a few grnln of the powder on a dish
nd dropped on It a drop or two of tho
liquid. There was a bright flah a
the powder Igrltcd 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 microscope.
A nearly aa I could make out, the pa
per contained part of a typewritten
chemical formula, which read:
"Tlnctur of Iodine. Three part of
He looked up from his study of the
microscope to Long Bin.
"Tell me Just how It happened that you
got thl bomb," he asked.
Without hesitation th Chinaman r
olted the circumstance, beginning with
th not by which he had been sum
monad. "A notT" repeated Kennedy, eagerly.
"Was it typewritten?"
Long Sin reached into hi pocket and
produced th not Itself, which h had
not burned.
A Craig studied th typewritten mes
sage from th Clutohing Hand I eonld aee
that he waa growing mo're and nor ex
cited. "At last h ha given us something
typewritten." he exclaimed. "To moat I
People, I suppose, it means that type-1
writing Is the beat way to conceal Iden- I
tlty. But there ar a thousand and one
ways of Identifying typewriting. Clutch
ing Hand knew that That waa why he
waa so careful to order this note de
stroyed. A for th bomb, be figured
that It would destroy itself."
He was placing one piece of tvnewrit.
ing after another under the lens, acru
Uniting each letter closely.
lioovt, Walter." he remarked at
length, taking a fine tipped pencil and
pointing at the distinguishing marks as
h tallest "v., -.111 ..... ,. I
. -v w.ii iiuulw mat nu ins
T'a' In this note ar battered and faint
aa well as a trifle out of alignment Now
I will place the paper from the bomb un
der the microscope and you will also aee
that the Ti' In the scrap of formula
have exactly th same appearance. That
Indicates without th possibility of a
doubt taken In eonneotlon with a score
of other peculiarities In the letters which
I could pick out that both these were
written on the same typewriter. I have
selected the TV because It I th most
marked."
I strained my eyes to look. Sur
enough, Kennedy waa right There wa
that unmistakable identity between th
T'a In the formula and the noWr
Kennedy had been gax'.ng at th floor,
hla face puckered In thought aa I looked.
Suddenly tie clapped hla hand together,
aa If h had mad a great discovery.
"I've struck it!" he exclaimed. Jump
ing up. "I waa wondering wher I had
aeen typewriting that remind m of thla
Walter, get on your coat and hat. Wa
are on the right trail at lat"
Aunt Josephine wa In th library,
knitting, when th butler, Jannlnga, an
nounced ua. We were admitted at onoe,
for Aunt Josephine had newer quit un
derstood what waa th trouble between
Klatne and Craig, and had a high regard
for him.
"Where Is Miss Dodger Inquired
Kennedy, with suppressed excitement, a
w entered.
"I think she's out shopping, and I
don't know Just when h will be back,"
anawered Aunt Josephine, with aorae
aurprlse. "Why? I it anything Im
portantany new?"
"Very Important." returned Kennedy,
excitedly. "I think I hav th best rlu
yet. Only it will be neceosary to look
through some of th houiehold corre
spondence Immediately to see wheth.-r
tl-re are certain lettera. I wouldn t be
surprised If she had some perhaps not
very personal but I must see them."
Aunt Josephine seemed nonplussed at
flisL I thought she as going to refuse
to allow Craig to proceed. Hut finally
she assented.
Kennedy lost no tlm. II went to a
desk wher Maine generally sat. and
quickly took out several typewritten let
ters. On after another h examined
them closely, rejecting on after another,
until finally he came to out that socmcd
to Interest him.
II separated It from the ret and fall
to atudylng it, comparing It alio th pa-
r. . '-JU-V ...
. ' . - ft 'j , 1 '.'v i
Vxv..
it
liennett, the Trusted lawyer, Attem
that She Know lie la
per 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 addrena 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 C'alg,
with djrfleulty restraining hlmaetf. "What
do you make of it?"
A glance at the typewriting was suffi
cient to show me that Kennedy had .In
deed, 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
fatntness, the same crooked alignment,
the same battered appearance of all the
letter T'a.
We stared at each other, almost too
daxed to speak.
At that moment w 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
aims a huge bunch of roses, which she
had evidently Just received. Her face was
half burled in th fragrant blossoms, but
was fairer than even they in their se
lected elegance.
The moment she saw Craig, however,
she stopped short with a look of great
surprise. Kennedy, on his part, who waa
seated at th desk, still tracing out the
similarities of the letters, stood up, half
hesitating what to say. He bowed, and
she returned hi salutation with a very
cool nod.
"I beg pardon. Mis Dodg.M he said.
"but a matter haa Just com up which j
necessiiaiea merely a cursory examina
tion of om purely formal letters which
might hav an Important bearlna on the
discovery of th Clutching Hand- Tour!
aunt had no Idea wher you were, nor
when you might return, and th absolute
necessity for haste In such an Important
matter la my only excuse for examining
a few minor letters without first obtain
ing your permission."
. She said nothing. At another time such
an explanation would have been Instantly
accepted. "Now, however, it waa differ
ent 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 word to Mis Dodge alone,"
he Intimated. "I have had no suoh op
portunity for some time. If you would
be so kind as to leave us In the library
for a few minute"
Ho did not finish the sentence. Aunt Jo
sephine 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 waa wonder
ing if thrro was an X-ray that might
read a woman's heart, aa he wa aocua
tomed to read other of nature's aecrets.
He cleared his throat, the obvious man
ner of covering up hta emotion.
"Elaine," he aald at lensth. dronnlnr
the recent return to "M!e Dodge." for
the moment "Elaine, la there any truth
In this morning's newspaper report of
of you?"
8he had dropped hr yes. Bus he per
sisted, taking a newspaper clipping from
hla pocket and hand'ng it to her.
Her hand trembled as she glanced over
the Item:
SOCIETT NOTES.
I"ame Rumor Is connecting th name of
MUs Elaine Dodge, the helres. with that
of Perry Dennett the famous young law
yer. Th announcement of an engage
ment between them at any tlm would
not surprise.
Klalne read no further. She handed
back the clipping to Kennedy. As her
eye met hi ah noticed hi expression
of deep concern, and healtatsd with the
reply ah had evidently been Juat about
to mak.
Still, a h lowered her head It seamed
to give allent confirmation to th truth
of th newspaper report.
Kennedy said nothing, but hla eyce
continued to atudy her face.
lie suppressed his feelings with a great
effort then, without a woit. bowed and
left the room.
"Walter!" he exclaimed as he rejoined
in me urawing room, whore I waa
i chatting with Aunt Josephine, -we must
lw ... . 1 . T. 1. . I , .. ....
" v.i aftnni. Ilia trail KOllOWS SUU
furthwr "
I rose and, much to the Increased mysti
fication of Aunt Josephine, we left the
house.
An hour or so later, Elaine, whose
mind waa now In a whirl from what had
! happened, decided to make a call on her
lawyer and the confidant of her father,
j l'erry Bennett.
I Two or turve clerks wer in th outer
I office when she arrived, but th office
lioy, lalitg down a dime novel, rose to
meet her and informed her that Mr.
Bennett wa alone. v
4
..H'M!:!
S?fi
fi
a
pta to Kill Elaine When He Finds
the Master Criminal.
Aa Elaine entered his private office,
Rennett roeo 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 ex
claimed at length. "They were beautiful,
and I appreciate them over so much."
Bennett acknowledged her thanks, with
a smile, placed a chair for her and? thoy
plunged into a vein of social gossip.
A moment later Bennett led the con
versation around until he found an op
portunity to make a tactful allusion to
the report of their engagement In tho
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 st her a moment, sup
pressing a momentary flash of anger
that had reddened his face, and con
trolled himself aa If by a auperhuman
effort.
"I believe you really love that man
Kennedy," he exclaimed In a tone that
was almost a his. "But I tell you,
Elaine, he Is all bluff. Why, he has been
after that Clutching Hand now for three
months and what haa he accomplished?
Nothing!"
Bennett by another effort, seemed to
grip hla temper again. Ho paced up and
down the room. Then he changed the
subject abruptly, and the conversation
waa resumed with some constraint
While Elain and Bennett wer talking
Kennedy and I had entered th office.
Craig stopped the boy who was about
to announce us and naked for Bennett's
secretary Instead, much to my astonish
ment Th boy merely Indicated th door of
on of thother private offices, and w
entered.
,W found th secretary hard at work
at th typewriter, copying a legal docu
ment Without a word Kennedy at onoa
locked th door.
Th 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" begin the secretary.
"You keep quiet," ordered Kennedy,
with a nod to me to watch the fellow.
"You are under arrest end the less you
say the better for you."
I shall never forget the look that
crossed the secretary's fare. Waa it the
aurprlse of an Innocent man?
Taking the man place at the machine
Kennedy removed the legal paper that
was In It and put in a new aheet Then .
he tapped out aa we watched:
BB AT HEADQUARTERS AT U. DE- j
8TROY THIS -IMMEDIATELY. j
TINCTURE OF IODINE
THREE PART8 OF j
Thl la his contention whereas TRUTH '
Is the only goal and MATTER is non-
existent ; j
TTTTTTTTT TTTTTTTTT TTTTTTTTT ,
"Look, Walter." he exclaimed as he
drew out the' paper from the -machine. '
I bent over, ar.d 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' deak.
A Craig pointed out th resemblance
with a pencil my amazement gradually
changed Into comprehension and com
prehension 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 secre
tary's office Bennett and Elaine wero
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 onoe.
Phe 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 hi office, with some an
noyance, and went Into the adjoining
room, th 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 my-
I aclf apparently making a close examina
tion of the typewriter.
! Gilding rather than walking back Into
hla own office, he closed the door and
' lockvd It. Almost Instantly fear and fury
' at the presence of his hated rival, Ken
nedy, turned Bennett, as It were, from
tho Jekyll of a polished lawyer and lover
1 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 loath
ing. Klalne watched him slowly change
from th composed, calm. Intellectual
Bennett she knew and respected Into a
rtpulslve.' mad figure of a man.
His stature even aeemed to be altered.
He aeemed to shrivel up and become de
formed. Hla face was terribly distorted.
And his long, sinewy hand alowly
talated and bent, until he became th
personal embodiment of th Clutching
Hand
He was the Clutching Hand!
In spite of the cloned doors we could
nw plainly hear Elaine's shrieks. Craig,
the serretary and myself mado 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 wns
siowly choking her. .
Kennedy quickly found that it was im
possible to batter down the door in time
by ordinary means Quickly he seized
the typewriter and hurled It through the
panels. Then he thrust his hand through
the opening and turned tho catch.
As we flung ourselves Into the room
Bennett runhed Into a closet In a corner,
slamming the door behind him. It wo
composed of sheet iron and effectually
prevented anyone from breaking through.
Kennedy and I tried vainly, however, to
pry It open.
While we mere 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 charac
ter of the Clutching Hand. Then he
cautiously opened a secret door In the
back of the closet and alowly mad an
exit I
Shouting a few direction to the secre
tary, the clerks -and Elaine, Kennedy
climbed through the window and darted
down the fire escape in awlft purault.
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 th driver directions, was
driven rapidly awny. By the time Ken
nedy reached the street Clutching Hand
had disappeared.
While these ex-citing event were occur
ring In Bennett's office some queer do
ings were in progre.es In the' heart of
Chinatown.
Deep underground, in one of the cata
combs known only to the Innermost mem
bers of the Chinese secret societies, waa
Tong Wah, popularly known as "the
lildor," engaged In some mysterious work.
A sinister looking Chinaman, dressed In
coolie codtume, he was standing at a table
In a dim and musty, hlgh-cellinged cham
ber, faced with stone and brick. Before
him were eight odd-shaped Chinese vials,
and from these he was carefully measur
ing certain proportions, aa if concocting
some powerful potion.
He stepped back and looked around sus
piciously as he suddenly heard footstep
above. The next moment Long Sin,, who
had entered through a trap door, climbed
down a long ladder and walked Into the
room.
Long Sin took the bowl in which the
liquor had been mlxed, and, having ex
amined It he gave a nod and grunt of
satisfaction. Then he mounted the ladder
again and disappeared.
As soon as he had gone, Tong Wah,
picking up several of the vial, went out
through an Iron door at the end of the
room.
A few minutes later th Clutchrng Hand
drove up to long Sin's house in the taxi
cab, 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 aston
ished to see him.
As he entered, Bennett made a secret
lgn and aald: "I am the Clutching Hand
Kennedy 1 cloae on my trail, and I have
com to be hidden.'
In a tone which betrayed alarm and
fr th Chinaman Intimated that he had
no plaoe In which Bennett could be con
cealed with any degree of aafety.
For a moment Bennett glared savagely
at Lonac 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' cupidity was clearly
1th
Hesse Theatre Theatre
SOUTH OMAHA 16th and Binnoy
Every Wednesday Every Thursday -
Episode No. 14 April 7 Episode No. 13 Aprils
Favorite Theatre em Theatre
1716 Vinton St. -1528 So. 13th St.
Every Tuesday Episode Ko. 12 Today April 4
Episode No. 14 April 6 Best Projection in The City
PAKL Theatre Qicholas Theatre
14th and Douglas Council Bluffs, la.
Episode No. 10 April 7 Episode No. 7 April 6
! 7i I DIAMOND THEATRE
awuonroe ineafre 2410 Lake st-
yVHVII. WW li.OU.,1 V Every Tuesday Episode Ko. 13 April 6
2555 Farnam St. tudq Tu I
... . . aUOTHROP Thoatro
Every Wednesday
Episode No. 13 April 7 Episode Ko, 12 April 9
IFor Bookings
excited by Bennett's offer, while the
bare mention of the amount at stake was
sufficient to overcome all his scruple.
After exchanging a few words he finally
acreed to aid the Clutching Hand. Open
ing a trnp door in the floor of the room
In which they were stnndlng. he led Ben
nett down a step-ladder Into the sub
terranean chamber In which Tong Wah
had so recently been preparing his
mysterious potion. ,
As Bennett sank Into a chair and pased
his hands over his brow In utter weart
nees. Long Pin poured Into a cup some
of the liquor of death whlcli. Tong Wah
had mixed. He handed It to Bennett,
who drank It eagerly.
"How do you propose' to help me to
escape?" aked Bennett huskily.
Without a word Long Sin went to the
wall, and, grasping ono of tho stones,
pressed It back, opening a largo recep
tacle. In which there were two glass cof
fins 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 thla 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 cof'lns.
Overcome by the horror of the Idea
Bennett with a groan, sank back into
the chair, shaking hla hend as If to In
dicate that the plan was far too terriblo
to carry out.
With a sinister smile and a shrug of
his ahoulders Long Sin pointed to tho
cup from which Bennett had drunk.
"But dear master," he remarked
suavely, "you have already drunk a full
dose of the potion which causes insensi
bility, 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 al
ready taking effect, and through sheer
weaknexs 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 $7,000,0(10 are bid
den," he suggested craftily, "and I will
give you an antidote."
By this time Bennett, who was becom
ing more rigid each moment was un
able to apeak, but by a movement of his
head and an expression In his eyes he
indicated that he was ready to agree
to the Chinaman' proposal.
"Where have you hidden the 17,000,000?"
repeated Long Sin.
Slowly, and after a desperate struggle,
Bennett managed to raise one hand and
pointed to his breast pocket. The China
man Instantly thrust In bis hand and
drew out a map.
For some momenta 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 oup, h held It to
Bennett's lips.
As Bennett opened his mouth to drink
It Long Sin with a laugh slowly pulled
th cup away and poured it content
on th floor.
Bennett' body had now become still
more rigid. EVery sign of intelligence
had left his face, and although hla eyes
did not close, a blank stare came over
his countenance. Indicating plainly that
the drug had destroyed all conscious
ness. By this time I was slowly recovering
my senses In the secretary's office, where
Bennett bad left me. Elaine, the secre
..with..
PRESENTED BY PATHE EXCHANGE, Inc.
Hee the Pictures at the Following Theatres
tary and the clerks were gathered around
me. doing all they could to revive me.
Meanwhile Kennedy had enlisted the aid
of two detectives and waa scouring the
city for a trace of Bennett or the taxlcab
In which ho had fled.
Somehow, Kennedy suspected Instinct
ively that Long Mn might give clue to
Bennett's whereabouts, and a few mo
ments later we were all on our way in a
car to Long Pin's house.
ThotiKh wo did not know it Long Sin.
at the moment when Kennedy knocked
at his door, was feeling In his lnnido
pocket to see that the map he hod taken
from Bennett was perfectly safe. Find
ing that he had It. he smiled with his pe
culiar oriental guile. Then he opved the
door and stood for a moment silent
"Where Is Bennett?" demanded Ken
nedy. Long Sin eyed us all, then, with a placid
smile.aJd, "Follow me. I will show you."
He opened a trap door and we climbed
down after Craig, entering a aubteiraean
chamber, led by Long Sin.
There was Bennett, seated rigidly In the
chair beside the table, from which the
vials and cups, about wll'h w knew
nothing, had been removed.
"How did It happen?" asked Kennyly.
"He came here," replied Long Bin, 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 Ken
nedy, shaking his head sadly, adding after
a pause, "but he Is dead."
Elaine, who had followed us down, cov
ered 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-dld you really love him?"
he asked In a low tone, nodding In the di
rection from which he had led her.
Still shuddering, and with an eager lock
at Kennedy, Elaine shook her beautiful
head.
Then, slowly rising to her feet she
locked at Craig appeallngly. For a mo
ment he looked down Into her two great
lakes of eyes.
"Forgive mo," murmured Elaine, hold
ing out her hand. Then she added In a
voice tense with emotion, "Thank you for
saving me."
Kennedy took her hand. For a mo
ment he held it. Then he drew her to
ward him, unresisting.
To Be Continued. )
DuBcnaFBAiixt,
SANATORIUrt
This Institution Is the only one
In the central west with separate
buildings situated in their own
ample grounds, yet entirely dis
tinct, and rendering it possible to
classify cases. The one building
being fitted for and devoted to the
treatment of non-contagious and
non-mental diseases, no others be
ing admitted; the other Rest Cot
tage being designed for and de
lx. . the exclusive treatment
ot select mental cases requiring
for a time watchful care and spe
cial nursing.
None of 'em are in it at
fun-making with the Kat
zenjammers, Happy Hooli
gan and little Snookums.
Write FAT II E EXCHANGE, Inc.
1312 Farnam St. Omaha, Nebraska