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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5094.txt b/5094.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..04ed7e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/5094.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12126 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Romance of Elaine, by Arthur B. Reeve + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Romance of Elaine + +Author: Arthur B. Reeve + +Posting Date: September 15, 2012 [EBook #5094] +Release Date: February, 2004 +First Posted: April 24, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + +THE CRAIG KENNEDY SERIES + +THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE + +A DETECTIVE NOVEL + +Sequel to the "Exploits" + +BY + +ARTHUR B. REEVE + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I THE SERPENT SIGN + + II THE CRYPTIC RING + + III THE WATCHING EYE + + IV THE VENGEANCE OF WU FANG + + V THE SHADOWS OF WAR + + VI THE LOST TORPEDO + + VII THE GRAY FRIAR + +VIII THE VANISHING MAN + + IX THE SUBMARINE HARBOR + + X THE CONSPIRATORS + + XI THE WIRELESS DETECTIVE + + XII THE DEATH CLOUD + +XIII THE SEARCHLIGHT GUN + + XIV THE LIFE CHAIN + + XV THE FLASH + + XVI THE DISAPPEARING HELMETS + +XVII THE TRIUMPH OF ELAINE + + + + +THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE SERPENT SIGN + + +Rescued by Kennedy at last from the terrible incubus of Bennett's +persecution in his double life of lawyer and master criminal, Elaine +had, for the first time in many weeks, a feeling of security. + +Now that the strain was off, however, she felt that she needed rest and +a chance to recover herself and it occurred to her that a few quiet +days with "Aunt" Tabitha, who had been her nurse when she was a little +girl, would do her a world of good. + +She sent for Aunt Tabby, yet the fascination of the experiences through +which she had just gone still hung over her. She could not resist +thinking and reading about them, as she sat, one morning, with the +faithful Rusty in the conservatory of the Dodge house. + +I had told the story at length in the Star, and the heading over it +caught her eye. + +It read: + + THE CLUTCHING HAND DEAD + + ------ + + Double Life Exposed by Craig Kennedy + + Perry Bennett, the Famous Young Lawyer, Takes + Poison--Kennedy Now on Trail of Master Criminal's + Hidden Millions. + + ---- + +As Elaine glanced down the column, Jennings announced that Aunt Tabby, +as she loved to call her old friend, had arrived, and was now in the +library with Aunt Josephine. + +With an exclamation of delight, Elaine dropped the paper and, followed +by Rusty, almost ran into the library. + +Aunt Tabby was a stout, elderly, jolly-faced woman, precisely the sort +whom Elaine needed to watch over her just now. + +"Oh, I'm so glad to see you," half laughed Elaine as she literally +flung herself into her nurse's arms. "I feel so unstrung--and I thought +that if I could just run off for a few days with you and Joshua in the +country where no one would know, it might make me feel better. You have +always been so good to me. Marie! Are my things packed? Very well. +Then, get my wraps." + +Her maid left the room. + +"Bless your soul," mothered Aunt Tabby stroking her soft golden hair, +"I'm always glad to have you in that fine house you bought me. And, +faith, Miss Elaine, the house is a splendid place to rest in but I +don't know what's the matter with it lately. Joshua says its haunts--" + +"Haunts?" repeated Elaine in amused surprise. "Why, what do you mean?" + +Marie entered with the wraps before Aunt Tabby could reply and Jennings +followed with the baggage. + +"Nonsense," continued Elaine gaily, as she put on her coat, and turned +to bid Aunt Josephine good-bye. "Good-bye, Tabitha," said her real +aunt. "Keep good care of my little girl." + +"That I will," returned the nurse. "We don't have all these troubles +out in the country that you city folks have." + +Elaine went out, followed by Rusty and Jennings with the luggage. + +"Now for a long ride in the good fresh air," sighed Elaine as she +leaned back on the cushions of the Dodge limousine and patted Rusty, +while the butler stowed away the bags. + +The air certainly did, if anything, heighten the beauty of Elaine and +at last they arrived at Aunt Tabby's, tired and hungry. + +The car stopped and Elaine, Aunt Tabby and the dog got out. There, +waiting for them, was "Uncle" Joshua, as Elaine playfully called him, a +former gardener of the Dodges, now a plain, honest countryman on whom +the city was fast encroaching, a jolly old fellow, unharmed by the +world. + +Aunt Tabby's was an attractive small house, not many miles from New +York, yet not in the general line of suburban travel. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy and I had decided to bring Bennett's papers and documents over +to the laboratory to examine them. We were now engaged in going over +the great mass of material which he had collected, in the hope of +finding some clue to the stolen millions which he must have amassed as +a result of his villainy. The table was stacked high. + +A knock at the door told us that the expressman had arrived and a +moment later he entered, delivering a heavy box. Kennedy signed for it +and started to unpack it. + +I was hard at work, when I came across a large manila envelope +carefully sealed, on which were written the figures "$7,000,000." Too +excited even to exclaim, I tore the envelope open and examined the +contents. + +Inside was another envelope. I opened that. It contained merely a blank +piece of paper! + +With characteristic skill at covering his tracks, Bennett had also +covered his money. Puzzled, I turned the paper over and over, looking +at it carefully. It was a large sheet of paper, but it showed nothing. + +"Huh!" I snorted to myself, "confound him." + +Yet I could not help smiling at my own folly, a minute later, in +thinking that the Clutching Hand would leave any information in such an +obvious place as an envelope. I threw the paper into a wire basket on +the desk and went on sorting the other stuff. + +Kennedy had by this time finished unpacking the box, and was examining +a bottle which he had taken from it. + +"Come here, Walter," he called at length. "Ever see anything like that?" + +"I can't say," I confessed, getting up to go to him. "What is it?" + +"Bring a piece of paper." he added. + +I went back to the desk where I had been working and looked about +hastily. My eye fell on the blank sheet of paper which I had taken from +Bennett's envelope, and I picked it up from the basket. + +"Here's one," I said, handing it to him. "What are you doing?" + +Kennedy did not answer directly, but began to treat the paper with the +liquid from the bottle. Then he lighted a Bunsen burner and thrust the +paper into the flame. The paper did not burn! + +"A new system of fire-proofing," laughed Craig, enjoying my +astonishment. + +He continued to hold the paper in the flame. Still it did not burn. + +"See?" he went on, withdrawing it, and starting to explain the +properties of the new fire-proofer. + +He had scarcely begun, when he stopped in surprise. He had happened to +glance at the paper again, bent over to examine it more intently, and +was now looking at it in surprise. + +I looked also. There, clearly discernible on the paper, was a small +part of what looked like an architect's drawing of a fireplace. + +Craig looked up at me, nonplussed. "Where did you say you got that?" he +asked. + +"It was a blank piece of paper among Bennett's effects," I returned, as +mystified as he, pointing at the littered desk at which I had been +working. + +Kennedy said nothing, but thrust the paper back again into the flame. +Slowly, the heat of the burner seemed to bring out the complete drawing +of the fireplace. + +We looked at it, even more mystified. "What is it, do you suppose?" I +queried. + +"I think," he replied slowly, "that it was drawn with sympathetic ink. +The heat of the burner brought it out into sight." + +What was it about? + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine had gone to bed that night at Aunt Tabby's in the room which her +old nurse had fixed up especially for her. It was a very attractive +little room with dainty chintz curtains and covers and for the first +time in many weeks Elaine slept soundly and fearlessly. + +Down-stairs, in the living-room, Rusty also was asleep, his nose +between his paws. + +The living-room was in keeping with everything at Aunt Tabby's, plain, +neat, homelike. On one side was a large fireplace that gave to it an +air of quaint hospitality. + +Suddenly Rusty woke up, his ears pointed at this fireplace. He stood a +moment, listening, then, with a bark of alarm he sped swiftly from the +living-room, up the stairs at a bound, until he came to Elaine's room. + +Elaine felt his cold nose at her hand and stirred, then awoke. + +"What is it, Rusty?" she asked, mindful of the former days when Rusty +gave warning of the Clutching Hand and his emissaries. + +Rusty wagged his tail. Something was wrong. + +Elaine followed him down to the living-room. She went over and lighted +the electric lamp on the table, then turned to Rusty. + +"Well, Rusty?" she asked, almost as if he were human. + +She had no need to repeat the question. Rusty was looking straight at +the fireplace. + +Elaine listened. Sure enough, she heard strange noises. Was that Aunt +Tabby's "haunt"? Whatever it was, it sounded as if it came up from the +very depths of the earth. + +She could not make out just what it sounded like. It might have been +some one striking a piece of iron, a bolt, with a sledge. + +What was it? + +She continued to listen in wonder, then ran to Aunt Tabby's bedroom +door, on the first floor, and knocked. + +Aunt Tabby woke up and shook Joshua. + +"Aunt Tabby! Aunt Tabby!" called Elaine. + +"Yes, my dear," answered the old nurse, now fully awake and +straightening her nightcap. "Joshua!" + +Together the old couple came out into the living-room, still in their +nightclothes, Joshua yawning sleepily still. + +"Listen!" whispered Elaine. + +There was the noise again. This time it was more as though some one +were beating a rat-tat-tat with something on a rock. It was weird, +uncanny, as all stood there, none knowing where the strange noises came +from. + +"It's the haunts!" cried Aunt Tabby, trembling a bit. "For three nights +now we've been hearing these noises." + +Around and around the room they walked, still trying to locate the +strange sounds. Were they under the floor? It was impossible to say. +They gave it up and stood there, looking blankly at each other. Was it +the work of human or superhuman hands? + +Finally Joshua went to a table drawer and opened it. He took out a +huge, murderous-looking revolver. + +"Here, Miss Elaine," he urged, pressing it on her, "take this--keep it +near you!" + +The noises ceased at length, as strangely as they had begun. + +Half an hour later, they had all gone back to bed and were asleep. But +Elaine's sleep now was fitful, a constant procession of faces flitted +before her closed eyes. + +Suddenly, she woke with a start and stared into the semi-darkness. Was +that face real, or a dream face? Was it the hideous helmeted face that +had dragged her down into the sewer once? That man was dead. Who was +this? + +She gazed at the bedroom window, holding the huge revolver tightly. +There, vague in the night light, appeared a figure. Surely that was no +dream face of the oxygen helmet. Besides, it was not the same helmet. + +She sat bolt upright and fired, pointblank, at the window, shivering +the glass. A second later she had leaped from the bed, switched on the +lights and was running to the sill. + +Down-stairs, Aunt Tabby and Uncle Joshua had heard the shot. Joshua was +now wide awake. He seized his old shotgun and ran out into the +livingroom. Followed by Aunt Tabby, he hurried to Elaine. + +"Wh-what was it?" he asked, puffing at the exertion of running +up-stairs. + +"I saw--a face--at the window--with some kind of thing over it!" gasped +Elaine. "It was like one I saw once before." + +Uncle Joshua did not wait to hear any more. With the gun pointed ahead +of him, ready for instant action, he ran out of the room and into the +garden, beneath Elaine's window. + +He looked about for signs of an intruder. There was not a sound. No one +was about, here. + +"I don't see any one," he called up to Elaine and Aunt Tabby in the +window. + +He happened to look down at the ground. Before him was a small box. He +picked it up. + +"Here's something, though," he said. + +Joshua went back into the house. + +"What is it?" asked Elaine as he rejoined the women. + +She took the curious little box and unfastened the cover. As she opened +it, she drew back. There in the box was a little ivory figure of a man, +all hunched up and shrunken, a hideous figure. She recoiled from it--it +reminded her too much of the Chinese devil-god she had seen,--and she +dropped the box. + +For a moment all stood looking at it in horrified amazement. + + . . . . . . . + +It was the afternoon following the day of our strange discovery of the +fireplace done in sympathetic ink on the apparently blank sheet of +paper in Bennett's effects, when the speaking-tube sounded and I +answered it. + +"Why--it's Elaine," I exclaimed. + +Kennedy's face showed the keenest pleasure at the unexpected visit. +"Tell her to come right up," he said quickly. + +I opened the door for her. + +"Why--Elaine--I'm awfully glad to see you," he greeted, "but I thought +you were rusticating." + +"I was, but, Craig, it seems to me that wherever I go, something +happens," she returned. "You know, Aunt Tabby said there were haunts. I +thought it was an old woman's fear--but last night I heard the +strangest noises out there, and I thought I saw a face at the window--a +face in a helmet. And when Joshua went out, this is what he found on +the ground under my window." + +She handed Kennedy a box, a peculiar affair which she touched gingerly +and only with signs of the greatest aversion. + +Kennedy opened it. There, in the bottom of the box, was a little ivory +devil-god. He looked at it curiously a moment. + +"Let me see," he ruminated, still regarding the sign. "The house you +bought for Aunt Tabby, once belonged to Bennett, didn't it?" + +Elaine nodded her head. "Yes, but I don't see what that can have to do +with it," she agreed, adding with a shudder, "Bennett is dead." + +Kennedy had taken a piece of paper from the desk where he had put it +away carefully. "Have you ever seen anything that looks like this?" he +asked, handing her the paper. + +Elaine looked at the plan carefully, as Kennedy and I scanned her face. +She glanced up, her expression showing plainly the wonder she felt. + +"Why, yes," she answered. "That looks like Aunt Tabby's fireplace in +the living-room." + +Kennedy said nothing for a moment. Then he seized his hat and coat. + +"If you don't mind," he said, "we'll go back there with you." + +"Mind?" she repeated. "Just what I had hoped you would do." + + . . . . . . . + +Wu Fang, the Chinese master mind, had arrived in New York. + +Beside Wu, the inscrutable, Long Sin, astute though he was, was a mere +pigmy--his slave, his advance agent, as it were, a tentacle sent out to +discover the most promising outlet for the nefarious talents of his +master. + +New York did not know of the arrival of Wu Fang, the mysterious--yet. +But down in the secret recesses of Chinatown, in the ways that are +devious and dark, the oriental crooks knew--and trembled. + +Thus it happened that Long Sin was not permitted to enjoy even the +foretaste of Bennett's spoils which he had forced from him after his +weird transformation into his real self, the Clutching Hand, when the +Chinaman had given him the poisoned draught that had put him into his +long sleep. + +He had obtained the paper showing where the treasure amassed by the +Clutching Hand was hidden, but Wu Fang, his master, had come. + +Wu had immediately established himself in the most sumptuous of +apartments, hidden behind the squalid exterior of the ordinary tenement +building in Chinatown. + +The night following his arrival, Wu Fang was reclining on a divan, when +his servant announced that Long Sin was at the door. + +As Long Sin entered, it was evident that, cunning and shrewd though he +was himself, Wu was indeed his master. He approached in fear and awe, +cringing low. + +"Have you brought the map with you?" asked Wu. + +Long Sin bowed low again, and drew from under his coat the paper which +he had obtained from Bennett. For a moment the two, master and slave in +guile, bent over, closely studying it. + +At one point in the map Long Sin's bony finger paused over a note which +Bennett had made: + +BEWARE POISONED GAS UPON OPENING COMPARTMENT. + +"And you think you can trace it out?" asked Wu. + +"Without a doubt," bowed Long Sin. + +He went over to a bag near-by, which he had already sent up by another +servant, and opened it. Inside was an oxygen helmet. He replaced it, +after showing it to Wu. + +"With the aid of the science of the white devil, we shall overcome the +science of the white devil," purred Long Sin subtly. + +Outside, Wu had already ordered a car to wait, and together the two +drove off rapidly. Into the country, they sped, until at last they came +to a lonely turn in a lonely road, somewhat removed from the section +that was rapidly being built up as population reached out from the +city, but on a single-tracked trolley line. + +Long Sin alighted and disappeared with a parting word of instruction +from Wu who remained in the car. The Chinaman carried with him the +heavy bag with the oxygen helmet. + +Along this interurban trolley the cars made only half-hourly trips at +this time of night. Long Sin hurried down the road until he came to a +trolley pole, then looked hastily at his watch. It was twenty minutes +at least before the next car would pass. + +Quickly, almost monkey-like, he climbed up the pole, carrying with him +the end of a wire which he had taken from the bag. + +Having thrown this over the feed wire, he slid quickly to the ground +again. Then, carrying the other end of the wire in his rubber-gloved +hands, he made his way through the underbrush, in and out, almost like +the serpent he was, until he came to a passageway in the rough and +uncleared hillside--a small opening formed by the rocks. + +It was dark inside, but he did not hesitate to enter, carrying the wire +and the bag with him. + + . . . . . . . + +It was nightfall before we arrived with Elaine at Aunt Tabby's. We +entered the living-room and Elaine introduced us both to Aunt Tabby and +her husband. + +It was difficult to tell whether Elaine's old nurse was more glad to +see her than the faithful Rusty who almost overwhelmed her even after +so short an absence. + +In the midst of the greetings, I took occasion to look over the +living-room. It was a very cozy room, simply and tastefully furnished, +and I fancied that I could see in the neatness of Aunt Tabby a touch of +Elaine's hand, for she had furnished it for her faithful old friend. + +I followed Kennedy's eyes, and saw that he was looking at the +fireplace. Sure enough, it was the same in design as the fireplace +which the heat had so unexpectedly brought out in sympathetic ink on +the blank sheet of paper. + +Kennedy lost no time in examining it, and we crowded around him as he +went over it inch by inch, following the directions on the drawing. + +At one point in the drawing a peculiar protuberance was marked. Kennedy +was evidently hunting for that. He found it at last and pressed the +sort of lever in several ways. Nothing seemed to happen. But finally, +almost by chance, he seemed to discover the secret. + +A small section at the side of the fireplace opened up, disclosing an +iron ladder, leading down into one of those characteristic +hiding-places in which the Clutching Hand used to delight. + +Kennedy looked at the mysterious opening some time, as if trying to +fathom the mystery. + +"Let's go down and explore it," I suggested, taking a step toward the +ladder. + +Kennedy reached out and pulled me back. Then without a word he pressed +the little lever and the door closed. + +"I think we'd better wait a while, Walter," he decided. "I would rather +hear Aunt Tabby's haunts myself." + +He carefully went over not only the rest of the house but the grounds +about it, without discovering anything. + +Aunt Tabby, with true country hospitality, seemed unable to receive +guests without feeding them, and, although we had had a big dinner at a +famous road-house on the way out, still none of us could find it in our +hearts to refuse her hospitality. Even that diversion, however, did not +prevent us from talking of nothing else but the strange noises, and I +think, as we waited, we all got into the frame of mind which would have +manufactured them even if there had been none. + +We were sitting about the room when suddenly the most weird and uncanny +rappings began. Rusty was on his feet in a moment, barking like mad. We +looked from one to another. + +It was impossible to tell where the noises came from, or even to +describe them. They were certainly not ghostly rappings. In fact, they +sounded more like some twentieth century piece of machinery. + +We listened a moment, then Kennedy walked over to the fireplace. "You +can explore it with me now, Walter," he said quietly, touching the +lever and opening the panel which disclosed the ladder. + +He started down the ladder and I followed closely. Elaine was about to +join us, when Kennedy paused on the topmost round and looked up at her. + +"No, no, young lady," he said with mock severity, "you have been +through enough already--you stay where you are." + +Elaine argued and begged but Kennedy was obdurate. It was only when +Aunt Tabby and Joshua added their entreaties that she consented +reluctantly to remain. + +Together, Craig and I descended into the darkness about eight or ten +feet. There we found a passageway, excavated through the earth and +rock, along which we crept. It was crooked and uneven, and we stumbled, +but kept going slowly ahead. + +Kennedy, who was a few feet in front of me, stopped suddenly and I +almost fell over him. + +"What is it?" I whispered. + + . . . . . . . + +Long Sin had made his way from the opening of the cave to the point on +the plan which was marked by a cross, and there he had set up his +electric drill which was connected to the trolley wire. He was working +furiously to take advantage of the fifteen minutes or so before the +next car would pass. + +The tunnel had been widened out at this point into a small subterranean +chamber. It was dug out of the earth and the roof was roughly propped +up, most of the weight being borne by one main wooden prop which, in +the dampness, had now become old and rotten. + +On one side it was evident that Long Sin had already been at work, +digging and drilling through the earth and rock. He had gone so far now +that he had disclosed what looked like the face of a small safe set +directly into the rock. + +As he worked he would stop from time to time and consult the map. Then +he would take up drilling again. + +He had now come to the point on which Bennett had written his warning. +Quickly he opened the bag and took out the oxygen helmet, which he +adjusted carefully over his head. Then he set to work with redoubled +energy. + +It was that drill as well as his pounding on the rock which had so +alarmed Elaine and Aunt Tabby the night before and which now had been +the signal for Kennedy's excursion of discovery. + + . . . . . . . + +Our man, whoever he was, must have heard us approaching down the +tunnel, for he paused in his work and the noise of the drill ceased. + +He looked about a moment, then went over to the prop and examined it, +looking up at the roof of the chamber above him. Evidently he feared +that it was not particularly strong. + +From our vantage point around the bend in the passageway we could see +this strange and uncouth figure. + +"Who is it, do you think?" I whispered, crouching back against the wall +for fear that he might look even around a corner or through the earth +and discover us. + +As I spoke, my hand loosened a piece of rock that jutted out and before +I knew it there was a crash. + +"Confound it, Walter," exclaimed Kennedy. + +Down the passageway the figure was now thoroughly on the alert, staring +with his goggle-like eyes into the blackness in our direction. It was +not the roof above him that was unsafe. He was watched, and he did not +hesitate a minute to act. + +He seized the bag and picked his way quickly through the passage as if +thoroughly familiar with every turn of the walls and roughness of the +floor. + +We were discovered and if we were to accomplish anything, it was now or +never. + +Kennedy dashed forward and I followed close after him. + +We were making much better time than our strange visitor and were +gaining on him rapidly. Nearer and nearer we came to him, for, in spite +of his familiarity with the cavern he was hampered by the outlandish +head-gear that he wore. + +It was only another instant, when Kennedy would have laid his hands on +him. + +Suddenly he half turned, raised his arm and dashed something to the +earth much as a child explodes a toy torpedo. I fully expected that it +was a bomb; but, as a moment later, I found that Kennedy and I were +still unharmed, I knew that it must be some other product of this +devilish genius. + +The thickest and most impenetrable smoke seemed to pervade the narrow +cavern! + +"A Chinese smoke bomb!" sputtered and coughed Kennedy, as he retreated +a minute, then with renewed vigor endeavored to penetrate the dense and +opaque fumes. + +We managed to go ahead still, but the intruder had exploded one after +another of his peculiar bombs, always keeping ahead of the smoke which +he created, and we found that under its cover he had made good his +escape, probably reaching the entrance of the cave in the underbrush. + +At the other end of the passageway, up in the living-room of the +cottage, the draught had carried large quantities of the smoke. Elaine, +Aunt Tabby and Joshua coughing and choking, saw it, and opened a +window, which seemed to cause a current of air to sweep through the +whole length of the passageway and helped to clear away the fumes +rapidly. + +Long Sin, meanwhile, had started to work his way through the bushes to +reach the waiting car, with Wu, then paused and listened. Hearing no +sound, he replaced the helmet which he had taken off. + +Pursuit was now useless for us. With revolvers drawn, we crept back +along the passageway until we came again to the chamber itself. There, +on the floor, lay a bag of tools, opened, as though somebody had been +working with them. + +"Caught red-handed!" exclaimed Kennedy with great satisfaction. + +He looked at the tools a minute and then at the electric drill, and +finally an idea seemed to strike him. He took up the drill and advanced +toward the safe. Then he turned on the current and applied the drill. + +The drill was of the very latest design and it went quickly through the +steel. But beyond that there was another thin steel partition. This +Kennedy tackled next. + +The drill went through and he withdrew it. + +Instantly the most penetrating and nauseous odor seemed to pervade +everything. + +Kennedy cried out. But his warning was too late. We staggered back, +overcome by the escaping gas and fell to the ground. + + . . . . . . . + +Long Sin, with his oxygen helmet on again, had returned to the +passageway and was now stealthily creeping back. + +He came to the chamber and there discovered us lying on the ground, +overcome. He bent down and, to his great satisfaction, saw that we were +really unconscious. + +Quickly he moved over to the safe and pried open the last thin steel +plate. + +Inside was a small box. He picked it up and tried to open it, but it +was locked. There was no time to work over it here, and he took it +under his arm and started to leave. + +He paused a moment to look at us, then took out a piece of paper and a +pencil and on the paper wrote, "Thanks for your trouble." Beneath, it +was signed by his special stamp--the serpent's head, mouth open and +fangs showing. + +Long Sin looked at us a moment, then a subtle smile seemed to spread +over his face. At last he had us in his power. + +He drew out a long, wicked-looking Chinese knife and stuck it through +the note. + +Then he felt the edge of the knife. It was keen. + + . . . . . . . + +In the sitting-room, Elaine, Aunt Tabby and Joshua had been listening +intently at the fireplace but heard nothing. + +They were now getting decidedly worried. Finally, the fumes which we +had released made their way to the room. They were considerably diluted +by fresh air by that time, but, although they were nauseous, were not +sufficient to overcome any one. Still, the smell was terrible. + +"I can't stand it any longer," cried Elaine. "I'm going down there to +see what has become of them." + +Aunt Tabby and Joshua tried to stop her, but she broke away from them +and went down the ladder. Rusty leaped down after her. + +Joshua tried to follow, but Aunt Tabby held him back. He would have +gone, too, if she had not managed to strike the spring and shut the +door, closing up the passageway. + +Joshua got angry then. "You are making a coward of me," he cried, +beating on the panel with the butt of his gun and struggling to open it. + +He seemed unable to fathom the secret. + +Elaine was now making her way as rapidly as she could through the +tunnel, with Rusty beside her. + + . . . . . . . + +It was just as Long Sin had raised his knife that the sound of her +footsteps alarmed him. + +He paused and leaped to his feet. + +There was no time for either to retreat. He started toward Elaine, and +seized her roughly. + +Back and forth over the rocky floor they struggled. As they +fought,--she with frantic strength, he craftily,--he backed her slowly +up against the prop that upheld the roof. + +He raised his keen knife. + +She recoiled. The prop, none too strong, suddenly gave way under her +weight. + +The whole roof of the chamber fell with a crash, earth and stone +overwhelming Elaine and her assailant. + + . . . . . . . + +By this time Joshua had left the house and had gone out into the garden +to get something to pry open the fireplace door. + +Of a sudden, to his utter amazement, a few feet from him, it seemed as +if the very earth sank in his garden, leaving a yawning chasm. + +He looked, unable to make it out. + +Before his very eyes a strange figure, the figure of Long Sin in his +oxygen helmet, appeared, struggling up, as if by magic from the very +earth, shaking the debris off himself, as a dog would shake off the +water after a plunge in a pond. + +Long Sin was gone in a moment. + +Then again the earth began to move. A paw appeared, then a sharp black +nose, and a moment later, Rusty, too, dug himself out. + +Joshua had run into the house to get a spade when Rusty, like a shot, +bolted for the house, took the window at a leap and all covered with +earth landed before Joshua and Aunt Tabby. + +"See!--he went down there--now he's here!" cried Aunt Tabby, pointing +at the fireplace, then looking at the window. + +Rusty was running back and forth from Joshua to the window. + +"Follow him!" cried Aunt Tabby. + +Rusty led the way back again to the garden, to the cave-in. + +"Elaine!" gasped Aunt Tabby. + +By this time Joshua was digging furiously. Rusty, too, seemed to +understand. He threw back the earth with his paws, helping with every +ounce of strength in his little body. + +At last the spade turned up a bit of cloth. + +"Elaine!" Aunt Tabby cried out again. + +She was in a sort of little pocket, protected by the fortunate +formation of the earth as it fell, yet almost suffocated, weak but +conscious. + +Aunt Tabby rushed up as Joshua laid down the spade and lifted out +Elaine. + +They were about to carry her into the house, when she cried weakly, but +with all her remaining strength. + +"No--no--Dig! Craig--Walter!" she managed to gasp. + +Rusty, too, was still at it. Joshua fell to again. Man and dog worked +with a will. + +"There they are!" cried Elaine, as all three pulled us out, unconscious +but still alive. + +Though we did not know it, they carried us into the house, while Elaine +and Aunt Tabby bustled about to get something to revive us. + +At last I opened my eyes and saw the motherly Aunt Tabby bending over +me. Craig was already revived, weak but ready now to do anything Elaine +ordered, as she held his hand and stroked his forehead softly. + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile Long Sin had made his way to the automobile where his master, +Wu, waited impatiently. + +"Did you get it?" asked Wu eagerly. + +Long Sin showed him the box. + +"Hurry, master!" he cried breathlessly, leaping into the car and +struggling to take off the helmet as they drove away. "They may be +here--at any moment." + +The machine was off like a shot and even if we had been able to follow, +we could not now have caught it. + +Back in Wu's sumptuous apartment, later, Wu and his slave, Long Sin, +after their hurried ride, dismissed all the servants and placed the +little box on the table. Wu rose and locked the door. + +Then, together, they took a sharp instrument and tried to pry off the +lid of the box. + +The lid flew off. They gazed in eagerly. + +Inside was a smaller box, which Wu seized eagerly and opened. + +There, on the plush cushion lay merely a round knobbed ring! + +Was this the end of their great expectations? Were Bennett's millions +merely mythical? + +The two stared at each other in chagrin. + +Wu was the first to speak. + +"Where there should have been seven million dollars," he muttered to +himself, "why is there only a mystic ring?" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE CRYPTIC RING + + +Kennedy had been engaged for some time in the only work outside of the +Dodge case which he had consented to take for weeks. + +Our old friend, Dr. Leslie, the Coroner, had appealed to him to solve a +very ticklish point in a Tong murder case which had set all Chinatown +agog. It was, indeed, a very bewildering case. A Chinaman named Li +Chang, leader of the Chang Wah Tong, had been poisoned, but so far no +one had been able to determine what poison it was or even to prove that +there had been a poison, except for the fact that the man was dead, and +Kennedy had taken the thing up in a great measure because of the sudden +turn in the Dodge case which had brought us into such close contact +with the Chinese. + +I had been watching Kennedy with interest, for the Tong wars always +make picturesque newspaper stories, when a knock at the door announced +the arrival of Dr. Leslie, anxious for some result. + +"Have you been able to find out anything yet?" he greeted Kennedy +eagerly as Craig looked up from his microscope. + +Kennedy turned and nodded. "Your dead man was murdered by means of +aconite, of which, you know, the active principle is the deadly +alkaloid aconitine." + +Craig pulled down from the shelf above him one of his well-thumbed +standard works on toxicology. He turned the pages and read: + +"Pure aconite is probably the most actively poisonous substance with +which we are acquainted. It does not produce any decidedly +characteristic post-mortem appearances, and, in fact, there is no +reliable chemical test to prove its presence. The chances of its +detection in the body after death are very slight." + +Dr. Leslie looked up. "Then there is no test, none?" he asked. + +"There is one that is brand new," replied Kennedy slowly. "It is the +new starch-grain test just discovered by Professor Reichert, of the +University of Pennsylvania. The peculiarities of the starch grains of +various plants are quite as great as those of the blood crystals, +which, you will recall, Walter, we used once. + +"The starch grains of the poison have remained in the wound. I have +recovered them from the dead man's blood and have studied them +microscopically. They can be definitely recognized. This is plainly a +case of aconite poisoning--probably suggested to the Oriental mind by +the poison arrows of the Ainus of Northern Japan." + +Dr. Leslie and I both looked through the microscope, comparing the +starch grains which Kennedy had discovered with those of scores of +micro-photographs which lay scattered over the table. + +"There are several treatments for aconite poisoning," ruminated +Kennedy. "I would say that one of the latest and best is digitalin +given hypodermically." He took down a bottle of digitalin from a +cabinet, adding, "only it was too late in this case." + + . . . . . . . + +Just what the relations were between Long Sin and the Chong Wah Tong I +have never been able to determine exactly. But one thing was certain: +Long Sin on his arrival in New York had offended the Tong and now that +his master, Wu Fang, was here the offence was even greater, for the +criminal society brooked no rival. + +In the dark recesses of a poorly furnished cellar, serving as the Tong +headquarters, the new leader and several of his most trusted followers +were now plotting revenge. Long Sin, they believed, was responsible for +the murder, and, with truly Oriental guile, they had obtained a hold +over Wu Fang's secretary. + +Their plan decided on, the Chinamen left the headquarters and made +their way separately up-town. They rejoined one another in the shelter +of a rather poor house, before which was a board fence, in the vicinity +of a fashionable apartment house. A moment's conference followed, and +then the secretary glided away. + + . . . . . . . + +Wu had taken another apartment up-town in one of the large apartment +houses near a parkway; for he was far too subtle to operate from his +real headquarters back of the squalid exterior of Chinatown. + +There Long Sin was now engaged in making all possible provisions for +the safety of his master. Any one who had been walking along the +boulevard and had happened to glance up at the roof of the tall +apartment building might have seen Long Sin's figure silhouetted +against the sky on the top of the mansard roof near a flagpole. + +He had just finished fastening to the flagpole a stout rope which +stretched taut across an areaway some twenty or thirty feet wide to the +next building, where it was fastened to a chimney. Again and again he +tested it, and finally with a nod of satisfaction descended from the +roof and went to the apartment of Wu. + +There, alone, he paused for a few minutes to gaze in wonder at the +cryptic ring which had been the net result so far of his efforts to +find the millions which Bennett, as the Clutching Hand, had hidden. He +wore it, strangely enough, over his index finger, and as he examined it +he shook his head in doubt. + +Neither he nor his master had yet been able to fathom the significance +of the ring. + +Long Sin thought that he was unobserved. But outside, looking through +the keyhole, was Wu's secretary, who had stolen in on the mission which +had been set for him at the Tong headquarters. + +Long Sin went over to a desk and opened a secret box in which Wu had +placed several packages of money with which to bribe those whom he +wished to get into his power. It was Long Sin's mission to carry out +this scheme, so he packed the money into a bag, drew his coat more +closely about him and left the room. + +No sooner had he gone than the secretary hurried into the room, paused +a moment to make sure that Long Sin was not coming back, then hurried +over to a closet near-by. + +From a secret hiding-place he drew out a small bow and arrow. He sat +down at a table and hastily wrote a few Chinese characters on a piece +of paper, rolling up the note into a thin quill which he inserted into +a prepared place in the arrow. + +Then he raised the window and deftly shot the arrow out. + +Down the street, back of the board fence, where the final conference +has taken place, was a rather sleepy-looking Chinaman, taking an +occasional puff at a cigarette doped with opium. + +He jumped to his feet suddenly. With a thud an arrow had buried itself +quivering in the fence. Quickly he seized it, drew out the note and +read it. + +In the Canton vernacular it read briefly: "He goes with much money." + +It was enough. Instantly the startling news overcame the effect of the +dope, and the Chinaman shuffled off quickly to the Tong headquarters. + +They were waiting for him there, and he had scarcely delivered the +message before their plans were made. One by one they left the +headquarters, hiding in doorways, basements and areaways along the +narrow street. + + . . . . . . . + +Long Sin was making his rounds, visiting all those whom the glitter of +Wu's money could corrupt. + +Suddenly from the shadows of a narrow street, lined with the stores of +petty Chinese merchants, half a dozen lithe and murderous figures +leaped out behind Long Sin and seized him. He struggled, but they +easily threw him down. + +Any one who has visited Chinatown knows that at every corner and bend +of the crooked streets stands a policeman. It was scarcely a second +before the noise of the scuffle was heard, but it was too late. The +half dozen Tong men had seized the money which Long Sin carried and had +deftly stripped him of everything else of value. + +The sound of the approaching policeman now alarmed them. Just as the +new Tong leader had raised an axe to bring it down with crushing force +on Long Sin's skull a shot rang out and the axe fell from the broken +wrist of the Chinaman. + +In another moment the policeman had seized him. Then followed a sharp +fight in which the Tong men's knowledge of jiu-jitsu stood them in good +stead. The policeman was hurled aside, the Tong leader broke away, and +one by one his followers disappeared through dark hallways and +alleyways, leaving the policeman with only two prisoners and Long Sin +lying on the sidewalk. + +But the ring and the money were gone. + +"Are you hurt much?" demanded the burly Irish officer, assisting Long +Sin to his feet, none too gently. + +Long Sin was furious over the loss of the precious ring, yet he knew to +involve himself in the white man's law would end only in disaster both +for him and his master. He forced a painful smile, shook his head and +managed to get away down the street muttering. + +He made his way up-town and back to the apartment of Wu, and there, +pacing up and down in a fury, attended to his wounds. + +His forefinger, from which the ring had been so ruthlessly snatched, +was a constant reminder to him of the loss. Any one who could have +studied the vengefulness of his face would have seen that it boded ill +for some one. + + . . . . . . . + +It was the day after her return from Aunt Tabby's that Kennedy called +again upon Elaine to find that she and Aunt Josephine were engaged in +the pleasant pastime of arranging an entertainment. + +Jennings announced Craig and held back the portieres as he entered. + +"Oh, good!" cried Elaine as she saw him. "You are just in time. I was +going to send you this, but I should much rather give it to you." + +She handed him a tastefully engraved sheet of paper which he read with +interest: + + Miss Elaine Dodge + requests the honor of your presence + at an Oriental Reception + on April 6th, at 8 o'clock. + +"Very interesting," exclaimed Craig enthusiastically. "I shall be +delighted to come." + +He looked about a moment at the library which Elaine was already +rearranging for the entertainment. + +"Then you must work," she cried gaily. "You are just in time to help me +buy the decorations. No objections--come along." + +She took Kennedy's arm playfully. + +"But I have a very important investigation for the Coroner that I am--" + +"No excuses," she cried, laughingly, dragging him out. + +Among the many places which Elaine had down on her shopping list was a +small Chinese curio shop on lower Fifth avenue. + +They entered and were greeted with a profound bow by the proprietor. He +was the new Tong leader, and this up-town shop was his cover. In actual +fact, he was what might have been called a Chinese fence for stolen +goods. + +In their interest in the wealth of strange and curious ornaments +displayed in the shop they did not notice that the Chinaman's wrist was +bound tightly under his flowing sleeve. + +Elaine explained what it was she wanted, and with Kennedy's aid +selected a number of Chinese hangings and decorations. They were about +to leave the shop when Elaine's eye was attracted by a little show case +in which were many quaint and valuable Chinese ornaments in gold and +silver and covered ivory. + +"What an odd looking thing," she said, pointing out a knobbed ring which +reposed on the black velvet of the case. + +"Quite odd," agreed Kennedy. + +The subtle Chinaman stood by the pile of hangings on the counter which +Elaine had bought, overjoyed at such a large sale. Praising the ring to +Elaine, he turned insinuatingly to Kennedy. There was nothing else for +Craig to do--he bought the ring, and the Chinaman proved again his +ability as a merchant. + +From the curio shop where Elaine had completed her purchases they drove +to Kennedy's laboratory. + +I had been at work on a story for the Star when they entered. + +"You will be there, too, Mr. Jameson?" coaxed Elaine, as she told of +their morning's work. + +I needed no urging. + +We were in the midst of planning the entertainment when a slight cough +behind me made me start and turn quickly. + +There stood Long Sin, the astute Chinaman who had delivered the bomb to +Kennedy and had betrayed Bennett. We had seen very little of him since +then. + +Long Sin bowed low and shuffled over closer to Kennedy. I noticed that +Elaine eyed Long Sin sharply. But as yet we had seen no reason to +suspect him, so cleverly had he covered his tracks. Kennedy, having +used him once to capture Bennett, was still not unwilling to use him in +attempting to discover where Bennett's hidden millions lay. + +"I am in great trouble, Professor Kennedy," began Long Sin in a low +tone. "You don't know the Chinese of the city, but if you did you would +know what blackmailers there are among them. I have refused to pay +blackmail to the Chong Wah Tong, and since then it has been trouble, +trouble, trouble." + +Kennedy looked up quickly at the name Chong Wah Tong, thinking of the +investigation which the Coroner had asked him to make into the murder. +He and Long Sin moved a few steps away, discussing the affair. + +Elaine and I were still talking over the entertainment. + +She happened to place her hand on the desk near Long Sin. My back was +toward him and I did not see him start suddenly and look at her hand. +On it was the ring--the ring which, unknown to us, Long Sin had found +in the passageway under Aunt Tabby's garden, of which he had been +robbed, and which now, by a strange chance, had come into Elaine's +possession. + +It was a peculiar situation for Long Sin, although as yet we did not +know it. He could not lay claim to the mystic ring, for then Kennedy +would make him prove his ownership, and the whole affair of which we +still knew nothing would be exposed. + +He acted quickly. Long Sin decided to recover the ring by stealth. + +Elaine was still talking enthusiastically about her party, when Long +Sin turned from Kennedy and moved toward us with a bow. + +"The lady speaks of an Oriental reception," he remarked. "Would she +care to engage a magician?" + +Elaine turned to him surprised. "Do you mean that you are a magician?" +she asked, puzzled. + +Long Sin smiled quietly. He reached over and took a small bottle from +Kennedy's laboratory table. Holding it in his hand almost directly +before us, he made a few sleight-of-hand passes, and, presto! the +bottle had disappeared. A few more passes, and a test tube appeared in +its place. Before we knew it he had caused the test tube to disappear +and the bottle to reappear. We all applauded enthusiastically. + +"I don't think that is such a bad idea after all," nodded Kennedy to +Elaine. + +"Perhaps not," she agreed, a little doubtfully. "I hadn't intended to +have such a thing, but--why, of course, that would interest everybody." + + . . . . . . . + +It was the night of the reception. The Dodge library was transformed. +The Oriental hangings which Elaine and Kennedy had purchased seemed to +breathe mysticism. At the far end of the room a platform had been +arranged to form a stage on which Long Sin was to perform his +sleight-of-hand. The drawing-room also was decorated like the library. + +At the other end of the room Elaine and Aunt Josephine, in picturesque +Oriental costume, were greeting the guests. Every one seemed to be +delighted with the novelty of the affair. + +We came in just a bit ahead of Long Sin, and Elaine greeted us. + +Almost everybody had arrived when Elaine turned to the guests and +introduced Long Sin with a little speech. Long Sin bowed and every one +applauded. He made his way to the platform in the library and mounted +it. + +I shall not attempt to describe the amazing series of tricks which he +performed. His hands and fingers seemed to move like lightning. Among +other things, I remember he took up a cover from a table near-by. He +held it up before us. Instantly it seemed that a flock of pigeons flew +out of it around the room. How he did it I don't know. They were real +pigeons, however, and the trick brought down the house. + +Long Sin bowed. + +Another of his feats which I recall was nothing less than kindling a +fire on a small bit of tin and, as the flames mounted, he deliberately +stepped into them, apparently as unharmed as a salamander. + +So it went from one thing to another. The entertainment was brilliant +in itself, but Long Sin seemed to put the finishing touch to it. In +fact, I suppose that it was a couple of hours that he continued to +amuse us. + +He had finished and every one crowded about him to congratulate him on +his skill. His only answer, however, was his inscrutable smile. + +"This is wonderful, wonderful," I repeated as I happened to meet Elaine +alone. We walked into the conservatory while the guests were crowding +around Long Sin. She seated herself for the first time during the +evening. + +"May I get you an ice?" I suggested. + +She thanked me, and I hurried off. As I passed through the drawing-room +I did not notice that Long Sin had managed to escape further +congratulations of the guests. Just then a waiter passed through with +ices on a tray. I called to him and he stopped. + +A moment later Long Sin himself took an ice from the tray and retreated +back of the portieres. No one was about, and he hastily drew a bottle +from his pocket. On the bottle was a Chinese label. He palmed the +bottle, and any one who had chanced to see him would have noticed that +he passed it two or three times over the ice, then, lifting the +portieres, entered the drawing-room again. + +He had made the circuit of the rooms in such a way as to bring himself +out directly in my path. With a smile he stopped before me, rubbing +both hands together. + +"It is for Miss Elaine?" he asked. + +I nodded. + +By this time several of the guests who were fascinated with Long Sin +gathered about us. Long Sin fluttered open a Chinese fan which he had +used in his tricks, passed it over my hand, and in some +incomprehensible way I felt the plate with the ice literally disappear +from my grasp. My face must have shown my surprise. A burst of laughter +from the other guests greeted me. I looked at Long Sin, half angry, yet +unable to say anything, for the joke was plainly on me. He smiled, made +another pass with the fan, and instantly the plate with the ice was +back in my hand. + +There was nothing for me but to take the joke in the spirit in which +the other guests had taken it. I laughed with them and managed to get +away. + +Meanwhile Kennedy had been moving from one to another of the guests +seeking Elaine. He had already taken an ice from the waiter and was +going in the direction of the conservatory. There he found her. + +"Won't you take this ice?" he asked, handing it to her. + +"It is very kind of you," she said, "but I have already sent Walter for +one." + +Kennedy insisted and she took it. + +She had already started to eat it when I appeared in the doorway. I was +rather vexed at Long Sin for having delayed me, and I mumbled something +about it. + +Kennedy laughed, rather pleased at having beaten me. + +"Never mind, Walter," he said with a smile, "I'll take it. And er--I +don't think that Elaine will object if you play the host for a little +while with Aunt Josephine," he hinted. + +I saw that three was a crowd and I turned to retrace my steps to the +drawing-room. + +Kennedy, however, was not alone. Back of the palms in the conservatory +two beady black eyes were eagerly watching. Long Sin had noted every +movement as his cleverly laid plan miscarried. + +Chatting with animation, Kennedy tasted the ice. He had taken only a +couple of spoonfuls when a look of wonder and horror seemed to spread +over his face. + +He rose quickly. A cold sweat seemed to break out all over him. His +nerves almost refused to respond. His tongue seemed to be paralyzed and +the muscles of his throat seemed to be like steel bands. + +He took only a few steps, began to stagger, and finally sank down on +the floor. + +Elaine screamed. + +We rushed in from the library and drawing-room. There lay Kennedy on +the floor, his face most terribly contorted. We gathered around him and +he tried to raise himself and speak, but seemed unable to utter a sound. + +He had fallen near the fountain and one hand drooped over into the +water. As he fell back he seemed to have only just enough strength to +withdraw his hand from the fountain. On the stone coping, slowly and +laboriously, he moved his finger. + +"What's the matter, old man?" I asked, bending over him. + +There was no answer, but he managed to turn his head, and I followed +the direction of his eyes. + +With trembling finger he was tracing out, one by one, some letters. I +looked and it flashed over me what he meant. He had written with the +water: + +"Digitalin--lab--" + +I jumped up and almost without a word dashed out of the conservatory, +down the hall and into the first car waiting outside. + +"To the laboratory," I directed, giving the driver the directions, "and +drive like the deuce!" + +Fortunately there was no one to stop us, and I know we broke all the +speed laws of New York. I dashed into the laboratory, almost broke open +the cabinet, and seized the bottle of digitalin and a hypodermic +syringe, then rushed madly out again and into the car. + +Meanwhile some of the guests had lifted up Kennedy, too excited to +notice Long Sin in his hiding-place. They had laid Craig down on a +couch and were endeavoring to revive him. Some one had already sent for +a doctor, but the aconite was working quickly on its victim, and he was +slowly stiffening out. Elaine was frantic. + +I scarcely waited for the car to stop in front of the house. I opened +the door and rushed in. + +Without a word I thrust the antidote and the syringe into the hands of +the doctor and he went to work immediately. We watched with anxiety. +Finally Kennedy's eyes opened and gradually his breathing seemed to +become more normal. + +The antidote had been given in time. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy was considerably broken up by the narrow escape which he had +had, and, naturally, even the next morning, did not feel like himself. + +In the excitement of leaving Elaine's we had forgotten the bottle of +digitalin. As for myself, I had been so overjoyed at seeing my old +friend restored that I would have forgotten anything. + +Kennedy looked rather wan and peaked, but insisted on going to the +laboratory as usual. + +"Do you remember what became of the bottle of digitalin?" he asked, +fumbling in the closet. + +Mechanically I felt in my own pockets; it was not there. I shook my +head. + +"I don't seem to remember what became of it--perhaps we left it there. +In fact, we must have left it there." + +"I don't like to have such things lying around loose," remarked +Kennedy, taking up his hat and coat with forced energy. "I think we had +better get it." + +Elaine had spent rather a sleepless night after the attempt to poison +her which had miscarried and resulted in poisoning Kennedy. + +To keep her mind off the thing, she had already started to take down +the decorations. Jennings and Marie, as well as a couple of workmen, +were restoring the library to its normal condition under the direction +of Aunt Josephine. + +The telephone rang and Elaine answered it. Her face showed that +something startling had happened. + +"It was Jameson," she cried, almost dropping the receiver, overcome. + +They all hurried to her. "He says that Mr. Kennedy and he were visiting +that Chinaman this morning and Mr. Kennedy suffered a relapse--is dying +there, in the Chinaman's apartment. He wants us to come quickly and +bring that medicine that they used last night. He says it is on the +tabaret in the library. Marie, will you look for it? And, Jennings, get +the car right away." + +Jennings hurried from the room, and a moment later Marie had found the +bottle behind some ornaments on the tabaret and came back with it. + +Scarcely knowing what to do, Elaine, followed by Aunt Josephine, had +rushed from the house, hatless and coatless, just as the car swung +around from the garage in the rear. Jennings went out with the wraps. +They seized them and leaped into the car, which started off swiftly. + +It was only a matter of minutes when they pulled up before the +apartment house where Wu had taken the suite from which Long Sin had +telephoned the message in my name. Together Elaine and Aunt Josephine +hurried in. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy went directly from the laboratory to the Dodge house. + +I don't think I ever saw such an expression of surprise on anybody's +face as that on Jennings's when he opened the door and saw us. He was +aghast. Back of him we could see Marie. She looked as if she had seen a +ghost. + +"Is Miss Elaine in?" asked Kennedy. + +Jennings was even too dumfounded to speak. + +"Why, what's the matter?" demanded Kennedy. + +"Then--er--you are not ill again?" he managed to blurt out. + +"Ill again?" repeated Kennedy. + +"Why," explained Jennings, "didn't Mr. Jameson just now telephone that +you had had a relapse in the apartment of that Chinaman, and for Miss +Elaine to hurry over there right away with that bottle of medicine?" +Kennedy waited to hear no more. Seizing me by the arm, he turned and +dashed down the steps and back again into the taxicab in which we had +come. + + . . . . . . . + +In Wu's apartment Long Sin was giving his secretary and another +Chinaman the most explicit instructions. As he finished each nodded and +showed him a Chinese dirk concealed under his blouse. + +Just then a knock sounded at the door. The secretary opened it, and +Aunt Josephine and Elaine almost ran in. Before they knew it, the +secretary had locked the door. + +Long Sin rose and bowed with a smile. + +"Where is Mr. Kennedy?" demanded Elaine. Long Sin bowed again, +spreading out his hands, palm outward. + +"Mr. Kennedy? He is not here." + +Then, straightening up, he faced the two women squarely. + +"You have a ring that means much to me," he said quickly. "The only way +to get it from you was to bring you here." + +He was pointing now at the ring on Elaine's finger. She looked at it a +moment in surprise, then at the menacing Chinaman, and turned quickly. +She ran to the door. It was locked. + +Long Sin, motionless, smiled. "There is no way to get out," he murmured. + +Aunt Josephine was standing now with her back to the door leading into +another room. She happened to look up and saw the secretary, who was +near her and half turned away. From where she was standing she could +see the murderous dirk up his sleeve. + +She acted instantly. Without a word she summoned all her strength and +struck him. The secretary stumbled. + +"Elaine," she cried, "look out! they have knives." + +Before Elaine knew it Aunt Josephine had taken her by the arm, had +pulled her into the back room, and, although Long Sin and the others +had rushed forward, managed to slam the door and lock it. + +The Chinamen set to work immediately to pry it open. + +While they were at work on the doer, which was already swaying, Aunt +Josephine and Elaine were running about, trying to find an outlet from +the room. + +There seemed to be no way out. Even the windows were locked. + +"I don't know why they want the ring," whispered Aunt Josephine, "but +they won't get it. Give it to me, Elaine." + +She almost seized the ring, hiding it in her waist. As she did so the +door burst open and Wu, Long Sin and the other Chinamen rushed in. + +A second later they seized Elaine and Aunt Josephine. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy and I dashed up before the apartment house in which we knew +that Long Sin lived, leaped out of the car and hurried in. + +It was on the second floor, and we did not wait for the elevator but +took the steps two at a time. Kennedy found the door locked. Instantly +he whipped out his revolver and shot the lock in pieces. We threw +ourselves against the door, the broken lock gave way and we rushed in +through the front room. + +No one was there, but in a back room we could hear sounds. It was +Elaine and Aunt Josephine struggling with the Chinamen. Long Sin and +the others had seized Elaine and Aunt Josephine was trying to help her +just as we rushed in. With a blow Kennedy knocked out the secretary, +while I struggled with the other Chinamen who blocked the way. + +Then Kennedy went directly at Long Sin. They struggled furiously. + +Long Sin, with his wonderful knowledge of jiu-jitsu, might not have +been a match for six other Chinamen, but he was for one white man. With +a mighty effort he threw Kennedy, rushed for the door and, as he passed +through the outside room, seized a Tong axe from the wall. + +Afraid of the wonderful jiu-jitsu, I had picked up the first thing +handy, which was a tabaret. I literally broke it over the head of my +Chinaman, then turned and dashed out after Long Sin just as Kennedy +picked himself up and followed. + +I caught up with the Chinaman and we had a little struggle, but he +managed to break away and raised his axe threateningly. A shout from +Kennedy caused him to turn and run down the flight of stairs, Kennedy +closely behind him. + +In the main hall of the apartment house were two elevator shafts facing +the street entrance, some twenty-five or thirty feet away. Through the +street door the janitor and two or three other men were running in. +They had heard the noise of the fighting above. + +Escape to the street was cut off. We were behind him on the flight of +stairs. + +Long Sin did not hesitate a moment. He ran to the elevator, the door of +which was open, seized the elevator boy and sent him sprawling on the +marble floor. Then he slammed the door and the elevator shot up. + +Kennedy was only a few feet behind, and he took in the situation at a +glance. He leaped into the other elevator, and before the surprised boy +could interfere shot it up only a few feet behind Long Sin. + +Up the two elevators rose, Kennedy firing as best he could at Long Sin, +while the shots reverberated through the elevator shaft like cannon. + +It was a wild race to the roof. Long Sin had the start, and as the +elevator reached the top floor he flung it open, dashed out and through +a door up to the roof itself. + +A second later Kennedy's elevator stopped. Craig leaped out and fired +his last shot at the legs of Long Sin as he disappeared at the top of +the flight of stairs to the roof. He flung the revolver from him and +followed. + +Without a moment's hesitation Kennedy threw himself at Long Sin. They +struggled with each other. Finally Long Sin managed to wrench one arm +lose and raise the Tong axe over Kennedy's head. + +Kennedy dodged back. As he did so he tripped on the very edge of the +roof and went sliding down the slates of the mansard. + +Fortunately he was able to catch himself in the gutter. + +It was the opportunity that Long Sin wanted. He started across the +rope, which he had stretched from this apartment house to the building +across the court, with all the deftness of the most expert Chinese +acrobat. + +By this time I had reached the roof, followed by the janitor and the +elevator boys. + +Kennedy was now crawling up the mansard, helping himself as best he +could by some of the ornamental ironwork. I hurried over with the +janitor, and together we pulled him out of danger. + +Long Sin had reached the roof on the opposite side as we ran across in +the direction of the taut rope. + +A moment later he returned and bowed at us mockingly, then disappeared +behind a skylight. + +Kennedy did not stop an instant. + +"You fellows go down to the street and see if you can head him off that +way," he cried. "Stay here, Walter." + +Before I knew it he had seized the rope and was going across to the +other building, hand over hand. It was a perilous undertaking, but his +blood was up. + +Kennedy had almost reached the other roof when suddenly from behind the +skylight stepped Long Sin. With a wicked leer, he advanced to the edge +of the roof, his axe upraised. I looked across the yawning chasm, +horrified. + +Slowly Long Sin raised the axe above his head, gathering all the +strength which he had, waiting for Kennedy to approach closer. Kennedy +stopped. Swiftly the axe descended, slashing the rope at one blow. + +Like the weight of a pendulum Kennedy swung back against our own +building, managing to keep his hold on the rope with superhuman +strength. + +I bent far over the edge of the roof, fully expecting to see him dashed +to pieces at the bottom of the court. + +There was a tremendous shattering of glass. + +The rope had been just long enough to make him strike a window and he +had gone crashing through the glass three floors below. + +I dashed down the stairs and into the apartment. Kennedy was lying on +the floor badly cut. I raised him up. He was dazed and considerably +overcome; but as he staggered to his feet with my help I saw that no +bones were broken. + +"Help me, quick, Walter," he urged, moving toward the elevators. + +Meanwhile Long Sin had quickly dived down into the next building. A few +moments later he had come out on the ground floor at the rear. + +Gazing about to see whether he was followed, he disappeared. + + . . . . . . . + +Back in the apartment, Elaine and Aunt Josephine were just about to run +out when the two Chinamen who had been knocked out recovered. One of +them threw himself on Elaine. Aunt Josephine tried to ward him off, but +the other one struck her and threw her down. + +Before she could recover they had seized Elaine. + +With a hasty guttural exclamation they picked her up and ran out. +Instead of going down-stairs they crossed the hallway, slamming the +door behind them. + +As Kennedy and I reached the ground floor we saw the janitor and one of +the elevator boys on either side of Aunt Josephine. + +"Elaine! Elaine!" she cried. + +"What's the matter?" demanded Kennedy, leaning heavily on me. + +"They have kidnapped her," cried Aunt Josephine. + +Kennedy pulled himself together. + +"Tell me, quick--how did it happen?" he demanded of Aunt Josephine. + +"It was the ring," she cried, handing it to him. + +Kennedy took the ring and looked at it for a moment. Then he turned to +us blankly. + +All the rooms were empty. + +Elaine had been spirited away. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WATCHING EYE + + +Not a clue was left by the kidnappers when they so mysteriously +spirited Elaine away from the apartment of Wu Fang. She had disappeared +as completely as if she had vanished into the thin air. + +Kennedy was frantic. Wu and Long Sin themselves seemed to have +vanished, too. Where they held her, what had happened to her was a +sealed book. And yet, no move of ours was made, no matter how secret, +that it did not seem to be known to them. It was as though a weird, +uncanny eye glared at us, watching everything. + +Craig neglected no possibility in his eager search. He even visited the +little house in the country which Elaine had given to Aunt Tabby, and +spent several hours examining the collapsed subterranean chamber in the +vain hope that it might yield a clue. But it had not. + +It was half filled with debris from above, where the pillar had given +way that night when we had all so nearly lost our lives. Still, there +was enough room in what remained of the cavern so that we could move +about. + +Kennedy had even dug away some of the earth and rock, in the hope of +discovering some trace of the strange visitor whom we had surprised at +work. But here, also, he had found nothing. + +It was maddening. What might at any moment be happening to Elaine--and +he powerless to help her? + +Unescapably, he was forced to the conclusion that not only Elaine's +amazing disappearance, but the tragic succession of events which had +preceded it, had been caused, in some way, by the curiously engraved +ring which Aunt Josephine had taken from Elaine. + +Craig had taken possession of the mystic ring himself, and now, forced +back on this sole clue, it had occurred to him that if the ring were so +valuable, other attempts would, without doubt, be made to get +possession of it. + +I came into the laboratory, one afternoon, to find Kennedy surrounded +by jeweler's tools, hard at work making an exact copy of the ring. + +"What do you think of it, Walter?" he asked, holding up the replica. + +"Perfect," I replied, admiringly. "What are you going to do with it?" + +"I can't say--yet," answered Kennedy, forlornly, "but if I understand +these Chinese criminals at all, I know that the only way we can ever +track them is through some trick. Perhaps the replica will suggest +something to us later." + +He placed the copy in a velvet-lined box closely resembling that in +which the real ring lay, and dropped both into his pocket. + +"Let's see if Aunt Josephine has received any word," he remarked +abruptly, putting on his hat and coat, and nodding to me to follow. + +Kennedy and I were not the only visitors to the subterranean chamber +where it had seemed that the clue to the Clutching Hand's millions +might be found. + +It was as though that hidden, watching eye followed us. The night after +our own unsuccessful search, Wu Fang, accompanied by Long Sin, made his +way into the cavern. + +As they flashed their electric bull's-eyes about the place, they could +see readily that we had already been digging there. + +Wu examined the safe which had been broken into, while Long Sin +repeated his experiences there. + +"And you say there was nothing else in it?" demanded Wu. + +"Nothing but the ring which they got from me," replied Long Sin, +ruefully. + +"Strange--very strange," ruminated Wu, still regarding the empty strong +box. + +Long Sin was now going over the walls of the cavern minutely, his +close-set, beady black eyes examining every square inch of it. + +A sudden low guttural exclamation caused Wu to turn to him quickly. +Long Sin had discovered, back of the debris, a small oblong slot, cut +into the rock. Above it were some peculiar marks. + +Wu hurried over to his henchman, and together they tried to decipher +what had been scratched on the rock. + +As Long Sin's slender and sinister forefinger traced over the +inscription, Wu suddenly caught him by the elbow. + +"The ring!" he cried, as at last he interpreted the meaning of the +cryptic characters. + +But what about the ring? For a moment Wu looked at the slot in deep +thought. Then he reached down and withdrew a ring from his own finger +and dropped it through the slot. + +They listened a moment. They could hear the ring tinkle as though it +were running down some sort of track-like declivity inside the rock. +Then, faintly, they could hear it drop. It had fallen into a little cup +of a compartment below at their feet. + +Nothing happened. Wu recovered his ring. But he had hit at last upon +the Clutching Hand's secret! + +Bennett had devised a ring-lock which would open, the treasure vault. +No other ring except the one which he had so carefully hidden was of +the size or weight that would move the lever which would set the +machinery working to open the treasure house. + +Again Wu tried another of his own rings, and a third time Long Sin +dropped in a ring from his finger. Still there was no result. + +"The ring which we lost is the key to the puzzle--the only key," +exclaimed Wu Fang finally. "We must recover it at all hazard." + +To his subtle mind a plan of action seemed to unfold almost instantly. +"There is no good remaining here," he added. "And we have gained +nothing by the capture of the girl, unless we can use her to recover +the ring." + +Long Sin followed his master with a sort of intuition. "If we have to +steal it," he suggested deferentially, "it can be accomplished best by +making use of Chong Wah Tong." + +The Tong was the criminal band which they had offended, which had in +fact stolen the ring from Long Sin and sold it to Elaine. Yet in a game +such as this enmity could not last when it was mutually +disadvantageous. Wu took the suggestion. He decided instantly to make +peace with his enemies--and use them. + +Later that night, in his car, Wu stopped near the little curio shop +kept by the new Tong leader. + +Long Sin alighted and entered the shop, while the Tong man eyed him +suspiciously. + +"My master has come to make peace," he began, saluting the Tong leader +behind the counter. + +Nothing, in reality, could have pleased the Tong men more, for in their +hearts they feared the master-like subtlety of Wu Fang. The conference +was short and Long Sin with a bow left quickly to rejoin Wu, while the +Tong leader disappeared into a back room of the shop where several of +the inner circle sat. + +"All is well, master," reported Long Sin when he had made his way back +to the car around the corner in which Wu was waiting. + +Wu smiled and a moment later followed by his slave in crime entered the +curio shop and passed through with great dignity into the room in the +rear. + +As the two entered, the Tong men bowed with great respect. + +"Let us be enemies no more," began Wu briefly. "Let us rather help each +other as brothers." + +He extended his right hand, palm down, as he spoke. For a moment the +Tong leader parleyed with the others, then stepped forward and laid his +own hand, palm down, over that of Wu. One by one the others did the +same, including Long Sin, the aggrieved. + +Peace was restored. + +Wu had risen to go, and the Tong men were bowing a respectful farewell. +He turned and saw a large vase. For a moment he paused before it. It +was an enormous affair and was apparently composed of a mosaic of rare +Chinese enamels, cunningly put together by the deft and patient fingers +of the oriental craftsmen. Extending from the widely curving bowl below +was an extremely long, narrow, tapering neck. + +Wu looked at it intently; then an idea seemed to strike him. He called +the Tong leader and the others about him. + +Quickly he outlined the details of a plan. + + . . . . . . . + +"Have you received any word yet?" asked Aunt Josephine anxiously, when +Jennings had ushered us into the Dodge library. + +Kennedy shook his head sadly. There was no need to repeat the question +to Aunt Josephine. The tears in her eyes told only too plainly that she +herself had heard nothing, either. + +Craig bent over and placed his hand on her shoulder. For the moment, +none of us could control our emotions. + +A few minutes later, Jennings entered the room softly again. "The +expressmen are outside, ma'am, with a large package," he said. + +"A package?" inquired Aunt Josephine, looking up, surprised. "For +me--are you sure?" + +Jennings bowed and repeated his remark. Aunt Josephine followed him out +into the hall. + +There, already, the delivery men had set down a huge oriental vase with +a remarkably long and narrow neck. It was, as befitted such a really +beautiful object of art, most carefully crated. But to Aunt Josephine +it came as a complete surprise. "I can't imagine who could have sent +it," she temporized. "Are you quite sure it is for me?" + +The expressman, with a book, looked up from the list of names down +which he was running his finger. "This is Mrs. Dodge, isn't it?" he +asked, pointing with his pencil to the entry with the address following +it. There seemed to be no name of a shipper. + +"Yes," she replied dubiously, "but I don't understand it. Wait just a +moment." + +She went to the library door. "Mr. Kennedy," she said, "may I trouble +you and Mr. Jameson a moment?" + +We followed her into the hall and there stood gazing at the mysterious +gift while she related its recent history. + +"Why not set it up in the library?" I suggested, seeing that the +expressmen were getting restive at the delay. "If there is any mistake, +they will send for it soon. No one ever gets anything for nothing." + +Aunt Josephine turned to the expressmen and nodded. With the aid of +Jennings they carried the vase into the library and there it was +uncrated, while Kennedy continued to question the man with the book, +without eliciting any further information than that he thought it had +been reconsigned from another express company. He knew nothing more +than that it had been placed on his wagon, properly marked and prepaid. + +When Kennedy rejoined us, the vase had been completely uncrated, Aunt +Josephine signed for it, and, grumbling a bit, the expressmen left. +There we stood, nonplussed by the curious gift. + +Craig walked around the vase, looking at it critically. I had a feeling +of being watched, one of those sensations which psychologists tell us +are utterly baseless and unfounded. I was glad I had not said anything +about it when he tapped the vase with his cane, then stuck it down the +long narrow neck, working it around as well as he could. The neck was +so long and narrow, however, that his stick could not fully explore the +inside of the vase, but it seemed to me to be quite empty. + +"Well, there's nothing in it, anyhow," I ventured. + +I had spoken too soon. Kennedy withdrew his cane and on the ferrule, +adhering as though by some sticky substance, was a note. Kennedy pulled +it off and unfolded it, while we gathered about him. + +"Maybe it's from Elaine," cried Aunt Josephine, grasping at a straw. + +We read: + +DEAR AUNT JOSEPHINE, + +This is a token that I am unharmed. Have Mr. Kennedy give the ring to +the man at the corner of Williams and Brownlee Avenues at midnight +to-night, and they will surrender me to him.--ELAINE. + +P. S. Have him come alone or my life will be in danger. + +We looked at each other in amazement. + +"I thought something like this would happen," remarked Craig at length. + +"Oh," cried Aunt Josephine, "it's too good to be true." + +"We'll do it," exclaimed Kennedy quickly, "only this is the ring that +we'll give them." + +He drew from his pocket the replica of the ring which he had made and +showed it to Aunt Josephine. Then he drew from another pocket the real +ring, replacing the replica. + +"Here's the real one," he said in a low tone. "Guard it as you would +guard your life." + +She took the ring, almost fearfully. It seemed as if nothing but +misfortune had followed it. Still, she realized that it was necessary +that she should take care of it, if the plan was to work. + +"And, oh, Mr. Kennedy," she implored, as we rose to go, "please get +back my little girl for me." + +Craig clasped her hand. "I'll try my best," he replied fervently, +patting her shoulder to cheer her up, as she sank into a chair. + +Aunt Josephine was worn out with the sleepless nights of worry since +Elaine's disappearance. After we had gone, she tried to eat dinner, but +found that she had no appetite. + +All the evening she sat in the library, with a book at which she +stared, though she scarcely read a page. However, as the hours +lengthened, she found herself nodding through sheer exhaustion. + +It was getting late and her thoughts were still on Elaine, At the desk +in the library, she was examining the curious ring, which she had taken +from her jewel case, thinking of the terrible train of events that had +followed it. + +Although she had intended to sit up until she received some word from +Kennedy that night, the long strain had told on her and in spite of her +worry about Elaine, she decided, at length, to retire. She replaced the +ring in the case, locked the case, and turned out the lights. + +"Good night, Jennings," she said, as she passed the faithful old butler +in the hall. + +"Good night, ma'am," he replied, pausing on his rounds to see that the +doors and windows were locked. + +Aunt Josephine, clasping the jewel case tightly, mounted the stairs and +entered her room. She locked the door carefully and put the jewelry +case under her pillow. Then she switched off the light. + +The moment Jennings's footsteps ceased down-stairs in the library, a +small piece of the vase seemed to break away from the rest of the +mosaic, as though it were knocked out from the inside. Then a large +piece fell out, and another. + +At last from the strange hiding-place a lithe figure, as shiny as +though bathed in oil, naked except for a loin-cloth, seemed to squirm +forth like a serpent. It was Wu Fang--the watchful eye which, literally +as well as figuratively, had been leveled at us in one form or another +ever since the kidnapping of Elaine. + +Silently he tiptoed to the doorway and listened. There was not a sound. +Just as noiselessly then he went back to the library table and muffling +the telephone bell, took down the receiver. He whispered a number, +waited, then whispered some directions. + +A moment later he wormed his way out of the library and into the +drawing-room. On he went cautiously, snake-like, up the stairs until he +came to the door of Aunt Josephine's room. + +He bent down and listened. There was no sound except Aunt Josephine's +breathing. Silently he drew from a fold in the loin-cloth a screwdriver +and removed the screws from the hinges of the door. Quietly he pushed +the bedroom door open, pivoting it on the lock, just far enough open so +that he could slip through. + +Creeping along the floor, like a reptile whose sign he had assumed, he +came nearer and nearer Aunt Josephine's bed. As he paused for a moment +his quick eye seemed to catch sight of the bulging lump under her +pillow. His long thin hand reached out for it. + +Aunt Josephine moved restlessly in her sleep. Instantly he seized a +murderous-looking Chinese dirk fastened to his side and raised it above +her head ready to strike on the slightest outcry. She moved slightly, +and relapsed into sound sleep again. + +Holding the knife above her, Wu slowly and quietly removed the +jewel-case from under her pillow. + + . . . . . . . + +In a country road-house Long Sin was waiting patiently. The telephone +rang and the proprietor answered. Long Sin was at his side almost +before he could hand over the receiver. It was Long Sin's master, Wu. + +"Beware," came the whispered message over the wire. "Kennedy has made a +false ring. I'll get the real one. By the great Devil of Gobi, you must +cut him off." + +"It is done," returned Long Sin, hanging up the receiver in great +excitement. + +He hurried out of the room and left the road-house. Down the road in an +automobile, bound between two Chinamen, one at her head and the other +at her feet, was Elaine, wrapped around in blankets, not even her face +visible. The guards looked up startled as Long Sin streaked out of the +shadow to the car. + +"Quick!" he ordered. "The master will get the ring himself. I will take +care of Kennedy." + +An instant and they were gone, while Long Sin slunk back into the +shadows from which he had come. + +Through the underbrush the wily Chinaman made his way to an old barn, +which stood back some distance from the road, and entered the front +door. There was another door in the rear, and one quite large window. + +In the dim light of a lantern hanging from a rafter could be seen +several large barrels in a corner. Without a moment's hesitation, Long +Sin seized a bucket and placed it under the spiggot of one of the +barrels. The liquid poured forth into the bucket and he emptied the +contents on the floor, filling the bucket again and again and swinging +it right and left in every direction until the barrel had finally run +dry. + +Then he moved over to the window, which he examined carefully. +Satisfied with what he had done, he drew a slip of paper from his +pocket and hastily wrote a note, resting the paper on an old box. When +he had finished writing, he folded up the note and thrust it into a +little hollow carved Chinese figure which he took also from his pocket. + +These were, apparently, his emergency preparations which he was ready +to execute in case he received such a message from his master as he had +actually received. + +With a final hasty glance about he extinguished the lantern, letting +the moonlight stream fitfully through the single window. Then he left +the barn, with both front and rear doors open. + +Taking advantage of every bit of shelter, he made his way across the +field in the direction of the crossroads, finally dropping down behind +a huge rock some yards from the finger post that pointed each way to +Williams and Brownlee Avenues. + + . . . . . . . + + Late that night, Kennedy left his apartment prepared to follow +the instructions in the note which had been so strangely delivered in +the vase. + +As he climbed into a roadster, he tucked the robe most carefully into a +corner under the leather seat. + +"For heaven's sake, Craig," I gasped from under the robe, "let me have +a little air." + +I had taken my place under the robe before the car was driven up before +the apartment, lest some emissary of Wu Fang might be watching to see +that there was no such trick. + +"You'll get air enough when we get started, Walter," he laughed back +under his breath, apparently addressing the engine. + +Kennedy was a hard driver when he wanted to be and enough was at stake +to-night to make him drive hard. He whizzed along in the roadster, and +I was indeed glad enough to huddle up under the robe. + +We had reached a point in the suburbs which was deserted and I did not +recognize a thing when he pulled up by the side of the road with a +jerk. I peered through a crease in the corner of the robe, and saw him +slide out from under the wheel and stand by the side of the car, +looking up and down. Ahead of us the road curved sharply and I had no +idea what was there, though Kennedy seemed to know the place. + +A moment later he pulled the robe partly off me, and bent down as +though examining the batteries on the side of the car. + +"Get out on the other side in the shadow of the car, Walter," he +whispered hoarsely. "Go down the road a bit--only cut in and keep under +cover. This is Williams Avenue. You'll see a big rock. Hide behind it. +Ahead you'll see Brownlee Avenue. Be prepared for anything. I shall +have to trust the rest to you. I don't know myself what's going to +happen." + +I slid out and went along the edge of the road, as Craig had directed, +and finally crouched behind a huge rock, feeling on as much tension as +if I had been a boy playing at Wild West. Only this might at any moment +develop into the reality of a Wild Far East. + +After a moment to give me a chance, Craig himself left the car pulled +up close by the side of the road and went ahead on foot. At last he +came to the cross-roads just around the bend, where in the moonlight he +could read the sign: "Williams Avenue" and "Brownlee Avenue." He stood +there a moment, then glanced at his watch which registered both hands +approaching the hour of twelve. He gazed about at the deserted country. +Had the appointment been a hoax, after all, a scheme to get him away +from the city for some purpose? + +Suddenly, at his feet in the dust of the road something heavy seemed to +drop. He looked about quickly. No one was in sight. + +He reached down and picked up a little Chinese figure. Tapping it with +his knuckle, he examined it curiously. It was hollow. + +From the inside he drew out a piece of paper. He strained his eyes in +the moonlight and managed to make out: + +The Serpent is all-wise, and his fang is fatal. You have signed the +white girl's death warrant. + +Beneath this sinister warning was stamped the serpent sign of Wu Fang. + +It was not a hoax, and Kennedy stood there a moment gazing about in +tense anxiety. Had that uncanny watching eye observed his every action? +Was it staring at him now in the blackness? + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile, I had made my way stealthily, peering into the bushes and +careful not even to step on anything that would make a noise and was +now, as I have said, crouched behind the big rock to which Craig had +directed me. I heard him go along the road and looked about cautiously, +but could hear and see nothing else. + +I had begun to wonder whether Kennedy might not have made a mistake +when, suddenly, from behind the shadow of another rock, ahead of me, +but toward Brownlee Avenue, I saw a tall, gaunt figure of a man rise in +the moonlight, almost as if it had sprung from the very earth. + +My heart gave a leap, as he quickly raised his right arm and hurled +something as far as he could in the direction that Kennedy had taken. +If it had been a bomb, followed by an explosion, I would not have been +surprised. But no sound followed as the figure dropped back as if it +had been a wraith. + +I stole out from my own hiding-place in the shadow of my rock and +darted quickly to the shelter of a bush, nearer the figure. + +The figure was no wraith. It turned to steal away. I remembered +Kennedy's parting words. If the man ever gained the darkness of a clump +of woods, just beyond us, he was as good as safe. This was the time to +act. + +I leaped at him and we went down, rolling over and over in the +underbrush and stubble. We fought fiercely, but I could not seem to get +a glimpse of his face which was muffled. + +He was powerful and stronger than I and after a tough tussle he broke +loose. But I had succeeded, nevertheless. I had delayed him just long +enough. Kennedy heard the sound of the struggle and was now crashing +through the hedge at the cross-roads in our direction. + +I managed to pick myself up, just as Kennedy reached my side and, +together, we followed the retreating figure, as it made its way among +the shadows. Across the open space before us we followed him and at +last saw him dive into an old barn. + +A moment later we followed hot-foot into the barn. As we entered, we +could hear a peculiar grating noise, as though a door was swung on its +rusty hinges. The front door was open. Evidently the man had gone +through and closed the back door. + +We threw ourselves against the back door. But it did not yield. There +was no time to waste and we turned to rush out again by the way we had +come, just as the front door was slammed shut. + +The man had trapped us. He had left both doors open, had run through, +braced the back door, then had rushed around outside just in time to +brace the front door also. + +We could hear his feet crunching the dry leaves and twigs as he went +around the side of the barn again. Together we threw ourselves against +the front door, but, although it yielded a little he had barred it so +that it would resist our united strength for some time. + +Again and again we threw ourselves against it. It was horribly dark in +there, except for an oblong spot where the moonlight streamed in +through a window. Suddenly the pale silver of the moonlight on the +floor reddened. + +The man had struck a match and thrown it into a mass of oil-soaked +straw and gunpowder which protruded through one of the weather-beaten +boards, near the floor. + +It was only a matter of a second or so now when the fire swept into the +barn itself. There was no beating it out. Some one had literally soaked +the straw and the floor with oil. It seemed as though the whole place +burst into a sudden blaze of tinder. Outside, we could hear footsteps +rapidly retreating toward the shelter of the clump of woods. + +For a second I looked dismayed at the rapidly-mounting flames. + +"A very pretty situation," I forced with a laugh. "But I hope he +doesn't think we'll stay here and burn, with a perfectly good window in +full view." + +I took a step toward the window, but before I could take another, +Kennedy yanked me back. + +"Don't think for a moment that he overlooked that," he shouted. + +Craig looked around hastily. In a corner, just back of us was a long +pole. He snatched it up and moved cautiously toward the window, keeping +the pole as level as possible as he endeavored to get a leverage on the +sash. The flames were mounting faster and higher, licking up everything. + +"Keep back, Walter," he muttered, "just as far as you can." + +He had scarcely raised the window a fraction of an inch when an old +rusty, heavy anvil and a bent worn plowshare crashed down to the floor +directly over the spot where I should have been if he had not dragged +me away. I started back, aghast. Nothing had been overlooked to finish +us off. + +"I think you may try it safely now, all right," smiled Kennedy coolly. + +We climbed out of the window, not an instant too soon from the raging +inferno about us. + +Having gained the clump of woods, the gaunt figure had paused long +enough to gloat over his clever scheme. Instead, he saw us making good +our escape. With a gesture of intense fury he turned. There was nothing +more for him to do but to zigzag his way to safety across country. + +The barn was now burning fiercely and it was almost as light as day +about us. Kennedy paused only long enough to look down at the ground +where the fire had been started. + +"See, Walter," he exclaimed pointing to a square indention in the soft +soil. "No white man ever made a footprint like that." + +I bent over. The prints had the squareness of those paper-layered soles +of a Chinaman. + +"Long Sin," came the name involuntarily to my lips, for I knew that Wu +would delegate just such a job to his faithful slave. + +Kennedy did not pause an instant longer, but in the light of the +burning barn, as best he could, started to follow the trail in a +desperate endeavor either to overtake Long Sin, or at least to find the +final direction in which he would go. + + . . . . . . . + +At the entrance of the passageway which led to the little underground +chamber in which we had sought the treasure hidden by the Clutching +Hand, Wu Fang was seated on a rock waiting impatiently, though now and +then indulging in a sinister smile at the subtle trick by which he had +recovered the ring. + +The sound of approaching footsteps disturbed him. He was far too clever +to leave anything to chance and, like a serpent, he wriggled behind +another rock and waited. It was only a glance, however, that he needed +to allay his suspicions. It was Long Sin, breathless. + +Wu stepped out beside him so quietly that even the acute Long Sin did +not hear. "Well?" he said in a guttural tone. + +Long Sin drew back in fear. "I have failed, oh master," he replied in +an imploring tone. "Even now they follow my tracks." + +It was bad enough to confess defeat without the fear of capture. + +Wu frowned. "We must work quickly, then," he muttered. + +He picked up a dark lantern near-by, indicating another to Long Sin. +They entered the cave, flashing the lights ahead of them. + +"Be careful," ordered Wu, proceeding gingerly from one stepping-stone +to another. "We shall be followed no further than this." + +He paused a moment and pointed his finger at the earth. Everywhere, +except here and there where a stone projected, was a sticky, slimy +substance. It was an old trick of primitive races. + +"Bird lime," hissed Wu, pointing at the viscid substance made of the +juice of the holly bark, extracted by boiling, and mixed with a third +part of nut oil and grease. + +They passed on from stone to stone until they came to the subterranean +chamber itself. Without a moment's hesitation, Wu made his way toward +the rock in which they had found the slot with its cryptic inscription. + +Long Sin watched his master in silent admiration as, at last, he drew +forth the mystic ring for which they had dared all. + +Without a word, Wu dropped it in the slot. It tinkled down the runway, +a protuberance hit a trigger and pushed it a hair's breadth. + +A noise behind them caused the two to turn startled. Even Wu had not +expected it. + +On the other side of the chamber, a great rock in the ground slowly +turned, as though on a pivot. They watched, fascinated. Even then Wu +did not forget the precious ring, but as the rock turned, reached down +quickly and recovered it from the cup at the floor. + +Inch by inch the pivoted rock moved on its axis. They flashed their +lanterns full on it and, as it moved, they could see disclosed huge +piles of gold and silver in coins and bars and ornaments, a chest +literally filled with brilliants, set and unset, rubies, emeralds, +precious stones of every conceivable variety, a cave that would have +staggered even Aladdin--the rich reward of the countless marauding +operations of Bennett's other personality. + +For a moment they could merely stand in avaricious exultation. + + . . . . . . . + +Painfully and slowly, we managed to trail Long Sin's footprints, until +we came to a road where they were lost in the hard macadam. There was +no time to stop. We must follow the road on the chance that he had +taken it. But which way? + +Kennedy chose the most likely direction, for the trail had been at an +angle to the road and Long Sin was not likely to double back. We had +not gone many rods before Kennedy paused a minute and looked about in +the moonlight. + +"It's right, Walter," he cried. "Do you recognize it?" + +I looked about. Then it flashed over me. This was the back road that +led past the entrance to the treasure vault at Aunt Tabby's. + +We went on now more quickly, listening carefully to catch any sounds, +but heard nothing. At last Kennedy stopped, then plunged among the +rocks and bushes beside the road. We were at the cave. + +"You go in this way, Walter," he directed. "I'll go around and down +where it caved in." + +I groped my way along through the darkness. + +I had gone only a yard or two, when it seemed as though something had +grasped my foot. + +With a great wrench I managed to pull it loose. But the weight on my +other foot had imbedded it deeper. I struggled to free this foot and +got the other caught. My revolver, which I had drawn, was jarred from +my hand and in the effort to recover it, I lost my balance. Unable to +move a foot in time to catch myself, I fell forward. My hands were now +covered by the slimy, sticky stuff, and the more I struggled, the worse +I seemed to get entangled. + + . . . . . . . + +Wu and Long Sin paused only a minute in astonishment. Then they +literally fell upon the wealth that lay before them, gloating over the +gold, stuffing their hands into the jewels, lifting them up and letting +the priceless gems run through their fingers. + +Suddenly they paused. There was the slight tinkle of a Chinese bell. + +Kennedy had reached Aunt Tabby's garden, outside the roof of the +subterranean chamber where it had given way, had gone down carefully +over the earth and rock, and in doing so had broken a string stretched +across the passageway. The tinkle of a bell attached to it aroused his +attention and he stopped short, a second, to look about. Wu Fang had +arranged a primitive alarm. + +Quickly, Wu and Long Sin blew out their lanterns while Wu gave the rock +a push. Slowly, as it had opened, it now closed and they stood there +listening. + +I was still struggling in the bird lime, getting myself more and more +covered with it, when the reverberation of revolver shots reached me. + +Wu and Long Sin had opened fire on Kennedy, and Kennedy was replying in +kind. In the cavern it sounded like a veritable bombardment. As they +retreated, they came nearer and nearer to me and I could see the +revolvers spitting fire in the darkness. So intent were they on Kennedy +that they forgot me. + +I watched them fearfully as they hopped deftly from one stone to +another to avoid the lime--and were gone. + +"Craig! Craig!" I managed to cry feebly. "Be careful. Keep to the +stones." + +He strained his eyes toward the ground in the darkness, at the sound of +my voice. Then he struck a match and instantly took in the situation +which, to me, under any other circumstances, would have been ludicrous. + +Stepping from stone to stone, he followed the retreating Chinamen. But +they had already reached the mouth of the cave and were making their +way rapidly down the road to a bend, in the opposite direction from +which we had come. There, Wu's automobile was waiting. They leaped into +it and the driver, without a word, shot the car off into the darkness +of early dawn. + +A moment later, Kennedy appeared, but they had made their getaway. +Baffled, he turned and retraced his steps to the cave. + +I don't think that I ever welcomed him more sincerely than I did as, +finally, I crawled slowly out from the bird lime, exhausted by the +effort that I had made to free myself from the sticky mess. + +"They got away, Walter," he said, lighting a lantern they had dropped. +"By George," he added, I think a little vexed that I had not been able +to stop them, "you are a sight!" + +He was about to laugh, when I fainted. I can remember nothing until I +woke up over by the wall of the chamber where he dragged me. + +Kennedy had been working hard to revive me, and, as I opened my eyes, +he straightened up. His eye suddenly caught something on the rock +beside him. There was a little slot carved in it, and above the slot +was a peculiar inscription. + +For several minutes, Kennedy puzzled over it, as Wu had done. Then he +discovered the little cup near the ground. + +"The ring!" he suddenly cried out. + +I was too muddled to appreciate at once what he meant, but I saw him +reach into his fob pocket and draw forth the replica of the trinket +which had caused so much disaster, as if it had been cursed by the +Clutching Hand himself. He dropped it into the slot. + +Struggling to my feet, I saw across from me the very rock itself +moving. Was it an hallucination, born of my nervous condition? + +"Look, Craig!" I cried involuntarily, pointing. + +He turned. No, it was not a vision. It actually moved. Together we +watched. Slowly the rock turned on a pivot. There were disclosed to our +astonished eyes the hidden millions of the Clutching Hand. + +I looked from the gold and jewels to Kennedy, in speechless amazement. + +"We have beaten them, anyhow," I cried. + +Slowly Craig shook his head sadly. + +"Yes," he murmured, "we have found the Clutching Hand's millions, but +we have lost Elaine." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE VENGEANCE OF WU FANG + + +Elaine was still in the power of Wu Fang. + +Kennedy had thwarted the Chinese master criminal in his search for the +millions amassed by the Clutching Hand. But any joy that we might have +derived from this success was completely obscured by the fear that Wu +might wreak some diabolical vengeance on Elaine. + +It was a ticklish situation. In fact, I doubt whether Craig would have +discovered the treasure at all, if our pursuit of Wu and Long Sin the +night before had not literally forced us into doing so. + +Nor were Kennedy's fears unfounded. Wu and Long Sin had scarcely +reached the secret apartment back of the deceptive exterior of the +Chinatown tenement, when the subtle Chinaman began to contemplate his +revenge. + +Long Sin was smoking a Chinese pipe, resting after their hurried +flight, while Wu, the tireless, was seated at a table at the other end +of the room. At last Wu Fang took up a long Chinese dirk from the table +before him, looked at it, turned it over, felt its edge. It was keen +and the point was sharp. He rose and deliberately walked across to a +door leading into a back room. + +On a couch lay Elaine and with her, as a guardian, was Weepy Mary whom +the Clutching Hand had used to lure her to the church where the faked +record of her father's marriage was supposed to be. Indeed, though Wu +had lost the Clutching Hand's millions, he had seen his chance and had +fallen heir to what was left of Bennett's criminal organization. + +As Wu, the Serpent, entered and advanced slowly towards Elaine, she +crouched back from him in deadly fear. He stopped before her without a +word and his menacing eye seemed to read her very thoughts. + +Slowly he drew from under his robe the Chinese dirk. He felt the edge +of it again and gazed significantly at Elaine. She shrank back even +further, as far as the divan would permit. + +It was a critical moment. + +Just then Long Sin entered. "One of the five millions waits outside," +he reported simply, with a bow. + +Wu understood. It had been a pleasant fiction of his that although he +did not, of course, absolutely control such a stupendous organization +he could, by his subtle power, force almost unlimited allegiance from +the simple coolies in that district of China from which he came. + +Out in the front room, just a moment before, a knock at the door had +disturbed Long Sin, and a Chinese servant had announced a visitor. Long +Sin had waved to the servant to usher him in and a poorly clad coolie +had entered. + +He bowed as Long Sin faced him. "Where is the master?" he had asked. + +Long Sin had not deigned to speak. With a mere wave of his hand, he +indicated that he would be the bearer of the message, and had followed +Wu through the door of the back room. + +So, almost by chance, Wu was interrupted in the brutal vengeance which +had first come to his mind. He sheathed the knife and, still without a +word, went back into the main room, giving a nod to Weepy Mary to guard +Elaine closely. + +Wu eyed the coolie until the newcomer could almost feel the master's +penetrating gaze, although his head was bowed in awe. Quickly the +coolie thrust his hand under his blouse and drew forth a package. With +another bow, he advanced. + +"For your enemies, oh master," he said, handing the package over to Wu. + +For the first time since the loss of the treasure, Wu Fang seemed to +take an interest in something besides revenge. The coolie started to +open the package, removed the paper wrapper, and then a silk wrapping +inside. Finally he came to a box, from which he drew a leather pouch, +each operation conducted with greater care as it became evident that +the contents were especially precious in some way. Then he took from +the pouch a small vial. + +"What is it?" demanded Wu Fang, as the coolie displayed it. + +The coolie drew forth now a magnifying glass and a glass slide. Opening +the vial with great care he shook something out on the slide, then +placed it under the lens. + +"Look!" he said simply. + +Wu bent over and looked. Under the lens what had formerly seemed to be +merely a black speck of dirt became now one of the most weird and +uncanny little creatures to be found in all the realm of nature. It +seemed to be all legs and feelers moving at once. A normal person would +have looked at the creature only with the greatest repugnance. Wu +regarded it with a sort of unholy fascination. + +"And it is?" he queried. + +"What the white man calls the African tick which carries the recurrent +fever," answered the coolie deferentially. + +A flash of intense exultation seemed to darken Wu Fang's sinister face. +Several times he paced up and down the room, as he contemplated the +sight which he had just seen. Then he came to a sudden determination. + +"Wait," he said to the coolie, as he moved slowly again into the back +room. + +Long Sin had remained there. With Weepy Mary he was guarding Elaine +when Wu Fang reentered. Elaine was thoroughly aroused by this time. +Even the fact that Wu no longer held the murderous dirk did not serve +to reassure her, for the look on his face was even more terrible than +before. + +He smiled cunningly to himself. + +"Suffering is a state of mind," he said in a low tone, "and I have +decided that it would be poor revenge for me to harm you. You are free." + +Nothing could have come as a greater surprise to Elaine. Even Long Sin +had not expected any such speech as this. Elaine, however, was +wonder-stricken. + +"Do you--do you really mean it?" she asked, scarcely able to believe +what her ears heard. + +Wu merely nodded, and with a wave of his hand to Long Sin indicated +that Elaine was to be released. + +Long Sin, the slave, did not stop to question his master, but merely +moved over to a closet and took out the hat and wraps which Elaine had +worn when she had been kidnapped in the up-town apartment. He handed +them over to her and she put them on with trembling hands. + +No one stopped her and she nerved herself to take several steps toward +the door. She had scarcely crossed half the room. + +"Wait!" ordered Wu sharply. + +Was he merely torturing her, as a cat might torture a mouse? She +stopped obediently, afraid to look at him. + +"This will be the vengeance of Wu Fang," he went on impressively. +"Slowly, one by one, your friends will weaken and die, then your +family, until finally only you are left. Then will come your turn." + +He stopped again and raised his long lean forefinger. "Go," he hissed. +"I wish you much joy." + +He turned to Long Sin and whispered a word to him. A moment later, Long +Sin drew forth a large silken handkerchief and tied it tightly over +Elaine's eyes. Then he took her hand and led her out. There was to be +no chance by which she could lead a raiding party back to the den in +which she had been held. + +I don't think that in all our friendship I have ever seen Kennedy so +utterly depressed as he was when we returned after the discovery of the +vast fortune which Bennett had cleverly secreted. I came upon him in +the laboratory the next morning while he was trying to read. He had +laid aside his scientific work, and now he had even laid aside his book. + +There seemed to be absolutely nothing to do until some new clue turned +up. I placed my hand on his shoulder, but the words that would +encourage him died on my lips. Several times I started to speak, but +each time I checked myself. There did not seem to be anything that +would be appropriate for such an occasion. + +A sharp ring at the telephone made both of us fairly jump, so nervous +had we become. Kennedy reached over instantly for the instrument in the +vague hope that at last there was some news. + +As I watched his face, it changed first from despair to wonder, and +finally it seemed to light up with the most remarkable look of relief +and happiness that one could imagine. + +"I shall be right over," he cried, jamming the receiver down on the +hook, and in the same motion reaching for his hat and coat. "Walter," +he cried, "it is Elaine! They have let her go!" + +I seized my own hat and coat in time to follow him and we dashed out of +the laboratory. + +The suspense under which Aunt Josephine had been living had told on +her. Her niece, Elaine's cousin, Mary Brown, who lived at Rockledge, +had come into the city to comfort Aunt Josephine and they had been +sitting, that morning, in the library. Marie, the maid was busy about +the room, while Aunt Josephine talked sadly over Elaine's strange +disappearance. She was on the verge of tears. + +Suddenly a startled cry from Jennings out in the hall caused both +ladies to jump to their feet. They could scarcely believe what they +heard as the faithful old butler cried out the name. + +"Why--Miss Elaine!" he gasped. + +An instant later Elaine herself burst into the room and flung herself +into Aunt Josephine's arms. All talking and half crying from joy at +once, they crowded about her. Breathlessly she answered the questions +that flew thick and fast. + +In the excitement Aunt Josephine had seized the telephone and called +our number. She did not even wait to break the good news, but handed +the telephone to Elaine herself. + +We left the laboratory on the run, too fast to notice that just around +the building line at the corner stood a limousine with shades drawn. +Even if we had paused to glance back, we could not have seen Wu Fang +and Long Sin inside, gazing out through the corner of the curtains. +They were in European dress now and had evidently come prepared for +just what they knew was likely to happen. + +In all the strange series of events, I doubt whether we had ever made +better time from the laboratory over to the Dodge house than we did +now. We were admitted by the faithful Jennings and almost ran into the +library. + +"Oh, Craig!" cried Elaine, as Kennedy, almost speechless, seized her by +both hands. + +For a few seconds none of us could speak. Then followed a veritable +flood of eager conversation. + +I watched Elaine carefully, in fact we all did, for she seemed, in +spite of the excitement of her return, to be almost a complete nervous +wreck from the terrible experiences she had undergone. + +"Won't you come and stay with me a few days up in the country, dear?" +urged Mary at last. + +Elaine thought a moment, then turned to Aunt Josephine. + +"Yes," considered her aunt, "I think it would do you good." + +Still she hesitated; then shyly looked at Kennedy and laughed. "You, +too, Craig, must be fagged out," she said frankly. "Come up there with +us and take a rest." + +Kennedy smiled. "I shall be delighted," he accepted promptly. + +"You, too, Mr. Jameson," she added, turning to me. + +I hesitated a moment and Kennedy tried to catch my eye. I was just +about to speak when he brought his heel down sharply on my toe. I +looked at him again and caught just the trace of a nod of his head. I +saw that I was de trop. + +"No, thank you," I replied. "I'm afraid I'd better not go. Really, I +have too much work staring at me. I can't get away--but it's very kind +of you to think of asking me." + +We chatted, then left a few moments later so that Kennedy could pack. + +Around the corner from the laboratory, as we dashed out, had been, as I +have said, Wu Fang and Long Sin looking out from the limousine. No +sooner had we disappeared across the campus than their driver started +up the car and they sped around to our apartment. + +Cautiously they alighted and walked down the street. Then making sure +they were not observed, they entered and mounted the stairs to our +doorway. Long Sin was stationed down the hall on guard while Wu Fang +drew from his pocket a blank key, a file and a candle. He lighted the +candle and held the key in its flame until it was covered with soot. + +Then he inserted the key in the keyhole, turned it and took the key +out. Working quickly now, he examined the key sharply. In the soot were +slight scratches indicating where it struck and prevented the turning +of the lock. He filed the key, trying it again and again. Finally he +finished, and opened the door. Beckoning Long Sin, he entered our rooms. + +As they stood there, Wu Fang gazed about our living-room, keenly. He +was evidently considering where to place something, for, one after +another, he picked up several articles on the desk and examined them. +Each time that he laid one down he shook his head. + +Finally his eye rested on the telephone. It seemed to suggest an idea +to him and he crossed over to it. Carefully holding down the receiver +on the hook, he unscrewed the case which holds the diaphragm, while +with his clever fingers he held the rest of the instrument intact. Then +he removed from his pocket the vial which the coolie had given him and +placed its contents on the diaphragm itself. Quickly now he replaced +the receiver, and, having finished their work, Long Sin and Wu Fang +stealthily crept out. + +A second time, as we approached our apartment after the visit to +Elaine, we were too excited to notice the limousine in which were Wu +and Long Sin. But no sooner had we entered than Long Sin left the car +with a final word of instruction from his master. + +Up-stairs, in the apartment, Kennedy began hurriedly to pack, and I +helped him as well as I could. We were in the midst of it when the +telephone rang and I answered it. + +"Hello!" I called. + +There was no response. + +"Hello, Hello!" I repeated, raising my voice. + +Still there was no answer. I worked the hook up and down but could get +no reply. Finally, disgusted, I hung up. + +A moment later, I recall now, it seemed to me as though some one had +stuck a pin into the lobe of my ear. Still, I thought nothing of it in +the excitement of Kennedy's departure, and went to work again to help +him pack. + +We had scarcely got back to work, when the telephone bell jangled +again, and a second time I answered it. + +"Is Mr. Kennedy there?" came back a strange voice. + +I handed the instrument to Craig. + +"Hello," he called. "Who is this?" + +No response. + +"Hello, hello," he shouted, working the hook as I had done and, as in +my case, there was still no answer. + +"Some crank," he exclaimed, jamming down the receiver in disgust and +returning to his packing. + +Neither of us thought anything of it at the time, but now I recall that +I did see Kennedy once or twice press the lobe of his ear as though +something had hurt it. + +We did not know until later that in a pay station down the street our +arch enemy, Long Sin, had been calling us up and then, with a wicked +smile, refusing to speak to us. + + . . . . . . . + +It was about a week later that I came home late one night from the +Star, feeling pretty done up. Whatever it was, a violent fever seemed +to have come on me suddenly. I thought nothing of it, at first, because +I soon grew better. But while it lasted, I had the most intense +shivering, excruciating pains in my limbs, and delirious headache. I +recall, too, that I felt a peculiar soreness on the ear. It was all +like nothing I had ever had before. + +Indeed the next morning when I woke up, I felt a lassitude that made it +quite hard enough even to lounge about in my bath-robe. Finally, +feeling no better, I decided to see a doctor. I put on my clothes with +a decided effort and went out. + +The nearest doctor was about half a block away and we scarcely knew +him, for neither Kennedy nor I were exactly sickly. + +"Well," asked the doctor, as he closed the door of his office and +turned to me. "What seems to be the matter?" + +I tried to smile. "I feel as though I had been celebrating not wisely +but too well," I replied, trying to cheer up, "but as a matter of fact +I have been leading the simple life." + +He sounded me and pounded me, looked at my tongue and my eyes, listened +to my heart and lungs, though I don't think he treated my symptoms very +seriously. In fact, I might have known what he would do. He talked a +little while on generalities, diet and exercise then walked over to a +cabinet, and emptied out a few pills into a little paper box. + +"Take one every hour," he said, handing them to me, and carefully +returning the bottle to the cabinet so that I could not see what was on +the label. "Cut your cigarettes to three a day, and don't drink coffee. +Four dollars, please." + +I suppose I ought to have been cured, and in fact I was cured--of going +to that doctor. I paid him and went back to the apartment, my head soon +in a whirl from a new onset of the fever. + +I managed to get back into my bath-robe, and threw myself down on the +divan, propped up with pillows. I had taken the pills but they had no +more effect than sugar of milk. By this time, I was much more delirious +and was crying out. + +I saw faces about me, but I did not see the faces which were actually +out by our hall door. Wu Fang and Long Sin had waited patiently for +their revenge. Now that they thought sufficient time had elapsed, they +had stolen stealthily to the apartment door. While Long Sin watched, Wu +listened. + +"The white devil has it," whispered Wu Fang, as he rejoined his fellow +conspirator. + +How long I should have remained in this state, and in fact how long I +did remain, I don't know. Vaguely, I recall that our acquaintance, +Johnson, who had the apartment across the hall, at last heard my cries +and came out to his own door. He needed only a moment to listen at ours +to know that something was wrong. + +"Why, what's the matter, Jameson?" he asked, poking his head in and +looking anxiously at me. + +I could only rave some reply, and he tried his best to quiet me. +"What's the matter, old man?" he repeated. "Tell me. Shall I send for a +doctor?" + +Somehow or other I knew the state I was in. I knew it was Johnson, yet +it all seemed unreal to me. With a great effort I gathered all my +scattered wits and managed to shout out, "Telegraph Kennedy--Rockledge." + +By this time Johnson himself was thoroughly alarmed. He did not lose a +second in dictating a telegram over the telephone. + + . . . . . . . + +At about the same time, up at Rockledge, Kennedy and Elaine, with her +cousin Mary Brown, were starting out for a horseback ride through the +hills. They were chatting gaily, but Kennedy was forcing himself to do +so. + +In fact, they had scarcely gone half a mile when Kennedy, who was +riding between the two and fighting off by sheer nerve the illness he +felt, suddenly fell over in half a faint on the horse's neck. Elaine +and Mary reined up their horses. + +"Why, Craig," cried Elaine, startled, "what's the matter?" + +The sound of her voice seemed to arouse him. He braced up. "Oh, +nothing, I guess," he said with a forced smile. "I'm all right." + +It was no use, however. They had to cut short the ride, and Kennedy +returned to the house, glad to drop down in an easy chair on the porch, +while Elaine hovered about him solicitously. His head buzzed, his skin +was hot and dry, his eyes had an unnatural look. Every now and then he +would place his hand to his ear as though he felt some pain. + +They had already summoned the country doctor, but it took him some time +to get out to the house. Suddenly a messenger boy rode up on his +bicycle and mounted the porch steps. "Telegram for Mr. Kennedy," he +announced, looking about and picking out Craig naturally as the person +he wanted. + +Kennedy nodded and took the yellow envelope while Elaine signed for it. +Listlessly he tore it open. It read: + +CRAIG KENNEDY, + +c/o Wellington Brown, Rockledge, N. J. + +Jameson very ill. Wants you. Better come. + +JOHNSON. + +The message seemed to rouse Kennedy in spite of his fever. His face +showed keen alarm, which he endeavored to conceal from Elaine. But her +quick eye had caught the look. + +"I must see Walter," he exclaimed, rising rather weakly and going into +the house. + +How he ever did it is still, I think, a mystery to him, but he managed +to pack up and, in spite of the alternating fever and chills, made the +journey back to the city. + +When at last Craig arrived at our apartment, it must have seemed to him +that he found me almost at death's door. I was terribly ill and weak by +that time, but had refused to see the doctor again and Johnson had +managed to get me into bed. + +Ill himself, Kennedy threw himself down for a moment exhausted. "When +did this thing come on Walter?" he asked of Johnson. + +"Yesterday, I think, at least as nearly as I can find out," replied our +friend. + +Craig was decidedly worried. "There's only one person in New York to +call on," he murmured, pulling himself out of bed and getting into the +living-room as best he could. + +"Is that you, Godowski?" he asked over the telephone. "Well, doctor, +this is Kennedy. Come over to my apartment, quick. I've a case--two +cases for you." + +Godowski was a world-famous scientist in his line and had specialized +in bacteriology, mainly in tropical diseases. + +As Kennedy hung up the receiver, he made his way back again to the +bedroom, scratching his ear. He noticed that I was doing the same in my +delirium. + +"Has Walter been scratching his ear?" he asked of Johnson. + +Johnson nodded. "That's strange," considered Craig thoughtfully. "I've +been doing the same." + +He turned back into the living-room and for a moment looked about. +Finally his eye happened to fall on the telephone and an idea seemed to +occur to him. + +He went over to the instrument and unscrewed the receiver. Carefully he +looked inside. Then he looked closer. There was something peculiar +about it and he picked up a blank sheet of white paper, dusting off the +diaphragm on it. There, on the paper, were innumerable little black +specks. + +Just then, outside, Dr. Godowski's car drew up and he jumped out, +swinging his black bag. Not being acquainted with what we were going +through, Godowski did not notice the almond-eyed Chinaman who was +watching down the street. + +"How do you do, doctor," greeted Craig faintly, at the door. + +"What seems to be the difficulty?" inquired the doctor eagerly. + +"I don't know," returned Craig, "but I have my suspicions. I'm too ill +to verify them myself. So I've called on you. Look at Jameson first," +he added. + +While Godowski was examining me, Craig managed to get out his +microscope and was looking through it at the strange black specks on +the paper. There, under the lens, he could see the most remarkable, +almost microscopic creature, all legs and feelers, a most vicious +object. + +Weak though he was, he could not help an exclamation of exultation at +his discovery, just as Godowski had finished with me. + +"Look!" he cried, calling the doctor. "I know what the trouble is, +Godowski." + +He had started to tell, but the excitement of the journey and the +exertion were so great that he could hardly mumble. + +"Here--look--on this paper," he cried. "From the telephone--" + +He had risen and was handing the paper to the scientist when his +weakness overcame him. He fell flat on his face on the floor and +dropped the paper, spilling the contents. + +Godowski, now thoroughly alarmed, bent over Craig. But the delirium had +overcome Kennedy, too. + +Unable to make any sense out of Craig's broken wanderings, Godowski +lost no time in taking samples of our blood. + +Then he hurried away to his laboratory in his car. As he did so, +however, Long Sin leaped into a taxicab which was waiting and followed. + + . . . . . . . + +In Godowski's laboratory, where he was studying tropical diseases, the +bacteriologist set to work at once to confirm his own growing +suspicions. + +From a monkey which he had there for experimental purposes, he drew off +some blood samples. Then, with the aid of his assistant, he took the +blood samples he had obtained from us. The monkey's blood, under the +microscope, seemed full of rather elongated wriggling germs of a +peculiar species. In and out they made their way among the blood +corpuscles each like a dart aimed at life itself. + +Then he took the samples of our blood. In them were the same +germs--carried by that gruesome tick! + +"The spirillum!" he muttered. "They are infected with African recurrent +fever. The only remedy is atoxyl, administered intravenously, after the +manner of Professor Ehrlich's famous '606'." + +Godowski had rung the call box hastily for a messenger, when Long Sin, +who had managed stealthily to creep up to the doctor's laboratory +window, scowled, through at the action--then moved away. + +While his assistant gathered the apparatus, the doctor wrote: + +MISS ANNE SEPTIX, 301 W. --th St. + +Please go at once to the apartment of Craig Kennedy,--Claremont Ave. +Surgical case. + +GODOWSKI, M. D. + +The boy arrived finally and the doctor gave him a generous tip to hurry +with the note. + +He had not turned the corner, however, when Long Sin appeared. Subtly +he played on the boy's cupidity to get him to deliver a note of his +own, even offered to deliver the boy's note for him. The flash of a +five dollar bill made the rest easy. + +As the boy disappeared on a fake errand, Long Sin, with the real note +hurried down-town, smiling wickedly. + +"They have discovered the fever, Master," he reported in the den. + +Wu was beside himself with rage. Before he could speak, however, Long +Sin spread out Godowski's message. "But I have this," he added. + +It took merely a glance to suggest to Wu a new plan of action. He rose +and moved quickly into the back room. "Come," he ordered Weepy Mary. +"You must dress up as a nurse--immediately." + +Quickly she donned one of the numerous disguises while Wu planned his +campaign. + +"Here," he directed when she was ready, handing her a little vial. "You +must infect every instrument the doctor uses on Kennedy and +Jameson,--see?" + +She nodded and a moment later was on her way uptown. + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile Godowski himself had arrived at our apartment, much to the +relief of our friend Johnson, and was unpacking his instruments. + +Quickly he improvised two operating tables, and placed one of us on +each. Then, with his assistant, he put on his white robes, mask, gloves +and other precautions for asepsis, setting out the apparatus for the +intravenous administration of the drug that would kill the spirillum. +Godowski was busy with the atoxyl, mixing it in a normal salt solution. +He would drop in a few drops of an acid, then a few drops of an +alkaline solution, so as to keep the mixture neutral. Finally, he +poured the solution into a container, to the bottom of which was +attached a long tube. This container he raised high over our heads, +clamping the tube. + +Then he fastened a tiny needle to the end of the tube, so that it could +be inserted in our arms, catching skillfully a vein--a very difficult +piece of work in which he excelled. The liquid would then flow by the +force of gravity from the container down through the tube, through the +hollow needle and into the vein where it would act on the germs of the +fever. + +They had finished their preparations and were waiting for Miss Septix. +"She ought to be here, now," muttered Godowski impatiently, looking at +his watch. + +Just then a cab drove up outside. + +"Perhaps that is she," he exclaimed. "It must be." + +A few moments later the door of the apartment opened. His face showed +his disappointment. It was a stranger. + +"Miss Septix is ill," she introduced, "and sent me to take her place." + +The doctor looked about. "Very well, then," he said briskly, seeing his +preparations. "Are you ready to go ahead?" + +She nodded and threw off her coat that covered her immaculate white +uniform. + +The specialist plunged whole-heartedly into his work of saving us now. +"Hand me that needle, please," he directed the false nurse. + +She moved over to the table near-by and took it up, pausing only long +enough to dip it secretly into a vial she carried with her. + +"Please hurry," repeated the doctor. + +She turned from the table and handed it to him. He adjusted it and +already held it poised for the thrust which was not to cure but to +poison us further. + +"Weepy Mary!" cried a frightened voice at our door. + +Elaine had been deeply alarmed by the sudden illness of Kennedy and the +message from Jameson. No sooner had Kennedy gone, than it flashed over +her that Wu Fang had predicted something like this. + +"The threat!" she exclaimed, seeking her cousin. "Mary, I must go to +the city--right away." + +On the next train, then, she had been speeding back to New York, and, +arriving at the station, she realized that there was not a moment to +lose. She called a cab, drove directly to our apartment, and hurried +in, without even ringing the bell. + +One glance at the improvised hospital was enough to alarm her. But the +sight that had transfixed her was of a woman whose face she remembered +only too well, though Kennedy and I had never seen her. + +"Please, Miss," began Godowski's assistant, trying to quiet Elaine, +while Godowski turned in vexation to his work. + +"No, no!" repeated Elaine. "This woman is no nurse. She is a criminal!" + +Godowski paused. It was true he did not know the woman. He gazed from +Elaine to Weepy Mary in doubt. + +The game was up. Weepy Mary dropped a piece of gauze which she had +soaked in the solution from the vial which Wu had given her and bolted +for the door. + +So sudden was her flight that no one was quick enough to stop her. She +managed to reach the hall and slam the door. Down she rushed to the +street, Godowski's assistant after her. + +There, awaiting, was Long Sin's car. She leaped in and was off in a +moment. The assistant had just time to dive at the running-board. But +his grip was poor and Long Sin easily threw him off. + +"You--you fool!" he hissed at Mary, as soon as the danger of pursuit +was over and the assistant had gone back into the apartment. + +"Oh, sir," she begged, "it was not my fault. Miss Dodge came +in--unexpectedly--she recognized me. If I had not fled, they would have +caught me--perhaps you, too." + +Long Sin was furious. He threatened her and she cowered back. However, +there was nothing to be gained by that and he subsided and drove +quickly down-town. + +The excitement more than ever alarmed Elaine now. "Tell me," she +appealed to Dr. Godowski, "what is the matter?" + +"In some way," he replied quickly, "they have become infected by the +bite of an African tick which carries spirillum fever." + +"She got away, in a cab," panted the assistant, returning. + +Godowski raised his hands in despair. "I was just about to start," he +cried. "Everything is ready. I can't send for another nurse. Every +minute counts." + +Elaine had thrown off her coat and hat. Her sleeves were up in a moment +and before the doctor knew what she was about she was scrubbing her +hands in the antiseptic wash. + +"Only--show me--what to do," she cried. "I will be the nurse!" + + . . . . . . . + +Several days later, when we had recovered sufficiently from the +diabolical attack that had been made upon us, Kennedy was again at work +in the laboratory, while I was writing. We still felt rather weak, but +Godowski's skill had pulled us out all right. + +Our speaking-tube sounded and I knew that it was Elaine and Aunt +Josephine. + +"How do you feel?" inquired Elaine anxiously, as she almost ran across +the laboratory to Craig. + +"Fine!" he exaggerated, brightly. + +"Really?" she repeated anxiously. + +"Look!" he said, turning to his microscope. + +He took some blood from a test tube in our electric incubator and +placed a drop on a slide. It was some of the blood infected by the +germs carried by the tick. + +"That is how our blood looked--before the new nurse arrived," he +smiled, while Elaine looked at it in horror. + +Then he pricked his arm and let a drop smear on another slide. + +"Now look at that--perfectly normal," he added. + +"Oh--I'm so glad," she exclaimed radiantly. + +"Normal--thanks to you. You saved us. You were just in time," cried +Craig taking both her hands in his. + +He was about to kiss her, when she broke away. "Craig," she whispered, +blushing and looking hastily at us. + +Aunt Josephine and I could only smile at the disgusted glance Craig +gave us, as he thrust his hands in his pockets and wished us a thousand +miles away at that moment. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SHADOWS OF WAR + + +For a long time Kennedy had, I knew, been at work at odd moments in the +laboratory secretly. What it was that he was working on, even I was +unable to guess, so closely had he guarded his secret. But that it was +something momentous, I was assured. + +Long Sin had already been arrested and it was a day or two after the +escape of Wu himself who had come just in time to prevent the +confession by one of his emissaries of the whereabouts of his secret +den. Kennedy had Chase and another detective whom he frequently +employed on routine matters at work over the clues developed by his use +of the sphygmograph. Elaine, anxious for news, had dropped in on us at +the laboratory just as Kennedy was hastily opening his mail. + +Craig came to a large letter with an official look, slit open the +envelope, and unfolded the letter. "Hurrah!" he cried, jumping up and +thrusting the letter before us. "Read that." + +Across the top of the paper were embossed in blue the formidable words: + +United States Navy Department, Washington, D. C. + +The letter was most interesting: + +PROFESSOR CRAIG KENNEDY, The University, New York City. + +DEAR SIR, + +Your telautomatic torpedo model was tested yesterday and I take great +pleasure in stating that it was entirely successful. There is no doubt +that the United States is safe from attack as long as we retain its +secret. + +Very sincerely yours, + +DANIEL WATERS, Ass't Sec'y. + +"Oh, Craig," congratulated Elaine, as she handed back the note. "I'm so +glad for your sake. How famous you will be!" + +"When are we going to see the wonderful invention, Craig?" I added as I +grasped his hand and, in return, he almost broke the bones in mine +wringing it. + +"As soon as you wish," he replied, moving over to the safe near-by and +opening it. "Here's the only other model in existence besides the model +I sent to Washington." + +He held up before us a cigar-shaped affair of steel, about eight inches +long, with a tiny propeller and rudder of a size to correspond. Above +was a series of wires, four or five inches in length, which, he +explained, were the aerials by which the torpedo was controlled. + +"The principle of the thing," he went on proudly, "is that I use +wireless waves to actuate relays on the torpedo. The power is in the +torpedo; the relay releases it. That is, I send a child with a message; +the grown man, through the relay, does the work. So, you see, I can sit +miles away in safety and send my little David out anywhere to strike +down a huge Goliath." + +It was not difficult to catch his enthusiasm over the marvellous +invention, though we could not follow him through the mazes of +explanation about radio-combinators, telecommutators and the rest of +the technicalities. I may say, however, that on his radio-combinator he +had a series of keys marked "Forward," "Back," "Start," "Stop," "Rudder +Right," "Rudder Left," and so on. + +He had scarcely finished his brief description when there came a knock +at the door. I answered it. It was Chase and his assistant, whom +Kennedy had employed in the affair. + +"We've found the place on Pell Street that we think is Wu Fang's," they +reported excitedly. "It's in number fourteen, as you thought. We've +left an operative disguised as a blind beggar to watch the place." + +"Oh, good!" exclaimed Elaine, as Craig and I hurried out after Chase +and his man with her. "May I go with you?" + +"Really, Elaine," objected Craig, "I don't think it's safe. There's no +telling what may happen. In fact, I think Walter and I had better not +be seen there even with Chase." + +She pouted and pleaded, but Craig was obdurate. Finally she consented +to wait for us at home provided we brought her the news at the earliest +moment and demonstrated the wonderful torpedo as well. Craig was only +too glad to promise and we waved good-bye as her car whisked her off. + +Half an hour later we turned into Chinatown from the shadow of the +elevated railroad on Chatham Square, doing our best to affect a Bowery +slouch. + +We had not gone far before we came to the blind beggar. He was sitting +by number fourteen with a sign on his breast, grinding industriously at +a small barrel organ before him on which rested a tin cup. + +We passed him and Kennedy took out a coin from his pocket and dropped +it into the cup. As he did so, he thrust his hand into the cup and +quickly took out a piece of paper which he palmed. + +The blind beggar thanked and blessed us, and we dodged into a doorway +where Kennedy opened the paper: "Wu Fang gone out." + +"What shall we do?" I asked. + +"Go in anyhow," decided Kennedy quickly. + +We left the shelter of the doorway and walked boldly up to the door. +Deftly Kennedy forced it and we entered. + +We had scarcely mounted the stairs to the den of the Serpent, when a +servant in a back room, hearing a noise, stuck his head in the door. +Kennedy and I made a dash at him and quickly overpowered him, snapping +the bracelets on his wrists. + +"Watch him, Walter," directed Craig as he made his way into the back +room. + + . . . . . . . + +In the devious plots and schemes of Wu Fang, his nefarious work had +brought him into contact not only with criminals of the lowest order +but with those high up in financial and diplomatic circles. + +Thus it happened that at such a crisis as Kennedy had brought about for +him Wu had suddenly been called out of the city and had received an +order from a group of powerful foreign agents known secretly as the +Intelligence Office to meet an emissary at a certain rocky promontory +on the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound the very day after +Kennedy's little affair with him in the laboratory and the day before +the letter from Washington arrived. + +Though he was mortally afraid of Kennedy's pursuit, there was nothing +to do but obey this imperative summons. Quietly he slipped out of town, +the more readily when he realized that the summons would take him not +far from the millionaire cottage colony where Elaine had her summer +home, which, however, she had not yet opened. + +There, on the rocky shore, he sat gazing out at the waves, waiting, +when suddenly, from around the promontory, came a boat rowed by two +stalwart sailors. It carried as passengers two dark-complexioned, +dark-haired men, foreigners evidently, though carefully dressed so as +to conceal both their identity and nationality. + +As the boat came up to a strip of sandy beach among the rocks, the +sailors held it while their two passengers jumped out. Then they rowed +away as quickly as they had come. + +The two mysterious strangers saluted Wu. + +"We are under orders from the Intelligence Office," introduced one who +seemed to be the leader, "to get this American, Kennedy." + +A subtle smile overspread Wu's face. He said nothing but this adventure +promised to serve more than one end. "Information has just come to us," +the stranger went on, "that Kennedy has invented a new wireless +automatic torpedo. Already a letter is on its way informing him that it +has been accepted by the Navy." + +The other man who had been drawing a cigar-shaped outline on the wet +sand looked up. "We must get those models," he put in, adding, "both of +them--the one he has and that the government has. Can it be done?" + +"I can get them," answered Wu sinisterly. + +And so, while Kennedy was drawing together the net about Wu, that wily +criminal had already planned an attack on him in an unexpected quarter. + +Down in Washington the very morning that our pursuit of Wu came to a +head, the officials of the navy department, both naval and civil, were +having the final conference at which they were to accept officially +Kennedy's marvellous invention which, it was confidently believed, +would ultimately make war impossible. + +Seated about a long table in one of the board rooms were not only the +officers but the officials of the department whose sanction was +necessary for the final step. By a window sat a stenographer who was +transcribing, as they were taken, the notes of the momentous meeting. + +They had just completed the examination of the torpedo and laid it on +the end of the table scarcely an arm's length from the stenographer. As +he finished a page of notes he glanced quickly at his watch. It was +exactly three o'clock. + +Hastily he reached over for the torpedo and with one swift, silent +movement tossed it out of the window. + +Down below, in a clump of rhododendrons, for several moments had been +crouching one of the men who had borne the orders to Wu Fang at the +strange meeting on the promontory. + +His eyes seemed riveted at the window above him. Suddenly the supreme +moment for which this dastardly plot had been timed came. As the +torpedo model dropped from the window, he darted forward, caught it, +turned, and in an instant he was gone. + + . . . . . . . + +Wu Fang himself had returned after setting in motion the forces which +he found necessary to call to aid the foreign agents in their plots +against Kennedy's torpedo. + +As Wu approached the door of his den and was about to enter, his eye +fell on our outpost, the blind beggar. Instantly his suspicions were +aroused. He looked the beggar over with a frown, thought a moment, then +turned and instead of entering went up the street. + +He made the circuit of the block and now came to an alley on the next +street that led back of the building in which he had his den. Still +frowning, he gazed about, saw that he was not followed, and entered a +doorway. + +Up the stairs he made his way until he came to an empty loft. Quickly +he went over to the blank wall and began feeling cautiously about as if +for a secret spring hidden in the plaster. + +"No one in the back room," said Kennedy rejoining me in the den itself +with the prisoner. "He's out, all right." + +Before Craig was a mirror. As he looked into it, at an angle, he could +see a part of the decorations of the wall behind him actually open out. +For an instant the evil face of Wu Fang appeared. + +Without a word, Craig walked into the back room. As he did so, Wu Fang, +knife in hand, stealthily opened the sliding panel its full length and +noiselessly entered the room behind me. With knife upraised for instant +action he moved closer and closer to me. He had almost reached me and +paused to gloat as he poised the knife ready to strike, when I heard a +shout from Kennedy, and a scuffle. + +Craig had leaped out from behind a screen near the doorway to the back +room where he had hidden to lure Wu on. With a powerful grasp, he +twisted the knife from Wu's hand and it fell with a clatter on the +floor. I was at Wu myself an instant later. He was a powerful fighter, +but we managed to snap the handcuffs on him finally, also. + +"Walter," panted Kennedy straightening himself out after the fracas, +"I'll stay here with the prisoners. Go get the police." + +I hurried out and rushed down the street seeking an officer. + +Up in the den, Wu Fang, silent, stood with his back to the wall, +scowling sullenly. Close beside him hung a sort of bell-cord, just out +of reach. Kennedy, revolver in hand, was examining the writing-table to +discover whatever evidence he could. Slowly, imperceptibly, inch by +inch, Wu moved toward the bell-cord. He was reaching out with his +manacled hands to seize it when Kennedy, alert, turned, saw him, and +instantly shot. Wu literally crumpled up and dropped to the floor as +Craig bounded over to him. + +By this time I had found a policeman and he had summoned the wagon from +the Elizabeth Street station, a few blocks away. As we drove up before +the den, I leaped out and the police followed. + +Imagine my surprise at seeing Wu stretched on the floor. Kennedy had +tried to staunch the flow of blood from a wound on Wu's shoulder with a +handkerchief and now was making a temporary bandage which he bound on +him. + +"How are you, sergeant?" nodded Kennedy. "Well, I guess you'll admit I +made good this time." + +The sergeant smiled, recalling a previous occasion when the slippery Wu +had squirmed through our fingers. + +Kennedy's restless eye fell on the bell-rope which had caused the +trouble. Somehow, he seemed to have an irresistible desire to pull that +rope. He gazed about the room. + +"Walter, you and the sergeant take the prisoners into the next room," +he said. "I want to see what this thing really is." + +We moved Wu and his servant and stood in the doorway. Craig gave the +rope a yank. + +Instantly there was an explosion. A concealed shotgun in the wall +fired, scattering shot all over the front of Wu's table, just where we +had been standing, knocking over and breaking vases, scattering papers +and in general wrecking everything before it. + +"So, that's it," whistled Craig. "You fellows can come back now. Two of +you men I'm going to leave here to watch the place and make other +arrests if you can. Come on." + +With Kennedy I left the tenement while the sergeant marched the +prisoners out, and we drove off with them. Quite a crowd had collected +outside by the time we came out. Among them, naturally, were many +Chinamen, and we could not see two of them hiding behind the rest on +the outskirts, jabbering in low tones together and making hasty plans. +As we clanged away down the street they followed more slowly on foot. + +Common humanity dictated that we take Wu first of all to a hospital and +get him fixed up and to a hospital we went. Kennedy and I entered with +our prisoners, closely guarded by the police. + +Craig handed Wu over to two young doctors and a nurse. By this time Wu +was very weak from loss of blood. Still he had his iron nerve and that +was carrying him through. The two young doctors and the nurse had +scarcely begun to take off Craig's rude bandage to replace it properly, +when a noise outside told us that a weeping and gesticulating +delegation of Chinese had arrived. + +"Keep 'em back," called one of the doctors to an attendant. The +attendant tried to drive them away, but nothing could force them back +more than an inch or two as, in broken English, they sought to find out +how Wu was. Their importunity proved too much for only one attendant. +Still gibbering and gesticulating, the crowd brushed past him as if he +had been a mere reed. The attendant raged about until he lost his head. +But it was no use. There was nothing for him to do but to follow them +in. + +Kennedy by this time had finished talking to the doctors and handing Wu +over to them. They had taken him into a room in the dispensary. Just +then the chattering crowd pushed in, some asking questions, others +bewailing the fate of the great Wu Fang. They were so insistent that at +last one of the doctors was forced to demand that the police drive them +out. They started to push them back. + +In the melee, one of their number managed to get away from the rest and +reach the doorway to the emergency room. He was, as we found out later, +dressed almost precisely like Wu, although he had on a somewhat +different cap. In build and size as well as features he was a veritable +Dromio. + +The other Chinaman drew back behind the screen which hid the doorway to +the emergency room and concealed himself. + +Meanwhile, Kennedy and I were laughing at the truly ludicrous antics of +the astounded Celestials, thunderstruck at the capture of the peerless +leader, while the police forced them back. + +"Well, good-bye," nodded Craig to the first doctor and nurse who had +attended Wu Fang outside. + +"Good-bye. We'll fix him up and take good care that he doesn't cheat +the law," they said, with a nod to the sergeant. + + . . . . . . . + +In the emergency room, Wu was placed on an operating table and there +was bound up properly, though he was terribly weak now. + +Back of the screen, however, the other Chinaman was hiding, able to get +an occasional glance at what was going on. There happened to be a table +near him on which were gauze, cotton and other things. He reached over +and took the gauze and quickly made it into a bandage, keeping one eye +on the bandaging of Wu. Then he placed the bandage over his own +shoulder and arm in the same way that he saw the doctors doing with Wu. + +They had finished with Wu and one of the doctors moved over to the +doorway to call the sergeant. For the moment the rest had left Wu +alone, his eyes apparently half closed through weakness. Each was busy +about his own especial task. + +From behind the screen which was only a few feet from the operating +table, the secreted Chinaman stepped out. Quickly he placed his own hat +on Wu and took Wu's, then took Wu's place on the table while Wu slipped +behind the screen. + +The doctor turned to the supposed Wu. "Come now," he ordered, handing +him over to the police. "Here he is at last." + +The sergeant started to lead the prisoner out. As he did so, he looked +sharply at him. He could scarcely believe his eyes. There was something +wrong. All Chinaman might look alike to some people but not to him. + +"That's not Wu Fang!" he exclaimed. + +Instantly there was the greatest excitement. The doctors were astounded +as all rushed into the emergency room again. One of them looked behind +the screen. There was an open window. + +"That's how he got away," he cried. + +Meanwhile, several blocks from the hospital, Wu, still weak but more +than ever nerved up, came out of his place of concealment, gazed up and +down the street, and, seeing no one following, hurried away from the +hospital as fast as his shaky legs would bear him. + + . . . . . . . + +Confident that at last our arch enemy was safely landed in the hands of +the police, Kennedy and I had left the hospital and were hastening to +Elaine with the news. We stopped at the laboratory only long enough to +get the torpedo from the safe and at a toy store where Craig bought a +fine little clockwork battleship. + +We found Elaine and Aunt Josephine in the conservatory and quickly +Kennedy related how we had captured Wu. + +But, like all inventors, his pet was the torpedo and soon we were +absorbed in his description of it. As he unwrapped it, Elaine drew +back, timidly, from the fearful engine of destruction. + +Kennedy smiled. "No, it isn't dangerous," he said reassuringly. "I've +removed its charge and put in a percussion cap. Let me show you, on a +small scale, how it works," he added, winding up the battleship and +placing it in the fountain. + +Next he placed the torpedo in the water at the other end of the tank. +"Come over here," he said, indicating to us to follow him into the +palms. + +There he had placed the strange wireless apparatus which controlled the +torpedo. He pressed a lever. We peered out through the fronds of the +palms. That uncanny little cigar-shaped thing actually started to move +over the surface of the water. + +"Of course I could make it dive," explained Craig, "but I want you to +see it work." + +Around the tank it went, turned, cut a figure eight, as Kennedy +manipulated the levers. Then it headed straight toward the battleship. +It struck. There was a loud report, a spurt of water. One of the +skeleton masts fell over. The battleship heeled over, and slowly sank, +bow first. + +"Wonderful!" exclaimed Elaine. "That was very realistic." + +We brushed our way out through the thick palms, congratulating Kennedy +on the perfect success of his demonstration. + +So astonished were we that we did not hear the doorbell ring. Jennings +answered it and admitted two men. + +"Is Professor Kennedy here?" asked one. "We have been to his apartment +and to the laboratory." + +"I'll see," said Jennings discretely, taking the card of one of them +and leaving them in the drawing-room. + +"Two gentlemen to see you, Mr. Kennedy," Jennings interrupted our +congratulations, handing Craig a card. "Shall I tell them you are here, +sir?" + +Craig glanced at the card. "I wonder what that can be?" he said, +turning the card toward us. + +It was engraved: + +W. R. Barnes U. S. Secret Service. + +"Yes, I'll see them," he said, then to us, "Please excuse me?" + +Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I strolled off in the palms toward the Fifth +Avenue side, while Jennings went out toward the back of the house. + +"Well, gentlemen," greeted Kennedy as he met the two detectives, "what +can I do for you?" + +The leader looked about, then leaned over and whispered, "We've just +had word, Professor, that your model of the torpedo has been stolen +from the Navy Department in Washington." + +"Stolen?" repeated Kennedy, staring aghast. + +"Yes. We fear that an agent of a foreign government has found a traitor +in the department." + +Rapidly Kennedy's mind pictured what might be done with the deadly +weapon in the hands of an enemy. + +"And," added the Secret Service man, "we have reason to believe that +this foreign agent is using a Chinaman, Wu Fang." + +"But Wu has been arrested," replied Craig. "I arrested him myself. The +police have him now." + +"Then you don't know of his escape?" + +Kennedy could only stare as they told the story. + +Suddenly, down the hall, came cries of, "Help! Help!" + + . . . . . . . + +While Craig was showing us the torpedo, the criminal machinery which Wu +had set in motion at orders from the foreign agents was working rapidly. + +Outside the Dodge house, a man had shadowed us. He waited until we went +in, then slunk in himself by the back way and climbed through an open +window into the cellar. + +Quietly he made his way up through the cellar until finally he reached +the library. Listening carefully he could hear us talking in the +conservatory. Stealthily he moved out of the library. + +We had left the conservatory when he entered, peering through the +palms. On he stole till he came to the fountain. He looked about. +There, bobbing up and down, was the model of the torpedo for which he +had dared so much. He picked it up and looked at it, gloating. + +The crook was about to move back toward the library, hugging the +precious model close to himself when he heard Jennings coming. He +started back to the conservatory. Jennings entered just in time to +catch a fleeting glimpse of some one. His suspicions were roused and he +followed. + +The crook reached the conservatory and opened a glass window leading +out into the little garden beside the house. He was about to step out +when the sound of voices in the garden arrested him. Elaine, Aunt +Josephine and I had gone out and Elaine was showing me a new rose which +had just been sent her. + +The crook fell back and dropped down behind the palms. Jennings looked +about, but saw no one and stood there puzzled. Then the crook, fearing +that he might be captured at any moment, looked about to see where he +might hide the torpedo. There did not seem to be any place. Quickly he +began to dig out the earth in one of the palm pots. He dropped the +torpedo, wrapped still in the handkerchief, into the hole and covered +it up. + +Jennings was clearly puzzled. He had seen some one rush in, but the +conservatory was apparently empty. He had just turned to go out when he +saw a palm move. There was a face! He made a dive for it and in a +moment both he and the crook were rolling over and over. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy and the Secret Service men were talking earnestly when they +heard the cry for help and the scuffle. They rushed out and into the +conservatory in time to see the crook, who had broken away, knock out +Jennings. He sprang to his feet and darted away. + +Kennedy's mind was working rapidly. Had the man been after the other +model? The detectives went after him. But Craig went for the torpedo. +As he looked in the tank, it was gone! He turned and followed the crook. + +I was still in the garden with Elaine and Aunt Josephine when I heard +sounds of a struggle and a moment later a man emerged through the +window of the conservatory followed by two other men. I went for him, +but he managed to elude me and dashed for the wall in the back of the +garden. The Secret Service men fired at him but he kept on. A moment +later Craig came through the window. + +"Did any of you take the torpedo?" he asked. + +"No," replied Elaine, "we left it just as you had it." + +Kennedy seemed wild with anxiety. "Then both models have been stolen!" +he cried, dashing after the Secret Service men with me close behind. + +The crook by this time had reached the top of the wall. Just as he was +about to let himself down safely on the other side, a shot struck him. +He pitched over and we ran forward. + +But he had just enough of a start. In spite of the shock and the wound +he managed to pick himself up and with the help of a confederate +hobbled into a waiting car, which sped away just as we came over the +wall. + +We dropped to the ground just as another car approached. Craig +commandeered it from its astonished driver, the Secret Service men and +I piled in and we were off in a few seconds in hot pursuit. + + . . . . . . . + +Down at the terminal where trains came in from Washington, Wu, much +better now, was waiting. + +He had pulled a long coat over his Chinese clothes and wore a slouch +hat. As he looked at the incoming passengers he spied the man he was +waiting for, the young crook who had been waiting in the shrubbery +outside the Navy Building when the torpedo model was thrown out. + +The man had the model carefully wrapped up, under his arm. As his eye +travelled over the crowd he recognized Wu but did not betray it. He +walked by and, as he passed, hastily handed Wu the package containing +the model. Wu slipped it under his coat. Then each went his way, in +opposite directions. + + . . . . . . . + +It was a close race between the car bearing the two crooks and that +which Kennedy had impressed into service, but we kept on up through the +city and out across the country, into Connecticut. + +Time and again they almost got away until it became a question of +following tire tracks. Once we came to a cross-road and Kennedy stopped +and leaped out. Deeply planted in the mud, he could see the tracks of +the car ahead leading out by the left road. Close beside the tire +tracks were the footprints of two men going up the right hand road +toward the Sound. + +"You follow the car and the driver," decided Craig, hastily indicating +the road by which it had gone. "I'll follow the footprints." + +The Secret Service men jumped back into the car and Kennedy and I went +along the shore road following the two crooks. + +Already the wounded crook, supported by his pal, had made his way down +to the water and had come to a long wharf. There, near the land-end, +they had a secret hiding-place into which they went. The other crook +drew forth a smoke signal and began to prepare it. + +Kennedy and I were able, now, to move faster than they. As we came in +sight of the wharf, Kennedy paused. + +"There they are, two of them," he indicated. + +I could just make them out in their hiding-place. The fellow who had +stolen the torpedo was by this time so weak from loss of blood that he +could hardly hold his head up, while the other hurried to fix-the smoke +signal. He happened to glance up, and saw us. + +"Come, Red, brace up," he muttered. "They're on our trail." + +The wounded man was almost too weak to answer. "I--I can't," he gasped +weakly, "You--go." Then, with a great effort, remembering the mission +on which he had been sent, he whispered hoarsely, "I hid the second +torpedo model in the Dodge house in the bottom of--" He tried hard to +finish, but he was too weak. He fell back, dead. + +His pal had waited as long as he dared to learn the secret. He jumped +up and ran out just as we burst into the hiding-place. + +Kennedy dropped down by the dead man and searched him, while I dashed +after the other fellow. But I was not so well acquainted with the lay +of the land as he and, before I knew it, he had darted into another of +his numerous hiding-places. I hunted about, but I had lost the track. + +When I returned, I found Kennedy writing a hasty note. + +"I couldn't follow him, Craig," I confessed. + +"Too bad," frowned Craig evidently greatly worried by what had +happened, as he folded the note. "Walter," he added seriously, "I want +you to go find the fellow." He handed me the note. "And if anything +separates us to-day--give this note to Elaine." + +I did not pay much attention to the tone he assumed, but often +afterward I pondered over it and the serious and troubled look on his +face. I was too chagrined at losing my man to think much of it then. I +took the note and hurried out again after him. + +Meanwhile, as nearly as I can now make out, Kennedy searched the dead +man again. There was certainly no clue to his identity on him, nor had +he the torpedo model. Craig looked about. Suddenly, he fell flat on his +stomach. + +There was Wu Fang himself, coming to the wharf, carrying the model of +the torpedo which had been stolen in Washington and brought up to him +by his emissary. + +Kennedy, crouching down and taking advantage of every object that +sheltered him, crawled cautiously into an angle. Unsuspecting, Wu came +to the land-end of the wharf. + +There he saw his lieutenant, dead--and the smoke signal still beside +him, unlighted. He bent over in amazement and examined the man. + +From his hiding-place Kennedy crept stealthily. He had scarcely got +within reach of Wu when the alert Chinaman seemed to sense his +presence. He rose quickly and swung around. + +The two arch enemies gazed at each other a moment silently. Each knew +it was the final, fatal encounter. + +Slowly Wu drew a long knife and leaped at Kennedy who grappled with +him. They struggled mercilessly. + +In the struggle, Craig managed to tear the torpedo out of Wu's hands, +just as they rolled over. It fell on a rock. Instantly an explosion +tore a hole in the sand, scattering the gravel all about. + +Relentlessly the combat raged. Out on the wharf itself they went, right +up to the edge. + +Then both went over into the water, locked in each other's vice-like +grip. + +Even in the water, they struggled, frantically. + + . . . . . . . + +My search for the escaped crook was unsuccessful. + +Somehow, however, it led me across country to a road. As I approached, +I heard a car and looked up. There were the Secret Service men. I +called them and stepped out of the bushes. They stopped and jumped out +of the car and I ran to them. + +"Come back with me," I urged. "We found two of them. One is dead. Craig +sent me to trace the other. I've lost the trail. Perhaps you can find +it for me." + +We crashed through the brush quickly. Suddenly I heard something that +caused me to start. It sounded like an explosion. + +"There's the place--over there," I pointed, pausing and indicating the +direction of the wharf whence had come the explosion. + +What was it? We did not stop a moment, but hurried in that direction. + +We reached the shore where we saw marks of the explosion and of a +fight. Out on the pier I ran breathlessly. I rushed to the very edge +and gazed over, then climbed down the slippery piling and peered into +the black water beneath. + +A few bubbles seemed to ooze up from below. Was that all? + +No, as I gazed down I saw that some dark object was there. Slowly Wu +Fang's body floated to the surface and lay there, rocked by the waves. +Deep in his breast stuck his own knife with its handle of the Sign of +the Serpent! + +I reached down and seized him, as I peered about for Kennedy. + +There was nothing more there. + +"Craig!" I called desperately, "Craig!" + +There was no answer. The silence, the echo of the lapping water under +the wharf was appalling, mocking. + +I managed to call the Secret Service men and they got Wu Fang's body up +on the wharf. + +But I could not leave the spot. + +Where was Craig? There was not a sign of him. I could not realize it, +even when the men brought grappling irons and began to search the black +water. + +It was all a hideous dream. I saw and heard, in a daze. + + . . . . . . . + +It was not until late that night that I returned to the Dodge house. + +I had delayed my return as long as I could, but I knew that I must see +Elaine some time. + +As I entered even Jennings must have seen that something was wrong. +Elaine, who was sitting in the library with Aunt Josephine, rose as she +saw me. + +"Did you get them?" she asked eagerly. + +I could not speak. She seemed to read the tragic look on my haggard +face and stopped. + +"Why," she gasped, clutching at the desk, "what is the matter?" + +As gently as I could, I told her of the chase, of leaving Craig, of the +explosion, of the marks of the struggle and of the finding of Wu Fang. + +As I finished, I thought she would faint. + +"And you--you went over everything about the wharf?" + +"Everything. The men even dragged for the--" + +I checked myself over the fateful word. + +Elaine looked at me wildly. I thought that she would lose her reason. +She did not cry. The shock was too great for that. + +Suddenly I remembered the note. "Before I left him--the last time," I +blurted out, "he wrote a note--to you." + +I pulled the crumpled paper from my pocket and Elaine almost tore it +from me--the last word from him--and read: + +DEAREST: + +I may not return until the case is settled and I have found the stolen +torpedo. Matters involving millions of lives and billions of dollars +hang on the plot back of it. No matter what happens, have no fear. +Trust me. + +Lovingly, CRAIG. + +She finished reading the note and slowly laid it down. Then she picked +it up and read it again. Slowly she turned to me. + +I think I have never seen so sublime a look of faith on any one's face +before. If I had not seen and heard what I had, it might have shaken my +own convictions. + +"He told me to trust him and to have no fear," she said simply, +gripping herself mentally and physically by main force, then with an +air of defiance she looked at me. "I do not believe that he is dead!" + +I tried to comfort her. I wanted to do so. But I could do nothing but +shake my head sadly. My own heart was full to overflowing. An intimacy +such as had been ours could not be broken except with a shock that tore +my soul. I knew that the poor girl had not seen what I had seen. Yet I +could not find it in my heart to contradict her. + +She saw my look, read my mind. + +"No," she cried, still defiant, "no--a thousand times, no! I tell +you--he is not dead!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE LOST TORPEDO + + +From the rocks of a promontory that jutted out not far from the wharf +where Wu Fang's body was found and Kennedy had disappeared, opened up a +beautiful panorama of a bay on one side and the Sound on the other. + +It was a deserted bit of coast. But any one who had been standing near +the promontory the next day might have seen a thin line as if the +water, sparkling in the sunlight, had been cut by a huge knife. +Gradually a thin steel rod seemed to rise from the water itself, still +moving ahead, though slowly now as it pushed its way above the surface. +After it came a round cylinder of steel, studded with bolts. It was the +hatch of a submarine and the rod was the periscope. + +As the submarine lay there at rest, the waves almost breaking over it, +the hatch slowly opened and a hand appeared groping for a hold. Then +appeared a face with a tangle of curly black hair and keen forceful +eyes. After it the body of a man rose out of the hatch, a tall, +slender, striking person. He reached down into the hold of the boat and +drew forth a life preserver. + +"All right," he called down in an accent slightly foreign, as he +buckled on the belt. "I shall communicate with you as soon as I have +something to report." + +Then he deliberately plunged overboard and struck out for the shore. +Hand over hand, he churned his way through the water toward the beach +until at last his feet touched bottom and he waded out, shaking the +water from himself like a huge animal. + +The coming of the stranger had not been entirely unheralded. Along the +shore road by which Kennedy and I had followed the crooks whom we +thought had the torpedo, on that last chase, was waiting now a powerful +limousine with its motor purring. A chauffeur was sitting at the wheel +and inside, at the door, sat a man peering out along the road to the +beach. Suddenly the man in the machine signalled to the driver. + +"He comes," he cried eagerly. "Drive down the road, closer, and meet +him." + +The chauffeur shot his car ahead. As the swimmer strode shivering up +the roadway, the car approached him. The assistant swung open the door +and ran forward with a thick, warm coat and hat. + +Neither the master nor the servant spoke as they met, but the man +wrapped the coat about him, hurried into the car, the driver turned and +quickly they sped toward the city. + +Secret though the entrance of the stranger had been planned, however, +it was not unobserved. + +Along the beach, on a boulder, gazing thoughtfully out to sea and +smoking an old briar pipe sat a bent fisherman clad in an oilskin coat +and hat and heavy, ungainly boots. About his neck was a long woolen +muffler which concealed the lower part of his face quite as effectually +as his scraggly, grizzled whiskers. + +Suddenly, he seemed to discover something that interested him, slowly +rose, then turned and almost ran up the shore. Quickly he dropped +behind a large rock and waited, peering out. + +As the limousine bearing the stranger, on whom the fisherman had kept +his eyes riveted, turned and drove away, the old salt rose from behind +his rock, gazed after the car as if to fix every line of it in his +memory and then he, too, quickly disappeared up the road. + +The stranger's car had scarcely disappeared when the fisherman turned +from the shore road into a clump of stunted trees and made his way to a +hut. Not far away stood a small, unpretentious closed car, also with a +driver. + +"I shall be ready in a minute," the fisherman nodded almost running +into the hut, as the driver moved his car up closer to the door. + +The larger motor had disappeared far down the bend of the road when the +fisherman reappeared. In an almost incredible time he had changed his +oilskins and muffler for a dark coat and silk hat. He was no longer a +fisherman, but a rather fussy-looking old gentleman, bewhiskered still, +with eyes looking out keenly from a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. + +"Follow that car--at any cost," he ordered simply as he let himself +into the little motor, and the driver shot ahead down a bit of side +road and out into the main shore road again, urging the car forward to +overtake the one ahead. + +Such was the entrance of the stranger--Marcius Del Mar--into America. + + . . . . . . . + +How I managed to pass the time during the first days after the strange +disappearance of Kennedy, I don't know. It was all like a dream--the +apartment empty, the laboratory empty, my own work on the Star +uninteresting, Elaine broken-hearted, life itself a burden. + +Hoping against hope the next day I decided to drop around at the Dodge +house. As I entered the library unannounced, I saw that Elaine, with a +faith for which I envied her, was sitting at a table, her back toward +the door. She was gazing sadly at a photograph. Though I could not see +it, I needed not to be told whose it was. + +She did not hear me come in, so engrossed was she in her thoughts. Nor +did she notice me at first as I stood just behind her. Finally I put my +hand on her shoulder as if I had been an elder brother. + +She looked up into my face. "Have you heard from him yet?" she asked +anxiously. + +I could only shake my head sadly. She sighed. Involuntarily she rose +and together we moved toward the garden, the last place we had seen him +about the house. + +We had been pacing up and down the garden talking earnestly only a +short time when a man made his way in from the Fifth Avenue gate. + +"Is this Miss Dodge?" he asked. + +"Yes," she replied eagerly. + +Neither Elaine nor I knew him at the time, though I think she thought +he might be the bearer of some message from Craig. As a matter of fact +he was the emissary to whom the stenographer had thrown the torpedo +model from the Navy Building in Washington. + +His visit was only a part of a deep-laid scheme. Only a few minutes +before, three crooks--among them our visitor--had stopped just below +the house on a side street. To him the others had given final +instructions and a note, and he had gone on, leaving the two standing +there. + +"I have a note for you," he said, bowing and handing an envelope to +Elaine, which she tore open and read. + +WASHINGTON, D. C. + +MISS ELAINE DODGE, Fifth Avenue, New York. + +MY DEAR MISS DODGE, + +The bearer, Mr. Bailey, of the Secret Service, would like to question +you regarding the disappearance of Mr. Kennedy and the model of his +torpedo. + +MORGAN BERTRAND, U. S. Secret Service. + +Even as we were talking the other two crooks had already moved up and +had made their way around back of the stone wall that cut off the Dodge +garden back of the house. There they stood, whispering eagerly and +gazing furtively over the wall as their man talked to Elaine. + +After a moment I stepped aside, while Elaine read the note, and as he +asked her a few questions, I could not help feeling that the affair had +a very suspicious look. The more I thought of it, the less I liked it. +Finally I could stand it no longer. + +"I beg your pardon," I excused myself to the alleged Mr. Bailey, "but +may I speak to Miss Dodge alone just a minute?" + +He bowed, rather ungraciously I thought, and Elaine followed me aside +while I told her my fears. + +"I don't like the looks of it myself," she agreed. "Yes, I'll be very +careful what I say." + +While we were talking I could see out of the corner of my eye that the +fellow was looking at us askance and frowning. But if I had had an +X-ray eye, I might have seen his two companions on the other side of +the wall, peering over as they had been before and showing every +evidence of annoyance at my interference. + +The man resumed his questioning of Elaine regarding the torpedo and she +replied guardedly, as in fact she could not do otherwise. + +Suddenly we heard shouts on the other side of the wall, as though some +one were attacking some one else. + +There seemed to be several of them, for a man quickly flung himself +over the wall and ran to us. + +"They're after us," he shouted to Bailey. + +Instantly our visitor drew a gun and followed the newcomer as he ran to +get out of the garden in the opposite direction. + +Just then a tall, well-dressed, striking man came over the wall, +accompanied by another dressed as a policeman, and rushed toward us. + + . . . . . . . + +The car bearing the mysterious stranger, Del Mar, kept on until it +reached New York, then made its way through the city until it came to +the Hotel La Coste. + +Del Mar jumped out of the car, his wet clothes covered completely by +the long coat. He registered and rode up in the elevator to rooms which +had already been engaged for him. In his suite a valet was already +unpacking some trunks and laying out clothes when Del Mar and his +assistant entered. + +With an exclamation of satisfaction at his unostentatious entry into +the city, Del Mar threw off his heavy coat. The valet hastened to +assist him in removing the clothes still wet and wrinkled from his +plunge into the sea. + +Scarcely had Del Mar changed his clothes than he received two visitors. +Strangely enough they were men dressed in the uniform of policemen. + +"First of all we must convince them of our honesty," he said looking +fixedly at the two men. "Orders have been given to the men employed by +Wu Fang to be about in half an hour. We must pretend to arrest them on +sight. You understand?" + +"Yes, sir," they nodded. + +"Very well, come on," Del Mar ordered taking up his hat and preceding +them from the room. + +Outside the La Coste, Del Mar and his two policemen entered the car +which had driven Del Mar from the sea coast and were quickly whisked +away, up-town, until they came near the Dodge house. + +Del Mar leaped from the car followed by his two policemen. "There they +are, already," he whispered, pointing up the avenue. + +All three hastened up the avenue now where, beside a wall, they could +see two men looking through intently as though very angry at something +going on inside. + +"Arrest them!" shouted Del Mar as his own men ran forward. + +The fight was short and sharp, with every evidence of being genuine. +One of the men managed to break away and jump the garden wall, with Del +Mar and one of the policemen after him, while the other only reached +the wall to be dragged down by the other policeman. + +Elaine and I had been, as I have said, talking with the man named +Bailey who posed as a Secret Service man, when the rumpus began. As the +man came over the fence, warning Bailey, it was evident that neither of +them had time to escape. With his club the policeman struck the +newcomer of the two flat while the tall, athletic gentleman leaped upon +Bailey and before we knew it had him disarmed. In a most clean-cut and +professional way he snapped the bracelets on the man. + +Elaine was astounded at the kaleidoscopic turn of affairs, too +astounded even to make an outcry. As for me, it was all so sudden that +I had no chance to take part in it. Besides I should not have known +quite on which side to fight. So I did nothing. + +But as it was over so quickly, I took a step forward to our latest +arrival. + +"Beg pardon, old man," I began, "but don't you think this is just a +little raw? What's it all about?" + +The newest comer eyed me for a moment, then with quiet dignity drew +from his pocket and handed me his card which read simply: + +M. Del Mar, Private Investigator. + +As I looked up, I saw Del Mar's other policeman bringing in another +manacled man. + +"These are crooks--foreign agents," replied Del Mar pointing to the +prisoners. "The government has employed me to run them down." + +"What of this?" asked Elaine holding up the note from Bertrand. + +"A fake, a forgery," reiterated Del Mar, looking at it a moment +critically. Then to the men uniformed as police he ordered, "You can +take them to jail. They're the fellows, all right." + +As the prisoners were led off, Del Mar turned to Elaine. "Would you +mind answering a few questions about these men?" + +"Why--no," she hesitated. "But I think we'd better go into the house, +after such a thing as this. It makes me feel nervous." + +With Del Mar I followed Elaine in through the conservatory. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar had scarcely registered at the La Coste when the smaller car +which had been waiting at the fisherman's hut drew up before the hotel +entrance. From it alighted the fussy old gentleman who bore such a +remarkable resemblance to the fisherman, hastily paid his driver and +entered the hotel. + +He went directly to the desk and with well-manicured finger, scarcely +reminiscent of a fisherman, began tracing the names down the list until +he stopped before one which read: + +Marcius Del Mar and valet. Washington, D. C. Room 520. + +With a quick glance about, he made a note of it, and turned away, +leaving the La Coste to take up quarters of his own in the Prince Henry +down the street. + +Not until Del Mar had left with his two policemen did the fussy old +gentleman reappear in the La Coste. Then he rode up to Del Mar's room +and rapped at the door. + +"Is Mr. Del Mar in?" he inquired of the valet. + +"No, sir," replied that functionary. + +The little old man appeared to consider, standing a moment dandling his +silk hat. Absent-mindedly he dropped it. As the valet stooped to pick +it up, the old gentleman exhibited an agility and strength scarcely to +be expected of his years. He seized the valet, while with one foot he +kicked the door shut. + +Before the surprised servant knew what was going on, his assailant had +whipped from his pocket a handkerchief in which was concealed a thin +tube of anesthetic. Then leaving the valet prone in a corner with the +handkerchief over his face, he proceeded to make a systematic search of +the rooms, opening all drawers, trunks and bags. + +He turned pretty nearly everything upside down, then started on the +desk. Suddenly he paused. There was a paper. He read it, then with an +air of extreme elation shoved it into his pocket. + +As he was going out he stopped beside the valet, removed the +handkerchief from his face and bound him with a cord from the +portieres. Then, still immaculate in spite of his encounter, he +descended in the elevator, reentered a waiting car and drove off. + +Quite evidently, however, he wanted to cover his tracks for he had not +gone a half dozen blocks before he stopped, paid and tipped the driver +generously, and disappeared into the theatre crowd. + +Back again in the Prince Henry, whither the fussy little old man made +his way as quickly as he could through a side street, he went quietly +up to his room. + +His door was now locked. He did not have to deny himself to visitors, +for he had none. Still, his room was cluttered by a vast amount of +paraphernalia and he was seated before a table deep in work. + +First of all he tied a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. Then he +took up a cartridge from the table and carefully extracted the bullet. +Into the space occupied by the bullet he poured a white powder and +added a wad of paper, like a blank cartridge, placing the cartridge in +the chamber of a revolver and repeating the operation until he had it +fully loaded. It was his own invention of an asphyxiating bullet. + +Perhaps half an hour later, the old gentleman, his room cleaned up and +his immaculate appearance restored, sauntered forth from the hotel down +the street like a veritable Turveydrop, to show himself. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine seemed quite impressed with our new friend, Del Mar, as we made +our way to the library, though I am not sure but that it was a pose on +her part. At any rate he seemed quite eager to help us. + +"What do you suppose has become of Mr. Kennedy?" asked Elaine. + +Del Mar looked at her earnestly. "I should be glad to search for him," +he returned quickly. "He was the greatest man in our profession. But +first I must execute the commission of the Secret Service. We must find +his torpedo model before it falls into foreign hands." + +We talked for a few moments, then Del Mar with a glance at his watch +excused himself. We accompanied him to the door, for he was indeed a +charming man. I felt that, if in fact he were assigned to the case, I +ought to know him better. + +"If you're going down-town," I ventured, "I might accompany you part of +the way." + +"Delighted," agreed Del Mar. + +Elaine gave him her hand and he took it in such a deferential way that +one could not help liking him. Elaine was much impressed. + +As Del Mar and I walked down the avenue, he kept up a running fire of +conversation until at last we came near the La Coste. + +"Charmed to have met you, Mr. Jameson," he said, pausing. "We shall see +a great deal of each other I hope." + +I had not yet had time to say good-bye myself when a slight exclamation +at my side startled me. Turning suddenly, I saw a very brisk, fussy old +gentleman who had evidently been hurrying through the crowd. He had +slipped on something on the sidewalk and lost his balance, falling near +us. + +We bent over and assisted him to his feet. As I took hold of his hand, +I felt a peculiar pressure from him. He had placed something in my +hand. My mind worked quickly. I checked my first impulse to speak and, +more from curiosity than anything else, kept the thing he had passed to +me surreptitiously. + +"Thank you, gentlemen," he puffed, straightening himself out. "One of +the infirmities of age. Thank you, thank you." + +In a moment he had bustled off quite comically. + +Again Del Mar said good-bye and I did not urge him to stay. He had +scarcely gone when I looked at the thing the old man had placed in my +hand. It was a little folded piece of paper. I opened it slowly. Inside +was printed in pencil, disguised: + +"BE CAREFUL. WATCH HIM." + +I read it in amazement. What did it mean? + + . . . . . . . + +At the La Coste, Del Mar was met by two of his men in the lobby and +they rode up to his room. + +Imagine their surprise when they opened the door and found the valet +lying bound on the floor. + +"Who the deuce did this?" demanded Del Mar as they loosened him. + +The valet rose weakly to his feet. "A little old man with gray +whiskers," he managed to gasp. + +Del Mar looked at him in surprise. Instantly his active mind recalled +the little old man who had fallen before us on the street. + +Who--what was he? + +"Come," he said quickly, beckoning his two companions who had come in +with him. + +Some time later, Del Mar's car stopped just below the Dodge house. + +"You men go around back of the house and watch," ordered Del Mar. + +As they disappeared he turned and went up the Dodge steps. + + . . . . . . . + +I walked back after my strange experience with the fussy little old +gentleman, feeling more than ever, now that Craig was gone, that both +Elaine and Aunt Josephine needed me. + +As we sat talking in the library, Rusty, released from the chain on +which Jennings kept him, bounded with a rush into the library. + +"Good old fellow," encouraged Elaine, patting him. + +Just then Jennings entered and a moment later was followed by Del Mar, +who bowed as we welcomed him. + +"Do you know," he began, "I believe that the lost torpedo model is +somewhere in this house and I have reason to anticipate another attempt +of foreign agents to find it. If you'll pardon me, I've taken the +liberty of surrounding the place with some men we can trust." + +While Del Mar was speaking, Elaine picked up a ribbon from the table +and started to tie it about Rusty's neck. As Del Mar proceeded she +paused, still holding the ribbon. Rusty, who hated ribbons, saw his +chance and quietly sidled out, seeking refuge in the conservatory. + +Alone in the conservatory, Rusty quickly forgot about the ribbon and +began nosing about the palms. At last he came to the pot in which the +torpedo model had been buried in the soft earth by the thief the night +it had been stolen from the fountain. + +Quickly Elaine recalled herself and, seeing the ribbon in her hand and +Rusty gone, called him. There was no answer, and she excused herself, +for it was against the rules for Rusty to wander about. + +In his haste the thief had left just a corner of the handkerchief +sticking out of the dirt. What none of us had noticed, Rusty's keen +eyes and nose discovered and his instinct told him to dig for it. In a +moment he uncovered the torpedo and handkerchief and sniffed. + +Just then he heard his mistress calling him. Rusty had been whipped for +digging in the conservatory and now, with his tail between his legs, he +seized the torpedo in his mouth and bolted for the door of the +drawing-room, for he had heard voices in the library. As he did so he +dropped the handkerchief and the little propeller, loosened by his +teeth, fell off. + +Elaine entered the conservatory, still calling. Rusty was not there. He +had reached the stairs, scurrying up to the attic, still holding the +torpedo model in his mouth. He pushed open the attic door and ran in. +Rusty's last refuge in time of trouble was back of a number of trunks, +among which were two of almost the same size and appearance. Behind one +of them, he had hidden a miscellaneous collection of bones, pieces of +biscuit and things dear to his heart. He dropped the torpedo among +these treasures. + +Del Mar, meanwhile, had followed Elaine through the hall and into the +conservatory. As he entered he could see her stooping down to look +through the palms for Rusty. She straightened up and went on out. + +Del Mar followed. Beside the palm pot where Rusty had found the +torpedo, he happened to see the old handkerchief soiled with dirt. +Near-by lay the little propeller. He picked them up. + +"She has found it!" he exclaimed in wonder, following Elaine. + +By this time Rusty had responded to Elaine's calls and came tearing +down-stairs again. + +"Naughty Rusty," chided Elaine, tying the ribbon on him. + +"So--you have found him at last?" remarked Del Mar looking quickly at +Elaine to see if she would get a double meaning. + +"Yes. He's had a fine time running away," she replied. + +Del Mar was scarcely able to conceal his suspicion of her. Was she a +clever actress, hiding her discovery, he wondered? + + . . . . . . . + +Outside, on the lawn, Del Mar's men had been looking about, but had +discovered nothing. They paused a moment to speak. + +"Look out!" whispered one of them. "There's some one coming." + +They dropped down in the shadow. There in the light of the street lamps +was the fussy old gentleman coming across the lawn. He stole up to the +door of the conservatory and looked through. Del Mar's men crawled a +few feet closer. The little old man entered the conservatory and looked +about again stealthily. The two men followed him in noiselessly and +watched as he bent over the palm pot from which the dog had dug up the +torpedo. He looked at the hole curiously. Just then he heard sounds +behind him and sprang to his feet. + +"Hands up!" ordered one of the men covering him with a gun. + +The little old man threw up his hands, raising his cane still in his +right hand. The man with the gun took a step closer. As he did so, the +little old man brought down his cane with a quick blow and knocked the +gun out of his hand. The second man seized the cane. The old man jerked +the cane back and was standing there with a thin tough steel rapier. It +was a sword-cane. Del Mar's man held the sheath. + +As the man attacked with the sheath, the little old man parried, sent +it flying from his grasp, and wounded him. The wounded man sank down, +while the little old man ran off through the palms, followed by the +other of Del Mar's men. + +Around the hall, he ran, and back into the conservatory where he picked +up a heavy chair and threw it through the glass, dropping himself +behind a convenient hiding-place near-by. Del Mar's man, close after +him, mistaking the crash of glass for the escape of the man he was +pursuing, went on through the broken exit. Then the little old man +doubled on his tracks and made for the front of the house. + + . . . . . . . + +With Aunt Josephine I had remained in the library. + +"What's that?" I exclaimed at the first sounds. "A fight?" + +Together we rushed for the conservatory. + +The fight followed so quickly by the crash of glass also alarmed Elaine +and Del Mar in the hallway and they hurried toward the library, which +we had just left, by another door. + +As they entered, they saw a little old gentleman rushing in from the +conservatory and locking the door behind him. He whirled about, and he +and Del Mar recognized each other at once. They drew guns together, but +the little old man fired first. + +His bullet struck the wall back of Del Mar and a cloud of vapor was +instantly formed, enveloping Del Mar and even Elaine. Del Mar fell, +overcome, while Elaine sank more slowly. The little old man ran forward. + +In the conservatory, Aunt Josephine and I heard the shooting, just as +one of Del Mar's men ran in again. With him we ran back toward the +library. + +By this time the whole house was aroused. Jennings and Marie were +hurrying down-stairs, crying for help and making their way to the +library also. + +In the library, the little old man bent over Del Mar and Elaine. But it +was only a moment later that he heard the whole house aroused. Quickly +he shut and locked the folding-doors to the drawing-room, as, with Del +Mar's man, I was beating at the rear library door. + +"I'll go around," I suggested, hurrying off, while Del Mar's man tried +to beat in the door. + +Inside the little old man who had been listening saw that there was no +means of escape. He pulled off his coat and vest and turned them inside +out. On the inside he had prepared an exact copy of Jennings' livery. + +It was only a matter of seconds before he had completed his change. For +a moment he paused and looked at the two prostrate figures before him. +Then he took a rose from a vase on the table and placed it in Elaine's +hand. + +Finally, with his whiskers and wig off he moved to the rear door where +Del Mar's man was beating and opened it. + +"Look," he cried pointing in an agitated way at Del Mar and Elaine. +"What shall we do?" + +Del Mar's man, who had never seen Jennings, ran to his master and the +little old man, in his new disguise, slipped quietly into the hall and +out the front door, where he had a taxicab waiting for him, down the +street. + +A moment later I burst open the other library door and Aunt Josephine +followed me in, just as Jennings himself and Marie entered from the +drawing-room. + +It was only a moment before we had Del Mar, who was most in need of +care, on the sofa and Elaine, already regaining consciousness, lay back +in a deep easy chair. + +As Del Mar moved, I turned again to Elaine who was now nearly recovered. + +"How do you feel?" I asked anxiously. + +Her throat was parched by the asphyxiating fumes, but she smiled +brightly, though weakly. + +"Wh-where did I get that?" she managed to gasp finally, catching sight +of the rose in her hand. "Did you put it there?" + +I shook my head and she gazed at the rose, wondering. + +Whoever the little man was, he was gone. + +I longed for Craig. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE GRAY FRIAR + + +So confident was Elaine that Kennedy was still alive that she would not +admit to herself what to the rest of us seemed obvious. + +She even refused to accept Aunt Josephine's hints and decided to give a +masquerade ball which she had planned as the last event of the season +before she closed the Dodge town house and opened her country house on +the shore of Connecticut. + +It was shortly after the strange appearance of the fussy old gentleman +that I dropped in one afternoon to find Elaine addressing invitations, +while Aunt Josephine helped her. As we chatted, I picked up one from +the pile and mechanically contemplated the address: + +"M. Del Mar, Hotel La Coste, New York City." + +"I don't like that fellow," I remarked, shaking my head dubiously. + +"Oh, you're--jealous, Walter," laughed Elaine, taking the envelope away +from me and piling it again with the others. + +Thus it was that in the morning's mail, Del Mar, along with the rest of +us, received a neatly engraved little invitation: + +Miss Elaine Dodge requests the pleasure of your presence at the +masquerade ball to be given at her residence on Friday evening June 1st. + +"Good!" he exclaimed, reaching for the telephone, "I'll go." + +In a restaurant in the white light district two of those who had been +engaged in the preliminary plot to steal Kennedy's wireless torpedo +model, the young woman stenographer who had betrayed her trust and the +man to whom she had passed the model out of the window in Washington, +were seated at a table. + +So secret had been the relations of all those in the plot that one +group did not know the other and the strangest methods of communication +had been adopted. + +The man removed a cover from a dish. Underneath, perhaps without even +the waiter's knowledge, was a note. + +"Here are the orders at last," he whispered to the girl, unfolding and +reading the note. "Look. The model of the torpedo is somewhere in her +house. Go to-night to the ball as a masquerader and search for it." + +"Oh, splendid!" exclaimed the girl. "I'm crazy for a little society +after this grind. Pay the check and let's get out and choose our +costumes." + +The man paid the check and they left hurriedly. Half an hour later they +were at a costumer's shop choosing their disguises, both careful to get +the fullest masks that would not excite suspicion. + +It was the night of the masquerade. + +During the afternoon Elaine had been thinking more than ever of +Kennedy. It all seemed unreal to her. More than once she stopped to +look at his photograph. Several times she checked herself on the point +of tears. + +"No," she said to herself with a sort of grim determination. "No--he IS +alive. He will come back to me--he WILL." + +And yet she had a feeling of terrific loneliness which even her most +powerful efforts could not throw off. She was determined to go through +with the ball, now that she had started it, but she was really glad +when it came time to dress, for even that took her mind from her +brooding. + +As Marie finished helping her put on a very effective and conspicuous +costume, Aunt Josephine entered her dressing-room. + +"Are you ready, my dear?" she asked, adjusting the mask which she +carried so that no one would recognize her as Martha Washington. + +"In just a minute, Auntie," answered Elaine, trying hard to put out of +her mind how Craig would have liked her dress. + +Somewhat earlier, in my own apartment, I had been arraying myself as +Boum-Boum and modestly admiring the imitation I made of a circus clown +as I did a couple of comedy steps before the mirror. + +But I was not really so light-hearted. I could not help thinking of +what this night might have been if Kennedy had been alive. Indeed, I +was glad to take up my white mask, throw a long coat over my outlandish +costume and hurry off in my waiting car in order to forget everything +that reminded me of him in the apartment. + +Already a continuous stream of guests was trickling in through the +canopy from the curb to the Dodge door, carriages and automobiles +arriving and leaving amid great gaping from the crowd on the sidewalk. + +As I entered the ballroom it was really a brilliant and picturesque +assemblage. Of course I recognized Elaine in spite of her mask, almost +immediately. + +Characteristically, she was talking to the one most striking figure on +the floor, a tall man in red--a veritable Mephistopheles. As the music +started, Elaine and his Satanic Majesty laughingly fox-trotted off but +were not lost to me in the throng. + +I soon found myself talking to a young lady in a spotted domino. She +seemed to have a peculiar fascination for me, yet she did not +monopolize all my attention. As we trotted past the door, I could see +down the hall. Jennings was still admitting late arrivals, and I caught +a glimpse of one costumed as a gray friar, his cowl over his head and +his eyes masked. + +Chatting, we had circled about to the conservatory. A number of couples +were there and, through the palms, I saw Elaine and Mephisto laughingly +make their way. + +As my spotted domino partner and I swung around again, I happened to +catch another glimpse of the gray friar. He was not dancing, but +walking, or rather stalking, about the edge of the room, gazing about +as if searching for some one. + +In the conservatory, Elaine and Mephisto had seated themselves in the +breeze of an open window, somewhat in the shadow. + +"You are Miss Dodge," he said earnestly. + +"You knew me?" she laughed. "And you?" + +He raised his mask, disclosing the handsome face and fascinating eyes +of Del Mar. + +"I hope you don't think I'm here in character," he laughed easily, as +she started a bit. + +"I--I--well, I didn't think it was you," she blurted out. + +"Ah--then there is some one else you care more to dance with?" + +"No--no one--no." + +"I may hope, then?" + +He had moved closer and almost touched her hand. The pointed hood of +the gray friar in the palms showed that at last he saw what he sought. + +"No--no. Please--excuse me," she murmured rising and hurrying back to +the ballroom. + +A subtle smile spread over the gray friar's masked face. + +Of course I had known Elaine. Whether she knew me at once I don't know +or whether it was an accident, but she approached me as I paused in the +dance a moment with my domino girl. + +"From the--sublime--to the ridiculous," she cried excitedly. + +My partner gave her a sharp glance. "You will excuse me?" she said, +and, as I bowed, almost ran off to the conservatory, leaving Elaine to +dance off with me. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar, quite surprised at the sudden flight of Elaine from his side, +followed more slowly through the palms. + +As he did so he passed a Mexican attired in brilliant native costume. +At a sign from Del Mar he paused and received a small package which Del +Mar slipped to him, then passed on as though nothing had happened. The +keen eyes of the gray friar, however, had caught the little action and +he quietly slipped out after the Mexican bolero. + +Just then the domino girl hurried into the conservatory. "What's +doing?" she asked eagerly. + +"Keep close to me," whispered Del Mar, as she nodded and they left the +conservatory, not apparently together. + +Up-stairs, away from the gayety of the ballroom, the bolero made his +way until he came to Elaine's room, dimly lighted. With a quick glance +about, he entered cautiously, closed the door, and approached a closet +which he opened. There was a safe built into the wall. + +As he stooped over, the man unwrapped the package Del Mar had handed +him and took out a curious little instrument. Inside was a dry battery +and a most peculiar instrument, something like a little flat telephone +transmitter, yet attached by wires to ear-pieces that fitted over the +head after the manner of those of a wireless detector. + +He adjusted the head-piece and held the flat instrument against the +safe, close to the combination which he began to turn slowly. It was a +burglar's microphone, used for picking combination locks. As the +combination turned, a slight sound was made when the proper number came +opposite the working point. Imperceptible ordinarily to even the most +sensitive ear, to an ear trained it was comparatively easy to recognize +the fall of the tumblers over this microphone. + +As he worked, the door behind him opened softly and the gray friar +entered, closing it and moving noiselessly over back of the shelter of +a big mahogany high-boy, around which he could watch. + +At last the safe was opened. Rapidly the man went through its contents. +"Confound it!" he muttered. "She didn't put it here--anyhow." + +The bolero started to close the safe when he heard a noise in the room +and looked cautiously back of him. Del Mar himself, followed by the +domino girl, entered. + +"I've opened it," whispered the emissary stepping out of the closet and +meeting them, "but I can't find the--" + +"Hands up--all of you!" + +They turned in time to see the gray friar's gun yawning at them. Most +politely he lined them up. Still holding his gun ready, he lifted up +the mask of the domino girl. + +"So--it's you," he grunted. + +He was about to lift the mask of the Mexican, when the bolero leaped at +him. Del Mar piled in. But sounds down-stairs alarmed them and the +emissary, released, fled quickly with the girl. The gray friar, +however, kept his hold on Mephistopheles, as if he had been wrestling +with a veritable devil. + + . . . . . . . + +Down in the hall, I had again met my domino girl, a few minutes after I +had resigned Elaine to another of her numerous admirers. + +"I thought you deserted me," I said, somewhat piqued. + +"You deserted me," she parried, nervously. "However, I'll forgive you +if you'll get me an ice." + +I hastened to do so. But no sooner had I gone than Del Mar stalked +through the hall and went up-stairs. My domino girl was watching for +him, and followed. + +When I returned with the ice, I looked about, but she was gone. It was +scarcely a moment later, however, that I saw her hurry down-stairs, +accompanied by the Mexican bolero. I stepped forward to speak to her, +but she almost ran past me without a word. + +"A nut," I remarked under my breath, pushing back my mask. + +I started to eat the ice myself, when, a moment later, Elaine passed +through the hall with a Spanish cavalier. + +"Oh, Walter, here you are," she laughed. "I've been looking all over +for you. Thank you very much, sire," she bowed with mock civility to +the cavalier. "It was only one dance, you know. Please let me talk to +Boum-Boum." + +The cavalier bowed reluctantly and left us. + +"What are you doing here alone?" she asked, taking off her own mask. +"How warm it is." + +Before I could reply, I heard some one coming down-stairs back of me, +but not in time to turn. + +"Elaine's dressing-table," a voice whispered in my ear. + +I turned suddenly. It was the gray friar. Before I could even reach out +to grasp his robe, he was gone. + +"Another nut!" I exclaimed involuntarily. + +"Why, what did he say?" asked Elaine. + +"Something about your dressing-table." + +"My dressing-table?" she repeated. + +We ran quickly up the steps. Elaine's room showed every evidence of +having been the scene of a struggle, as she went over to the table. +There she picked up a rose and under it a piece of paper on which were +some words printed with pencil roughly. + +"Look," she cried, as I read with her: + + Do honest assistants search safes? + Let no one see this but Jameson. + +"What does it mean?" I asked. + +"My safe!" she cried moving to a closet. As she opened the door, +imagine our surprise at seeing Del Mar lying on the floor, bound and +gagged before the open safe. "Get my scissors on the dresser," cried +Elaine. + +I did so, hastily cutting the cords that bound Del Mar. + +"What does it all mean?" asked Elaine as he rose and stretched himself. + +Still clutching his throat, as if it hurt, Del Mar choked, "I found a +man, a foreign agent, searching the safe. But he overcame me and +escaped." + +"Oh--then that is what the--" + +Elaine checked herself. She had been about to hand the note to Del Mar +when an idea seemed to come to her. Instead, she crumpled it up and +thrust it into her bosom. + +On the street the bolero and the domino girl were hurrying away as fast +as they could. + +Meanwhile, the gray friar had overcome Del Mar, had bound and gagged +him, and trust him into the closet. Then he wrote the note and laid it, +with a rose from a vase, on Elaine's dressing-table before he, too, +followed. + +More than ever I was at a loss to make it out. + + . . . . . . . + +It was the day after the masquerade ball that a taxicab drove up to the +Dodge house and a very trim but not over-dressed young lady was +announced as "Miss Bertholdi." + +"Miss Dodge?" she inquired as Jennings held open the portieres and she +entered the library where Elaine and Aunt Josephine were. + +If Elaine had only known, it was the domino girl of the night before +who handed her a note and sat down, looking about so demurely, while +Elaine read: + +MY DEAR MISS DODGE, + +The bearer, Miss Bertholdi, is an operative of mine. I would appreciate +it if you would employ her in some capacity in your house, as I have +reason to believe that certain foreign agents will soon make another +attempt to find Kennedy's lost torpedo model. + +Sincerely, M. DEL MAR. + +Elaine looked up from reading the note. Miss Bertholdi was good to look +at, and Elaine liked pretty girls about her. + +"Jennings," she ordered, "call Marie." + +To the butler and her maid, Elaine gave the most careful instructions +regarding Miss Bertholdi. "She can help you finish the packing, first," +she concluded. + +The girl thanked her and went out with Jennings and Marie, asking +Jennings to pay her taxicab driver with money she gave him, which he +did, bringing her grip into the house. + +Later in the day, Elaine had both Marie and Bertholdi carrying armsful +of her dresses from the closets in her room up to the attic where the +last of her trunks were being packed. On one of the many trips, +Bertholdi came alone into the attic, her arms full as usual. Before her +were two trunks, very much alike, open and nearly packed. She laid her +armful of clothes on a chair near-by and pulled one of the trunks +forward. On the floor lay the trays of both trunks already packed. +Bertholdi began packing her burden in one trunk which was marked in big +white letters, "E. Dodge." + +Down in Elaine's room at the time Jennings entered. "The expressman for +the trunks is here, Miss Elaine," he announced. + +"Is he? I wonder whether they are all ready," Elaine replied hurrying +out of the room. "Tell him to wait." + +In the attic, Bertholdi was still at work, keeping her eyes open to +execute the mission on which Del Mar had sent her. + +Rusty, forgotten in the excitement by Jennings, had roamed at will +through the house and seemed quite interested. For this was the trunk +behind which he had his cache of treasures. + +As Bertholdi started to move behind the trunk, Rusty could stand it no +longer. He darted ahead of her into his hiding-place. Among the dog +biscuit and bones was the torpedo model which he had dug up from the +palm pot in the conservatory. He seized it in his mouth and turned to +carry it off. + +There, in his path, was his enemy, the new girl. Quick as a flash, she +saw what it was Rusty had, and grabbed at it. + +"Get out!" she ordered, looking at her prize in triumph and turning it +over and over in her hands. + +At that moment she heard Elaine on the stairs. What should she do? She +must hide it. She looked about. There was the tray, packed and lying on +the floor near the trunk marked, "E. Dodge." She thrust it hastily into +the tray pulling a garment over it. + +"Nearly through?" panted Elaine. + +"Yes, Miss Dodge." + +"Then please tell the expressman to come up." + +Bertholdi hesitated, chagrined. Yet there was nothing to do but obey. +She looked at the trunk by the tray to fix it in her mind, then went +down-stairs. + +As she left the room, Elaine lifted the tray into the trunk and tried +to close the lid. But the tray was too high. She looked puzzled. On the +floor was another tray almost identical. + +"The wrong trunk," she smiled to herself, lifting the tray out and +putting the other one in, while she placed the first tray with the +torpedo concealed in the other, unmarked, trunk where it belonged. Then +she closed the first trunk. + +A moment later the expressman entered, with Bertholdi. + +"You may take that one," indicated Elaine. + +"Miss Dodge, here's something else to go in," said Bertholdi in +desperation, picking up a dress. + +"Never mind. Put it in the other trunk." + +Bertholdi was baffled, but she managed to control herself. She must get +word to Del Mar about that trunk marked "E. Dodge." + + . . . . . . . + +Late that afternoon, before a cheap restaurant might have been seen our +old friend who had posed as Bailey and as the Mexican. He entered the +restaurant and made his way to the first of a row of booths on one side. + +"Hello," he nodded to a girl in the booth. + +Bertholdi nodded back and he took his seat. She had begged an hour or +two off on some pretext. + +Outside the restaurant, a heavily-bearded man had been standing looking +intently at nothing in particular when Bertholdi entered. As Bailey +came along, he followed and took the next booth, his hat pulled over +his eyes. In a moment he was listening, his ear close up to the +partition. + +"Well, what luck?" asked Bailey. "Did you get a clue?" + +"I had the torpedo model in my hands," she replied, excitedly telling +the story. "It is in a trunk marked 'E. Dodge.'" + +All this and more the bearded stranger drank in eagerly. + +A moment later Bailey and Bertholdi left the booth and went out of the +restaurant followed cautiously by the stranger. On the street the two +emissaries of Del Mar stopped a moment to talk. + +"All right, I'll telephone him," she said as they parted in opposite +directions. + +The stranger took an instant to make up his mind, then followed the +girl. She continued down the street until she came to a store with +telephone booths. The bearded stranger followed still, into the next +booth but did not call a number. He had his ear to the wall. + +He could hear her call Del Mar, and although he could not hear Del +Mar's answers, she repeated enough for him to catch the drift. Finally, +she came out, and the stranger, instead of following her further, took +the other direction hurriedly. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar himself received the news with keen excitement. Quickly he gave +instructions and prepared to leave his rooms. + +A short time later his car pulled up before the La Coste and, in a long +duster and cap, Del Mar jumped in, and was off. + +Scarcely had his car swung up the avenue when, from an alleyway down +the street from the hotel, the chug-chug of a motor-cycle sounded. A +bearded man, his face further hidden by a pair of goggles, ran out with +his machine, climbed on and followed. + +On out into the country Del Mar's car sped. At every turn the +motor-cycle dropped back a bit, observed the turn, then crept up and +took it, too. So they went for some time. + + . . . . . . . + +On the level of the Grand Central where the trains left for the +Connecticut shore where Elaine's summer home was located, Bailey was +now edging his way through the late crowd down the platform. He paused +before the baggage-car just as one of the baggage motor trucks rolled +up loaded high with trunks and bags. He stepped back as the men loaded +the luggage on the car, watching carefully. + +As they tossed on one trunk marked "E. Dodge," he turned with a subtle +look and walked away. Finally he squirmed around to the other platform. +No one was looking and he mounted the rear of the baggage-car and +opened the door. There was the baggageman sitting by the side door, his +back to Bailey. Bailey closed the door softly and squeezed behind a +pile of trunks and bags. + + . . . . . . . + +Finally Del Mar reached a spot on the railroad where there were both a +curve and a grade ahead. He stopped his car and got out. + +Down the road the bearded and goggled motorcyclist stopped just in time +to avoid observation. To make sure, he drew a pocket field-glass and +leveled it ahead. + +"Wait here," ordered Del Mar. "I'll call when I want you." + +Back on the road the bearded cyclist could see Del Mar move down the +track though he could not hear the directions. It was not necessary, +however. He dragged his machine into the bushes, hid it, and hurried +down the road on foot. + +Del Mar's chauffeur was waiting idly at the wheel when suddenly the +cold nose of a revolver was stuck under his chin. + +"Not a word--and hands up--or I'll let the moonlight through you," +growled out a harsh voice. + +Nevertheless, the chauffeur managed to lurch out of the car and the +bearded stranger, whose revolver it was, found that he would have to +shoot. Del Mar was not far enough away to risk it. + +The chauffeur flung himself on him and they struggled fiercely, rolling +over and over in the dust of the road. + +But the bearded stranger had a grip of steel and managed to get his +fingers about the chauffeur's throat as an added insurance against a +cry for help. + +He choked him literally into insensibility. Then, with a strength that +he did not seem to possess, he picked up the limp, blue-faced body and +carried it off the road and around the car. + + . . . . . . . + +In the baggage-car, the baggageman was smoking a surreptitious pipe of +powerful tobacco between stations and contemplating the scenery +thoughtfully through the open door. + +As the engine slowed up to take a curve and a grade, Bailey who had now +and then taken a peep out of a little grated window above him, crept +out from his hiding-place. Already he had slipped a dark silk mask over +his face. + +As he made his way among the trunks and boxes, the train lurched and +the baggageman who had his back to Bailey heard him catch himself. He +turned and leaped to his feet. Bailey closed with him instantly. + +Over and over they rolled. Bailey had already drawn his revolver before +he left his hiding-place. A shot, however, would have been fatal to his +part in the plans and was only a last resort for it would have brought +the trainmen. + +Finally Bailey rolled his man over and getting his right arm free, +dealt the baggageman a fierce blow with the butt of the gun. + +The train was now pulling slowly up the grade. More time had been spent +in overcoming the baggageman than he expected and Bailey had to work +quickly. He dragged the trunk marked "E. Dodge" from the pile to the +door and glanced out. + + . . . . . . . + +Just around the curve in the railroad, Del Mar was waiting, straining +his eyes down the track. + +There was the train, puffing up the grade. As it approached he rose and +waved his arms. It was the signal and he waited anxiously. Had his +plans been carried out? + +The train passed. From the baggage-car came a trunk catapulted out by a +strong arm. It hurtled through the air and landed with its own and the +train's momentum. + +Over it rolled in the bushes, then stopped--unbroken, for Elaine had +had it designed to resist even the most violent baggage-smasher. + +Del Mar ran to it. As the tail light of the train disappeared he turned +around in the direction from which he had come, placed his two hands to +his mouth and shouted. + + . . . . . . . + +From the side of the road by Del Mar's car the bearded motor-cyclist +had just emerged, buttoning the chauffeur's clothes and adjusting his +goggles to his own face. + +As he approached the car, he heard a shout. Quickly he tore off the +black beard which had been his disguise and tossed it into the grass. +Then he drew the coat high up about his neck. + +"All right!" he shouted back, starting along the road. + +Together he and Del Mar managed to scramble up the embankment to the +road and, one at each handle of the trunk, they carried it back to the +car, piling it in the back. + +The improvised chauffeur started to take his place at the wheel and Del +Mar had his foot on the running-board to get beside him, when the now +unbearded stranger suddenly swung about and struck Del Mar full in the +face. It sent him reeling back into the dust. + +The engine of the car had been running and before Del Mar could recover +consciousness, the stranger had shot the car ahead, leaving Del Mar +prone in the roadway. + + . . . . . . . + +The train, with Bailey on it, had not gained much speed, yet it was a +perilous undertaking to leap. Still, it was more so now to remain. The +baggageman stirred. It was now a case of murder or a getaway. + +Bailey jumped. + +Scratched and bruised and shaken, he scrambled to his feet in the +briars along the track. He staggered up to the road, pulled himself +together, then hurried back as fast as his barked shins would let him. + +He came to the spot which he recognized as that where he had thrown off +the trunk. He saw the trampled and broken bushes and made for the road. + +He had not gone far when he saw, far down, Del Mar suddenly attacked +and thrown down, apparently by his own chauffeur. Bailey ran forward, +but it was too late. The car was gone. + +As he came up to Del Mar lying outstretched in the road, Del Mar was +just recovering consciousness. + +"What was the matter?" he asked. "Was he a traitor?" + +He caught sight of the real chauffeur on the ground, stripped. + +Del Mar was furious. "No," he swore, "it was that confounded gray friar +again, I think. And he has the trunk, too!" + + . . . . . . . + +Speeding up the road the former masquerader and motor-cyclist stopped +at last. + +Eagerly he leaped out of Del Mar's car and dragged the trunk over the +side regardless of the enamel. + +It was the work of only a moment for him to break the lock with a +pocket jimmy. + +One after another he pulled out and shook the clothes until frocks and +gowns and lingerie lay strewn all about. + +But there was not a thing in the trunk that even remotely resembled the +torpedo model. + +The stranger scowled. + +Where was it? + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE VANISHING MAN + + +Del Mar had evidently, by this time, come to the conclusion that Elaine +was the storm centre of the peculiar train of events that followed the +disappearance of Kennedy and his wireless torpedo. + +At any rate, as soon as he learned that Elaine was going to her country +home for the summer, he took a bungalow some distance from Dodge Hall. +In fact, it was more than a bungalow, for it was a pretentious place +surrounded by a wide lawn and beautiful shade trees. + +There, on the day that Elaine decided to motor in from the city, Del +Mar arrived with his valet. + +Evidently he lost no time in getting to work on his own affairs, +whatever they might be. Inside his study, which was the largest room in +the house, a combination of both library and laboratory, he gave an +order or two to his valet, then immediately sat down to his new desk. +He opened a drawer and took out a long hollow cylinder, closed at each +end by air-tight caps, on one of which was a hook. + +Quickly he wrote a note and read it over: "Install submarine bell in +place of these clumsy tubes. Am having harbor and bridges mined as per +instructions from Government. D." + +He unscrewed the cap at one end of the tube, inserted the note and +closed it. Then he pushed a button on his desk. A panel in the wall +opened and one of the men who had played policeman once for him stepped +out and saluted. + +"Here's a message to send below," said Del Mar briefly. + +The man bowed and went back through the panel, closing it. + +Del Mar cleaned up his desk and then went out to look his new quarters +over, to see whether everything had been prepared according to his +instructions. + +From the concealed entrance to a cave on a hillside, Del Mar's man who +had gone through the panel in the bungalow appeared a few minutes later +and hurried down to the shore. It was a rocky coast with stretches of +cliffs and now and then a ravine and bit of sandy beach. Gingerly he +climbed down the rocks to the water. + +He took from his pocket the metal tube which Del Mar had given him and +to the hook on one end attached a weight of lead. A moment he looked +about cautiously. Then he threw the tube into the water and it sank +quickly. He did not wait, but hurried back into the cave entrance. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I motored down to Dodge Hall from the city. +Elaine's country house was on a fine estate near the Long Island Sound +and after the long run we were glad to pull up before the big house and +get out of the car. As we approached the door, I happened to look down +the road. + +"Well, that's the country, all right," I exclaimed, pointing down the +road. "Look." + +Lumbering along was a huge heavy hay rack on top of which perched a +farmer chewing a straw. Following along after him was a dog of a +peculiar shepherd breed which I did not recognize. Atop of the hay the +old fellow had piled a trunk and a basket. + +To our surprise the hay rack stopped before the house. "Miss Dodge?" +drawled the farmer nasally. + +"Why, what do you suppose he can want?" asked Elaine moving out toward +the wagon while we followed. "Yes?" + +"Here's a trunk, Miss Dodge, with your name on it," he went on dragging +it down. "I found it down by the railroad track." + +It was the trunk marked "E. Dodge" which had been thrown off the train, +taken by Del Mar and rifled by the motor-cyclist. + +"How do you suppose it ever got here?" cried Elaine in wonder. + +"Must have fallen off the train," I suggested. "You might have +collected the insurance under this new baggage law!" + +"Jennings," called Elaine. "Get Patrick and carry the trunk in." + +Together the butler and the gardener dragged it off. + +"Thank you," said Elaine, endeavoring to pay the farmer. + +"No, no, Miss," he demurred as he clucked to his horses. + +We waved to the old fellow. As he started to drive away, he reached +down into the basket and drew out some yellow harvest apples. One at a +time he tossed them to us as he lumbered off. + +"Truly rural," remarked a voice behind us. + +It was Del Mar, all togged up and carrying a magazine in his hand. + +We chatted a moment, then Elaine started to go into the house with Aunt +Josephine. With Del Mar I followed. + +As she went Elaine took a bite of the apple. To her surprise it +separated neatly into two hollow halves. She looked inside. There was a +note. Carefully she unfolded it and read. Like the others, it was not +written but printed in pencil: + +Be careful to unpack all your trunks yourself. Destroy this note.--A +FRIEND. + +What did these mysterious warnings mean, she asked herself in +amazement. Somehow so far they had worked out all right. She tore up +the note and threw the pieces away. + +Del Mar and I stopped for a moment to talk. I did not notice that he +was not listening to me, but was surreptitiously watching Elaine. + +Elaine went into the house and we followed. Del Mar, however, dropped +just a bit behind and, as he came to the place where Elaine had thrown +the pieces of paper, dropped his magazine. He stooped to pick it up and +gathered the pieces, then rejoined us. + +"I hope you'll excuse me," said Elaine brightly. "We've just arrived +and I haven't a thing unpacked." + +Del Mar bowed and Elaine left us. Aunt Josephine followed shortly. Del +Mar and I sat down at a table. As he talked he placed the magazine in +his lap beneath the table, on his knees. I could not see, but he was in +reality secretly putting together the torn note which the farmer had +thrown to Elaine. + +Finally he managed to fit all the pieces. A glance down was enough. But +his face betrayed nothing. Still under the table, he swept the pieces +into his pocket and rose. + +"I'll drop in when you are more settled," he excused himself, strolling +leisurely out again. + + . . . . . . . + +Up in the bedroom Elaine's maid, Marie, had been unpacking. + +"Well, what do you know about that?" she exclaimed as Jennings and +Patrick came dragging in the banged-up trunk. + +"Very queer," remarked Jennings, detailing the little he had seen, +while Patrick left. + +The entrance of Elaine put an end to the interesting gossip and Marie +started to open the trunk. + +"No, Marie," said Elaine. "I'll unpack them my self. You can put the +things away later. You and Jennings may go." + +Quickly she took the things out of the battered trunk. Then she started +on the other trunk which was like it but not marked. She threw out a +couple of garments, then paused, startled. + +There was the lost torpedo--where Bertholdi had stuck it in her haste! +Elaine picked it up and looked at it in wonder as it recalled all those +last days before Kennedy was lost. For the moment she did not know +quite what to make of it. What should she do? + +Finally she decided to lock it up in the bureau drawer and tell me. Not +only did she lock the drawer but, as she left her room, she took the +key of the door from the lock inside and locked it outside. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar did not go far from the house, however. He scarcely reached the +edge of the grounds where he was sure he was not observed when he +placed his fingers to his lips and whistled. An instant later two of +his men appeared from behind a hedge. + +"You must get into her room," he ordered. "That torpedo is in her +luggage somewhere, after all." + +They bowed and disappeared again into the shrubbery while Del Mar +turned and retraced his steps to the house. + +In the rear of the house the two emissaries of Del Mar stole out of the +shelter of some bushes and stood for a moment looking. Elaine's windows +were high above them, too high to reach. There seemed to be no way to +get to them and there was no ladder in sight. + +"We'll have to use the Dutch house-man's method," decided one. + +Together they went around the house toward the laundry. It was only a +few minutes later that they returned. No one was about. Quickly one of +them took off his coat. Around his waist he had wound a coil of rope. +Deftly he began to climb a tree whose upper branches fell over the +roof. Cat-like he made his way out along a branch and managed to reach +the roof. He made his way along the ridge pole to a chimney which was +directly back of and in line with Elaine's windows. Then he uncoiled +the rope and made one end fast to the chimney. Letting the other end +fall free down the roof, he carefully lowered himself over the edge. +Thus it was not difficult to get into Elaine's room by stepping on the +window-sill and going through the open window. + +The man began a rapid search of the room, turning up and pawing +everything that Elaine had unpacked. Then he began on the little +writing-desk, the dresser and the bureau drawers. A subtle smile +flashed over his face as he came to one drawer that was locked. He +pulled a sectional jimmy from his coat and forced it open. + +There lay the precious torpedo. + +The man clutched at it with a look of exultation. Without another +glance at the room he rushed to the window, seized the rope and pulled +himself to the roof, going as he had come. + + . . . . . . . + +It did not take me long to unpack the few things I had brought and I +was soon back again in the living-room, where Aunt Josephine joined me +in a few minutes. + +Just as Elaine came hurriedly down the stairway and started toward me, +Del Mar entered from the porch. She stopped. Del Mar watched her +closely. Had she found anything? He was sure of it. + +Her hesitation was only for a moment, however. "Walter," she said, "may +I speak to you a moment? Excuse us, please?" + +Aunt Josephine went out toward the back of the house to see how the +servants were getting on, while I followed Elaine up-stairs. Del Mar +with a bow seated himself and opened his magazine. No sooner had we +gone, however, than he laid it down and cautiously followed us. + +Elaine was evidently very much excited as she entered her dainty little +room and closed the door. "Walter," she cried, "I've found the torpedo!" + +We looked about at the general disorder. "Why," she exclaimed +nervously, "some one has been here--and I locked the door, too." + +She almost ran over to her bureau drawer. It had been jimmied open in +the few minutes while she was down-stairs. The torpedo was gone. We +looked at each other, aghast. + +Behind us, however, we did not see the keen and watchful eyes of Del +Mar, opening the door and peering in. As he saw us, he closed the door +softly, went down-stairs and out of the house. + + . . . . . . . + +Perhaps half a mile down the road, the farmer abandoned his hay rack +and now, followed by his peculiar dog, walked back. He stopped at a +point in the road where he could see the Dodge house in the distance, +sat on the rail fence and lighted a blackened corn-cob pipe. + +There he sat for some time apparently engrossed in his own thoughts +about the weather, the dog lying at his feet. Now and then he looked +fixedly toward Dodge Hall. + +Suddenly his vagrant attention seemed to be riveted on the house. He +drew a field-glass from his pocket and levelled it. Sure enough, there +was a man coming out of a window, pulling himself up to the roof by a +rope and going across the roof tree. He lowered the glasses quickly and +climbed off the fence with a hitherto unwonted energy. + +"Come, Searchlight," he called to the dog, as together they moved off +quickly in the direction he had been looking. Del Mar's men were coming +through the hedge that surrounded the Dodge estate just as the farmer +and his dog stepped out in front of them from behind a thicket. + +"Just a minute," he called. "I want to speak to you." + +He enforced his words with a vicious looking gun. It was two to one and +they closed with him. Before he could shoot, they had knocked the gun +out of his hand. Then they tried to break away and run. + +But the farmer seized one of them and held him. Meanwhile the dog +developed traits all his own. He ran in and out between the legs of the +other man until he threw him. There he stood, over him. The man +attempted to rise. Again the dog threw him and kept him down. He was a +trained Belgian sheep hound, a splendid police dog. + +"Confound the brute," growled the man, reaching for his gun. + +As he drew it, the dog seized his wrist and with a cry the man dropped +the gun. That, too, was part of the dog's training. + +While the farmer and the other man struggled on the ground, the torpedo +worked its way half from the man's pocket. The farmer seized it. The +man fell back, limp, and the farmer, with the torpedo in one hand, +grasped at the gun on the ground and straightened up. + +He had no sooner risen than the man was at him again. His +unconsciousness had been merely feigned. The struggle was renewed. + +At that point, the hedge down the road parted and Del Mar stepped out. +A glance was enough to tell him what was going on. He drew his gun and +ran swiftly toward the combatants. + +As Del Mar approached, his man succeeded in knocking the torpedo from +the farmer's hand. There it lay, several feet away. There seemed to be +no chance for either man to get it. + +Quickly the farmer bent his wrist, aiming the gun deliberately at the +precious torpedo. As fast as he could he pulled the trigger. Five of +the six shots penetrated the little model. + +So surprised was his antagonist that the farmer was able to knock him +out with the butt of his gun. He broke away and fled, whistling on a +police whistle for the dog just as Del Mar ran up. A couple of shots +from Del Mar flew wild as the farmer and his dog disappeared. + +Del Mar stopped and picked up the model. It had been shot into an +unrecognizable mass of scrap. In a fury, Del Mar dashed it on the +ground, cursing his men as he did so. The strange disappearance of the +torpedo model from Elaine's room worried both of us. Doubtless if +Kennedy had been there he would have known just what to do. But we +could not decide. + +"Really," considered Elaine, "I think we had better take Mr. Del Mar +into our confidence." + +"Still, we've had a great many warnings," I objected. + +"I know that," she persisted, "but they have all come from very +unreliable sources." + +"Very well," I agreed finally, "then let's drive over to his bungalow." + +Elaine ordered her little runabout and a few moments later we climbed +into it and Elaine shot the car away. + +As we rode along, the country seemed so quiet that no one would ever +have suspected that foreign agents lurked all about. But it was just +under such a cover that the nefarious bridge and harbor-mining work +ordered by Del Mar's superiors was going ahead quietly. + +As our car climbed a hill on the other side of which, in the valley, +was a bridge, we could not see one of Del Mar's men in hiding at the +top. He saw us, however, and immediately wigwagged with his +handkerchief to several others down at the bridge where they were +attaching a pair of wires to the planking. + +"Some one coming," muttered one who was evidently a lookout. + +The men stopped work immediately and hid in the brush. Our car passed +over the bridge and we saw nothing wrong. But no sooner had we gone +than the men crept out and resumed work which had progressed to the +point where they were ready to carry the wires of an electric +connection through the grass, concealing them as they went. + +In the study of his bungalow, all this time, Del Mar was striding +angrily up and down, while his men waited in silence. + +Finally he paused and turned to one of them. "See that the coast is +clear and kept clear," he ordered. "I want to go down." + +The man saluted and went out through the panel. A moment later Del Mar +gave some orders to the other man who also saluted and left the house +by the front door, just as our car pulled up. + +Del Mar, the moment the man was gone, put on his hat and moved toward +the panel in the wall. He was about to enter when he heard some one +coming down the hall to the study and stepped back, closing the panel. +It was the butler announcing us. + +We had entered Del Mar's bungalow and now were conducted to his +library. There Elaine told him the whole story, much to his apparent +surprise, for Del Mar was a wonderful actor. + +"You see," he said as she finished telling of the finding and the +losing of the torpedo, "just what I had feared would happen has +happened. Doubtless the foreign agents have the deadly weapon, now. +However, I'll not quit. Perhaps we may run them down yet." + +He reassured us and we thanked him as we said good-bye. Outside, Elaine +and I got into the car again and a moment later spun off, making a +little detour first through the country before hitting the shore road +back again to Dodge Hall. + +On the rocky shore of the promontory, several men were engaged in +sinking a peculiar heavy disk which they submerged about ten or twelve +feet. It seemed to be held by a cable and to it wires were attached, +apparently so that when a key was pressed a circuit was closed. + +It was an "oscillator", a new system for the employment of sound for +submarine signalling, using water instead of air as a medium to +transmit sound waves. It was composed of a ring magnet, a copper tube +lying in an air-gap in a magnetic field and a stationary central +armature. The tube was attached to a steel diaphragm. Really it was a +submarine bell which could be used for telegraphing or telephoning both +ways through water. + +The men finished executing the directions of Del Mar and left, +carefully concealing the land connections and key of the bell, while we +were still at Del Mar's. + +We had no sooner left, however, than one of the men who had been +engaged in installing the submarine bell entered the library. + +"Well?" demanded Del Mar. + +"The bell is installed, sir," he said. "It will be working soon." + +"Good," nodded Del Mar. + +He went to a drawer and from it took a peculiar looking helmet to which +was attached a sort of harness fitting over the shoulders and carrying +a tank of oxygen. The head-piece was a most weird contrivance, with +what looked like a huge glass eye in front. It was in reality a +submarine life-saving apparatus. + +Del Mar put it on, all except the helmet which he carried with him, and +then, with his assistant, went out through the panel in the wall. +Through the underground passage the two groped their way, lighted by an +electric torch, until at last they came to the entrance hidden in the +underbrush, near the shore. + +Del Mar went over to the concealed station from which the submarine +bell was sounded and pressed the key as a signal. Then he adjusted the +submarine helmet to his head and deliberately waded out into the water, +further and further, up to his head, then deeper still. + +As he disappeared into the water, his emissary turned and went back +toward the shore road. + + . . . . . . . + +The ride around through the country and back to the shore, road from +Del Mar's was pleasant. In fact it was always pleasant to be with +Elaine, especially in a car. + +We were spinning along at a fast clip when we came to a rocky part of +the coast. As we made a turn a sharp breeze took off my hat and whirled +it far off the road and among the rocks of the shore. Elaine shut down +the engine, with a laugh at me, and we left the car by the road while +we climbed down the rocks after the hat. + +It had been carried into the water, close to shore and, still laughing, +we clambered over the rocks. Elaine insisted on getting it herself and +in fact did get it. She was just about to hand it to me, when something +bobbed up in the water just in front of us. She reached for it and +fished it out. It was a cylinder with air-tight caps on both ends, in +one of which was a hook. + +"What do you suppose it is?" she asked, looking it over as we made our +way up the rocks again to the car. "Where did it come from?" + +We did not see a man standing by our car, but he saw us. It was Del +Mar's man who had paused on his way to watch us. As we approached he +hid on the other side of the road. + +By this time we had reached the car and opened the cylinder. Inside was +a note which read: + + "Chief arrived safely. Keep watch." + +"What does it mean?" repeated Elaine, mystified. + +Neither of us could guess and I doubt whether we would have understood +any better if we had seen a sinister face peering at us from behind a +rock near-by, although doubtless the man knew what was in the tube and +what it meant. + +We climbed into the car and started again. As we disappeared, the man +came from behind the rocks and ran quickly up to the top of the hill. +There, from the bushes, he pulled out a peculiar instrument composed of +a strange series of lenses and mirrors set up on a tripod. + +Eagerly he placed the tripod, adjusting the lenses and mirrors in the +sunlight. Then he began working them, and it was apparent that he was +flashing light beams, using a Morse code. It was a heliograph. + +Down the shore on the top of the next hill sat the man who had already +given the signal with the handkerchief to those in the valley who were +working on the mining of the bridge. As he sat there, his eye caught +the flash of the heliograph signal. He sprang up and watched intently. +Rapidly he jotted down the message that was being flashed in the +sunlight: + + Dodge girl has message from below. + Coming in car. Blow first bridge she + crosses. + +Down the valley the lookout made his way as fast as he could. As he +approached the two men who had been mining the bridge, he whistled +sharply. They answered and hurried to meet him. + +"Just got a heliograph," he panted. "The Dodge girl must have picked up +one of the messages that came from below. She's coming over the hill +now in a car. We've got to blow up the bridge as she crosses." + +The men were hurrying now toward the bridge which they had mined. Not a +moment was to be lost, for already they could see us coming over the +crest of the hill. + +In a few seconds they reached the hidden plunger firing-box which had +been arranged to explode the charge under the bridge. There they +crouched in the brush ready to press the plunger the moment our car +touched the planking. + +One of the men crept out a little nearer the road. "They're coming!" he +called back, dropping down again. "Get ready!" + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar's emissaries had not reckoned, however, that any one else might +be about to whom the heliograph was an open book. + +But, further over on the hill, hiding among the trees, the old farmer +and his dog were sitting quietly. The old man was sweeping the Sound +with his glasses, as if he expected to see something any moment. + +To his surprise, however, he caught a flash of the heliograph from the +land. Quickly he turned and jotted down the signals. As he did so, he +seemed greatly excited, for the message read: + + Dodge girl has message from below. + Coming in car. Blow first bridge she + crosses. + +Quickly he turned his glasses down the road. There he could see our car +rapidly approaching. He put up his glasses and hurried down the hill +toward the bridge. Then he broke into a run, the dog scouting ahead. + +We were going along the road nicely now, coasting down the hill. As we +approached the bridge, Elaine slowed up a bit, to cross, for the +planking was loose. + +Just then the farmer who had been running down the hill saw us. + +"Stop!" he shouted. + +But we did not hear. He ran after us, but such a chase was hopeless. He +stopped, in despair. + +With a gesture of vexation he took a step or two mechanically off the +road. + +Elaine and I were coming fast to the bridge now. + +In their hiding-place, Del Mar's men were watching breathlessly. The +leader was just about to press the plunger when all of a sudden a +branch in the thicket beside him crackled. There stood the farmer and +his dog! + +Instantly the farmer seemed to take in the situation. With a cry he +threw himself at the man who had the plunger. Another man leaped at the +farmer. The dog settled him. The others piled in and a terrific +struggle followed. It was all so rapid that, to all, seconds seemed +like hours. + +We were just starting to cross the bridge. + +One of the men broke away and crawled toward the plunger box. Our car +was now in the middle of the bridge. + +Over and over rolled the men, the dog doing his best to help his +master. The man who had broken away reached toward the plunger. + +With a shout he pushed it down. + + . . . . . . . + +Our car had just cleared the bridge when we were startled by a terrific +roar behind us. It was as though a thousand tires had blown out at +once. Elaine shut off the engine automatically and we looked back. + +The whole bridge had been blown up. A second before we had been in the +middle of it. + +As the explosion came, the men who had been struggling in the thicket, +paused, startled, and stared out. At that instant the old farmer saw +his chance. It was all over and he bolted, calling the dog. + +Along the road to the bridge he ran, two of the men after him. + +"Come back," growled the leader. "Let him go. Do you want us all to get +caught?" + +As the farmer ran up to the bridge, he saw it in ruins. But down the +road he could see Elaine and myself, sitting in the car, staring back +at the peril which we had so narrowly escaped. His face lighted up in +as great joy as a few moments before it had showed despair. + +"What can that have been?" asked Elaine, starting to get out of the +car. "What caused it?" + +"I don't know," I returned, taking her arm firmly. "But enough has +happened to-day. If it was intended for us, we'd better not stop. Some +one might take a shot at us. Come. We have the car. We can get out +before any one does anything more. Let's do it. Things are going on +about us of which we know nothing. The safest thing is to get away." + +Elaine looked at the bridge in ruins and shuddered. It was the closest +we could have been to death and have escaped. Then she turned to the +wheel quickly and the little car fairly jumped ahead. + +"Oh, if Craig were only here," she murmured. "He would know what to do." + +As we disappeared over the crest of the next hill, safe, the old farmer +and his dog looked hard at us. + +The silence after the explosion was ominous. + +He glanced about. No one was pursuing him. That seemed ominous, too. +But if they did pursue he was prepared to elude them. They must never +recognize the old farmer. + +As he turned, he deliberately pulled off his beard, then plunged again +into the woods and was lost. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE SUBMARINE HARBOR + + +It was not long after the almost miraculous escape of Elaine and myself +from the blowing up of the bridge on the shore road that Del Mar +returned from his mysterious mission which had, apparently, taken him +actually down to the bottom of the sea. + +The panel in the wall of his library opened and in the still dripping +submarine suit, holding under his arm the weird helmet, Del Mar +entered. No sooner had he begun to remove his wet diving-suit than the +man who had signalled with the heliograph that we had found Del Mar's +message from "below," whatever that might mean, entered the house and +was announced by the valet. + +"Let him come in immediately," ordered Del Mar, placing his suit in a +closet. Then to the man, as he entered, he said, "Well, what's new?" + +"Quite a bit," returned the man, frowning still over Elaine's +accidental discovery of the under-water communication. "The Dodge girl +happened to pick up one of the tubes with a message just after you went +down. I tried to get her by blowing up the bridge, but it didn't work, +somehow." + +"We'll have to silence her," remarked Del Mar angrily with a sinister +frown. "You stay here and wait for orders." + +A moment later he made his way down to a private dock on his grounds +and jumped aboard a trim little speed boat moored there. He started the +motor and off the boat feathered in a cloud of spray. + +It was only a moment by water before he reached the Dodge dock. There +he tied his boat and hurried up the dock. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine and I arrived home without any further experiences after our +hairbreadth escape from the explosion at the bridge. + +We were in doubt at first, however, just what to do about the +mysterious message which we had picked up in the harbor. + +"Really, Walter," remarked Elaine, after we had considered the matter +for some time, "I think we ought to send that message to the government +at Washington." + +Already she had seated herself at her desk and began to write, while I +examined the metal tube and the note again. + +"There," she said at length, handing me the note she had written. "How +does that sound?" + +I read it while she addressed the envelope. "Very good," I replied, +handing it back. + +She folded it and shoved it into the envelope on which she had written: + + Chief, + Secret Service, + Washington, D. C. + +I was studying the address, wondering whether this was just the thing +to do, when Elaine decided the matter by energetically ringing the bell +for Jennings. + +"Post that, Jennings, please," she directed. + +The butler bowed just as the door-bell rang. He turned to go. + +"Just a minute," I interrupted. "I think perhaps I'd better mail it +myself, after all." + +He handed me the letter and went out. + +"Yes, Walter," agreed Elaine, "that would be better. Register it, too." + +"How do you do?" greeted a suave voice. + +It was Del Mar. As he passed me to speak to Elaine, apparently by +accident, he knocked the letter from my hand. + +"I beg your pardon," he apologized, quickly stooping and picking it up. + +Though he managed to read the address, he maintained his composure and +handed the letter back to me. I started to go out, when Elaine called +to me. + +"Excuse me just a moment, Mr. Del Mar?" she queried, accompanying me +out on the porch. + +Already a saddle horse had been brought around for me. + +"Perhaps you'd better put a special delivery stamp on it, too, Walter," +she added, walking along with me. "And be very careful." + +"I will," I promised, as I rode off. + +Del Mar, alone, seized the opportunity to go over quietly to the +telephone. It was the work of only a moment to call up his bungalow +where the emissary who had placed the submarine bell was waiting for +orders. Quickly Del Mar whispered his instructions which the man took, +and hung up the receiver. + +"I hope you'll pardon me," said Elaine, entering just as Del Mar left +the telephone. "Mr. Jameson was going into town and I had a number of +little things I wanted him to do. Won't you sit down?" + +They chatted for a few moments, but Del Mar did not stay very long. He +excused himself shortly and Elaine bade him good-bye at the door as he +walked off, apparently, down the road I had taken. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar's emissary hurried from the bungalow and almost ran down the +road until he came to a spot where two men were hiding. + +"Jameson is coming with a letter which the Dodge girl has written to +the Secret Service," he cried pointing excitedly up the road. "You've +got to get it, see?" + +I was cantering along nicely down the road by the shore, when suddenly, +from behind some rocks and bushes, three men leaped out at me. One of +them seized the horse's bridle, while the other two quickly dragged me +out of the saddle. + +It was very unexpected, but I had time enough to draw my gun and fire +once. I hit one of the men, too, in the arm, and he staggered back, the +blood spurting all over the road. + +But before I could fire at the others, they knocked the gun from my +hand. Frightened, the horse turned and bolted, riderless. + +Together, they dragged me off the road and into the thicket where I was +tied and gagged and laid on the ground while one of them bound up the +wounded arm of the man I had hit. It was not long before one of them +began searching me. + +"Aha!" he growled, pulling the letter from my pocket and looking at it +with satisfaction. "Here it is." + +He tore the letter open, throwing the envelope on the ground, and read +it. + +"There, confound you," he muttered. "The government 'll never get that. +Come on, men. Bring him this way." + +He shoved the letter into his pocket and led the way through the +underbrush, while the others half-dragged, half-pushed me along. We had +not gone very far before one of the three men, who appeared to be the +leader, paused. + +"Take him to the hang-out," he ordered gruffly. "I'll have to report to +the Chief." + +He disappeared down toward the shore of the harbor while the others +prodded me along. + + . . . . . . . + +Down near the Dodge dock, along the shore, walked a man wearing a +broad-brimmed hat and a plain suit of duck. His prim collar and tie +comported well with his smoked glasses. Instinctively one would have +called him "Professor", though whether naturalist, geologist, or plain +"bugologist", one would have had difficulty in determining. + +He seemed, as a matter-of-fact, to be a naturalist, for he was +engrossed in picking up specimens. But he was not so much engrossed as +to fail to hear the approach of footsteps down the gravel walk from +Dodge Hall to the dock. He looked up in time to see Del Mar coming, and +quietly slipped into the shrubbery up on the shore. + +On the dock, Del Mar stood for some minutes, waiting. Finally, along +the shore came another figure. It was the emissary to whom Del Mar had +telephoned and who had searched me. The naturalist drew back into his +hiding-place, peering out keenly. + +"Well?" demanded Del Mar. "What luck?" + +"We've got him," returned the man with brief satisfaction. "Here's the +letter she was sending to the Secret Service." + +Del Mar seized the note which the man handed to him and read it +eagerly. "Good," he exclaimed. "That would have put an end to the whole +operations about here. Come on. Get into the boat." + +For some reason best known to himself, the naturalist seemed to have +lost all interest in his specimens and to have a sudden curiosity about +Del Mar's affairs. As the motor-boat sped off, he came slowly and +cautiously out of his hiding-place and gazed fixedly at Del Mar. + +No sooner had Del Mar's boat got a little distance out into the harbor +than the naturalist hurried down the Dodge dock. There was tied +Elaine's own fast little runabout. He jumped into it and started the +engine, following quickly in Del Mar's wake. + +"Look," called the emissary to Del Mar, spying the Dodge boat with the +naturalist in it, skimming rapidly after them. + +Del Mar strained his eyes back through his glass at the pursuing boat. +But the naturalist, in spite of his smoked glasses, seemed not to have +impaired his eyesight by his studies. He caught the glint of the sun on +the lens at Del Mar's eye and dropped down into the bottom of his own +boat where he was at least safe from scrutiny, if his boat were not. + +Del Mar lowered his glass. "That's the Dodge boat," he said +thoughtfully. "I don't like the looks of that fellow. Give her more +speed." + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar had not been gone long before Elaine decided to take a ride +herself. She ordered her horse around from the stables while she donned +her neat little riding-habit. A few minutes later, as the groom held +the horse, she mounted and rode away, choosing the road by which I had +gone, expecting to meet me on the return from town. + +She was galloping along at a good clip when suddenly her horse shied at +something. + +"Whoa, Buster," pacified Elaine. + +But it was of no use. Buster still reared up. + +"Why, what is the matter?" she asked. "What do you see?" + +She looked down at the ground. There was a spot of blood in the dust. +Buster was one of those horses to whom the sight of blood is terrifying. + +Elaine pulled up beside the road. There was a revolver lying in the +grass. She dismounted and picked it up. No sooner had she looked at it +than she discovered the initials "W. J." carved on the butt. + +"Walter Jameson!" she exclaimed, realizing suddenly that it was mine. +"It's been fired, too!" + +Her eye fell again on the blood spots. "Blood and--footprints--into the +brush!" she gasped in horror, following the trail. "What could have +happened to Walter?" + +With the revolver, Elaine followed where the bushes were trampled down +until she came to the place where I had been bound. There she spied +some pieces of paper lying on the ground and picked them up. + +She put them together. They were pieces of the envelope of the letter +which we had decided to send to Washington. + +"Which way did they take him?" she asked, looking all about but +discovering no trail. + +She was plainly at a loss what course to pursue. + +"What would Craig do?" she asked herself. + +Finding no answer, she stood thinking a moment, slowly tearing the +envelope to pieces. If she were to do anything at all, it must be done +quickly. Suddenly an idea seemed to occur to her. She threw the pieces +of paper into the air and let them blow away. It was unscientific +detection, perhaps, but the wind actually took them and carried them in +the direction in which the men had forced me to walk. + +"That's it!" cried Elaine to herself. "I'll follow that direction." + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile, the men had hurried me off along a trail that led to the +foot of a cliff. Then the trail wound up the cliff. We climbed it until +we reached the top. + +There in the rock was a rude stairway. I drew back. But one man drew a +gun and the other preceded me down. Along the steep stone steps cut out +in the face of the rock, they forced me. + +Below, in a rift in the very wall of the cliff, was a cave in which +already were two more of Del Mar's men, talking in low tones, in the +dim light. + +As we made our way down the breakneck stairway, the foremost of my +captors stepped on a large flat rock. As he did so, it gave way +slightly under his foot. + +A light in the cave flashed up. Under the rock was a secret electric +connection which operated a lamp. + +"Some one coming," muttered the two men, on guard instantly. + +It was a somewhat precarious footing as we descended and for the moment +I was more concerned for my safety from a fall than anything else. Once +my foot did slip and a shower of pebbles and small pieces of rock +started down the face of the cliff. + +As we passed down, the man behind me, still keeping me covered, raised +the flat stone on the top step. Carefully, he reset the connection of +the alarm rock, a series of metal points that bent under the weight of +a person and made a contact which signalled down in the cavern the +approach of any one who did not know the secret. + +As he did so, the light in the cavern went out. "It's all right," said +one of the men down there, with a look of relief. + +We now went down the perilous stairway until we came to the cave. + +"I've got a prisoner--orders of the Chief," growled one of my captors, +thrusting me in roughly. + +They forced me into a corner where they tied me again, hand and foot. +Then they began debating in low, sinister tones, what was to be done +with me next. Once in a while I could catch a word. Fear made my senses +hypersensitive. + +They were arguing whether they should make away with me now or later! + +Finally the leader rose. "It's three to one," I heard him mutter. "He +dies now." + +He turned and took a menacing step toward me. + +"Hands up!" + +It was a shrill, firm voice that rang out at the mouth of the cave as a +figure cut off what little light there was. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine passed along, hunting for the trail. Suddenly a shower of +pebbles came falling down from a cliff above her. Some of them hit her +and she looked up quickly. + +There she could see me being led along by my captors. She hid in the +brush and watched. During all the operations of the descent of the rock +stairway and the resetting of the alarm, she continued to watch, +straining her eyes to see what they were doing. + +As we entered the cave, she stepped out from her concealment and looked +sharply up at us, as we disappeared. Then she climbed the path up the +cliff until she came to the flight of stone steps leading downward +again. + +Already she had seen the man behind me doing something with the stone +that formed the top step. She stooped down and examined the stone. +Carefully she raised it and looked underneath before stepping on it. +There she could see the electric connection. She set the stone aside +and looked again down the dangerous stairway. + +It made her shudder. "I must get him," she murmured to herself. "Yes, I +must. Even now it may be too late." + +With a supreme effort of determination she got herself together, drew +my gun which she had picked up, and started down the cliff, stepping +noiselessly. + +At last Elaine came to the cave. She stood just aside from the door, +gun in hand, and listened, aghast. + +Inside she could hear voices of four men, and they were arguing whether +they should kill me or not. It was four against one woman, but she did +not falter. + +They had just decided to make away with me immediately and the leader +had turned toward me with the threat still on his lips. It was now or +never. Resolutely she took a step forward and into the cave. + +"Hands up!" she demanded, firmly. + +The thing was so unexpected in the security of their secret +hiding-place protected by the rock alarm that, before they knew it, +Elaine had them all lined up against the wall. + +Keeping them carefully covered, she moved over toward me. She picked up +a knife that lay near-by and started to cut the ropes which held me. + +As she did so, one of the men, with an oath, leaped forward to rush +her. But Elaine was not to be caught off her guard. Instantly she +fired. The man staggered back, and fell. + +That cooled the ardor of the other three considerably, especially now +as I was free, too. While she held them up still, with their hands in +the air, I went through their pockets, taking out their weapons. + +Then, still keeping them covered, we backed out of the cave. Backward +we made our way up the dangerous flight of steps again with guns +levelled at the cave entrance, Elaine going up first. + +Once a head stuck itself out of the cave entrance. I fired instantly +and it jerked itself back in again just in time. That was the only +trouble we had, apparently. + +Cautiously and slowly we made our way toward the top of the cliff. + + . . . . . . . + +One look backward from his motor-boat was enough for Del Mar. He must +evade that inquisitive naturalist. He turned to his man. + +"Get out that apparatus," he ordered. + +The man opened a locker and brought out the curious submarine rescue +helmet and suit. Del Mar took them up and began to put the suit on, +stooping down in the shelter of the boat so that his actions could not +be seen by the naturalist in the pursuing boat. + +The naturalist was all this time peering ahead keenly at Del Mar's +boat, trying to make it out. He bent over and adjusted the engine to +get up more speed and the boat shot ahead faster. + +By this time, Del Mar had put on the submarine apparatus, all except +the helmet, and was crouching low in the boat. Hastily, he rolled a +piece of canvas into the semblance of a body, put his coat and hat on +it and set it on the seat which he had occupied before. + +Just then Del Mar's boat ran around the promontory where Wu Fang had +met the submarine that had brought Del Mar into the country and landed +him so strangely. + +The boat slowed down under shelter of the rocks and Del Mar added a +pair of heavy lead-soled shoes to his outfit in order to weight himself +down. Finally he put on the helmet, let himself over the side of the +boat, and disappeared into the water. + +His aide started the motor and the boat shot ahead again, with the +dummy still occupying Del Mar's seat. As the boat swung out and made a +wide sweeping curve away from the point at which Del Mar had gone +overboard, the naturalist in the Dodge boat came around the promontory +and saw it, changing his course accordingly, and gaining somewhat. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar sank, upright and rapidly, down in the shallow water to the +bottom. Once having his feet on something approaching firm ground, he +gazed about through the window-like eye of the helmet until he got his +bearings. Then he began to walk heavily along the bottom of the harbor, +over sand and rocks. + +It was a strange walk that he took, half stumbling, slowly and +cumbersomely groping his way like a queer under-water animal. + +If any one could have seen him, he would have noted that Del Mar was +going toward the base of a huge rocky cliff that jutted far out into +the harbor, where the water was deep, a dangerous point, avoided by +craft of all kinds. Far over his head the waves beat on the rocks +angrily. But down there, concealed beneath the surface of the harbor, +was a sort of huge arch of stone, through which a comparatively rapid +current ran as the tide ebbed and flowed. + +Del Mar let himself be carried along with the current which was now +running in and thus with comparative ease made his way, still groping, +through the arch. Once under it and a few feet beyond, he deliberately +kicked off the leaden-soled shoes and, thus lightened, rose rapidly to +the surface of the water. + +As he bobbed up, a strange sight met his eyes--not strange however, to +Del Mar. Above, the rocks formed a huge dome over the water which the +tides forced in and out through the secret entrance through which he +came. No other entrance, apparently, except that from the waters of the +harbor led to this peculiar den. + +Lying quietly moored to the rocky piers lay three submarine boats. +Further back, on a ledge of rocks, blasted out, stood a little +building, a sort of office or headquarters. Near-by was a shed where +were kept gas and oil, supplies and ammunition, in fact everything that +a submarine might need. + +This was the reason for Del Mar's presence in the neighborhood. It was +the secret submarine harbor of the foreign agents who were operating in +America! + +Already a sentry, pacing up and down, had seen the bubbles in the water +that indicated that some one had come through the archway and was down +"below," as Del Mar and his men called it. + +Gazing down the sentry saw the queer helmeted figure float up from the +bottom of the pool. He reached out and helped the figure clamber up out +of the water to the ledge on which he stood. Del Mar saluted, and the +sentry returned the secret salute, helping him remove the dripping +helmet and suit. + +A moment later, in the queer little submarine office, Del Mar had +evidently planned to take up the nefarious secret work on which he was +engaged. Several men of a naval and military bearing were seated about +a table, already, studying maps and plans and documents of all +descriptions. They did not seem to belong to any nation in particular. +In fact their uniforms, if such they might be called, were of a +character to disguise their nationality. But that they were hostile to +the country under which they literally had their hidden retreat, of +that there could be no doubt. + +How high Del Mar stood in their counsels could have been seen at a +glance from the instant deference exhibited at the mere mention of his +name by the sentry who entered with the submarine suit while Del Mar +got himself together after his remarkable trip. + +The men at the council table rose and saluted as Del Mar himself +entered. He returned the salute and quietly made his way to the head of +the table where he took a seat, naturally. + +"This is the area in which we must work first of all," he began, +drawing toward him a book and opening it. "And we must strike quickly, +for if they heed the advice in this book, it may be too late for us to +take advantage of their foolish unpreparedness." + +It was a book entitled "Defenseless America", written by a great +American inventor, Hudson Maxim. + +Del Mar turned the pages until he came to and pointed out a map. The +others gathered about him, leaning forward eagerly as he talked to +them. There, on the map, with a radius of some one hundred and seventy +miles, was drawn a big segment of a circle, with Peekskill, New York, +as a centre. + +"That is the heart of America," said Del Mar, earnestly. "It embraces +New York, Boston, Philadelphia. But that is not the point. Here are the +great majority of the gun and armor factories, the powder and cartridge +works, together with the principal coal fields of Pennsylvania." + +He brought his fist down decisively on the table. "If we hold this +section," he declared, "we practically hold America!" + +Eagerly the other emissaries listened as Del Mar laid before them the +detailed facts which he was collecting, the greater mission than the +mere capture of Kennedy's wireless torpedo which had brought him into +the country. Detail after detail of their plans they discussed as they +worked out the gigantic scheme. + +It was a war council of a secret advance guard of the enemies of +America! + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile, Del Mar's man in his boat, cutting a wide circle and +avoiding the Dodge boat carrying the naturalist, made his way across +the harbor until he came to the shore. + +There he landed and proceeded up the beach to the foot of a rocky +cliff, where he turned and followed a trail up it to the top. It was +the same path already travelled by my captors with me and later +followed by Elaine. + +As he came stealthily out from under cover, Del Mar's man gazed down +the stairway. He drew back at what he saw. Slowly he pulled a gun from +his pocket, watching down the steps with tense interest. There he could +see Elaine and myself wearily climbing toward the top, our backs toward +him, as we covered the men in the cave. + +So surprised was he at what he saw that he forgot that his boat below +had been followed by the mysterious naturalist, who, the moment Del +Mar's man had landed, put on the last burst of speed and ran the Dodge +boat close to the spot where the aide had left Del Mar's. + +A glance into the boat sufficed to tell the naturalist that the figure +in it was only a dummy. He did not pause, but followed the trail up the +hill, until he was close after the emissary ahead, going more slowly. + +Only a few feet further along the cliff, the naturalist paused, too, +keeping well under cover, for the man was now just ahead of him. He +looked fixedly at him and saw him gaze down the cliff. Then he saw him +slowly draw a gun. + +Who could be below? Quickly the naturalist's mind seemed to work. He +crouched down, as if ready to spring. + +The emissary slowly raised his revolver and took careful aim at the +backs of Elaine and myself, as we came up the steps. + +But before he could pull the trigger, the naturalist, more like one of +the wild animals which he studied than like a human being, sprang from +his concealment in the bushes and pounced on the man from behind, +seizing him firmly. + +Over and over they rolled, struggling almost to the brink of the +precipice. + +Elaine and I had got almost to the top of the flight of steps, when +suddenly we heard a shout above us and sounds of a terrific struggle. +We turned, to see two men, neither of whom we knew, fighting. One +seemed to be a professor of natural history from his dress and general +appearance. The other had a sinister nondescript look. + +Nearer and nearer the edge of the cliff they rolled. We crouched closer +to the rocky wall, gazing up at the death grapple of the two. Who they +were we did not know but that one was fighting for and the other +against us we could readily see. + +The more vicious of the two seemed to be forcing the naturalist slowly +back, when, with a superhuman effort, the naturalist braced himself. +His foot was actually on a small ledge of rock directly at the edge of +the cliff. + +He swung around quickly and struck the other man. The vicious looking +man pitched headlong over the cliff. + +We shrank back closer to the rock as the man hurtled through the air +only a few feet from us. Down below, we could hear him land with a +sickening thud. + +Far over the edge Elaine leaned in a sort of fascination at the awful +sight. For a moment, I thought the very imp of the perverse had got +possession of her and that she herself would fall over. She brushed her +hand unsteadily over her eyes and staggered. I caught her just in time. + +It was only an instant before the brave girl recovered control of +herself. Then, together, we started again to climb up. + +As we did so the naturalist looked down and caught sight of us +approaching. Hastily he hid in the bushes. We reached the top of the +stairway and gazed about for the victor in the contest. To our surprise +he was gone. + +"Come," I urged. "We had better get away, quickly." + +As Elaine and I disappeared, the naturalist slowly emerged again from +the bushes and looked after us. Then he gave a hasty glance over the +edge of the cliff at the man, twisted and motionless, far below. + +If we had looked back we might have seen the naturalist shake his head +in a manner strangely reminiscent as he turned and gazed again after us. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CONSPIRATORS + + +"You remember Lieutenant Woodward, the inventor of trodite?" I asked +Elaine one day after I had been out for a ride through the country. + +"Very well indeed," she nodded with a look of wistfulness as the +mention of his name recalled Kennedy. "Why?" + +"He's stationed at Fort Dale, not very far from here, at the entrance +of the Sound," I answered. + +"Then let's have him over at my garden party to-night," she exclaimed, +sitting down and writing. + +DEAR LIEUTENANT, + +I have just learned that you are stationed at Fort Dale and would like +to have you meet some of my friends at a little garden party I am +holding to-night. + +Sincerely, ELAINE DODGE. + +Thus it was that a few hours afterward, in the officers' quarters at +the Fort, an orderly entered with the mail and handed a letter to +Lieutenant Woodward. He opened it and read the invitation with +pleasure. He had scarcely finished reading and was hastening to write a +reply when the orderly entered again and saluted. + +"A Professor Arnold to see you, Lieutenant," he announced. + +"Professor Arnold?" repeated Woodward. "I don't know any Professor +Arnold. Well, show him in, anyhow." + +The orderly ushered in a well-dressed man with a dark, heavy beard and +large horn spectacles. Woodward eyed him curiously and a bit +suspiciously, as the stranger seated himself and made a few remarks. + +The moment the orderly left the room, however, the professor lowered +his voice to a whisper. Woodward listened in amazement, looked at him +more closely, then laughed and shook hands cordially. + +The professor leaned over again. Whatever it was that he said, it made +a great impression on the Lieutenant. + +"You know this fellow Del Mar?" asked Professor Arnold finally. + +"No," replied Woodward. + +"Well, he's hanging around Miss Dodge all the time," went on Arnold. +"There's something queer about his presence here at this time." + +"I've an invitation to a garden party at her house to-night," remarked +Woodward. + +"Accept," urged the professor, "and tell her you are bringing a friend." + +Woodward resumed writing and when he had finished handed the note to +the stranger, who read: + +DEAR MISS DODGE, + +I shall be charmed to be with you to-night and with your permission +will bring my friend, Professor Arnold. + +Truly yours, EDWARD WOODWARD. + +"Good," nodded the professor, handing the note back. + +Woodward summoned an orderly. "See that that is delivered at Dodge Hall +to Miss Dodge herself as soon as possible," he directed, as the orderly +took the note and saluted. + +Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I were in the garden when Lieut. Woodward's +orderly rode up and delivered the letter. + +Elaine opened it and read. "That's all right," she thanked the orderly. +"Oh, Walter, he's coming to the garden party, and is going to bring a +friend of his, a Professor Arnold." + +We chatted a few moments about the party. + +"Oh," exclaimed Elaine suddenly, "I have an idea." + +"What is it?" we asked, smiling at her enthusiasm. + +"We'll have a fortune teller," she cried. "Aunt Josephine, you shall +play the part." + +"All right, if you really want me," consented Aunt Josephine smiling +indulgently as we urged her. + + . . . . . . . + +Down in the submarine harbor that afternoon, Del Mar and his men were +seated about the conference table. + +"I've traced out the course and the landing points of the great +Atlantic cable," he said. "We must cut it." + +Del Mar turned to one of the men. "Take these plans to the captain of +the steamer and tell him to get ready," he went on. "Find out and send +me word when the cutting can be done best." + +The man saluted and went out. + +Leaving the submarine harbor in the usual manner, he made his way to a +dock on the shore around the promontory and near the village. Tied to +it was a small tramp steamer. The man walked down the dock and climbed +aboard the boat. There several rough looking sailors were lolling and +standing about. The emissary selected the captain, a more than +ordinarily tough looking individual. + +"Mr. Del Mar sends you the location of the Atlantic cable and the place +where he thinks it best to pick it up and cut it," he said. + +The captain nodded. "I understand," he replied. "I'll send him word +later when it can be done best." + +A few minutes after dispatching his messenger, Del Mar left the +submarine harbor himself and entered his bungalow by way of the secret +entrance. There he went immediately to his desk and picked up the mail +that had accumulated in his absence. One letter he read: + +DEAR MR. DEL MAR, + +We shall be pleased to see you at a little garden party we are holding +to-night. + +Sincerely, + +ELAINE DODGE. + +As he finished reading, he pushed the letter carelessly aside as though +he had no time for such frivolity. Then an idea seemed to occur to him. +He picked it up again and read it over. + +"I'll go," he said to himself, simply. + + . . . . . . . + +That night Dodge Hall was a blaze of lights and life, overflowing to +the wide verandas and the garden. Guests in evening clothes were +arriving from all parts of the summer colony and were being received by +Elaine. Already some of them were dancing on the veranda. + +Among the late arrivals were Woodward and his friend, Professor Arnold. + +"I'm so glad to know that you are stationed at Fort Dale," greeted +Elaine. "I hope it will be for all summer." + +"I can't say how long it will be, but I shall make every effort to make +it all summer," he replied gallantly. "Let me present my friend, +Professor Arnold." + +The professor bowed low and unprofessionally over Elaine's hand and a +moment later followed Woodward out into the next room as the other +guests arrived to be greeted by Elaine. For a moment, however, she +looked after him curiously. Once she started to follow as though to +speak to him. Just then, however, Del Mar entered. + +"Good evening," he interrupted, suavely. + +He stood for a moment with Elaine and talked. + +One doorway in the house was draped and a tent had been erected in the +room. Over the door was a sign which read: "The past and the future are +an open book to Ancient Anna." There Aunt Josephine held forth in a +most effective disguise as a fortune teller. + +Aunt Josephine had always had a curious desire to play the old hag in +amateur dramatics and now she had gratified her desire to the utmost. +Probably none of the guests knew that Ancient Anna was in reality +Elaine's guardian. + +Elaine being otherwise occupied, I had selected one of the prettiest of +the girls and we were strolling through the house, seeking a quiet spot +for a chat. + +"Why don't you have your fortune told by Ancient Anna?" laughed my +companion as we approached the tent. + +"Do you tell a good fortune reasonably?" I joked, entering. + +"Only the true fortunes, young man," returned Ancient Anna severely, +starting in to read my palm. "You are very much in love," she went on, +"but the lady is not in this tent." + +Very much embarrassed, I pulled my hand away. + +"How shocking!" mocked my companion, making believe to be very much +annoyed. "I don't think I'll have my fortune told," she decided as we +left the room. + +We sauntered along to the veranda where another friend claimed my +companion for a dance which she had promised. As I strolled on alone, +Del Mar and Elaine were already finishing a dance. He left her a moment +later and I hurried over, glad of the opportunity to see her at last. + +Del Mar made his way alone among the guests and passed Aunt Josephine +disguised as the old hag seated before her tent. Just then a waiter +came through with a tray of ices. As he passed, Del Mar stopped him, +reached out and took an ice. + +Under the ice, as he had known, was a note. He took the note +surreptitiously, turned and presented the ice to Ancient Anna with a +bow. + +"Thank you, kind sir," she curtsied, taking it. + +Del Mar stepped aside and glanced at the little slip of paper. Then he +crumpled it up and threw it aside, walking away. + +No sooner had he gone than Aunt Josephine reached out and picked up the +paper. She straightened it and looked at it. There was nothing on the +paper but a crude drawing of a sunrise on the ocean. + +"What's that?" asked Aunt Josephine, in surprise. + +Just then Elaine and Lieutenant Woodward came in and stopped before the +tent. Aunt Josephine motioned to Elaine to come in and Elaine followed. +Lieutenant Woodward started after her. + +"No, no, young man," laughed Ancient Anna, shaking her forefinger at +him, "I don't want you. It's the pretty young lady I want." + +Woodward stood outside, though he did not know quite what it was all +about. While he was standing there, Professor Arnold came up. He had +not exactly made a hit with the guests. At least, he seemed to make +little effort to do so. He and Woodward walked away, talking earnestly. + +In the tent Aunt Josephine handed Elaine the piece of paper she had +picked up. + +"What does it mean?" asked Elaine, studying the curious drawing in +surprise. + +"I'm sure I don't know," confessed Aunt Josephine. + +"Nor I." + +Meanwhile Lieutenant Woodward and his friend had moved to a corner of +the veranda and stood looking intently into the moonlight. There was +Del Mar deep in conversation with a man who had slipped out, at a quiet +signal, from his hiding-place in the shrubbery. + +"That fellow is up to something, mark my words," muttered Arnold under +his breath. "I'd like to make an arrest, but I've got to have some +proof." + +They continued watching Del Mar but, so far at least, he did nothing +that would have furnished them any evidence of anything. + +So the party went on, most merrily until, long after the guests had +left, Elaine sat in her dressing-gown up in her room, about to retire. + +Her maid had left her and she picked up the slip of paper from her +dresser, looking at it thoughtfully. + +"What can a crude drawing of a sunrise on the sea mean?" she asked +herself. + +For a long time she studied the paper, thinking it over. At last an +idea came to her. + +"I'll bet I have it," she exclaimed to herself. "Something is going to +happen on the water at sunrise." + +She took a pretty little alarm clock from the table, set it, and placed +it near her bed. + +Returning from the party to his library, Del Mar entered. Except for +the moonlight streaming in through the windows the room was dark. He +turned on the lights and crossed to the panel in the wall. As he +touched a button the panel opened. Del Mar switched off the lights and +went through the panel, closing it. + +Outside, at the other end of the passageway, was one of his men, +waiting in the shadows as Del Mar came up. For a moment they talked. +"I'll be there, at sunrise," agreed Del Mar, as the man left and he +reentered the secret passage. + +While he was conferring, at the library window appeared a face. It was +Professor Arnold's. Cautiously he opened the window and listened. Then +he entered. + +First he went over to the door and set a chair under the knob. Next he +drew an electric pocket bull's-eye and flashed it about the room. He +glanced about and finally went over to Del Mar's desk where he examined +a batch of letters, his back to the secret panel. + +Arnold was running rapidly through the papers on the desk, as he +flashed his electric bull's-eye on them, when the panel in the wall +opened slowly and Del Mar stepped into the room noiselessly. To his +surprise he saw a round spot of light from an electric flashlight +focussed on his desk. Some one was there! He drew a gun. + +Arnold started suddenly. He heard the cocking of a revolver. But he did +not look around. He merely thought an instant, quicker than lightning, +then pulled out a spool of black thread with one hand, while with the +other he switched off the light, and dived down on his stomach on the +floor in the shadow. + +"Who's that?" demanded Del Mar. "Confound it! I should have fired at +sight." + +The room was so dark now that it was impossible to see Arnold. Del Mar +gazed intently. Suddenly Arnold's electric torch glowed forth in a spot +across the room. + +Del Mar blazed at it, firing every chamber of his revolver, then +switched on the lights. + +No one was in the room. But the door was open. Del Mar gazed about, +vexed, then ran to the open door. + +For a second or two he peered out in rage, finally turning back into +the empty room. On the mantlepiece lay the torch of the intruder. It +was one in which the connection is made by a ring falling on a piece of +metal. The ring had been left up by Arnold. Connection had been made as +he was leaving the room by pulling the thread which he had fastened to +the ring. Del Mar followed the thread as it led around the room to the +doorway. + +"Curse him!" swore Del Mar, smashing down the innocent torch on the +floor in fury, as he rushed to the desk and saw his papers all +disturbed. + +Outside, Arnold had made good his escape. He paused in the moonlight +and listened. No one was pursuing. He drew out two or three of the +letters which he had taken from Del Mar's desk, and hastily ran through +them. + +"Not a thing in them," he exclaimed, tearing them up in disgust and +hurrying away. + +At the first break of dawn the little alarm dock awakened Elaine. She +started up and rubbed her eyes at the suddenness of the awakening, then +quickly reached out and stopped the bell so that it would not disturb +others in the house. She jumped out of bed hurriedly and dressed. + +Armed with a spy glass, Elaine let herself out of the house quietly. +Directly to the shore she went, walking along the beach. Suddenly she +paused. There were three men. Before she could level her glass at them, +however, they disappeared. + +"That's strange," she said to herself, looking through the glass. +"There's a steamer at the dock that seems to be getting ready for +something. I wonder what it can be doing so early." + +She moved along in the direction of the dock. At the dock the +disreputable steamer to which Del Mar had dispatched his emissary was +still tied, the sailors now working under the gruff orders of the rough +captain. About a capstan were wound the turns of a long wire rope at +the end of which was a three-pronged drag-hook. + +"You see," the captain was explaining, "we'll lower this hook and drag +it along the bottom. When it catches anything we'll just pull it up. I +have the location of the cable. It ought to be easy to grapple." + +Already, on the shore, at an old deserted shack of a fisherman, two of +Del Mar's men had been waiting since before sun-up, having come in a +dirty, dingy fishing smack anchored offshore. + +"Is everything ready?" asked Del Mar, coming up. + +"Everything, sir," returned the two, following him along the shore. + +"Who's that?" cautioned one of the men, looking ahead. + +They hid hastily, for there was Elaine. She had seen the three and was +about to level her glass in their direction as they hid. Finally she +turned and discovered the steamer. As she moved toward it, Del Mar and +the others came out from behind a rock and stole after her. + +Elaine wandered on until she came to the dock. No one paid any +attention to her, apparently, and she made her way along the dock and +even aboard the boat without being observed. + +No sooner had she got on the boat, however, than Del Mar and his men +appeared on the dock and also boarded the steamer. + +The captain was still explaining to the men just how the drag-hook +worked when Elaine came up quietly on the deck. She stood spellbound as +she heard him outline the details of the plot. Scarcely knowing what +she did, she crouched back of a deckhouse and listened. + +Behind her, Del Mar and his men came along, cat-like. A glance was +sufficient to tell them that she had overheard what the captain was +saying. + +"Confound that girl!" ground out Del Mar. "Will she always cross my +path? We'll get her this time!" + +The men scattered as he directed them. Sneaking up quietly, they made a +sudden rush and seized her. As she struggled and screamed, they dragged +her off, thrusting her into the captain's cabin and locking the door. + +"Cast off!" ordered Del Mar. + +A few moments later, out in the harbor, Del Mar was busy directing the +dragging for the Atlantic cable at a spot where it was known to run. +They let the drag-hook down over the side and pulled it along slowly on +the bottom. + +In the cabin, Elaine beat on the door and shouted in vain for help. + +I had decided to do some early morning fishing the day after the party, +and knowing that Elaine and the others were usually late risers, I said +nothing about it, determined to try my luck alone. + +So it happened that only a few minutes after Elaine let herself out +quietly, I did the same, carrying my fishing-tackle. I made my way +toward the shore, undecided whether to fish from a dock or boat. +Finally I determined to do some casting from the shore. + +I had cast once or twice before I was aware that I was not alone in the +immediate neighborhood. Some distance away I saw a little steamer at a +wharf. A couple of men ran along the deck, apparently cautioning the +captain against something. + +Then I saw them run to one side and drag out a girl, screaming and +struggling as they hurried her below. I could scarcely believe my eyes. +It was Elaine! + +Only a second I looked. They were certainly too many for me. I dropped +my rod and line and ran toward the dock, however. As I came down it, I +saw that I was too late. The little steamer had cast off and was now +some distance from the dock. I looked about for a motor-boat in +desperation--anything to follow them in. But there was nothing, +absolutely nothing, not even a rowboat. + +I ran back along the dock as I had come and struck out down the shore. + + . . . . . . . + +Out at the parade grounds at Fort Dale, in spite of the early hour, +there was some activity, for the army is composed of early risers. + +Lieutenant Woodward and Professor Arnold left the house in which the +Lieutenant was quartered, where he had invited Arnold to spend the +night. Already an orderly had brought around two horses. They mounted +for an early morning ride through the country. + +Off they clattered, naturally bending their course toward the shore. +They came soon to a point in the road where it emerged from the hills +and gave them a panoramic view of the harbor and sound. + +"Wait a minute," called the professor. + +Woodward reined up and they gazed off over the water. + +"What's that--an oyster boat?" asked Woodward, looking in the direction +Arnold indicated. + +"I don't think so, so early," replied Arnold, pulling out his pocket +glass and looking carefully. + +Through it he could see that something like a hook was being cast over +the steamer's side and drawn back again. + +"They're dragging for something," he remarked as they brought up an +object dark and covered with seagrowth, then threw it overboard as +though it was not what they wanted. "By George--the Atlantic cable +lands here--they're going to cut it!" + +Woodward took the glasses himself and looked in in surprise. "That's +right," he cried, his surprise changed to alarm in an instant. "Here, +take the glass again and watch. I must get back to the Fort." + +He swung his horse about and galloped off, leaving Arnold sitting in +the saddle gazing at the strange boat through his glass. + +By the time Woodward reached the parade ground again, a field-gun and +its company were at drill. He dashed furiously across the field. + +"What's the trouble?" demanded the officer in charge of the gun. + +Woodward blurted out what he had just seen. "We must stop it--at any +cost," he added, breathlessly. + +The officer turned to the company. A moment later the order to follow +Woodward rang out, the horses were wheeled about, and off the party +galloped. On they went, along the road which Woodward and Arnold had +already traversed. + +Arnold was still gazing, impatiently now, through the glass. He could +see the fore-deck of the ship where Del Mar, muffled up, and his men +had succeeded in dragging the cable to the proper position on the deck. +They laid it down and Del Mar was directing the preparations for +cutting it. Arnold lowered his glass and looked about helplessly. + +Just then Lieutenant Woodward dashed up with the officer and company +and the field-gun. They wheeled it about and began pointing it and +finding the range. + +Would they never get it? Arnold was almost beside himself. One of Del +Mar's men seized an axe and was about to deliver the fatal blow. He +swung it and for a moment held it poised over his head. + +Suddenly a low, deep rumble of a reverberation echoed and reechoed from +the hills over the water. The field-gun had bellowed defiance. + +A solid shot crashed through the cabin, smashing the door. Astounded, +the men jumped back. As they did so, in their fear, the cable, +released, slipped back over the rail in a great splash of safety into +the water and sank. + +"The deuce take you--you fools," swore Del Mar, springing forward in +rage, and looking furiously toward the shore. + +Two of the men had been hit by splinters. It was impossible to drag +again. Besides, again the gun crew loaded and fired. + +The first shot had dismantled the doorway of the cabin. Elaine crouched +fearfully in the furthest corner, not knowing what to expect next. +Suddenly another shot tore through just beside the door, smashing the +woodwork terrifically. She shrank back further, in fright. + +Anything was better than this hidden terror. Nerved up, she ran through +the broken door. + +Arnold was gazing through his glass at the effect of the shots. He +could now see Del Mar and the others leaping into a swift little +motor-boat alongside the steamer which they had been using to help them +in dragging for the cable. + +Just then he saw Elaine run, screaming, out from the cabin and leap +overboard. + +"Stop!" shouted Arnold in a fever of excitement, lowering his glass. +"There's a girl--by Jove--it's Miss Dodge!" + +"Impossible!" exclaimed Woodward. + +"I tell you, it is," reiterated Arnold, thrusting the glass into the +Lieutenant's hand. + +The motor-boat had started when Del Mar saw Elaine in the water. +"Look," he growled, pointing, "There's the Dodge girl." + +Elaine was swimming frantically away from the boat. "Get her," he +ordered, shielding his face so that she could not see it. + +They turned the boat and headed toward her. She struck out harder than +ever for the shore. On came the motor-boat. + +Arnold and Woodward looked at each other in despair. What could they do? + + . . . . . . . + +Somehow, by a sort of instinct, I suppose, I made my way as quickly as +I could along the shore toward Fort Dale, thinking perhaps of +Lieutenant Woodward. + +As I came upon the part of the grounds of the Fort that sloped down to +the beach, I saw a group of young officers standing about a peculiar +affair on the shore in the shallow water--half bird, half boat. + +As I came closer, I recognized it as a Thomas hydroaeroplane. + +It suggested an idea and I hurried, shouting. + +One of the men, seated in it, was evidently explaining its working to +the others. + +"Wait," he said, as he saw me running down the shore, waving and +shouting at them. "Let's see what this fellow wants." + +It was, as I soon learned, the famous Captain Burnside, of the United +States Aerial Corps. Breathless, I told him what I had seen and that we +were all friends of Woodward's. + +Burnside thought a moment, and quickly made up his mind. + +"Come--quick--jump up here with me," he called. Then to the other men, +"I'll be back soon. Wait here. Let her go!" + +I had jumped up and they spun the propeller. The hydroaeroplane +feathered along the water, throwing a cloud of white spray, then slowly +rose in the air. + +The sensation of flying was delightful, as the fresh morning wind cut +our faces. We seemed to be hardly moving. It was the earth or rather +the water that rushed past under us. But I forgot all about my +sensations in my anxiety for Elaine. + +As we rose we could see over the curve in the shore. + +"Look!" I exclaimed, straining my eyes. "She's overboard. There's a +motor-boat after her. Faster--over that way!" + +"Yes, yes," shouted Burnside above the roar of the engine which almost +made conversation impossible. + +He shifted the planes a bit and crowded on more speed. + +The men in the boat saw us. One figure, tall, muffled, had a familiar +look, but I could not place it and in the excitement of the chase had +no chance to try. But I could see that he saw us and was angry. +Apparently the man gave orders to turn, for the boat swung around just +as we swooped down and ran along the water. + +Elaine was exhausted. Would we be in time? + +We planed along the water, while the motor-boat sped off with its +baffled passengers. Finally we stopped, in a cloud of spray. + +Together, Burnside and I reached down and caught Elaine, not a moment +too soon, dragging her into the boat of the hydroaeroplane. + +If we had not had all we could do, we might have heard a shout of +encouragement and relief from the hill where Woodward and Arnold and +the rest were watching anxiously. + +I threw my coat about her, as the brave girl heroically clung to us, +half conscious. + +"Oh--Walter," she murmured, "you were just in time." + +"I wish I could have been sooner," I apologized. + +"They--they didn't cut the cable--did they?" she asked, as we rose from +the water again, bearing her now to safety. "I did my best." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE WIRELESS DETECTIVE + + +Del Mar made his way cautiously along the bank of a little river at the +mouth of which he left the boat after escaping from the little steamer. + +Quite evidently he was worried by the failure to cut the great Atlantic +cable and he was eager to see whether any leak had occurred in the +organization which, as secret foreign agent, he had so carefully built +up in America. + +As he skirted the shore of the river, he came to a falls. Here he moved +even more cautiously than before, looking about to make certain that no +one had followed him. + +It was a beautiful sheet of water that tumbled with a roar over the +ledge of rock, then raced away swiftly to the sea in a cloud of spray. + +Assured that he was alone, he approached a crevice in the rocks, near +the falls. With another hasty look about, he reached in and pulled a +lever. + +Instantly a most marvellous change took place, incredible almost beyond +belief. The volume of water that came over the falls actually and +rapidly decreased until it almost stopped, dripping slowly in a thin +veil. There was the entrance of a cave--literally hidden behind the +falls! + +Del Mar walked in. Inside was the entrance to another, inner cave, +higher up in the sheer stone of the wall that the waters had eroded. +From the floor to this entrance led a ladder. Del Mar climbed it, then +stopped just inside the entrance to the inner cave. For a moment he +paused. Then he pressed another lever. Almost immediately the thin +trickle of water grew until at last the roaring falls completely +covered the cave entrance. It was a clever concealment, contrived by +damming the river above and arranging a new outlet controlled by +flood-gates. + +There Del Mar stood, in the inner cave. A man sat at a table, a curious +gear fastened over his head and covering his ears. Before him was a +huge apparatus from which flared a big bluish-green spark, snapping and +crackling above the thunder of the waves. From the apparatus ran wires +apparently up through cables that penetrated the rocky roof of the +cavern and the river above. + +It was Del Mar's secret wireless station, close to the hidden submarine +harbor which had been established beneath the innocent rocks of the +promontory up the coast. Far overhead, on the cliff over the falls, +were the antennae of the wireless. + +"How is she working?" asked Del Mar. + +"Pretty well," answered the man. + +"No interference?" queried Del Mar, adjusting the apparatus. + +The man shook his head in the negative. + +"We must get a quenched spark apparatus," went on Del Mar, pleased that +nothing was wrong here. "This rotary gap affair is out of date. By the +way, I want you to be ready to send a message, to be relayed across to +our people. I've got to consult the board below in the harbor, first, +however. I'll send a messenger to you." + +"Very well, sir," returned the man, saluting as Del Mar went out. + +Out at Fort Dale, Lieutenant Woodward was still entertaining his new +friend, Professor Arnold, and had introduced him to Colonel Swift, the +commanding officer at the Fort. + +They were discussing the strange events of the early morning, when an +orderly entered, saluted Colonel Swift and handed him a telegram. The +Colonel tore it open and read it, his face growing grave. Then he +handed it to Woodward, who read: + +WASHINGTON, D. C. + +Radio station using illegal wave length in your vicinity. Investigate +and report. + +BRANDON, + +Radio Bureau. + +Professor Arnold shook his head slowly, as he handed the telegram back. +"There's a wireless apparatus of my own on my yacht," he remarked +slowly. "I have an instrument there which I think can help you greatly. +Let's see what we can do." + +"All right," nodded Colonel Swift to Woodward. "Try." + +The two went out and a few minutes later, on the shore, jumped into +Arnold's fast little motor-boat and sped out across the water until +they swung around alongside the trim yacht which Arnold was using. + +It was a compact and comfortable little craft with lines that indicated +both gracefulness and speed. On one of the masts, as they approached, +Woodward noticed the wireless aerial. They climbed up the ladder over +the side and made their way directly to the wireless room, where Arnold +sat down and at once began to adjust the apparatus. + +Woodward seemed keenly interested in inspecting the plant which was of +a curious type and not exactly like any that he had seen before. + +"Wireless apparatus," explained Arnold, still at work, "as you know, is +divided into three parts, the source of power, the making and sending +of wireless waves, including the key, spark, condenser and tuning coil, +and the receiving apparatus--head telephones, antennae, ground and +detector. This is a very compact system with facilities for a quick +change from one wave length to another. It has a spark gap, quenched +type, break system relay--operator can hear any interference while +transmitting--transformation by a single throw of a six-point switch +which tunes the oscillating and open circuits to resonance." + +Woodward watched him keenly, following his explanation carefully, as +Arnold concluded. + +"You might call it a radio detective," he added. + +Even the startling experience of the morning when she was carried off +and finally jumped from the little tramp steamer that had attempted to +cut the cable did not dampen Elaine's ardor. She missed the guiding +hand of Kennedy, yet felt impelled to follow up and investigate the +strange things that had been happening in the neighborhood of her +summer home since his disappearance. + +I succeeded in getting her safely home after Burnside and I rescued her +in the hydroaeroplane, but no sooner had she changed her clothes for +dry ones than she disappeared herself. At least I could not find her, +though, later, I found that she had stolen away to town and there had +purchased a complete outfit of men's clothes from a second hand dealer. + +Cautiously, with the large bundle under her arm, she returned to Dodge +Hall and almost sneaked into her own home and up-stairs to her room. +She locked the door and hastily unwrapped the bundle taking out a +tattered suit and the other things, holding them up and laughing +gleefully as she took off her own pretty clothes and donned these +hideous garments. + +Quickly she completed her change of costume and outward character. As +she surveyed herself in the dainty mirror of her dressing-table she +laughed again at the incongruity of her pretty boudoir and the rough +men's clothes she was wearing. Deftly she arranged her hair so that her +hat would cover it. She picked a black mustache from the table and +stuck it on her soft upper lip. It tickled and she made a wry face over +it. Then she hunted up a cigarette from the bundle which she had +brought in, lighted it and stuck it in the corner of her mouth, letting +it droop jauntily. It made her cough tremendously and she threw it away. + +Finally she went to the door and down-stairs. No one was about. She +opened the door and gazed around. All was quiet. It was a new role for +her, but, with a bold front, she went out and passed down to the gate +of the grounds, pulling her hat down over her eyes and assuming a tough +swagger. + +Only a few minutes before, down in the submarine harbor, the officers +of the board of foreign agents had been grouped about Del Mar, who had +entered and taken his place at their head, very angry over the failure +to cut the cable. As they concluded their hasty conference, he wrote a +message on a slip of paper. + +"Take this to our wireless station," he ordered, handing it to one of +the men. + +The man took it, rose, and went to a wardrobe from which he extracted +one of the submarine suits. With the message in his hand, he went out +of the room, buckling on the suit. + +A few minutes later the messenger in the submarine suit bobbed up out +of the water, near the promontory, and climbed slowly over the rocks +toward a crevice, where he began to take off the diving outfit. + +Having finished, he hid the suit among the rocks and then went along to +the little river, carefully skirting its banks into the ravine in which +were the falls and the wireless cave. + +In her disguise, Elaine had made her way by a sort of instinct along +the shore to the rocky promontory where we had discovered the message +in the tin tube in the water. + +Something, she knew not what, was going on about there, and she +reasoned that it was not all over yet. She was right. As she looked +about keenly she did see something, and she hid among the rocks. It was +a man, all dripping, in an outlandish helmet and suit. + +She saw him slink into a crevice and take off the suit, then, as he +moved toward the river ravine, she stole up after him. + +Suddenly she stopped stark still, surprised, and stared. + +The man had actually gone up to the very waterfall. He had pressed what +looked like a lever and the water over the falls seemed to stop. Then +he walked directly through into a cave. + +In the greatest wonder, Elaine crept along toward the falls. Inside the +cave Del Mar's emissary started to climb a ladder to an inner cave. As +he reached the top, he glanced out and saw Elaine by the entrance. With +an oath he jumped into the inner entrance. His hand reached eagerly for +a lever in the rocks and as he found and held it, he peered out +carefully. + +Elaine cautiously came from behind a rock where she had hidden herself +and seeing no one apparently watching, now, advanced until she stood +directly under the trickle of water which had once been the falls. She +gazed into the cave, curiously uncertain whether she dared to go in +alone or not. + +The emissary jerked fiercely at the lever as he saw Elaine. + +Above the falls a dam had been built and by a system of levers the +gates could be operated so that the water could be thrown over the +falls or diverted away, at will. As the man pressed the lever, the +flood gates worked quickly. + +Elaine stood gazing eagerly into the blackness of the cave. Just then a +great volume of water from above crashed down on her, with almost +crushing weight. + +How she lived through it she never knew. But, fortunately, she had not +gone quite far enough to get the full force of the water. Still, the +terrific flood easily overcame her. + +She was swept, screaming, down the stream. + + . . . . . . . + +Rather alarmed at the strange disappearance of Elaine after I brought +her home, I had started out along the road to the shore to look for +her, thinking that she might perhaps have returned there. + +As I walked along a young tough--at least at the time I thought it was +a young tough, so good was the disguise she had assumed and so well did +she carry it off--slouched past me. + +What such a character could be doing in the neighborhood I could not +see. But he was so noticeably tough that I turned and looked. He kept +his eyes averted as if afraid of being recognized. + +"Great Caesar," I muttered to myself, "that's a roughneck. This place +is sure getting to be a hang-out for gunmen." + +I shrugged my shoulders and continued my walk. It was no business of +mine. Finding no trace of Elaine, I returned to the house. Aunt +Josephine was in the library, alone. + +"Where's Elaine?" I asked anxiously. + +"I don't know," she replied. "I don't think she's at home." + +"Well, I can't find her anywhere," I frowned wandering out at a loss +what to do, and thrusting my hands deep in my pockets as an aid to +thought. + +Somehow, I felt, I didn't seem to get on well as a detective without +Kennedy. Yet, so far, a kind providence seemed to have watched over us. +Was it because we were children--or--I rejected that alternative. + +Walking along leisurely I made my way down to the shore. At a bridge +that crossed a rather turbulent stream as it tumbled its way toward the +sea, I paused and looked at the water reflectively. + +Suddenly my vagrant interest was aroused. Up the stream I saw some one +struggling in the water and shouting for help as the current carried +her along, screaming. + +It was Elaine. The hat and mustache of her disguise were gone and her +beautiful Titian hair was spread out on the water as it carried her now +this way, now that, while she struck out with all her strength to keep +afloat. I did not stop to think how or why she was there. I swung over +the bridge rail, stripping off my coat, ready to dive. On she came with +the swift current to the bridge. As she approached I dived. It was not +a minute too soon. In her struggles she had become thoroughly +exhausted. She was a good swimmer but the fight with nature was unequal. + +I reached her in a second or so and took her hand. Half pulling, half +shoving her, I struck out for the shore. We managed to make it together +where the current was not quite so strong and climbed safely up a rock. + +Elaine sank down, choking and gasping, not unconscious but pretty much +all in and exhausted. I looked at her in amazement. She was the tough +character I had just seen. + +"Why, where in the world did you get those togs?" I queried. + +"Never mind my clothes, Walter," she gasped. "Take me home for some dry +ones. I have a clue." + +She rose, determined to shake off the effects of her recent plunge and +went toward the house. As I helped her she related breathlessly what +she has just seen. + +Meanwhile, back of that wall of water, the wireless operator in the +cave was sending the messages which Del Mar's emissary dictated to him, +one after another. + + . . . . . . . + +With the high resistance receiving apparatus over his head, Arnold was +listening to the wireless signals that came over his "radio detective" +on the yacht, moving the slider back and forth on a sort of tuning +coil, as he listened. Woodward stood close beside him. + +"As you know," Arnold remarked, "by the use of an aerial, messages may +be easily received from any number of stations. Laws, rules, and +regulations may be adopted by the government to shut out interlopers +and to plug busybody ears, but the greater part of whatever is +transmitted by the Hertzian waves can be snatched down by this wireless +detective of mine. Here I can sit in my wireless room with this +ear-phone clamped over my head drinking in news, plucking the secrets +of others from the sky--in other words, this is eavesdropping by a +wireless wire-tapper." + +"Are you getting anything now?" asked Woodward. + +Arnold nodded, as he seized a pencil and started to write. The +lieutenant bent forward in tense interest. Finally Arnold read what he +had written and with a peculiar, quiet smile handed it over. Woodward +read. It was a senseless jumble of dots and dashes of the Morse code +but, although he was familiar with the code, he could make nothing out +of it. + +"It's the Morse code all right," he said, handing it back with a +puzzled look, "but it doesn't make any sense." + +Arnold smiled again, took the paper, and without a word wrote on it +some more. Then he handed it back to Woodward. "An old trick," he said. +"Reverse the dots and dashes and see what you get." + +Woodward looked at it, as Arnold had reversed it and his face lighted +up. + +"Harbor successfully mined," he quoted in surprise. + +"I'll show you another thing about this radio detective of mine," went +on Arnold energetically. "It's not only a wave length measurer, but by +a process of my own I can determine approximately the distance between +the sending and the receiving points of a message." + +He attached another, smaller machine to the wireless detector. In the +face was a moving finger which swung over a dial marked off in miles +from one upward. As Arnold adjusted the new detector, the hand began to +move slowly. Woodward looked eagerly. It did not move far, but came to +rest above the figure "2." + +"Not so very far away, you see, Lieutenant," remarked Arnold, pointing +at the dial face. + +He seized his glass and hurried to the deck, levelling it at the shore, +leaning far over the rail in his eagerness. As he swept the shore, he +stopped suddenly. There was a house-roof among the trees with a +wireless aerial fastened to the chimney, but not quite concealed by the +dense foliage. + +"Look," he cried to Woodward, with an exclamation of satisfaction, +handing over the glass. + +Woodward looked. "A secret wireless station, all right," he agreed, +lowering the glass after a long look. + +"We'd better get over there right away," planned Arnold, leading the +way to the ladder over the side of the yacht and calling to the sailor +who had managed the little motor-boat to follow him. + +Quickly they skimmed across to the shore. "I think we'd better send to +the Fort for some men," considered Arnold as they landed. "We may need +reinforcements before we get through." + +Woodward nodded and Arnold hastily wrote a note on a rather large scrap +of paper which he happened to have in his pocket. + +"Take this to Colonel Swift at Fort Dale," he directed the sailor. "And +hurry!" + +The sailor loped off, half on a run, as Arnold and Woodward left down +the shore, proceeding carefully. + +At top speed, Arnold's sailor made his way to Fort Dale and was +directed by the sentry to Colonel Swift who was standing before the +headquarters with several officers. + +"A message from Lieutenant Woodward and Professor Arnold," he +announced, approaching the commanding officer and handing him the note. +Colonel Swift tore it open and read: + +Have located radio aerial in the woods along shore. Please send squad +of men with bearer.--ARNOLD. + +"You just left them?" queried the Colonel. + +"Yes sir," replied the sailor. "We came ashore in his boat. I don't +know exactly where they went but I know the direction and we can catch +up with them easily if we hurry, sir." + +The colonel handed the note quickly to a cavalry officer beside him who +read it, saluted at the orders that followed, turned and strode off, +hastily stuffing the paper in his belt, as the sailor went, too. + +Meanwhile, Del Mar's valet was leaving the bungalow and walking down +the road on an errand for his master. Up the road he heard the clatter +of hoofs. He stepped back off the road and from his covert he could see +a squad of cavalry headed by the captain and a sailor cantering past. + +The captain turned in the saddle to speak to the sailor, who rode like +a horse marine, and as he did so, the turning of his body loosened a +paper which he had stuffed quickly into his belt. It fell to the +ground. In their hurry the troop, close behind, rode over it. But it +did not escape the quick eye of Del Mar's valet. + +They had scarcely disappeared around a bend in the road when he stepped +out and pounced on the paper, reading it eagerly. Every line of his +face showed fear as he turned and ran back to the bungalow. + +"See what I found," he cried breathlessly bursting in on Del Mar who +was seated at his desk, having returned from the harbor. + +Del Mar read it with a scowl of fury. Then he seized his hat, and a +short hunter's axe, and disappeared through the panel into the +subterranean passage which took him by the shortest cut through the +very hill to the shore. + +Slowly Arnold and Woodward made their way along the shore, carefully +searching for the spot where they had seen the house with the aerial. +At last they came to a place where they could see the deserted house, +far up on the side of a ravine above a river and a waterfalls. They +dived into the thick underbrush for cover and went up the hill. + +Some distance off from the house, they parted the bushes and gazed off +across an open space at the ramshackle building. As they looked they +could see a man hurry across from the opposite direction and into the +house. + +"As I live, I think that's Del Mar," muttered Arnold. + +Woodward nodded, doubtfully, though. + +In the house, Del Mar hurried to a wall where he found and pressed a +concealed spring. A small cabinet in the plaster opened and he took out +a little telephone which he rang and through which he spoke hastily. +"Pull in the wires," he shouted. "We're discovered, I think." + +Down in the wireless station in the cave, the operator at his +instrument heard the signal of the telephone and quickly answered it. +"All right, sir," he returned with a look of great excitement and +anxiety. "Cut the wires and I'll pull them in." + +Putting back the telephone, Del Mar ran to the window and looked out +between the broken slats of the closed blinds. "Confound them!" he +muttered angrily. + +He could see Arnold and Woodward cautiously approaching. A moment later +he stepped back and pulled a silk mask over his upper face, leaving +only his eyes visible. Then he seized his hunter's axe and dashed up +the stairs. Through the scuttle of the roof he came, making his way +over to the chimney to which the wireless antennae were fastened. + +Hastily he cut the wires which ran through the roof from the aerial. As +he did so he saw them disappear through the roof. Below, in the cave, +down in the ravine back of the falls, the operator was hastily hauling +in the wire Del Mar had cut. + +Viciously next, Del Mar fell upon the wooden aerial itself, chopping it +right and left with powerful blows. He broke it off and threw it over +the roof. + +Below, Arnold and Woodward, taking advantage of every tree and shrub +for concealment, had almost reached the house when the broken aerial +fell with a bang almost on them. In surprise they dropped back of a +tree and looked up. But from their position they could see nothing. +Together they drew their guns and advanced more cautiously at the house. + +Del Mar made his way back quickly over the roof, back through the +scuttle and down the stairs again. Should he go out? He looked out of +the window. Then he went to the door. An instant he paused thinking and +listening, his axe raised, ready for a blow. + +Arnold and Woodward, by this time, had reached the door which swung +open on its rusty hinges. Woodward was about to go in when he felt a +hand on his arm. + +"Wait," cautioned Arnold. He took off his hat and jammed it on the end +of a stick. Slowly he shoved the door open, then thrust the hat and +stick just a fraction of a foot forward. + +Del Mar, waiting, alert, saw the door open and a hat. He struck at it +hard with the axe and merely the hat and stick fell to the floor. + +"Now, come on," shouted Arnold to Woodward. + +In the other hand, Del Mar held a chair. As Woodward dashed in with +Arnold beside him, Del Mar shied the chair at their feet. Woodward fell +over it in a heap and as he did so the delay was all that Del Mar had +hoped to gain. Without a second's hesitation he dived through an open +window, just as Arnold ran forward, avoiding Woodward and the chair. It +was spectacular, but it worked. Arnold fired, but even that was not +quick enough. He turned and with Woodward who had picked himself up in +spite of his barked shins and they ran back through the door by which +they had entered. + +Recovering himself, Del Mar dashed for the woods just as Arnold and +Woodward ran around the side of the house, still blazing away after +him, as they followed, rapidly gaining. + +Elaine changed her clothes quickly. Meanwhile she had ordered horses +for both of us and a groom brought them around from the stables. It +took me only a short time to jump into some dry things and I waited +impatiently. + +She was ready very soon, however, and we mounted and cantered off, +again in the direction of the shore where she had seen the remarkable +waterfall, of which she had told me. + +We had not gone far when we heard sounds, as if an army were bearing +down on us. "What's that?" I asked. + +Elaine turned and looked. It was a squad of cavalry. + +"Why, it's Lieutenant Woodward's friend, Captain Price," she exclaimed, +waving to the captain at the head of the squad. + +A moment later Captain Price pulled up and bowed. Quickly we told him +of what Elaine had just discovered. + +"That's strange," he said. "This man--" indicating the sailor--"has +just told me that Lieutenant Woodward and Professor Arnold are +investigating a wireless outfit over near there. Perhaps there's some +connection." + +"May we join you?" she asked. + +"By all means," he returned. "I was about to suggest it myself." + +We fell in behind with the rest and were off again. + +Under the direction of the sailor we came at last to the ravine where +we looked about searchingly for some trace of Arnold and Woodward. + +"What's that noise?" exclaimed one of the cavalrymen. + +We could hear shots, above us. + +"They may need us," cried Elaine, impatiently. + +It was impossible to ride up the sheer height above. + +"Dismount," ordered Captain Price. + +His men jumped down and we followed him. Elaine struggled up, now +helped by me, now helping me. + +Further down the hill from the deserted house which we could see above +us at the top was an underground passage which had been built to divert +part of the water above the falls for power. Through it the water +surged and over this boiling stream ran a board walk, the length of the +tunnel. + +Into this tunnel we could see that a masked man had made his way. As he +did so, he turned for just a moment and fired a volley of shots. + +Elaine screamed. There were Arnold and Woodward, his targets, coming on +boldly, as yet unhit. They rushed in after him, in spite of his running +fire, returning his shots and darting toward the tunnel entrance +through which he still blazed back at them. + +From our end of the ravine, we could see precisely what was going on. +"Come--the other end of the tunnel," shouted Price, who had evidently +been over the ground and knew it. + +We made our way quickly to it and it seemed as if we had our man +trapped, like a rat in a hole. + +In the tunnel the man was firing back at his pursuers as he ran along +the board walk for our end. He looked up just in time as he approached +us. There he could see Price and his cavalry waiting, cutting off +retreat. We were too many for him. He turned and took a step back. +There were Arnold and Woodward with levelled guns peering in as though +they could not see very clearly. In a moment their eyes would become +accustomed as his to the darkness. What should he do? There was not a +second to waste. He looked down at the planks beneath him and the black +water slipping past on its way to the power station. It was a desperate +chance. But it was all that was left. He dropped down and let himself +without even a splash into the water. + +Arnold and Woodward took a step into the darkness, scarcely knowing +what to expect, their eyes a bit better accustomed to the dusk. But if +they had been there an hour, in all probability they could not have +seen what was at their very feet. + +Del Mar had sunk and was swimming under water in the swift black +current sweeping under them. As they entered, he passed out, nerved up +to desperation. + +Down the stream, just before it took its final plunge to the power +wheel, Del Mar managed by a superhuman effort to reach out and grasp a +wooden support of the flooring again and pull himself out of the +stream. Smiling grimly to himself, he hurried up the bank. + +"Some one's coming," whispered Price. "Get ready." + +We levelled our guns. I was about to fire. + +"Look out! Don't shoot!" warned a voice sharply. It was Elaine. Her +keen eyes and quick perception had recognized Arnold, leading Woodward. +We lowered our guns. + +"Did you see a man, masked, come out here?" cried Woodward. + +"No--he must have gone your way," we called. + +"No, he couldn't." + +Arnold was eagerly questioning the captain as Elaine and I approached. +"Dropped into the water--risked almost certain death," he muttered, +half turning and seeing us. + +"I want to congratulate you on your nerve for going in there," began +Elaine, advancing toward the professor. + +Apparently he neither heard nor saw us, for he turned as soon as he had +finished with Price and went into the cave as though he were too busy +to pay any attention to anything else. + +Elaine looked up at me, in blank astonishment. + +"What an impolite man," she murmured, gazing at the figure all stooped +over as it disappeared in the darkness of the tunnel. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE DEATH CLOUD + + +Off a lonely wharf in a deserted part of the coast some miles from the +promontory which afforded Del Mar his secret submarine harbor, a ship +was riding at anchor. + +On the wharf a group of men, husky lascars, were straining their eyes +at the mysterious craft. + +"Here she comes," muttered one of the men, "at last." + +From the ship a large yawl had put out. As she approached the wharf it +could be seen that she was loaded to the gunwales with cases and boxes. +She drew up close to the wharf and the men fell to unloading her, +lifting up the boxes as though they were weighted with feathers instead +of metal and explosives. + +Down the shore, at the same time, behind a huge rock, crouched a rough +looking tramp. His interest in the yawl and its cargo was even keener +than that of the lascars. + +"Supplies," he muttered, moving back cautiously and up the bluff. "I +wonder where they are taking them?" + +Marcus Del Mar had chosen an old and ruined hotel not far from the +shore as his storehouse and arsenal. Already he was there, pacing up +and down the rotted veranda which shook under his weight. + +"Come, hurry up," he called impatiently as the first of the men +carrying a huge box on his back made his appearance up the hill. + +One after another they trooped in and Del Mar led them to the hotel, +unlocking the door. + +Inside, the old hostelry was quite as ramshackle as outside. What had +once been the dining-room now held nothing but a long, rickety table +and several chairs. + +"Put them there," ordered Del Mar, directing the disposal of the cases. +"Then you can begin work. I shall be back soon." + +He went out and as he did so, two men seized guns from a corner near-by +and followed him. On the veranda he paused and turned to the men. + +"If any one approaches the house--any one, you understand--make him a +prisoner and send for me," he ordered. "If he resists, shoot." + +"Yes, sir," they replied, moving over and stationing themselves one at +each angle of the narrow paths that ran before the old house. + +Del Mar turned and plunged deliberately into the bushes, as if for a +cross country walk, unobserved. + +Meanwhile, by another path up the bluff, the tramp had made his way +parallel to the line taken by the men. He paused at the top of the +bluff where some bushes overhung and parted them. + +"Their headquarters," he remarked to himself, under his breath. + + Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I were on the lawn that forenoon when +a groom in resplendent livery came up to us. + +"Miss Elaine Dodge?" he bowed. + +Elaine took the note he offered and he departed with another bow. + +"Oh, isn't that delightful," she cried with pleasure, handing the note +to me. + +I read it: "The Wilkeshire Country Club will be honored if Miss Dodge +and her friends will join the paper chase this afternoon. L.H. Brown, +Secretary." + +"I suppose a preparation for the fox or drag hunting season?" I queried. + +"Yes," she replied. "Will you go?" + +"I don't ride very well," I answered, "but I'll go." + +"Oh, and here's Mr. Del Mar," she added, turning. "You'll join us at +the Wilkeshire hunt in a paper chase this afternoon, surely, Mr. Del +Mar?" + +"Charmed, I'm sure," he agreed gracefully. + +For several minutes we chatted, planning, then he withdrew. "I shall +meet you on the way to the Club," he promised. + +It was not long before Elaine was ready, and from the stable a groom +led three of the best trained cross-country horses in the neighborhood, +for old Taylor Dodge, Elaine's father, had been passionately fond of +hunting, as had been both Elaine and Aunt Josephine. + +We met on the porch and a few minutes later mounted and cantered away. +On the road Del Mar joined us and we galloped along to the Hunt Club, +careful, however, to save the horses as much as possible for the dash +over the fields. + + . . . . . . . + +For some time the uncouth tramp continued gazing fixedly out of the +bushes at the deserted hotel. + +Suddenly, he heard a noise and dropped flat on the ground, looking +keenly about. Through the trees he could see one of Del Mar's men +stationed on sentry duty. He was leaning against a tree, on the alert. + +The tramp rose cautiously and moved off in another direction to that in +which he had been making his way, endeavoring to flank the sentry. +Further along, however, another of Del Mar's men was standing in the +same attentive manner near a path that led from the woods. + +As the tramp approached, the sentry heard a crackle of the brush and +stepped forward. Before the tramp knew it, he was covered by a rifle +from the sentry in an unexpected quarter. + +Any one but the sentry, with half an eye, might have seen that the fear +he showed was cleverly feigned. He threw his hands above his head even +before he was ordered and in general was the most tractable captive +imaginable. The sentry blew a whistle, whereat the other sentry ran in. + +"What shall we do with him," asked the captor. + +"Master's orders to take any one to the rendezvous," responded the +other firmly, "and lock him up." + +Together they forced the tramp to march double quick toward the old +hotel. One sentry dropped back at the door and the other drove the +tramp before him into the hotel, avoiding the big room on the side +where the men were at work and forcing him up-stairs to the attic which +had once been the servant's quarters. + +There was no window in the room and it was empty. The only light came +in through a skylight in the roof. + +The sentry thrust the tramp into this room and tried a door leading to +the next room. It was locked. At the point of his gun the sentry +frisked the tramp for weapons, but found none. As he did so the tramp +trembled mightily. But no sooner had the sentry gone than the tramp +smiled quietly to himself. He tried both doors. They were locked. Then +he looked at the skylight and meditated. + +Down below, although he did not know it, in the bare dining-room which +had been arranged into a sort of chemical laboratory, Del Mar's men +were engaged in manufacturing gas bombs much like those used in the war +in Europe. Before them was a formidable array of bottles and retorts. +The containers for the bombs were large and very brittle globes of hard +rubber. As the men made the gas and forced it under tremendous pressure +into tubes, they protected themselves by wearing goggles for the eyes +and large masks of cloth and saturated cotton over their mouths and +noses. + +Satisfied with the safety of his captive, the sentry made his way +down-stairs and out again to report to Del Mar. + +At the bungalow, Del Mar's valet was setting the library in order when +he heard a signal in the secret passage. He pressed the button on the +desk and opened the panel. From it the sentry entered. + +"Where is Mr. Del Mar?" he asked hurriedly, looking around. "We've been +followed to the headquarters by a tramp whom I've captured, and I don't +know what to do with him." + +"He is not here," answered the valet. "He has gone to the Country Club." + +"Confound it," returned the sentry, vexed at the enforced waste of +time. "Do you think you can reach him?" + +"If I hurry, I may," nodded the valet. + +"Then do so," directed the sentry. + +He moved back into the panel and disappeared while the valet closed it. +A moment later he, too, picked up his hat and hurried out. + +At the Wilkeshire Club a large number of hunters had arrived for the +imitation meet. Elaine, Aunt Josephine, Del Mar and myself rode up and +were greeted by them as the Master of Fox Hounds assembled us. Off a +bit, a splendid pack of hounds was held by the huntsman while they +debated whether to hold a paper chase or to try a drag hunt. + +"You start your cross-country riding early," commented Del Mar. + +"Yes," answered Elaine. "You see we can hardly wait until autumn and +the weather is so fine and cool, we feel that we ought to get into trim +during the summer. So we have paper chases and drag hunts as soon as we +can, mainly to please the younger set." + +The chase was just about to start, when the valet came up. Del Mar +caught his eye and excused himself to us. What he said, we could not +hear, but Del Mar frowned, nodded and dismissed him. + +Just then the horn sounded and we went off, dashing across the road +into a field in full chase after the hounds, taking the fences and +settling down to a good half hour's run over the most beautiful country +I have ever seen. + +The hounds had struck the trail, which of course, as was finally +decided, was nothing but that laid by an anise-seed bag dragged over +the ground. It was none the less, in fact perhaps more interesting for +that. + +The huntsman winded his horn and mirthful shouts of "Gone away!" +sounded in imitation of a real hunt. The blast of the horn once heard +is never forgotten, thrilling the blood and urging one on. + +The M. F. H. seemed to be everywhere at once, restraining those who +were too eager and saving the hounds often from being ridden down by +those new to the hunt who pressed them. + +Elaine was one of the foremost. Her hunter was one carefully trained, +and she knew all the tricks of the game. + +Somehow, I got separated, at first, from the rest and followed, until +finally I caught up, and then kept behind one of the best riders. + +Del Mar also got separated, but, as I afterward learned, by intention, +for he deliberately rode out of the course at the first opportunity he +had and let Elaine and the rest of us pass without seeing him. + +Elaine's blood was up, but somehow, in spite of herself, she went +astray, for the hounds had distanced the fleetest riders and she, in an +attempt at a short cut over the country which she thought she knew so +well, went a mile or so out of the way. + +She pulled up in a ravine and looked about. Intently she listened. +There was no sign of the hunt. She was hot and tired and thirsty and, +at a loss just to join the field again, she took this chance to +dismount and drink from a clear stream fed by mountain springs. + +As she did so, floating over the peaceful woodland air came the faint +strains of the huntsman's horn, far, far off. She looked about, +straining her eyes and ears to catch the direction of sound. Just then +her horse caught the winding of the horn. His ears went erect and +without waiting he instantly galloped off, leaving her. Elaine called +and ran after him, but it was too late. She stopped and looked +dejectedly as he disappeared. Then she made her way up the side of the +ravine, slowly. + +On she climbed until, to her surprise, she came to the ruins of an old +hotel. She remembered, as a child, when it had been famous as a health +resort, but it was all changed now--a wreck. She looked at it a moment, +then, as she had nothing better to do, approached it. + +She advanced toward a window of the dining-room and looked in. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar waited only until the last straggler had passed. Then he dashed +off as fast as his horse would carry him straight toward the deserted +hotel which served him as headquarters for the supplies he was +accumulating. As he rode up, one of his sentries appeared, as if from +nowhere, and, seeing who it was, saluted. + +"Here, take care of this horse," ordered Del Mar, dismounting and +turning the animal over to the man, who led him to the rear of the +building as Del Mar entered the front door, after giving a secret +signal. + +There were his men in goggles and masks at the work, which his knock +had interrupted. + +"Give me a mask before I enter the room," he ordered of the man who had +answered his signal. + +The man handed the mask and goggles to him, as well as a coat, which he +put on quickly. Then he entered the room and looked at the rapid +progress of the work. + +"Where's the prisoner?" asked Del Mar a moment later, satisfied at the +progress of his men. + +"In the attic room," one of his lieutenants indicated. + +"I'd like to take a look at him," added Del Mar, just about to turn and +leave the room. + +As he did so, he happened to glance at one of the windows. There, +peering through the broken shutters, was a face--a girl's face--Elaine! + +"Just what I wanted guarded against," he cried angrily, pointing at the +window. "Now--get her!" + +The men had sprung up at his alarm. They could all see her and with one +accord dashed for the door. Elaine sprang back and they ran as they saw +that she was warned. In genuine fear now she too ran from the window. +But it was too late. + +For just then the sentry who had taken Del Mar's horse came from behind +the building cutting off her retreat. He seized her just as the other +men ran out. Elaine stared. She could make nothing of them. Even Del +Mar, in his goggles and breathing mask was unrecognizable. + +"Take her inside," he ordered disguising his voice. Then to the sentry +he added, "Get on guard again and don't let any one through." + +Elaine was hustled into the big deserted hallway of the hotel, just as +the tramp had been. + +"You may go back to work," Del Mar signed to the other men, who went +on, leaving one short but athletic looking fellow with Del Mar and +Elaine. + +"Lock her up, Shorty," ordered Del Mar, "and bring the other prisoner +to me down here." + +None too gently the man forced Elaine up-stairs ahead of him. + + . . . . . . . + +In the attic, the tramp, pacing up and down, heard footsteps approach +on the stairs and enter the next room. + +Quickly he ran to the doorway and peered through the keyhole. There he +could see Elaine and the small man enter. He locked the door to the +hall, then quickly took a step toward the door into the tramp's room. + +There was just time enough for the tramp to see his approach. He ran +swiftly and softly over to the further corner and dropped down as if +sound asleep. The key turned in the lock and the small man entered, +careful to lock the door to Elaine's room. He moved over to where the +tramp was feigning sleep. + +"Get up," he growled, kicking him. + +The tramp sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Come now, be +reasonable," demanded the man. "Follow me." + +He started toward the door into the hall. He never reached it. Scarcely +was his hand on the knob when the tramp seized him and dragged him to +the floor. One hand on the man's throat and his knees on his chest, the +tramp tore off the breathing mask and goggles. Already he had the man +trussed up and gagged. + +Quickly the tramp undressed the man and left him in his underclothes, +still struggling to get loose, as he took Shorty's clothes, including +the strange head-gear, and unlocked the door into the next room with +the key he also took from him. + +Elaine was pacing anxiously up and down the little room into which she +had been thrown, greatly frightened. + +Suddenly the door through which her captor had left opened hurriedly +again. A most disreputable looking tramp entered and locked the door +again. Elaine started back in fear. + +He motioned to her to be quiet. "You'll never get out alive," he +whispered, speaking rapidly and thickly, as though to disguise his +voice. "Here--take these clothes. Do just as I say. Put them on. Put on +the mask and goggles. Cover up your hair. It is your only chance." + +He laid the clothes down and went out into the hallway. Outside he +listened carefully at the head of the stairs and looked about expecting +momentarily to be discovered. + +Elaine understood only that suddenly a friend in need had appeared. She +changed her clothes quickly, finding fortunately that they fitted her +pretty well. By pulling the hat over her hair and the goggles over her +eyes and tying on the breathing mask, she made a very presentable man. + +Cautiously she pushed open the door into the hallway. There was the +tramp. "What shall I do?" she asked. + +"Don't talk," he whispered close to her ear. "Go out--and if you meet +any one, just salute and walk past." + +"Yes--yes, I understand," she nodded back, "and--thank you." + +He gave her no time to say more, even if it had been safe, but turned +and locked the door of her room. + +Trying to keep the old stairway from creaking and betraying her, she +went down. She managed to reach the lower hallway without seeing +anybody or being discovered. Quietly she went to the door and out. She +had not gone far when she met an armed man, the sentry, who had been +concealed in the shrubbery. + +"Who goes there?" he challenged. + +Elaine did not betray herself by speaking, but merely saluted and +passed on as fast as she could without exciting further suspicion. +Nonplused, the man turned and watched her curiously as she moved away +down the path. + +"Where's HE going?" the sentry muttered, still staring. + +Elaine in her eagerness was not looking as carefully where she was +going as she was thinking about getting away in safety. Suddenly an +overhanging branch of a tree caught her hat and before she knew it +pulled it off her head. There was no concealing her golden hair now. + +"Stop!" shouted the sentry. + +Elaine did not pause, but dived into the bushes on the side of the +path, just as the man fired and ran forward, still shouting for her to +halt. She ran as fast as she could, pulling off the goggles and mask +and looking back now and then in terror at her pursuer who was rapidly +gaining on her. + +Before she could catch herself she missed her footing and slipped over +the edge of a gorge. Down she went, with a rush. It was unfortunate, +dangerous, but, after all, it was the only thing that saved her, at +least for the time. Half falling, half sliding, scratching herself and +tearing her clothes, she descended. + +The sentry checked himself just in time at the top of the gorge and +leaned as far over the edge as he dared. He raised his gun again and +fired. But Elaine's course was so hidden by the trees and so zigzag +that he missed again. A moment he hesitated, then started and climbed +down after her as fast as he could. + +At the bottom of the hill she picked herself up and dashed again into +the woods, the sentry still after her and gaining again. + +At the same time, we who were still in the chase had circled about the +country until we were very near where we started. Following the dogs +over a rail fence, I drew up suddenly, hearing a scream. + +There was Elaine, on foot, running as if her life depended on it. I +needed no second glance. Behind her was a man with a rifle, almost +overtaking her. + +As luck would have it, the momentum of my horse carried me right at +them. Careful to avoid Elaine, I rode square at the man, striking at +him viciously with my riding crop before he knew what had struck him. + +The fellow dropped, stunned. I leaped from my horse and ran to her, +just as the rest of the hunt came up. + +Eagerly questioning us, they gathered about. + +Having waited until he was sure that Elaine had got away safely, the +old tramp slowly and carefully followed down the stairs of the ruined +hotel. + +As he went down, he heard a shot from the woods. Could it be one of the +sentries? He looked about keenly, hesitating just what to do. + +In an instant, down below, he heard the scurry of footsteps from the +improvised laboratory and shouts. He turned and stealthily ran +up-stairs, just as the door opened. + +The tramp had not been the only one who had been alarmed by the shot of +the sentry. + +Del Mar was talking again to the men when it rang out. "What's that?" +he exclaimed. "Another intruder?" + +The men stared at him blankly, while Del Mar dashed for the door, +followed by them all. In the hall he issued his orders quickly. + +"Here, you fellows," he called dividing the men, "get outside and see +what is doing. You other men follow me. I want you to see if +everything's all right up above." + +Meanwhile the tramp had gained the upper hallway and dashed past the +room which he occupied. Outside, in the hall, Del Mar and his men +rushed up to the door of the room in which Elaine had been thrown. It +was locked and they broke in. She was gone! + +On into the next room they dashed, bearing down this door also. There +was Shorty, trussed up in his underclothes. They hastened to release +him. + +"Where are they--where's the tramp?" demanded Del Mar angrily. + +"I think I heard some one on the roof," replied Shorty weakly. He was +right. The tramp had managed to get through a scuttle on the roof. Then +he climbed down to the edge and began to let himself hand over hand +down the lightning rod. + +Reaching the ground safely, he scurried about to the back of the +building. There, tied, was the horse which Del Mar had ridden to the +hunt. He untied it, mounted and dashed off down the path through the +woods, taking the shortest cut in the direction of Fort Dale. + +Dusty and flecked with foam, the tramp and his mount, a strange +combination, were instantly challenged by the sentry at the Fort. + +"I must see Lieutenant Woodward immediately," urged the tramp. + +A heated argument followed until finally a corporal of the guards was +called and led off the tramp toward the headquarters. + +It was only a few minutes before Woodward was convinced of the identity +of the tramp with his friend, Professor Arnold. At the head of a squad +of cavalry, Woodward and the tramp dashed off. + +Already on the qui vive, Elaine heard the sound of hoof-beats long +before the rest of us crowded around her. For the moment we all stood +ready to repel an attack from any quarter. + +But it was not meant for us. It was Woodward at the head of a score or +so of cavalrymen. With him rode a tramp on a horse which was strangely +familiar to me. + +"Oh," cried Elaine, "there's the man who saved me!" + +As they passed, the tramp paused a moment and looked at us sharply. +Although he carefully avoided Elaine's eyes, I fancied that only when +he saw that she was safe was he satisfied to gallop off and rejoin the +cavalry. + + . . . . . . . + +Around the old hotel, in every direction, Del Mar's men were searching +for the tramp and Elaine, while in the hotel another search was in +progress. + +"Have you discovered anything?" asked Del Mar, entering. + +"No, sir," they reported. + +"Confound it!" swore Del Mar, going up-stairs again. + +Here also were men searching. "Find anything?" he asked briefly. + +"No luck," returned one. + +Del Mar went on up to the top floor and out through the open scuttle to +the roof. "That's how he got away, all right," he muttered to himself, +then looking up he exclaimed under his breath, as his eye caught +something far off, "The deuce--what's that?" + +Leaning down to the scuttle, he called, "Jenkins--my +field-glasses--quick!" + +One of his men handed them to him and he adjusted them, gazing off +intently. There he could see what looked like a squad of cavalry +galloping along headed by an officer and a rough looking individual. + +"Come--we must get ready for an attack!" he shouted diving down the +scuttle again. + +In the laboratory dining-room, his men, recalled, hastily took his +orders. Each of them seized one of the huge black rubber newly +completed gas bombs and ran out, making for a grove near-by. + +Quickly as Del Mar had acted, it was not done so fast but that the +troop of cavalry as they pulled up on the top of a hill and followed +the directing finger of the tramp could see men running to the cover of +the grove. + +"Forward!" shouted Woodward. + +As if all were one machine, the men and horses shot ahead, until they +came to the grove about the old hotel. There they dismounted and spread +out in a semi-circular order, advancing on the grove. As they did so, +shots rang out from behind the trees. Del Mar's men, from the shelter +were firing at them. But it seemed hopeless for the fugitives. + +"Ready!" ordered Del Mar as the cavalrymen advanced, relentless. + +Each of his men picked up one of the big black gas bombs and held it +high up over his head. + +"Come on!" urged Woodward. + +His men broke into a charge on the grove. + +"Throw them!" ordered Del Mar. + +As far as he could hurl it, each of the men sent one of the black +globes hurtling through the air. They fell almost simultaneously, a +long line of them, each breaking into a thousand bits. Instantly dense, +greenish-yellow fumes seemed to pour forth, enveloping everything. The +wind which Del Mar had carefully noted when he chose the position in +the grove, was blowing from his men toward the only position from which +an attack could be made successfully. + +Against Woodward's men as they charged, it seemed as if a tremendous, +slow-moving wall of vapor were advancing from the trees. It was only a +moment before it completely wrapped them in its stifling, choking, +suffocating embrace. Some fell, overcome. Others tried to run, +clutching frantically at their throats and rubbing their eyes. + +"Get back--quick--till it rolls over," choked Woodward. + +Those who were able to do so, picked up their stupefied comrades and +retreated, as best they could, stumbling blindly back from the fearful +death cloud of chlorine. + +Meantime, under cover of this weird defence, Del Mar and his men, their +own faces covered and unrecognizable in their breathing masks and +goggles, dashed to one side, with a shout and disappeared walking and +running behind and even through the safety of their impregnable gas +barrier. + +More slowly we of the hunt had followed Woodward's cavalry until, some +distance off, we stood, witnessing and wondering at the attack. To our +utter amazement we saw them carrying off their wounded and stupefied +men. We hurried forward and gathered about, offering whatever +assistance we could to resuscitate them. + +As Elaine and I helped, we saw the unkempt figure of the tramp borne in +and laid down. He was not completely overcome, having had presence of +mind to tie a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. + +Elaine hurried toward him with an exclamation of sympathy. Just +recovering full consciousness, he heard her. + +With the greatest difficulty, he seemed to summon some reserve force +not yet used. He struggled to his feet and staggered off, as though he +would escape us. + +"What a strange old codger," mused Elaine, looking from me at the +retreating figure. "He saved my life--yet he won't even let me thank +him--or help him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SEARCHLIGHT GUN + + +"I don't understand it," remarked Elaine one day as, with Aunt +Josephine and myself, she was discussing the strange events that had +occurred since the disappearance of Kennedy, "but, somehow, it is as if +a strange Providence seems to be watching over us." + +"Nor do I," I agreed. "It does seem that, although we do not see it, a +mysterious power for good is about us. It's uncanny." + +"A package for you, Miss Dodge," announced Marie, coming in with a +small parcel which had been delivered by a messenger who did not wait +for an answer. + +Elaine took it, looked at it, turned it over, and then looked at the +written address again. + +"It's not the handwriting of any one which I recognize," she mused. +"Now, I suppose I ought to be suspicious of it Yet, I'm going to open +it." + +She did so. Inside, the paper wrapping covered a pasteboard box. She +opened that. There lay a revolver, which she picked up and turned over. +It was a curious looking weapon. + +"I never knew so much about firearms as I have learned in the past few +weeks," remarked Elaine. "But what do you suppose this is--and who sent +it to me--and why?" + +She held the gun up. From the barrel stuck out a little rolled-up piece +of paper. "See," she cried, reading and handing the paper to me, "there +it is again--that mysterious power." + +Aunt Josephine and I read the note: + +DEAR MISS DODGE: + +This weapon shoots exactly into the center of the light disc. Keep it +by you.--A FRIEND. + +"Let me see it," I asked, taking the gun. Sure enough, along the barrel +was a peculiar tube. "A searchlight gun," I exclaimed, puzzled, though +still my suspicions were not entirely at rest. "Suppose it's sighted +wrong," I could not help considering. "It might be a plant to save some +one from being shot." + +"That's easily settled," returned Elaine. "Let's try it." + +"Oh, mercy no,--not here," remonstrated Aunt Josephine. + +"Why not--down cellar?" persisted Elaine. "It can't hurt anything +there." + +"I think it would be a good plan," I agreed, "just to make sure that it +is all right." + +Accordingly we three went down cellar. There, Elaine found the light +switch and turned it. Eagerly I hunted about for a mark. There, in some +rubbish that had not yet been carted away, was a small china plate. I +set it up on a small shelf across the room and took the gun. But Elaine +playfully wrenched it from my hand. + +"No," she insisted, "it was sent to me. Let me try it first." + +Reluctantly I consented. + +"Switch off the light, Walter, please," she directed, standing a few +paces from the plate. + +I did so. In the darkness Elaine pointed the gun and pulled a little +ratchet. Instantly a spot of light showed on the wall. She moved the +revolver and the spot of light moved with it. As it rested on a little +decorative figure in the center of the plate, she pulled the trigger. +The gun exploded with a report, deafening, in the confined cellar. + +I switched on the light and we ran forward. There was the +plate--smashed into a hundred bits. The bullet had struck exactly in +the centre of the little bull's-eye of light. + +"Splendid," cried Elaine enthusiastically, as we looked at each other +in surprise. + +Though none of us guessed it, half an hour before, in the seclusion of +his yacht, Woodward's friend, Professor Arnold, had been standing with +the long barrelled gun in his hand, adjusting the tube which ran +beneath the barrel. + +In one hand he held the gun; in the other was a piece of paper. As he +brought the paper before the muzzle and pressed a ratchet by gripping +the revolver handle, a distinct light appeared on the paper, thrown out +from the tube under the barrel. + +Having adjusted the tube and sighted it, Arnold wrote a hasty note on +another piece of paper and inserted it into the barrel of the gun, with +the end sticking out just a bit. Then he wrapped the whole thing up in +a box, rang a bell, and handed the package to a servant with explicit +instructions as to its delivery to the right person and only to that +person. + +Down in the submarine harbor, Del Mar was in conference with his board +of strategy and advice, laying the plan for the attack on America. + +"Ever since we have been at work," he remarked, "Elaine Dodge has been +busy hindering and frustrating us. That girl must go!" + +Before him, on the table, he placed a square package. "It must stop," +he added ominously, tapping the package. + +"But how?" asked one of the men. "We've done our best." + +"This is a bomb," replied Del Mar, continuing to tap the package. "When +our man--let me see, X had better do it,--arrives, have him look in the +secret cavern by the landing-place. There I will leave it. I want him +to put it in her house to-night." + +He handed the bomb to one of his men who took it gingerly. Then with a +few more words of admonition, he took up his diving helmet and left the +headquarters, followed by the man. + +Several minutes later, Del Mar, alone, emerged from the water just +outside the submarine harbor and took off his helmet. + +He made his way over the rocks, carrying the bomb, until he came to a +little fissure in the rocks, like a cavern. There he hid the bomb +carefully. Still carrying the helmet, he hurried along until he came to +the cave entrance that led to the secret passage to the panel in his +bungalow library. Up through the secret passage he went, reaching the +panel and opening it by a spring. + +In the library Del Mar changed his wet clothes and hid them, then set +to work on an accumulation of papers on his desk. + + . . . . . . . + +That afternoon, Elaine decided to go for a little ride through the +country in her runabout. + +As she started to leave her room, dressed for the trip, it was as +though a premonition of danger came to her. She paused, then turned +back and took from the drawer the searchlight gun which had been sent +to her. She slipped it into the pocket of her skirt and went out. + +Off she drove at a fast clip, thoroughly enjoying the ride until, near +a bend in the road, as it swept down toward the shore, she stopped and +got out, attracted by some wild flowers. They grew in such profusion +that it seemed no time before she had a bunch of them. On she wandered, +down to the rocks, watching the restless waters of the Sound. Finally +she found herself walking alone along the shore, one arm full of +flowers, while with her free hand she amused herself by skimming flat +stones over the water. + +As she turned to pick up one, her eye caught something in the rocks and +she stared at it. There in a crevice, as though it had been hidden, was +a strange square package. She reached down and picked it up. What could +it be? + +While she was examining it, back of her, another of those strange +be-helmeted figures came up out of the water. It watched her for an +instant, then sank back into the water again. + +Elaine, holding the package in her hand, walked up the shore, oblivious +to the strange eye that had been fixed on her. + +"I must show this to Lieutenant Woodward," she said to herself. + +In the car she placed the package, then jumped in herself carefully and +started off. + +A moment after she had gone, the diver reappeared, looking about +cautiously. This time the coast was clear and he came all the way out, +taking off his helmet and placed it in the secret hiding-place which +Del Mar and his men used. Then, with another glance, now of anger, in +the direction of Elaine, he hurried up the shore. + +Meanwhile, as fast as her light runabout would carry her, Elaine +whizzed over to Fort Dale. + +As she entered the grounds, the sentry saluted her, though that part of +the formalities of admission was purely perfunctory, for every one at +the Fort knew her now. + +"Is Lieutenant Woodward in?" she inquired. + +"Yes ma'am," returned the sentry. "I will send for him." + +A corporal appeared and took a message for her to Woodward. It was only +a few minutes before Lieutenant Woodward himself appeared. + +"What is the trouble, Miss Dodge?" he asked solicitously, noting the +look on her face. + +"I don't know what it is," she replied dubiously. "I've found something +among the rocks. Perhaps it is a bomb." + +Woodward looked at the package, studying it. "Professor Arnold is +investigating this affair for us," he remarked. "Perhaps you'd better +take the package to him on his yacht. I'm sorry I can't go with you, +but just now I'm on duty." + +"That's a good idea," she agreed. "Only I'm sorry you can't go along +with me." + +She started up the car and drove off as Woodward turned back to the +Fort with a lingering look. + +Del Mar was hard at work in the library when, suddenly, he heard a +sound at the panel. He reached over and pressed a button on his desk, +and the panel opened. Through it came the diver still wearing his +dripping suit and carrying the weird helmet under his arm. + +"That Dodge girl has crossed us again!" he exclaimed excitedly. + +"How?" demanded Del Mar, with an oath. + +"I saw her on the rocks just now. She happened to stumble on the bomb +which you left there to be placed." + +"And then?" demanded Del Mar. + +"She took it with her in her car." + +"The deuce!" ejaculated the foreign agent, furiously. "You must get the +men out and hunt the country thoroughly. She must not escape now at any +cost." + +The diving man dove back into the panel to escape Del Mar's wrath, +while Del Mar hurried out, leaving his valet in the library. + +Quickly, Del Mar made his way to a secret hiding-place in the hills +back of the bay. There he found his picked band of men armed with +rifles. + +As briefly as he could he told them of what had happened. "We must get +her this time--dead or alive," he ordered. "Now scatter about the +country. Keep in touch with each other and when you find her, close in +on her at any cost." + +The men saluted and left in various directions to scour the country. +Del Mar himself picked up a rifle and followed shortly, passing down a +secret trail to the road where he had a car with a chauffeur waiting. +Still carrying the rifle, he climbed in and the man shot the car along +down the road. + + . . . . . . . + +On the top of a hill one of the men was posted as a sort of lookout. +Gazing over the country carefully, his eye was finally arrested by +something at which he stared eagerly. Far away, on the road, he could +see a car in which was a girl, alone. Waving in the breeze was a red +feather in her hat. He looked more sharply. It was Elaine Dodge. + +The man turned and waved a signal with a handkerchief to another man +far off. Down the valley another of Del Mar's men was waiting and +watching. As soon as he saw the signal, he waved back and ran along the +road. + +As Del Mar whizzed along, he could see one of his men approaching over +the road, waving to him. "Stop!" he ordered his driver. + +The man hurried forward. "I've got the signal," he panted. "They have +seen her car over the hill." + +"Good," exclaimed Del Mar, pulling a black silk mask over his eyes. +"Now, get off quickly. We've got to catch her." + +They sped away again in a cloud of dust. + +But even while Del Mar was speeding toward her, another of his men had +discovered her presence, so vigilant were they. + +He had been keeping a sharp watch on the road, when he was suddenly all +attention. He saw a car, through the foliage. Quickly, his rifle went +to his shoulder. Through the sight he could just cover Elaine's head, +for her hat, with a bright red feather in it, showed plainly just over +the bushes. + +He aimed carefully and fired. + +I had been out for a tramp over the hills with no destination in +particular. As I swung along the road, I heard the throbbing of a car +coming up the hill, the cut-out open. I turned, for cars make walking +on country roads somewhat hazardous nowadays. + +As I did so, some one in the car waved to me. I looked again. It was +Elaine. + +"Where are you going?" she called. + +"Where are YOU going?" I returned, laughing. + +"I've just had a very queer experience--found something down on the +rocks," she replied seriously, pointing to the square package on the +floor of the car. "I took it to Lieutenant Woodward and he advised me +to take it to Professor Arnold on his yacht. I think it is a bomb. I +wish you'd go with me." + +Before I could answer, up the hill a rifle shot cracked. There was a +whirr in the air and a bullet sang past us, cutting the red feather off +Elaine's hat. + +"Duck!" I cried, jumping into the car, "And drive like the dickens!" + +She turned and we fairly ricocheted down that road back again. + +Behind us, a man, a stranger whom we did not pause to observe, rushed +from the bushes and fired after us again. + +Suddenly another rifle shot cracked. It was from another car that had +stealthily sneaked up on us--coming fast, recklessly. + +"There's her car," pointed one of the occupants to a man who was masked +in black. + +"Yes," he nodded. "Give her a little more gas!"' + +"Crouch down," I muttered, "as low as you can." + +We did so, racing for life, the more powerful motor behind us +overhauling us every instant. + +We were coming to a very narrow part of the road where it turned, on +one side a sheer hill, on the other a stream several feet down. + +If we had an accident, I thought, it might be ticklish for us, +supposing the square package really to be a bomb. What if it should go +off? The idea suggested another, instantly. The car behind was only a +few feet off. + +As we reached the narrow road by the stream, I rose up. As far as I +could, back of me, I hurled the infernal machine. It fell. We received +a shower of dirt and small stones, but the cover of the car protected +us. Where the bomb landed, however, it cut a deep hole in the roadway. + +On came Del Mar's car, the driver frantically tugging at the emergency +brake. But it was of no use. There was not room to turn aside. The car +crashed into the hole, like a gigantic plow. + +It took one header over the side of the road and down several feet into +the stream, just as the masked man and the driver jumped far ahead into +the water. + +Safe now in our car which was slackening its terrific speed, I looked +back. "They've been thrown!" I cried. "We're all right." + +On the edge of the water, just covered by some wreckage, the chauffeur +lay motionless. The masked man crawled from under the wreckage and +looked at him a moment. + +"Dead!" he exclaimed, still mechanically gripping a rifle in his hand. + +Angrily he raised it at us and fired. + +A moment later, some other men gathered from all directions about him, +each armed. + +"Don't mind the wreck," he cried, exasperated. "Fire!" + +A volley was delivered at us. But the distance was now apparently too +great. + +We were just congratulating ourselves on our escape, when a stray shot +whizzed past, striking a piece directly out of the head of the +steering-post, almost under Elaine's hands. + +Naturally she lost control, though fortunately we were not going so +fast now. Crazily, our car swerved from side to side of the road, as +she vainly tried to control both its speed and direction. On the very +edge of the ditch, however, it stopped. + +We looked back. There we could see a group of men who seemed to spring +out of the woods, as if from nowhere, at the sound of the shots. A +shout went up at the sight of the bullet taking effect, and they ran +forward at us. + +One of their number, I could see, masked, who had been in the wrecked +car, stumbled forward weakly, until finally he sank down. + +A couple of the others ran to him. "Go on," he must have urged +vehemently. "One of you is enough to stay with me. I'm going back to +the submarine harbor. The rest--go on--report to me there." + +As the rest ran toward us, there was nothing for us to do but to +abandon the car ourselves and run for it. We left the road and struck +into the trackless woods, followed closely now by two of the men who +had outdistanced the rest. Through the woods we fled, taking advantage +of such shelter as we could find. + +"Look, here's a cave," cried Elaine, as we plunged, exhausted and about +ready to drop, down into a ravine. + +We hurried in and the bushes swung over the cave entrance. Inside we +stopped short and gazed about. It was dark and gloomy. We looked back. +There was no hope there. They had been overtaking us. On down a +passageway, we went. + +The two men who were pursuing us plunged down the ravine also. As +ill-luck would have it, they saw the cave entrance and dashed in, then +halted. Crouching in the shadow we could see their figures silhouetted +in the dim light of the entrance of the cavern. One stopped at the +entrance while the other advanced. He was a big fellow and powerfully +built and the other fellow was equally burly. I made up my mind to +fight to the last though I knew it was hopeless. It was dark. I could +not even see the man advancing now. + +Quickly Elaine reached into her pocket and drew out something. + +"Here, Walter, take this," she cried. I seized the object. It was the +searchlight gun. + +Hastily I aimed it, the spot of light glowing brightly. Indeed, I doubt +whether I could have shot very accurately otherwise. As the man +approached cautiously down the passageway the bright disc of light +danced about until finally it fell full on his breast. I fired. The man +fell forward instantly. + +Again I fired, this time at the man in the cave entrance. He jumped +back, dropping his gun which exploded harmlessly. His hand was wounded. +Quickly he drew back and disappeared among the trees. + +We waited in tense silence, and then cautiously looked out of the mouth +of the cave. No one seemed to be about. + +"Come--let's make a dash for it," urged Elaine. + +We ran out and hurried on down the ravine, apparently not followed. + +Back among the trees, however, the man had picked up a rifle which he +had hidden. While he was binding up his hand with a handkerchief, he +saw us. Painfully he tried to aim his gun. But it was too heavy for his +weakened arm and the pain was too great. He had to lower it. With a +muttered imprecation, he followed us at a distance. + +Evidently, to us, we had eluded the pursuers, for no one seemed now to +be following, at least as far as we could determine. We kept on, +however, until we came to the water's edge. There, down the bay, we +could see Professor Arnold's yacht. + +"Let us see Professor Arnold, anyhow," said Elaine, leading the way +along the shore. + +We came at last, without being molested, to a little dock. A sailor was +standing beside it and moored to it was a swift motor-boat. Out at +anchor was the yacht. + +"You are Professor Arnold's man?" asked Elaine. + +"Yes'm," he replied, remembering her. + +"Is the Professor out on his boat?" we asked. + +He nodded. "Did you want to see him?" + +"Very much," answered Elaine. + +"I'll take you out," he offered. + +We jumped into the motor-boat, he started the engine and we planed out +over the water. + +Though we did not see him, the man whom I had wounded was still +watching us from the shore, noting every move. He had followed us at a +distance across the woods and fields and down along the shore to the +dock, had seen us talking to Arnold's man, and get into the boat. + +From the shore he continued to watch us skim across the bay and pull up +alongside the yacht. As we climbed the ladder, he turned and hurried +back the way he had come. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine and I climbed aboard the yacht where we could see the Professor +sitting in a wicker deck chair. + +"Why, how do you do?" he welcomed us, adjusting his glasses so that his +eyes seemed, if anything, more opaque than before. + +I could not help thinking that, although he was glad to see us, there +was a certain air of restraint about him. + +Quickly Elaine related the story of finding the bomb in the rocks and +the peculiar events and our escape which followed. Once, at the mention +of the searchlight gun, Professor Arnold raised his hand and coughed +back of it. I felt sure that it was to hide an involuntary expression +of satisfaction and that it must be he who had sent the gun to Elaine. + +He was listening attentively to her, while I stood by the rail, now and +then looking out over the water. Far away I noted something moving over +the surface, like a rod, followed by a thin wake of foam. + +"Look!" I exclaimed, "What's that?" + +Elaine turned to me, as Arnold seized his glasses. + +"Why, it seems to be moving directly at us," exclaimed Elaine. + +"By George, it's the periscope of a submarine," cried Arnold a moment +later, lowering his glasses. + +He did not hesitate an instant. + +"Get the yacht under way," he ordered the captain, who immediately +shouted his orders to the rest. + +Quickly the engine started and we plowed ahead, that ominous looking +periscope following. + +In the submarine harbor to which he had been taken, Del Mar found that +he had been pretty badly shaken up by the accident to his car. His +clothes were torn and his face and body scratched. No bones were +broken, however, though the shock had been great. Several of his men +were endeavoring to fix him up in the little submarine office, but he +was angry, very angry. + +At such a juncture, a man in a dripping diving-suit entered and pulled +off his helmet, after what had evidently been a hasty trip from the +land through the entrance and up again into the harbor. As he +approached, Del Mar saw that the man's hand was bound up. + +"What's the matter?" demanded Del Mar. "How did you get that?" + +"That fellow Jameson and the girl did it," he replied, telling what had +happened in the cave. "Some one must have given them one of those new +searchlight guns." + +Del Mar, already ugly, was beside himself with rage now. + +"Where are they?" he asked. + +"I saw them go out to the yacht of that Professor Arnold." + +"He's the fellow that gave her the gun," almost hissed Del Mar. "On the +yacht, are they?" + +An evil smile seemed to spread over his face. "Then we'll get them all, +this time. Man the submarine--the Z99." + +All left the office on the run, hurrying around the ledge and down into +the open hatch of the submarine. Del Mar came along a moment later, +giving orders sharply and quickly. + +The hatch was closed and the vessel sealed. On all sides were +electrical devices and machines to operate the craft and the +torpedoes--an intricate system of things which it seemed as if no human +mind could possibly understand. + +Del Mar threw on a switch. The submarine hummed and trembled. Slowly +she sank in the harbor until she was at the level of the underwater +entrance through the rocks. Carefully she was guided out through this +entrance into the waters of the larger, real harbor. + +Del Mar took his place at the periscope, the eye of the submarine. +Anxiously he turned it about and bent over the image which it projected. + +"There it is," he muttered, picking out Arnold's yacht and changing the +course of the submarine so that it was headed directly at it, the +planes turned so that they kept the boat just under the surface with +only the periscope showing above. + +Forward, about the torpedo discharge tubes men were busy, testing the +doors, and getting ready the big automobile torpedoes. + +"They must have seen us," muttered Del Mar. "They've started the yacht. +But we can beat them, easily. Are you ready?" + +"Yes," called back the men forward, pushing a torpedo into the +lock-like compartment from which it was launched. + +"Let it go, then," bellowed Del Mar. + +The torpedo shot out into the water, travelling under her own power, +straight at the yacht. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine and I looked back. The periscope was much nearer than before. +"Can we outdistance the submarine?" I asked of Arnold. + +Arnold shook his head, his face grave. On came the thin line of foam. +"I'm afraid we'll have to leave the yacht," he said warningly. "My +little motor-boat is much faster." + +Arnold shouted his orders as he led us down the ladder to the +motor-boat into which we jumped, followed by as many of the crew as +could get in, while the others leaped into the water from the rail of +the yacht and struck out for the shore which was not very distant. + +"What's that?" cried Elaine, horrified, pointing back. + +The water seemed to be all churned up. A long cigar-shaped affair was +slipping along near enough to the surface so that we could just make it +out--murderous, deadly, aimed right at the heart of the yacht. + +"A torpedo!" exclaimed Arnold. "Cast off!" + +We moved off from the yacht as swiftly as the speedy little open +motor-boat would carry us, not a minute too soon. + +The torpedo struck the yacht almost exactly amidships. A huge column of +water spurted up into the air as though a gigantic whale were blowing +off. The yacht itself seemed lifted from the water and literally broken +in half like a brittle rod of glass and dropped back into the water. + +Below in the submarine, Del Mar was still at the periscope directing +things. + +"A hit!" he cried exultingly. "We got the whole bunch this time!" + +He turned to the men to congratulate them, a smile on his evil face. +But as he looked again, he caught sight of our little motor-boat +skimming safely away on the other side of the wreck. + +"The deuce!" he muttered. "Try another. Here's the direction." + +Furiously he swore as the men guided the submarine and loaded another +torpedo into a tube. As the tube came into position, they let the +torpedo go. An instant later it was hissing its way at us. + +"See, there's another!" I cried, catching sight of it. + +All looked. Sure enough, through the water could be seen another of +those murderous messengers dashing at us. + +Arnold ran forward and seized the wheel himself, swinging the boat +around hard to starboard and the land. We turned just in time. The +torpedo, brainless but deadly, dashed past us harmlessly. + +As fast as we could now we made for the shore. No one could catch us +with such a start, not even the swiftest torpedo. We had been rescued +by Arnold's quick wit from a most desperate situation. + +Somewhere below the water, I could imagine a man consumed with fury +over our escape, as the periscope disappeared and the submarine made +off. + +We were safe. But, looking out over the water, we could not help +shuddering at the perils beneath its apparently peaceful surface. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE LIFE CHAIN + + +Early one morning, a very handsome woman of the adventuress type +arrived with several trunks at the big summer hotel, just outside the +town, the St. Germain. + +Among the many fashionable people at the watering-place, however, she +attracted no great attention and in the forenoon she quietly went out +in her motor for a ride. + +It was Madame Larenz, one of Del Mar's secret agents who, up to this +time, had been engaged in spying on wealthy and impressionable American +manufacturers. + +Her airing brought her, finally, to the bungalow of Del Mar and there +she was admitted in a manner that showed that Del Mar trusted her +highly. + +"Now," he instructed, after a few minutes chat, "I want you to get +acquainted with Miss Dodge. You know how to interest her. She's quite +human. Pretty gowns appeal to her. Get her to the St. Germain. Then +I'll tell you what to do." + +A few minutes later the woman left in her car, so rapidly driven that +no one would recognize her. + +It was early in the afternoon that Aunt Josephine was sitting on the +veranda, when an automobile drove up and a very stylishly gowned and +bonnetted woman stepped out. + +"Good afternoon," she greeted Aunt Josephine ingratiatingly as she +approached the house. "I am Madame Larenz of New York and Paris. +Perhaps you have heard of my shops on Fifth Avenue and the Rue de la +Paix." + +Aunt Josephine had heard the name, though she did not know that this +woman had assumed it without being in any way connected with the places +she mentioned. + +"I'm establishing a new sort of summer service at the better resorts," +the woman explained. "You see, my people find it annoying to go into +the city for gowns. So I am bringing the latest Paris models out to +them. Is Miss Dodge at home?" + +"I think she is playing tennis," returned Aunt Josephine. + +"Oh, yes, I see her, thank you," the woman murmured, moving toward the +tennis court, back of the house. + +Elaine and I had agreed to play a couple of games and were tossing +rackets for position. + +"Very well," laughed Elaine, as she won the toss, "take the other +court." + +It was a cool day and I felt in good spirits. Just to see whether I +could do it still, I jumped over the net. + +Our game had scarcely started when we were interrupted by the approach +of a stunning looking woman. + +"Miss Dodge?" she greeted. "Will you excuse me a moment?" + +Elaine paused in serving the ball and the woman handed her a card from +her delicate gold mesh bag. It read simply: + +Mme. Larenz Paris Gowns + +Elaine looked at the card a moment while the woman repeated what she +had already told Aunt Josephine. + +"You have them here, then?" queried Elaine, interested. + +"Yes, I have some very exclusive models which I am showing at my suite +in the St. Germain." + +"Oh, how lovely," exclaimed Elaine. "I must see them." + +They talked a few minutes, while I waited patiently for Elaine to start +the game again. That game, however, was destined never to be finished. +More weighty matters were under discussion. + +I wondered what they were talking about and, suppressing a yawn, I +walked toward them. As I approached, I heard scattered remarks about +styles and dress fabrics. + +Elaine had completely forgotten tennis and me. She took a couple of +steps away from the court with the woman, as I came up. + +"Aren't you going to play?" I asked. + +"I know you'll excuse me, Walter," smiled Elaine. "My frocks are all so +frightfully out of date. And here's a chance to get new ones, very +reasonably, too." + +They walked off and I could not help scowling at the visitor. On toward +the house Elaine and Madame Larenz proceeded and around it to the front +porch where Aunt Josephine was standing. + +"Just think, Auntie," cried Elaine, "real Paris gowns down here without +the trouble of going to the city--and cheaply, too." + +Aunt Josephine was only mildly interested, but that did not seem to +worry Madame Larenz. + +"I shall be glad to see you at three, Miss Dodge," she said as she got +into her car again and drove off. + +By that time, I had caught up with Elaine again. "Just one game," I +urged. + +"Please excuse me,--this time, Walter," she pleaded, laughing. "You +don't know how sadly I'm in need of new frocks." + +It was no use of further urging her. Tennis was out of her mind for +good that day. Accordingly, I mounted to my room and there quickly +donned my riding clothes. + +When I came down, I found Aunt Josephine still on the veranda. In +addition to my horse which I had telephoned for, Elaine's little +runabout had been driven to the door. While I was talking to Aunt +Josephine, Elaine came down-stairs and walked over to the car. + +"May I go with you?" I pleaded. + +"No, Walter," she replied laughing merrily. "You can't go. I want to +try them on." + +Properly squelched, I retreated. Elaine drove away and a moment later, +I mounted and cantered off leisurely. + +Near Del Mar's bungalow might have been seen again the mysterious +naturalist, walking along the road with a butterfly net in his hand and +what appeared to be a leather specimen case, perhaps six inches long, +under his other arm. + +As Madame Larenz whizzed past in her car, he looked up keenly in spite +of his seeming near-sightedness and huge smoked glasses. He watched her +closely, noting the number of the car, then turned and followed it. + +Madame Larenz drew up, a second time, before Del Mar's. As she got out +and entered, the naturalist, having quickened his pace, came up and +watched her go in. Then, after taking in the situation for a moment, he +made his way around the side of the bungalow. + +"Is Mr. Del Mar at home?" inquired Madame Larenz, as the valet ushered +her into the library. + +"No ma'am," he returned. "Mr. Del Mar is out. But he left word that if +you came before he got back, you were to leave word." + +The woman sat down at the desk and wrote hastily. When she had finished +the short note, she read it over and folded it up. + +"Tell Mr. Del Mar I've left a note here on his desk," she said to the +valet. + +A moment later she left the library, followed by the valet, who +accompanied her to her car and assisted her in. + +"The hotel," she directed to her driver, as he started off, while the +valet returned to the bungalow. + +Outside, the naturalist had come through the shrubbery and had been +looking in at the library window, watching every move of Madame Larenz +as she wrote. As she went out, he paused just a second to look about. +Then he drew a long knife from his pocket, forced the window catch, and +quickly climbed into the room. + +Directly to the desk he went and hurriedly ran over the papers on it. +There was the note. He picked it up and read it eagerly. + +"My apartment--St. Germain--3 P. M. + +"LARENZ." + +For a moment he seemed to consider what to do. Then he replaced the +note. Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps. It was the valet +returning. Quickly the naturalist ran to the window and jumped out. + +A moment later, the valet entered the library again. "That's strange," +he exclaimed under his breath, "I don't recall opening that window over +there to-day." + +He looked puzzled. But as no one was about, he went over and shut it. + +Some distance down the road, the naturalist quietly emerged in safety +from the bushes. With scarcely a moment's hesitation, his mind +thoroughly made up to his course, he hurried along the road. + +Meanwhile, at the St. Germain, Madame Larenz entered and passed through +the rotunda of the hotel, followed by many admiring glances of the men. + +Up in her room stood several large trunks, open. From them had been +taken a number of gowns which were scattered about or hung up for +exhibition. + +As she entered, quickly she selected one of the trunks whose contents +were more smart than the rest and laid the gowns out most fetchingly +about the room. + +In the office of the hotel a few moments later, the naturalist entered. +He looked around curiously, then went to the desk and glanced over the +register. At the name "Mme Larenz, Paris, Room 22," he paused. + +For some seconds he stood thinking. Then he deliberately walked over to +a leather chair and took a prominent seat near-by in the lobby. He had +discarded his net, but still had the case which now he had shoved into +his pocket. From a table, he picked up a newspaper. + +It was not long before Del Mar pulled up before the hotel and entered +in his usual swagger manner. He had returned to the bungalow, read the +note and hurried over to the St. Germain. + +He crossed the lobby, back to the office. As he did so, the naturalist +had his face hidden deeply in the open newspaper. But no sooner had Del +Mar passed than the newspaper fell unappreciated and he gazed after +him, as he left the lobby by the back way. + +It was only a few minutes after she had completed arranging her small +stock so that it looked quite impressive, that Madame Larenz heard a +knock at the door and recognized Del Mar's secret code. She opened the +door and he strode in. + +"I got your note," he said briefly, coming directly to business and +telling her just what he wanted done. "Let me see," he concluded, +glancing at his watch. "It is after three now. She ought to be here any +minute." + +Outside, Elaine drove up to the rather garish entrance of the St. +Germain and one of the boys in uniform ran forward to open the door and +take charge of the car. She, too, crossed the lobby without seeing the +old naturalist, though nothing escaped him. + +As she passed, he started to rise and cross toward her, then appeared +to change his mind. + +Elaine went on out through the back of the lobby, directed by a boy, +and mounted a flight of stairs, in preference to taking the lift to the +second, or sort of mezzanine floor. Down along the corridor she went, +hunting for number twenty-two. At last she found it at the end, and +knocked. + +Del Mar and Madame Larenz were still talking in low tones when they +heard a light tap on the door. + +"There she is, now," whispered Larenz. + +"All right. Let her in," answered Del Mar, leaping quietly to a closet. +"I'll hide here until I get the signal. Do just as I told you." + +Outside, at the same time, according to his carefully concocted plans, +Del Mar's car had driven up and stopped close to the side of the hotel, +which was on a slight hill that brought the street level here not so +far below the second story windows. Three of his most trusted men were +in the car. + +Madame Larenz opened the door. "Oh, I'm so glad you came," she rattled +on to Elaine. "You see, I've got to get started. Not a customer yet. +But if you'll only take a few gowns, other people will come to me. I'll +let you have them cheaply, too. Just look at this one." + +She held up one filmy, creamy creation that looked like a delicate +flower. + +"I'd like to try it on," cried Elaine, fingering it rapturously. + +"By all means," agreed Madame. "We are alone. Do so." + +With deft fingers, Larenz helped her take off her own very pretty +dress. As Elaine slipped the soft gown over her head, with her head and +arms engaged in its multitudinous folds, Madame Larenz, a powerful +woman, seized her. Elaine was effectually gagged and bound in the gown +itself. + +Instantly, Del Mar flung himself from the closet, disguising his voice. +Together, they wrapped the dress about Elaine even more tightly to +prevent her screaming. + +Madame 'Larenz seized a blanket and threw that over Elaine's head, +also, while Del Mar ran to the window. There were his men in the car, +waiting below. + +"Are you ready?" he called softly to them. + +They looked about carefully. There was no one on that side of the hotel +just at the moment. + +"Ready," responded one. "Quick!" + +Together, Del Mar and Madame Larenz passed Elaine, ineffectually +struggling, out of the window. The men seized her and placed her in the +bottom of the car, which was covered. Then they shot away, taking a +back road up the hill. + +Hurriedly the naturalist went through the lobby in the direction Elaine +had gone, and a moment later reached the corridor above. + +Down it, he could hear some one coming out of room twenty-two. He slid +into an angle and hid. + +It was Del Mar and the woman he had seen at the bungalow. They passed +by without discovering him, nor could he make out anything that they +said. What mischief was afoot? Where was Elaine? + +He ran to the door and tried it. It was locked. Quickly, he took from +his pocket a skeleton key and unlocked it. There was Elaine's hat and +dress lying in a heap on the bed. But she was not there. He was now +thoroughly alarmed. + +She could not have passed him in the hall. Therefore she must have gone +or been taken out through the window. That would never have been +voluntary, especially leaving her things there. + +The window was still open. He ran to it. One glance out was enough. He +leaped to the ground. Sure enough, there were automobile tracks in the +dust. + +"Del Mar's car," he muttered to himself, studying them. + +He fairly ran around the side of the hotel. There he came suddenly upon +Elaine's car standing alone, and recognized it. + +There was no time for delay. He jumped into it, and let the swift +little racer out as he turned and gathered momentum to shoot up the +hill on high speed. + +Meanwhile, I had been jogging along through the country, lonely and +disconsolate. I don't know how it happened, but I suppose it was by +some subconscious desire. At any rate I found myself at the road that +came out across one leading to the St. Germain and it occurred to me +that Elaine might by this time have purchased enough frocks to clothe +her for a year. At any rate I quickened my pace in the hope of seeing +her. + +Suddenly, my horse shied and a familiar little car flashed past me. But +the driver was not familiar. It was Elaine's roadster. In it was a +stranger--a man who looked like a "bugologist," as nearly as I can +describe him. Was he running off with her car while she was waiting +inside the hotel? + +I galloped after him. + +Del Mar's automobile, with Elaine bound and gagged in it, drove rapidly +by back and unfrequented ways into the country until at last it pulled +up before an empty two-story house in a sort of grove of trees. + +The men leaped out, lifted Elaine, and carried her bodily into the +house, taking her up-stairs and into an upper room. She had fainted +when they laid her down and loosened the dress from about her face so +that she could breathe. There they left her, on the floor, her hands +and feet bound, and went out. + +How long she lay there, she never knew, but at last the air revived her +and she regained consciousness and sat up. Her muscles were sore and +her head ached. But she set her teeth and began struggling with the +cords that bound her, managing at last to pull the dress over herself +at least. + +In Elaine's car, the naturalist drove slowly at times, following the +tracks of the automobile ahead. At last, however, he came to a place +where he saw that the tracks went up a lonely side road. To approach in +a car was to warn whoever was there. He ran the cat up alongside the +road in the bushes and jumped out leaving it and following the tracks +up the side roadway. + +As he approached a single deserted house, he left even the narrow road +altogether and plunged into the woods, careful to proceed noiselessly. +Through the bushes, near the house, he peered. There he could see one +of Del Mar's men in the doorway, apparently talking to others behind +him. + +Stealthily the naturalist crept around, still hiding, until he was +closer to the house on the other side. At last he worked his way around +to the rear door. He tried it. It was bolted and even the skeleton key +was unavailing to slide the bolt. Seconds were precious. + +Quickly, he went to the corner of the house. There was a water-leader. +He began to climb it, risking its precarious support. + +On the roof at last, the naturalist crawled along, looking for some way +of getting into the house. But he could not seem to find any. +Carefully, he crawled to the edge of the roof and looked over. Below, +he could hear sounds, but could make nothing of them. + +From his pocket, he took the leather case and opened it. There was a +peculiar arrangement, like some of the collapsible arms on which +telephone instruments are often fastened to a desk or wall, capable of +being collapsed into small space or of being extended for some +distance. On the thing was arranged a system of mirrors, which the +naturalist adjusted. + +It was a pocket periscope. + +He thrust the thing over the edge of the roof and down, and looked +through it. Below, he could see into the room from which came the +peculiar sounds. + +He looked anxiously. There he could see Elaine endeavoring still to +loosen the cords and unable to do so. Only for a moment he looked. Then +he folded up the pocket periscope into the case and shoved it back into +his pocket. Quickly he crossed the roof again, and slid back down the +rain-pipe. + +At the door stood three of Del Mar's men waiting for Del Mar who had +told them he would follow immediately. + +The naturalist had by this time reached the ground and was going along +carefully back of the house. He drew his revolver and, pointing it +down, fired. Then he dodged back of an extension and disappeared for +the moment. + +Instantly, the three men sprang up and ran toward the spot where it +seemed the shot had been fired. There was no one about the side of the +house. But the wind had carried the smoke into some bushes beside the +grove and they crashed into the bushes, beating about. + +At the same time, the naturalist, having first waited until he saw +which way the men were going, dashed about the house in the opposite +direction. Then he slipped, unopposed and unobserved, in through the +open front door, up the stairs and along to the room into which he had +just been looking. He unlocked the door, and entered. Elaine was still +struggling with the cords when she caught sight of the stranger. + +"Not a word," he cautioned under his breath. + +She was indeed too frightened to cry out. Quickly, he loosened her, +still holding his finger to his lips to enjoin silence. + +"Follow me," he whispered. + +She obeyed mechanically, and they went out into the hall. On +down-stairs went the naturalist, Elaine still keeping close after him. + +He looked out through the front door, then drew back. Quickly he went +through the lower hall until he came to the back door in the kitchen, +Elaine following. He unbolted the door and opened it. + +"Run," he said, simply, pointing out of the door. "They're coming back +the other way. I'll hold them." + +She needed no further urging, but darted from the house as he closed +the door after her. + + . . . . . . . + +It was just at this point that Del Mar came riding along the main road +on horseback. He pulled up suddenly as he saw a car run in alongside +the road. + +"That's Elaine's runabout," he muttered, as he dismounted and tied his +horse. "How came it here?" + +He approached the car, much worried by its unaccountable presence there +instead of before the St. Germain. Then he drew his gun and hurried up +the side road. + +He heard a shot and quickened his pace. In the woods unexpectedly he +came upon his three men still beating about, searching with drawn +revolvers for the person who had fired the shot. + +"Well?" he demanded sharply, "what's all this?" + +"Some one fired a shot," they explained, somewhat crestfallen. + +"It was a trick, you fools," he answered testily. "Get back to your +prisoner." + +Without a word they turned and hurried toward the house, Del Mar +following. "You two go in," he ordered the foremost. "I'll go around +the house with Patrick." + +As Del Mar and the other man ran around the corner, they could just +catch a fleeting glimpse on some one disappearing among the trees. + +It was Elaine. + +The man hurried forward, blazing away with his gun. + +Running, breathless, Elaine heard the shot behind her which Del Mar's +man had fired in his eagerness. The bullet struck a tree near her with +a "ping!" She glanced back and saw the man. But she did not stop. +Instead, she redoubled her efforts, running zigzag in among the trees +where they were thickest. + +Del Mar, a little bit behind his man where she could not recognize him, +urged the man on, following carefully. + +On fled Elaine, her heart beating fast. Suddenly she stopped and almost +cried out in vexation. A stream blocked her retreat, a stream, swift +and deep. + +She looked back, terrified. Her pursuers were coming ahead fast now in +her direction. Wildly she gazed around. There was a canoe on the bank. +In an instant she jumped in, untied it, and seized the paddle. Off she +went, striking for the opposite shore. But the current was racing +swiftly, and she was already tired and exhausted. She could scarcely +make any headway at all in the fierce eddies. But at least, she thought +hurriedly, she was getting further and further away from them +down-stream. + +Up above, Del Mar and his man came to the edge of the water. There they +stood for a moment looking down. + +"There she is," pointed the man. + +Del Mar raised his revolver and fired. + +Suddenly a bullet struck Elaine's paddle and broke it. Clutching the +useless splintered shaft, she was now at the mercy of the current, +swept along like a piece of driftwood. + +She looked about frantically. What was that roaring noise? + +It was the waterfalls ahead! + + . . . . . . . + +In the meantime, Del Mar's other two men had entered the house and had +run up-stairs, knowing well his wrath if anything had happened. As they +did so, the naturalist poked his head cautiously out of the kitchen +where he had been hiding, and saw them. Then he followed noiselessly, +his revolver ready. + +Headlong they ran into the room where they had left Elaine. She was +gone! + +Before they could turn, the naturalist locked the door, turned and took +the steps down, two at a time. + +Then he ran out of the front door and into the woods at an angle to the +direction taken by Elaine, turning and going down hill, where a rapid, +swollen stream curved about through a gorge. As he reached the stream, +he heard a shot above, and a scream. + +He looked up. There was Elaine, swept down toward him. Below he knew +the stream tumbled over a tall cataract into the gorge below. + +What could he do? + +A sudden crackling of the twigs caused him to turn and catch sight of +me, just coming up. + +For, as best I could on horseback, I had followed Elaine's car until at +last I saw that it had been abandoned. Thoroughly alarmed, I rode on, +past a deserted house until suddenly I heard a shot and a scream. It +seemed to come from below me and I leaped off my horse, making for it +as fast as I could, racing toward a stream whose roar I could hear. + +There on the bank I came upon a queer old codger, looking about wildly. +Was he the automobile thief? I ran forward, ready to seize him. But as +I did so, he whirled about and with a strength remarkable in one so old +seized my own wrist before I could get his. + +"Look!" he cried simply, pointing up the stream. + +I did. A girl in a canoe was coming down toward the falls, screaming, +her paddle broken and useless. My heart leaped into my mouth. It was +Elaine! + +"Come," he panted eagerly to me. "I can save her. You must do just as I +say." + +He pointed to an overhanging rock near-by and we ran to it. + +By this time Elaine was almost upon us, each second getting nearer the +veritable maelstrom above the falls. + +From the rock overhung also a tree at the very edge of the water. + +There was nothing to do but obey him. Above, though we did not see +them, Del Mar and his man were gloating over the result of their work. +But they were gloating too soon. We came to the rock and the tree. + +"Here," cried the new-found friend, "I'll get hold of the tree and then +hold you." + +Instantly he threw himself on his stomach, hooking his leg about the +tree trunk. I crawled out over the ledge of slippery rock to the very +edge and looked over. It was the only chance. + +The old naturalist seized my legs in his hands. I slid down the rock, +letting myself go. + +Literally, his presence of mind had invented what was really a life +chain, a human rope. + +On came the canoe, Elaine in it as white as death, crying out and +trying to stop or guide it as, nearer and nearer through the +smooth-worn walls of the chasm, it whirled to the falls. + +With a grip of steel, the naturalist held to the tree which swayed and +bent, while also he held me, as if in a vise, head down. + +On came Elaine--directly at us. + +She stood up and balanced herself, a dangerous feat in a canoe at any +time, but doubly so in those dark, swirling, treacherous waters. + +"Steady!" I encouraged. "Grab my arms!" + +As the canoe reached us, she gave a little jump and seized my forearms. +Her hands slipped, but I grasped her own arms, and we held each other. + +The momentum of her body was great. For an instant I thought we were +all going over. But the naturalist held his grip and slowly began to +pull himself and us up the slippery rock. + +A second later the canoe crashed over the falls in a cloud of spray and +pounding water. + +As we reached the bank above the rock, I almost lifted Elaine and set +her down, trembling and gasping for breath. Before either of us knew it +the queer old fellow had plunged into the bushes and was gone without +another word. + +"Walter," she cried, "call him back, I must tell him how much I owe +him--my life!" + +But he had disappeared, absolutely. We shouted after him. It was of no +use. + +"Well, what do you think of that?" cried Elaine. "He saved my +life--then didn't wait even to be thanked." + +Who was he? + +We looked at each other a moment. But neither of us spoke what was in +our hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE FLASH + + +Alone in the doorway before his rude shack on the shore of the +promontory sat an old fisherman, gazing out fixedly at the harbor as +though deeply concerned over the weather, which, as usual, was +unseasonable. + +Suddenly he started and would have disappeared into his hut but for the +fact that, although he could not himself be seen, he had already seen +the intruder. + +It was a trooper from Fort Dale. He galloped up and, as though obeying +to the letter his instructions, deliberately dropped an envelope at the +feet of the fisherman. Then, without a word, he galloped away again. + +The fisherman picked up the envelope and opened it quickly. Inside was +a photograph and a note. He read: + + FORT DALE + PROFESSOR ARNOLD, + + J. Smith, clerk in the War Department, has disappeared. + We are not sure, but fear that he has a copy + of the new Sandy Hook Defense Plans. It is believed + he is headed your way. He walks with a slight limp. + Look out for him. + + LIEUTENANT WOODWARD. + +For a long time the fisherman appeared to study the face on the +photograph until he had it indelibly implanted in his memory, as if by +some system such as that of the immortal Bertillon and his clever +"portrait parle," or spoken picture, for scientific identification and +apprehension. It was not a pleasant face and there were features that +were not easily forgotten. + +Finally he turned and entered his hut. Hastily he took off his stained +reefer. From a wooden chest he drew another outfit of clothes. The +transformation was complete. When he issued forth from his hut again, +it was no longer the aged disciple of Izaac Walton. He was now a trim +chauffeur, bearded and goggled. + + . . . . . . . + +In the library of his bungalow, Del Mar was pacing up and down, now and +then scowling to himself, as though there flashed over his mind stray +recollections of how some of his most cherished plans were miscarrying. + +Still, on the whole, he had nothing to complain of. For, a moment later +the valet entered with a telegram for which he had evidently been +waiting. Del Mar seized it eagerly and tore open the yellow envelope. +On the blank was printed in the usual way the following non-committal +message: + + WASHINGTON, D. C., + August 12, 1915. + +MR. DEL MAR, + +What you request is coming. Answer to sign of the ring.--SMITH. + +"Good," muttered Del Mar as he finished reading. "Strange, what a +little gold will do--when you know how to dispose of it." + +He smiled cynically to himself at the sentiment. + + . . . . . . . + +At the little railroad station, they were quite proud of the fact that +at least two of the four hacks had been replaced already by taxicabs. + +It was, then, with some surprise and not a little open jealousy that +they saw a new taxicab drive up and take its stand by the platform. + +If the chauffeur, transformed from the lonely fisherman, had expected a +cordial reception, he might better have stayed before his hut, for the +glances the other drivers gave him were as black and lowering as the +clouds he had been looking at. + +The new chauffeur got off his seat. Instead of trying to brazen it out, +he walked over to the others who were standing in a group waiting for +the approaching train whose whistle had already sounded. + +"I'm not going to locate here permanently," he said, pulling out a roll +of bills as he spoke. "Leave any fare I claim to me," he added, passing +a bill of a good denomination to each of the four jehus. + +They looked at him curiously. But what business of theirs was it? The +money felt good. + +"All right, bo," they agreed. + +Thundering down the platform came the afternoon train, a great event in +the town life. + +As the baggage was being tossed off, the passengers alighted and the +five hackmen swarmed at them. + +"Keb, sir, kerridge. Taxi, lady!" + +From the Pullman alighted a widow, in deep mourning. As she got off and +moved down the platform, it was apparent that she walked with a +pronounced limp. + +At the end of the platform, the chauffeurs were still calling, while +the newcomer looked over the crowd hastily. Suddenly he caught sight of +the face of the widow. He stepped forward, as she approached. The +others held back as they had agreed and paid no attention. It was like +forcing a card. + +He held the door open and she entered the cab, unsuspecting. "Mr. Del +Mar's," she directed, simply. + +As the new taxicab driver cranked his engine and climbed into the seat, +he was careful to let no action of his, however small, betray the +intense satisfaction he felt at the working of his scheme. + +He pulled away from the station. On through the pretty country roads +the chauffeur drove the heavily veiled widow until at last they came to +Del Mar's bungalow. + +At the gate he stopped and ran around to open the door to assist his +fare to alight. + +"Wait for me," she said, without paying him yet. "I shall not be long +and I want to be driven back to the station to catch the four +twenty-nine to New York." + +As she limped up the gravel walk, he watched her closely. She went to +the door and rang the bell, and the valet admitted her. + +Del Mar was still sitting, thinking, in the library. + +"Mr. Del Mar?" she inquired. + +The voice was not exactly soft, and Del Mar eyed her suspiciously. Was +this the person he expected, or a "plant?" + +"Yes," he answered, guardedly, "I am Mr. Del Mar. And you?" + +The widow, too, evidently wished to make no mistake. As she spoke, she +raised her hand. By that simple action she displayed a curious and +conspicuous seal ring on her finger. It was the sign of the ring for +which Del Mar had been waiting. + +He extended his own left hand. On the ring finger was another ring, but +not similar. As he did so, the widow took the ring from her own finger +and placed it on the little finger of Del Mar. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. + +Every action of the sign of the ring had been carried out. + +The woman raised her thick veil, disclosing the face of--a man! + +It was the same face, also, that had appeared in the photograph sent to +the old fisherman by Woodward. + +Awkwardly, the man searched in the front of his shirtwaist and drew +forth a paper which Del Mar almost seized in his eagerness. It was a +pen and ink copy of a Government map, showing a huge spit of sand in +the sea before a harbor, Sandy Hook and New York. On it were indicated +all the defenses, the positions of guns, everything. + +Together, Del Mar and Smith bent over it, while the renegade clerk +explained each mark on the traitorous map. They were too occupied to +see a face flattened against the pane of a window near-by. + +The chauffeur had no intention of remaining inactive outside while he +knew that something that interested him was transpiring inside. He had +crept up by the side of the house to the window. But he could see +little and hear nothing. + +A moment he strained every sense. It was no use. He must devise some +other way. How could he get into that room? Slowly he returned to his +car, thinking it over. There he stood for a moment revolving in his +mind what to do. He looked up the road. An idea came to him. There he +saw a little runabout approaching rapidly. + +Quickly he went around to the front of his car and lifted up the hood. +Then he bent over and pretended to be tinkering with his engine. + +As the car was about to pass he deliberately stepped back, apparently +not seeing the runabout, and was struck and knocked down. + +The runabout stopped, the emergency brakes biting hard. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine had asked me to go shopping in the village with her that +afternoon. While I waited for her in her little car, she came down at +last, carrying a little handbag. We drove off a moment later. + +It was a delightful ride, not too warm, but sunny. Without realizing +it, we found ourselves on the road that led past Del Mar's. + +As we approached, I saw that there was a taxicab standing in front of +the gate. The hood was lifted and the driver was apparently tinkering +with his engine. + +"Let's not stop," said Elaine, who had by this time a peculiar aversion +to the man. + +As we passed the driver, apparently not seeing us, stepped out and, +before we could turn out, we had knocked him down. We stopped and ran +back. + +There he lay on the road, seemingly unconscious. We lifted him up and I +looked toward Del Mar's house. + +"Help!" I shouted at the top of my voice. + +The valet came to the door. + +Hearing me, the valet ran out down the walk. "All right," he cried. +"I'll be there in a minute." + +With his help I picked up the taxicab chauffeur and we carried him into +the house. + +Del Mar was talking with a person who looked like a widow, when they +heard our approach up the walk carrying the injured man. + +So engrossed had they been in discerning what the stolen document +contained that, as we finally entered, the widow had only time to drop +her veil and conceal her identity as the renegade Smith. Del Mar still +held the plan in his hand. + +The valet and I entered with Elaine and we placed the chauffeur on a +couch near Del Mar's desk. I remember that there was this strange woman +all in black, heavily veiled, in the room at the time. + +"I think we ought to telephone for a doctor," said Elaine placing her +hand-bag on the desk and excitedly telling Del Mar how we had +accidentally knocked the man down. + +"Call up my doctor, Henry," said Del Mar, hastily thrusting the plan +into a book lying on the desk. + +We gathered about the man, trying to revive him. + +"Have you a little stimulant?" I asked, turning from him. + +Del Mar moved toward a cellarette built into the wall. We were all +watching him, our backs to the chauffeur, when suddenly he must have +regained consciousness very much. Like a flash his hand shot out. He +seized the plan from between the leaves of the book. He had not time to +get away with it himself. Perhaps he might be searched. He opened +Elaine's bag, and thrust it in. + +The valet by this time had finished telephoning and spoke to Del Mar. + +"The doctor will be here shortly, Miss Dodge," said Del Mar. "You need +not wait, if you don't care to. I'll take care of him." + +"Oh, thank you--ever so much," she murmured. "Of course it wasn't our +fault, but I feel sorry for the poor fellow. Tell the doctor to send me +the bill." + +She and Del Mar shook hands. I thought he held her hand perhaps a +little longer and a little tighter than usual. At any rate Elaine +seemed to think so. + +"Why, what a curious ring, Mr. Del Mar," she said, finally releasing +her own hand from his grasp. + +Then she looked quickly at the woman, half joking, as if the ring had +something to do with the strange woman. She looked back at the ring. +Del Mar smiled, shook his head and laughed easily. + +Then Elaine picked up her bag and we went out. A moment later we +climbed back into the car and were off again. + + . . . . . . . + +Having left us at the door, Del Mar hurried back to the library. He +went straight to the desk and picked up the book, eager now to make +sure of the safety of the plan. + +It was gone! + +"Did you, Smith--" he began hastily, then checked himself, knowing that +the clerk had not taken the plan. + +Del Mar walked over to the couch and stood a moment looking at the +chauffeur. "I wonder who he is," he said to himself. "I don't recall +ever seeing him at the station or in the village." + +He leaned over closer. "The deuce!" he exclaimed, "that's a fake beard +the fellow has on." + +Del Mar made a lunge for it. As he did so, the chauffeur leaped to his +feet and drew a gun. "Hands up!" he shouted. "And the first man that +moves is a dead one!" + +Before the secret agent knew it, both he and Smith were covered. The +chauffeur took a step toward Smith and unceremoniously jerked off the +widow's weeds, as well as the wig. + +At that very moment one of Del Mar's men came up to the secret panel +that opened from the underground passageway into his library. He was +about to open it when he heard a sound on the other side that startled +him. He listened a moment, then slid it just a short distance and +looked in. + +There he saw a chauffeur holding up Del Mar and Smith. Having pulled +the disguise from Smith, he went next around Del Mar and took his gun +from his pocket, then passed his hands over the folds of Smith's dress, +but found no weapon. He stepped back away from them. + +At that point the man quietly slid the panel all the way open and +silently stepped into the room, behind the chauffeur. Cautiously he +began sneaking up on him. + +As he did so, Del Mar and Smith watched, fascinated. Somehow their +faces must have betrayed that something was wrong. For, as the newcomer +leaped at him, the chauffeur turned suddenly and fired. The shot +wounded the man. + +It was a signal for a free-for-all fight. Del Mar and Smith leaped at +the intruder. Over and over they rolled, breaking furniture, +overturning and smashing bric-a-brac. + +Del Mar's revolver was knocked out of the chauffeur's hand. With a blow +of a chair, the chauffeur laid out Smith, entangled in his unfamiliar +garments, shook himself loose from the two others, and made a rush at +the door. + +Del Mar paused only long enough to pick up the revolver from the floor. +Instantly he fired at the retreating form. But the chauffeur had passed +out and banged shut the door. Down the walk he sped and out to the +gate, into his car, the engine of which he had left running. + +Hard after him came Del Mar and the rest, joined now by Henry, the +valet. One shot was left in the chauffeur's revolver and he blazed away +as he leaped into the car. + +"He's got me," groaned Smith as he stumbled and fell forward. + +On kept Del Mar and the others. They caught up with the car just as it +was starting. But the chauffeur knocked the gun from Del Mar's hand +before he could get a good aim and fire, at the same time bowling over +the man who had come through the panel. + +Off the car went, now rapidly gaining speed. Del Mar had just time to +swing on the rear of it. + +Around the rapidly-driven car, he climbed, hanging on for dear life, +over the mud-guard and toward the running-board. On sped the car, +swaying crazily back and forth, Del Mar crouched on the running-board +and working his way slowly and perilously to the front seat. + +The chauffeur felt the weight of some one on that side. Just as he +turned to see what it was, Del Mar leaped at him. Still holding the +wheel, the chauffeur fought him off with his free hand, Del Mar holding +on to some spare tires with one hand, also. Handicapped by having the +steering-wheel to manage, nevertheless the chauffeur seemed quite well +able to give a good account of himself. + + . . . . . . . + +Somehow, Elaine and I must have been hoodooed that day. + +We had not been gone five minutes from Del Mar's after the accident to +the chauffeur, when we heard a mysterious knock in the engine. + +"More engine trouble," I sighed. "Pull up along the road and I'll see +if I can fix it." + +We stopped and both got out. There was no fake about this trouble or +about the dirt and grease I acquired on my hands and face, tinkering +with that motor. For, regardless of my immaculate flannels, I had to +set to work. A huge spot of grease spattered on me. Elaine laughed +outright. + +"Here, let me powder your nose, Walter," she cried undismayed at our +trouble, gayly opening her bag. "Well--of all things--what's this, and +where did it come from?" + +I turned from the engine and looked. She was holding some kind of plan +or document in her hand. In blank surprise she examined it. It looked +like a fort or a series of forts. But I was sure at a glance that it +was not Fort Dale. + +"What do you think it is, Walter?" she asked, handing it to me. + +I took it and examined it carefully. Incredible as it seemed, I figured +out quickly that it must be nothing short of a plan of the new defenses +at Sandy Hook. + +"I don't know what it all means," I said. "But I do know that we won't +get any dinner till I get this engine running again." + +I fell to work again, eager to get away with our dangerous prize, +Elaine now and then advising me. Finally I turned the engine over. For +a wonder it ran smoothly. "Well, that's all right, at last," I sighed, +wiping the grease off my hands on a piece of waste. + +"What's the matter now?" exclaimed Elaine, turning quickly and looking +up the road along which we had just come. + +There, lurching along at full speed was a car. Two men were actually +fighting on the front of it regardless of speed and safety. As it +neared us, I saw it was the taxicab that had been standing before Del +Mar's. I looked closer at it. To my utter amazement, who should be +driving it but the very chauffeur whom we had left at Del Mar's only a +few minutes before, apparently unconscious. He could not have been hurt +very badly, for he was not only able to drive but was fighting off a +man clinging on the running-board. + +On rushed the car, directly at us. Just as it passed us, the chauffeur +seemed to summon all his strength. He struck a powerful blow at the +man, recoiled and straightened out his car just in time. The man fell, +literally at our feet. + +It was Del Mar himself! + +On sped the taxicab. Bruised though he must have been by the fall, Del +Mar nevertheless raised himself by the elbow and fired every chamber of +his revolver as fast as he could pump the bullets. + +I must say that I admired the man's pluck. Elaine and I hurried over to +him. I still had in my hand the queer paper which she had found so +strangely in her hand-bag. + +"Why, what's all this about?" I asked eagerly. + +Before I could raise him up, Del Mar had regained his feet. + +"Just a plain crook, who attacked me," he muttered, brushing off his +clothes to cover up the quick recognition of what it was that I was +holding in my hand, for he had seen the plan immediately. + +"Can't we drive you back?" asked Elaine, quite forgetting our fears of +Del Mar in the ugly predicament in which he just had been. "We've had +trouble but I guess we can get you back." + +"Thank you," he said, forcing a smile. "I think anything would be an +improvement on my ride here and I'm sure you can do more than you +claim." + +He climbed up and sat on the floor of the roadster, his feet outside, +and we drove off. At last we pulled up at Dodge Hall again. + +"Won't you come in?" asked Elaine as we got out. + +"Thank you, I believe I will for a few minutes," consented Del Mar, +concealing his real eagerness to follow me. "I'm all shaken up." + +As we entered the living-room, I was thinking about the map. I opened a +table drawer, hastily took the plan from my pocket and locked it in the +drawer. Elaine, meanwhile, was standing with Del Mar who was talking, +but in reality watching me closely. + +A smile of satisfaction seemed to flit over his face as he saw what I +had done and now knew where the paper was. + +I turned to him. "How are you now?" I asked. + +"Oh, I'm much better--all right," he answered. Then he looked at his +watch. "I've a very important appointment. If you'll excuse me, I'll +walk over to my place. Thank you again, Miss Dodge, ever so kindly." + +He bowed low and was gone. + + . . . . . . . + +Down the road past where we had turned, before a pretty little shingle +house, the taxicab chauffeur stopped. One of the bullets had taken +effect on him and his shoulder was bleeding. But the worst, as he +seemed to think it, was that another shot had given him a flat tire. + +He jumped out and looked up the road whence he had come. No one was +following. Still, he was worried. He went around to look at the tire. +But he was too weak now from loss of blood. It had been nerve and +reserve force that had carried him through. Now that the strain was +off, he felt the reaction to the full. + +Just then the doctor and his driver, whom the valet had already +summoned to Del Mar's, came speeding down the road. The doctor saw the +chauffeur fall in a half faint, stopped his car and ran to him. The +chauffeur had kept up as long as he could. He had now sunk down beside +his machine in the road. + +A moment later they picked him up and carried him into the house. There +was no acting about his hurts now. In the house they laid the man down +on a couch and the doctor made a hasty examination. + +"How is he?" asked one of the kind Samaritans. + +"The wound is not dangerous," replied the physician, "but he's lost a +lot of blood. He cannot be moved for some time yet." + + . . . . . . . + +We talked about nothing else at Dodge Hall after dressing for dinner +but the strange events over at Del Mar's and what had followed. The +more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me that we would never +be left over night in peaceful possession of the plan which both Elaine +and I decided ought on the following day to be sent to Washington. + +Accordingly I cudgelled my brain for some method of protecting both +ourselves and it. The only thing I could think of was a scheme once +adopted by Kennedy in another case. How I longed for him. But I had to +do my best alone. + +I had a small quick shutter camera that had belonged to Craig and just +as we were about to retire, I brought it into the living-room with a +package I had had sent up from the village. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Elaine curiously. + +I assumed an air of mystery but did not say, for I was not sure but +that even now some one was eavesdropping. It was not late, but the +country air made us all sleepy and Aunt Josephine, looking at the +clock, soon announced that she was going to retire. + +She had no sooner said good-night than Elaine began again to question +me. But I had determined not to tell her what I was doing, for if my +imitation of Kennedy failed, I knew that she would laugh at me. + +"Oh, very well," she said finally in pique, "then, if you're going to +be so secret about it, you can sit up alone--there!" + +She flounced off to bed. Sure as I could be at last that I was alone, I +opened the package. There were the tools that I had ordered, a coil of +wire and some dry cells. Then I went to the table, unlocked the drawer +and put the plan in my pocket. I had determined that whether the idea +worked or not, no one was to get the plan except by overcoming me. + +Although I was no expert at wiring, I started to make the connections +under the table with the drawer, not a very difficult thing to do as +long as it was to be only temporary and for the night. From the table I +ran the wires along the edge of the carpet until I came to the +book-case. There, masked by the books, I placed the little quick +shutter camera, and at a distance also concealed the flash-light pan. + +Next I aimed the camera carefully and focussed it on a point above the +drawer on the writing-table where any one would be likely to stand if +he attempted to open it. Then I connected the shutter of the camera and +a little spark coil in the flash-pan with the wires, using an apparatus +to work the shutter such as I recalled having seen Craig use. Finally I +covered the sparking device with the flash-light powder, gave a last +look about and snapped off the light. + +Up in my bedroom, I must say I felt like "some" detective and I could +not help slapping myself on the chest for the ingenuity with which I +had duplicated Craig. + +Then I lay down on the bed with my clothes on and picked up a book, +determined to keep awake to see if anything happened. It was a good +book, but I was tired and in spite of myself I nodded over it, and then +dropped it. + + . . . . . . . + +In his bungalow, now that Smith had gone back again to New York and +Washington, Del Mar was preparing to keep the important engagement he +had told us about, another of his nefarious nocturnal expeditions. + +He drew a cap on his head, well over his ears and forehead. His eyes +and face he concealed as well as he could with a mask to be put on +later. To his equipment he added a gun. Then with a hasty word or two +to his valet, he went out. + +By back ways so that even in the glare of automobile headlights he +would not be recognized, he made his way to Dodge Hall. As he saw the +house looming up in the moonlight he put on his mask and approached +cautiously. Gaining the house, he opened a window, noiselessly turning +the catch as deftly as a house-breaker, and climbed into the +living-room. + +A moment he looked around, then tiptoed over to the table. He looked at +it to be sure that it was the right one and the right drawer. Then he +bent down to force the drawer open. + +"Pouf!" a blinding flash came and a little metallic click of the +shutter, followed by a cloud of smoke. + +As quick as it happened, there went through Del Mar's head, the +explanation. It was a concealed camera. He sprang back, clapping his +hands over his face. Out of range for a moment, he stood gazing about +the room, trying to locate the thing. + +Suddenly he heard footsteps. He dived through the window that he had +opened, just as some one ran in and switched on the lights. + + . . . . . . . + +Half asleep, I heard a muffled explosion, as if of a flash-light. I +started up and listened. Surely some one was moving about down-stairs. +I pulled my gun from my pocket and ran out of the room. Down the steps +I flung myself, two at a time. + +In the living-room, I switched on the lights in time to see some one +disappear through an open window. I ran to the window and looked out. +There was a man, half doubled up, running around the side of the house +and into a clump of bushes, then apparently lost. I shot out of the +window and called. + +My only answer was an imprecation and return volley that shattered the +glass above my head. I ducked hastily and fell flat on the floor, for +in the light streaming out, I must have been a good mark. + +I was not the only one who heard the noise. The shots quickly awakened +Elaine and she leaped out of bed and put on her kimono. Then she +lighted the lights and ran down-stairs. + +The intruder had disappeared by this time and I had got up and was +peering out of the window as she came breathlessly into the living-room. + +"What's the matter, Walter?" she asked. + +"Some one broke into the house after those plans," I replied. "He +escaped, but I got his picture, I think, by this device of Kennedy's. +Let's go into a dark room and develop it." + +There was no use trying to follow the man further. To Elaine's inquiry +of what I meant, I replied by merely going over to the spot where I had +hidden the camera and disconnecting it. + +We went up-stairs where I had rigged up an impromptu dark room for my +amateur photographic work some days before. Elaine watched me closely. +At last I found that I had developed something. As I drew the film +through the hypo tray and picked it up, I held it to the red light. + +Elaine leaned over and looked at the film with me. There was a picture +of a masked man, his cap down, in a startled attitude, his hands +clapped to his face, completely hiding what the mask and cap did not +hide. + +"Well, I'll be blowed!" I cried in chagrin at the outcome of what I +thought had been my cleverest coup. + +A little exclamation of astonishment escaped Elaine. I turned to her. +"What is it?" I asked. + +"The ring!" she cried. + +I looked again more closely. On the little finger of the left hand was +a peculiar ring. Once seen, I think it was not readily forgotten. "The +ring!" she repeated excitedly. "Don't you remember--that ring? I saw it +on Mr. Del Mar's hand--at his house--this afternoon!" + +I could only stare. + +At last we had a real clue! + +In his bungalow, Del Mar at that moment threw down his hat and tore off +his mask furiously. + +What had he done? + +For a long time he sat there, his chin on his hand, gazing fixedly +before him, planning to protect himself and revenge. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE DISAPPEARING HELMETS + + +It was early the following morning that, very excited, Elaine and I +showed Aunt Josephine the photograph which we had snapped and developed +by using Kennedy's trick method. + +"But who is it?" asked Aunt Josephine examining the print carefully and +seeing nothing but a face masked and with a pair of hands before it, a +seal ring on the little finger of one hand. + +"Oh, I forgot that you hadn't seen the ring before," explained Elaine. +"Why, we knew him at once, in spite of everything, by that seal +ring--Mr. Del Mar!" + +"Mr. Del Mar?" repeated Aunt Josephine, looking from one to the other +of us, incredulous. + +"I saw the ring at his own bungalow and on his own finger," reiterated +Elaine positively. + +"But what are you going to do, now?" asked Aunt Josephine. + +"Have him arrested, of course," Elaine replied. + +Still talking over the strange experience of the night before, we went +out on the veranda. + +"Well, of all the nerve!" exclaimed Elaine, catching sight of a man +coming up the gravel walk. "If that isn't Henry, Mr. Del Mar's valet!" + +The valet advanced as though nothing had happened and, indeed, I +suppose that as far as he knew nothing had happened or was known to us. +He bowed and handed Elaine a note which she tore open quickly and read. + +"Would you go?" she asked, handing the note over to me. + +It read: + +DEAR MISS DODGE, + +If you and Mr. Jameson will call on me to-day, I will have something of +interest to tell you concerning my investigations in the case of the +disappearance of Craig Kennedy. + +Sincerely, + +M. DEL MAR. + +"Yes," I asserted, "I would go." + +"Tell Mr. Del Mar we shall see him as soon as possible," nodded Elaine +to the valet who bowed and left quickly. + +"What is it?" inquired Aunt Josephine, rejoining us. + +"A note from Mr. Del Mar," replied Elaine showing it to her. + +"Well," queried Aunt Josephine, "what are you going to do?" + +"We're going, of course," cried Elaine. + +"You're not," blurted out Aunt Josephine. "Why, just think. He's sure +to do something." + +But Elaine and I had made up our minds. + +"I know it," I interjected. "He's sure to try something that will show +his hand--and then I've got him." + +Perhaps I threw out my chest a little more than was necessary, but then +I figured that Elaine with her usual intuition had for once agreed with +me and that it must be all right. I drew my gun and twirled the +cylinder about as I spoke. Indeed I felt, since the success of the +snapshot episode, that I was a match for several Del Mar's. + +"Yes, Walter is right," agreed Elaine. + +Aunt Josephine continued to shake her head sagely in protest. But +Elaine waved all her protestations aside and ran into the house to get +ready for the visit. + +Half an hour later, two saddle horses were brought around to the front +of Dodge Hall and Elaine and I sallied forth. + +Aunt Josephine was still protesting against our going to Del Mar's, but +we had made up our minds to carry the thing through. "You know," she +insisted, "that Mr. Kennedy is not around to protect you two children. +Something will surely happen to you if you don't keep out of this +affair." + +"Oh, Auntie," laughed Elaine, a bit nervously, however, "don't be a +kill-joy. Suppose Craig isn't about? Who's going to do this, if Walter +and I don't?" + +In spite of all, we mounted and rode away. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar, still continuing his nefarious work of mining American harbors +and bridges, had arrived at a scheme as soon as he returned from the +attempt to get back from us the Sandy Hook plans. Smith, who had stolen +the plans from the War Department, was still at the bungalow. + +Early in the morning, Del Mar had seated himself at his desk and wrote +a letter. + +"Here, Henry," he directed his valet, "take this to Miss Dodge." + +As the valet went out, he wrote another note. "Read that," he said, +handing it over to Smith. "It's a message I want you to take to +headquarters right away." + +It was worded cryptically: + +A. A. L. N. Y. + Closely watched. Must act soon or all will be discovered.--M. + +Smith read the note, nodded, and put it into his pocket, as he started +to the door. + +"No, no," shouted Del Mar, calling him back. "This thing means that +you'll have to be careful in your getaway. You'd better go out through +my secret passage," he added, pointing to the panel in the library wall. + +He pressed the button on the desk and Smith left through the hidden +passage. Down it he groped and at the other end emerged. Seeing no one +around, he made his way to the road. There seemed to be no one who +looked at all suspicious on the road, either, and Smith congratulated +himself on his easy escape. + +On a bridge over a creek, however, as Smith approached, was one +inoffensive-looking person who might have been a minister or a +professor. He was leaning on the rail in deep thought, gazing at the +creek that ran beneath him, and now and then flashing a sharp glance +about. + +Suddenly he saw something approaching. Instantly he dodged to the +farther end of the bridge and took refuge behind a tree. Smith walked +on over the bridge, oblivious to the fact that he was watched. No +sooner had he disappeared than the inquisitive stranger emerged again +from behind the tree. + +It was the mysterious Professor Arnold who many times had shown a +peculiar interest in the welfare of Elaine and myself. + +Evidently he had recognized Del Mar's messenger, for after watching him +a moment he turned and followed. + +At the railroad station, just before the train for New York pulled in, +the waiting crowd was increased by one stranger. Smith had come in and +taken his place unostentatiously among them. + +But if he thought he was to be lost in the little crowd, he was much +mistaken. Arnold had followed, but not so quickly that he had not had +time to pick up the two policemen that the town boasted, both of whom +were down at the station at the time. + +"There he is," indicated Arnold, "the fellow with the slight limp. +Bring him to my room in the St. Germain Hotel." + +"All right, sir," replied the officers, edging their way to the +platform as Arnold retreated back of the station and disappeared up the +street. + +Just then the train pulled into the station and the passengers crowded +forward to mount the steps. Smith was just about to push his way on +with them, when the officers elbowed through the crowd. + +"You're wanted," hissed one of them, seizing his shoulder. + +But Smith, in spite of his deformity, was not one to submit to arrest +without a struggle. He fought them off and broke away, running toward +the baggage-room. + +As he rushed in, they followed. One of them was gaining on him and took +a flying football tackle. The other almost fell over the twisted mass +of arms and legs. The struggle now was short and sharp and ended in the +officers slipping the bracelets over the wrists of Smith. While the +passengers and bystanders crowded about to watch the excitement, they +led him off quickly. + + . . . . . . . + +In his rooms at the St. Germain, cluttered with test tubes and other +paraphernalia which indicated his scientific tendencies, Professor +Arnold entered and threw off his hat, lighting a cigarette and waiting +impatiently. + +He had not as long to wait as he had expected. A knock sounded at the +door and he opened it. There was Smith handcuffed and forced in by the +two policemen. + +"Good work," commended Arnold, at once setting to work to search the +prisoner who fumed but could not resist. + +"What have we here?" drawled Arnold in mock courtesy and surprise as he +found and drew forth from Smith's pocket a bundle of papers, which he +hastily ran through. + +"Ah!" he muttered, coming to Del Mar's note, which he opened and read. +"What's this? 'A. A. L. N. Y. Closely watched. Must act soon or all +will be discovered. M.' Now, what's all that?" + +Arnold pondered the text deeply. "You may take him away, now," he +concluded, glancing up from the note to the officers. "Thank you." + +"All right, sir," they returned, prodding Smith along out. + +Still studying the note, Arnold sat down at the desk. Thoughtfully he +picked up a pencil. Under the letters A. A. L. he slowly wrote +"Anti-American League" and under the initial M the name, "Martin." + +"Now is the time, if ever, to use that new telaphotograph instrument +which I have installed for the War Department in Washington and carry +around with me," he said to himself, rising and going to a closet. + +He took out a large instrument composed of innumerable coils and a +queer battery of selenium cells. It was the receiver of the new +instrument by which a photograph could be sent over a telegraph wire. + +Down-stairs, in the telegraph room of the hotel, Arnold secured the +services of one of the operators. Evidently by the way they obeyed him +they had received orders from the company regarding him, and knew him +well there. + +"I wish you'd send this message right away to Washington," he said, +handing in a blank he had already written. + +The clerk checked it over: + + U. S. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C. + + Wire me immediately photograph and personal history + of Martin arrested two years ago as head of Anti-American League.--ARNOLD. + +As the message was ticked off, Arnold attached his receiving +telaphotograph instrument to another wire. + +It was a matter scarcely of seconds before a message was flashed back +to Arnold from Washington: + + Martin escaped from Fort Leavenworth six months + ago. Thought to be in Europe. Photograph follows. + + EDWARDS. + +"Very well," nodded Arnold with satisfaction. "I think I know what is +going on here now. Let us wait for the photograph." + +He went over to the new selenium telaphotograph and began adjusting it. + +Far away, in Washington, in a room in the War Department where Arnold +had already installed his system for the secret government service, a +clerk was also working over the sending part of the apparatus. + +No sooner had the clerk finished his preparations and placed a +photograph in the transmitter than the buzzing of the receiver which +Arnold had installed announced to him that the marvellous transmission +of a picture over a wire, one of the very newest triumphs of science, +was in progress. In the little telegraph office of the St. Germain, the +clerks and operators crowded about Arnold, watching breathlessly. + +"By Jove, it works!" cried one, no longer sceptical. + +Slowly a print was being evolved before their eyes as if by a spirit +hand. Arnold watched the synchronizer apparatus carefully as, point +after point, the picture developed. He bent over closely, his attention +devoted to every part of the complicated apparatus. + +At last the transmission of the photograph was completed and the +machine came to rest. Arnold almost tore the print from the receiver +and held it up to examine it. + +A smile of intense satisfaction crossed his face. + +"At last!" he muttered. + +There was a photograph of the man who had been identified with the arch +conspirators of two years before, Martin. Only, now he had changed his +name and appeared in a new role. + +It was Marcus Del Mar! + + . . . . . . . + +Already, in the library of his bungalow, Del Mar had summoned one of +his trusted men and was talking to him, when Henry, the valet, +reentered after his trip to see us. + +"They're coming as soon as they can," he reported. + +Del Mar smiled a cynical smile. "Good," he exclaimed triumphantly, +then, looking about at the electric fixtures, added to the man, "Let us +see where to install the thing." + +He walked over to the door and put his hand on the knob, then pointed +back at the fixtures. + +"That's the idea," he cried. "You can run the line from the brackets to +this door-knob and the mat. How's that?" + +"Very clever," flattered the man, putting on a heavy pair of rubber +gloves. + +Taking a pair of pliers and other tools from a closet in the library, +he began removing the electric fixture from the wall. As Del Mar +directed, the man ran a wire from the fixture along the moulding, and +down the side of a door, where he made a connection. + +In the meantime Del Mar brought out a wire mat and laid it in front of +the door where any one who entered or left would be sure to step on it. +The various connections made, the man placed a switch in the +concealment of a heavily-curtained window and replaced everything as he +found it. + +Thus it was that Elaine and I came at last to Del Mar's bungalow, I +must admit, with some misgivings. But I had gone too far to draw back +now and Elaine was more eager even than I was. We dismounted, tethered +our horses and went toward the house, where I rang the bell. + +Preparations for our reception had just been completed and Del Mar was +issuing his final instructions to his man, when the valet, Henry, ran +in hastily. + +"They're here, sir, now," he announced excitedly. + +"All right, I'm ready," nodded Del Mar, turning to his man again and +indicating a place back of the folds of the heavy curtains by the +window. "You get back there by that switch. Don't move--don't even +breathe. Now, Henry, let them in." + +As his valet withdrew Del Mar gazed about his library to make sure that +everything was all right. Just then the valet reappeared and ushered us +in. + +"Good morning," greeted Del Mar pleasantly. "I see that you got my note +and I'm glad you were so prompt. Won't you be seated?" + +Both Elaine and I were endeavoring to appear at ease. But there was a +decided tension in the atmosphere. We sat down, however. Del Mar did +not seem to notice anything wrong. + +"I've something at last to report to you about Kennedy," he said a +moment later, clearing his throat. + + . . . . . . . + +Aunt Josephine turned from us as Elaine and I rode off on our horses +from Dodge Hall considerably worried. + +Then an idea seemed to occur to her and she walked determinedly into +the house. + +"Jennings," she called to the butler, "have the limousine brought +around from the garage immediately." + +"Yes, ma'am," acquiesced the faithful Jennings, hurrying out. + +It was only a few minutes later that the car pulled around before the +door. Aunt Josephine bustled out and entered. + +"Fort Dale," she directed the driver, greatly agitated. "Ask for +Lieutenant Woodward." + +Out at Fort Dale, Woodward was much astonished when an orderly +announced that Aunt Josephine was waiting in her car to see him on very +urgent business. He ordered that she be admitted at once. + +"I hope there's nothing wrong?" he inquired anxiously, as he noted the +excitement and the worried look on her face. + +"I--I'm afraid there may be," she replied, sitting down and explaining +what Elaine and I had just done. + +The Lieutenant listened gravely. + +"And," she concluded, "they wouldn't listen to me, Lieutenant. Can't +you follow them and keep them out of trouble?" + +Woodward who had been listening to her attentively jumped up as she +concluded. "Yes," he cried sympathetically, "I can. I'll go myself with +some of the men from the post. If they get into any scrape, I'll rescue +them." + +Almost before she could thank him, Woodward had hurried from his +office, followed by her. On the parade grounds were some men. Quickly +he issued his orders and a number of them sprang up as he detailed them +off for the duty. It was only a moment before they returned, armed. An +instant later three large touring cars from the Fort swept up before +the office of Woodward. Into them the armed men piled. + +"Hurry--to the Del Mar bungalow," ordered the Lieutenant, jumping up +with the driver of the first car. "We must see that nothing happens to +Miss Dodge and Mr. Jameson." + +They shot away in a cloud of dust, followed hard by the other two cars, +dashing at a breakneck speed over the good roads. + +In the narrow, wooded roadway near Del Mar's, Woodward halted his car +and the soldiers all jumped out and gathered about him as hastily he +issued his directions. + +"Surround the house, first," he ordered. "Then arrest any one who goes +in or out." + +They scattered, forming a wide circle. As soon as word was passed that +the circle was completed, they advanced cautiously at a signal from +Woodward, taking advantage of every concealment. + + . . . . . . . + +Around in the kitchen back of Del Mar's, Henry, the valet, had retired +to visit one of the maids. He was about to leave when he happened to +look out of the window. + +"What's that?" he muttered to himself. + +He stepped back and peered cautiously through the window again. There +he could see a soldier, moving stealthily behind a bush. + +He drew back further and thought a minute. He must not alarm us. + +Then he wrote a few words on a piece of paper and tore it so that he +could hold it in his palm. Next he hurried from the kitchen and entered +the study. + +Del Mar had scarcely begun to outline to us a long and circumstantial +pseudo-investigation into what he was pleased to hint had been the +death of Kennedy, when we were interrupted again by the entrance of his +valet. + +"Excuse me, sir," apologized Henry, as Del Mar frowned, then noted that +something was wrong. + +As the valet said the words, he managed surreptitiously to hand to Del +Mar the paper which he had written, now folded up into a very small +space. + +I had turned from Del Mar when the valet entered, apparently to speak +to Elaine, but in reality to throw them off their guard. + +Under that cover I was able to watch the precious pair from the tail of +my eye, I saw Del Mar nod to the valet as though he understood that +some warning was about to be conveyed. Although nothing was said, Del +Mar was indicating by dumb show orders of some kind. I had no idea what +it was all about but I stood ready to whip out my gun on the slightest +suspicious move from either. + +"I hope you'll pardon me, Miss Dodge," Del Mar deprecated, as the valet +retreated toward the door to the kitchen and pantry. "But, you see, I +have to be housekeeper here, too, it seems." + +Actually, though he was talking to us, it was in a way that enabled him +by palming something in his hand, I fancied, to look at it. It was, +though I did not know it, the hastily scrawled warning of the valet. + +It must have been hard to read, for I managed by a quick shift at last +to catch just a fleeting glimpse that it was a piece of paper he held +in his hand. What was it, I asked myself, that he should be so secret +about it? Clearly, I reasoned, it must be something that was of +interest to Elaine and myself. If I must act ever, I concluded, now was +the time to do so. + +Suddenly I reached out and snatched the note from his hand. But before +I could read it Del Mar had sprung to his feet. + +At the same instant a man leaped out from behind the curtains. + +But I was on my guard. Already I had drawn my revolver and had them all +covered before they could make another move. + +"Back into that corner--by the window--all of you," I ordered, thinking +thus to get them together, more easily covered. Then, handing the note, +with my other hand, to Elaine, I said to her, "See what it says--quick." + +Eagerly she took it and read aloud, "House surrounded by soldiers." + +"Woodward," I cried. + +Still keeping them covered, I smiled quietly to myself and took one +step after another slowly to the door. Elaine followed. + +I reached the door and I remember that I had to step on a metal mat to +do so. I put my hand behind me and grasped the knob about to open the +door. + +As I did so, the man who had jumped from behind the curtain suddenly +threw down his upraised hands. Before I could fire, instantaneously in +fact, I felt a thrill as though a million needles had been thrust into +all parts of my body at once paralyzing every muscle and nerve. The gun +fell from my nerveless hand, clattering to the floor. + +The man had thrown an electric switch which had completed a circuit +from the metal mat to the door-knob through my body and then to the +light and power current of high power. There I was, held a prisoner, by +the electric current! + +At the same instant, also, Del Mar with an oath leaped forward and +seized Elaine by the arms. I struggled with the door-knob but I could +no more let go than I could move my feet off that mat. It was torture. + +"Henry!" called Del Mar to the valet. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Open the cabinet. Give me the helmets and the suits." + +The valet did so, bringing out a number of queer looking head-pieces +with a single weird eye of glass in the front, as well as rubber suits +of an outlandish design. While he was doing so, Del Mar stuffed a +handkerchief into Elaine's mouth to keep her quiet. + +By this time, Del Mar, as well as the man from behind the curtains and +the valet were provided with suits, and one at a time holding Elaine, +the others put them on. + +Del Mar moved toward Elaine, holding an extra helmet. He strapped it on +her, then started to force her into a suit. + +I struggled still, but in vain, to free myself from the door-knob and +mat. It was more than I could stand, and I sank down, half conscious. + +I revived only long enough to see that Del Mar had forced one of the +suits on Elaine finally. Then he pressed a button hidden on the side of +his desk and a secret panel in the wall opened. Picking up Elaine he +and the others hurried through into what looked like a dark passage and +the panel closed. + +They were gone. I put forth all my remaining strength in one last +desperate struggle. Somehow, I managed to kick the wire mat from under +my feet, breaking the contact. + +I staggered toward the panel, but fell to the floor, unconscious. + + . . . . . . . + +Outside, the iron ring, as Woodward had planned it, of soldiers were +looking about, alert for any noise or movement. Suddenly, two of them +who had been watching the grounds attentively signalled to each other +that they saw something. + +From the shrubbery emerged a most curious and uncouth figure, all in +rags, with long, unkempt hair and beard, sallow complexion, and +carrying a long staff. It might have been a tramp or a hermit, perhaps, +who was making his way toward the house. + +The two soldiers stole up noiselessly, close to him. Almost before he +knew it, the hermit felt himself seized from behind by four powerful +arms. Escape was impossible. + +"Let me go," he pleaded. "Can't you see I'm harming no one?" + +But the captors were obdurate. "Tell it to the Lieutenant," they +rejoined grimly forcing him to go before them by twisting his arms, +"Our orders were to seize any one entering or leaving." + +Protests were in vain. The hermit was forced to go before Lieutenant +Woodward who was just in the rear directing the advance. + +"Well," demanded Woodward, "what's your business?" + +For an instant the hermit stood mute. What should he do? He has reason +to know that the situation must be urgent. + +Slowly he raised his beard so that Woodward could see not only that it +was false but what his features looked like. + +"Arnold!" gasped Woodward, startled. "What brings you here? Elaine and +Jameson are in the house. We have it surrounded." + +Half an hour before, in the St. Germain, Arnold had no sooner received +the telaphotograph than he hurried up to his room. From a closet he had +produced another of his numerous disguises and quickly put it on. With +scant white locks falling over his shoulders and long scraggly beard, +he had made himself into a veritable wild man. Then he had put on the +finishing touches and had made his way toward Del Mar's. + +A look of intense anxiety now flashed over Arnold's face as he heard +Woodward's words. + +"But," he cried, "there is an underground passage from the house to the +shore." + +"The deuce!" muttered Woodward, more alarmed now than ever. "Come, +men,--to the house," he shouted out his orders as they passed them +around the line. "Arnold, lead the way!" + +Together the soldier and the strange figure rushed to the front door of +the bungalow. All was still inside. Heavy as it was, they broke it down +and burst in. + +"Walter, there's Walter!" cried Woodward as he saw me lying on the +floor of the study when they ran in. + +They hurried to me and as quickly as they could started to bring me +around. + +"Where's Elaine?" asked the strange figure of the hermit. + +Weakly, I was able only to point to the panel. But it was enough. The +soldiers understood. They dashed for it, looking for a button or an +opening. Finding neither, they started to bang on it and batter it in +with the butts of their guns. + +It was only seconds before it was splintered to kindling. There was the +passage. Instantly, Woodward, the hermit, and the rest plunged into it +utterly regardless of danger. On through the tunnel they went until at +last they came, unmolested, to the end. There they paused to look about. + +The hermit pointed to the ground. Clearly there were footprints, +leading to the shore. They followed them on down to the beach. + +"Look!" pointed the hermit. + +Off in the water they could now see the most curious sights. Four +strangely helmeted creatures were wading out, each like a huge +octopus-head, without tentacles. + +Only a few seconds before, Del Mar and his companions, carrying Elaine +had emerged from the secret entrance of the tunnel and had dashed for +the shore of the promontory. + +Stopping only an instant to consider what was to be done, Del Mar had +seen some one else emerge from the tunnel. + +"Come--we must get down there quickly," he shouted, hurriedly issuing +orders, as all three, carrying Elaine, waded out into the water. + +At sight of the strange figures the soldiers raised their guns and a +volley of shot rang out. + +"Stop!" shouted the hermit, his hair streaming wildly as he ran before +the guns and threw up as many as he could grasp with his outstretched +arms. "Do you want to kill her?" + +"Her?" repeated Woodward. + +All stood there, wonderingly, gazing at the queer creatures. + +What did it mean? + +Slowly, they disappeared--literally under the water. + +They were gone--with Elaine! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE TRIUMPH OF ELAINE + + +Half carrying, half forcing Elaine down into the water, Del Mar and his +two men, all four of the party clad in the outlandish submarine suits, +bore the poor girl literally along the bottom of the bay until they +reached a point which they knew to be directly under the entrance to +the secret submarine harbor. + +Del Mar's mind was working feverishly. Though he now had in his power +the girl he both loved and also feared as the stumbling-block in the +execution of his nefarious plans against America, he realized that in +getting her he had been forced to betray the precious secret of the +harbor itself. + +At the point where he knew that the harbor was above him, hidden safely +beneath the promontory, he took from under his arm a float which he +released. Upward it shot through the water. + +Above, in the harbor, a number of his men were either on guard or +lounging about. + +"A signal from the chief," cried a sentry, pointing to the float as it +bobbed up. + +"Kick off the lead shoes," signalled Del Mar to the others, under the +water. + +They did so and rose slowly to the surface, carrying Elaine up with +them. The men at the surface were waiting for them and helped to pull +Del Mar and his companions out of the water. + +"Come into the office, right away," beckoned Del Mar anxiously, +removing his helmet and leading the way. + +In the office, the others removed their helmets, while Del Mar took the +head-gear off Elaine. She stared about her bewildered. + +"Where am I?" she demanded. + +"A woman!" exclaimed the men in the harbor in surprise. + +"Never mind where you are," growled Del Mar, plainly worried. Then to +the men, he added, "We can't stay any longer. The harbor is discovered. +Get ready to leave immediately." + +Murmurs of anger and anxiety rose from the men as Del Mar related +briefly between orders what had just happened. + +Immediately there was a general scramble to make ready for the escape. + +In the corner of the office, Elaine, again in her skirt and shirtwaist +which the diving-suit had protected, sat open-eyed watching the +preparations of the men for the hasty departure. Some had been detailed +to get the rifles which they handed around to those as yet unarmed. Del +Mar took one as well as a cartridge belt. + +"Guard her," he shouted to one man indicating Elaine, "and if she gets +away this time, I'll shoot you." + +Then he led the others down the ledge until he came to a submarine +boat. The rest followed, still making preparations for a hasty flight. + + . . . . . . . + +Woodward along with Professor Arnold, in his disguise as a hermit, +stood for a moment surrounded by the soldiers, after the disappearance +of Elaine and Del Mar in the water. + +"I see it all, now," cried the hermit, "the submarine, the strange +disappearances, the messages in the water. They have a secret harbor +under those cliffs, with an entrance beneath the water line." + +Hastily he wrote a note on a piece of paper. + +"Send one of your men to my headquarters with that," he said, handing +it to Woodward to read: + +RODGERS,--Send new submarine telescope by bearer. You will find it in +case No. 17, closet No. 3.--ARNOLD. + +"Right away," nodded Woodward, comprehending and calling a soldier whom +he dispatched immediately with hurried instructions. The soldier +saluted and left almost on a run. + +Then Woodward turned and with Arnold lead the men up the shore, still +conferring on the best means of attacking the harbor. + +On a wharf along the shore Woodward, Arnold and the soldiers gathered, +waiting for the telescope. Already Woodward had had a fast launch +brought up, ready for use. + + . . . . . . . + +When Woodward, Arnold and the attacking party had discovered me +unconscious in Del Mar's study, there had been no time to wait for me +to regain full consciousness. They had placed me on a couch and run +into the secret passageway after Elaine. + +Now, however, I slowly regained my senses and, looking about, vaguely +began to realize what had happened. + +My first impulse was to search the study, looking in all the closets +and table drawers. In a corner was a large chest, I opened it. Inside +were several of the queer helmets and suits which I had seen Del Mar +use and one of which he had placed on Elaine. + +For some moments I examined them curiously, wondering what their use +could be. Somehow it seemed to me, if Del Mar had used them in the +escape, we should need them in the pursuit. + +Then my eye fell on the broken panel. I entered it and groped +cautiously down the passageway. At the end I gazed about, trying to +discover which way they had all gone. + +At last, down on the shore, before a wharf I could see Woodward, the +strange old hermit and the rest. + +I ran toward them, calling. + + . . . . . . . + +By this time the soldier who had been sent for the submarine telescope +arrived at last, with the telescope in sections in several long cases. + +"Good!" exclaimed the old hermit, almost seizing the package which the +soldier handed him. + +He unwrapped it and joined the various sections together. It was, as I +have said, a submarine telescope, but after a design entirely new, +differing from the ordinary submarine telescope. It had an arm bent at +right angles, with prismatic mirrors so that it was not only possible +to see the bottom of the sea but by an adjustment also to see at right +angles, or, as it were, around a corner. + +It was while he was joining this contrivance together that I came up +from the end of the secret passage down to the wharf. + +"Why, here's Jameson," greeted Woodward. "I'm glad you're so much +better." + +"Where's Elaine?" I interrupted breathlessly. + +They began to tell me. + +"Aren't you going to follow?" I cried. + +"Follow? How can we follow?" + +Excitedly I told of my discovery of the helmets. + +"Just the thing!" exclaimed the hermit. "Send some one back to get +them." + +Woodward quickly detached several soldiers to go with me and I hurried +back to the bungalow, while others carried the submarine telescope to +the boat. + +It was only a few minutes later that in Del Mar's own car, I drove up +to the wharf again and we unloaded the curious submarine helmets and +suits. + +Quickly Woodward posted several of his men to act as sentries on the +beach, then with the rest we climbed into the launch and slipped off +down the shore. + +The launch which Woodward had commandeered moved along in the general +direction which they had seen Del Mar and his men take with Elaine. +With the telescope over the side, we cruised about slowly in a circle, +Arnold gazing through the eyepiece. All of us were by this time in the +diving-suits which I had brought from Del Mar's, except that we had not +yet strapped on the helmets. + +Suddenly Arnold raised his hand and signalled to stop the launch. + +"Look!" he cried, indicating the eyepiece of the submarine telescope +which he had let down over the side. + +Woodward gazed into the eyepiece and then I did, also. There we could +see the side of a submerged submarine a short distance away, through +the cave-like entrance of what appeared to be a great under-water +harbor. + +"What shall we do?" queried Woodward. + +"Attack it now before they are prepared," replied the hermit +decisively. "Put on the helmets." + +All of us except those who were running the launch buckled on the +head-pieces, wrapping our guns in waterproof covers which we had found +with the suits. + +As soon as we had finished, one after another, we let ourselves over +the side of the boat and sank to the bottom. + +On the bottom we gathered and slowly, in the heavy unaccustomed helmets +and cumbersome suits, we made our way in a body through the entrance of +the harbor. + +Upward through the archway we went, clinging to rocks, anything, but +always upward. + +As we emerged a shot rang out. One of our men threw up his arms and +fell back into the water. + +On we pressed. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine sat in a corner of the office, mute, while the man who was +guarding her, heavily armed, paced up and down. + +Suddenly an overwhelming desire came over her to attempt an escape. But +no sooner had she made a motion as though to run through the door than +the man seized her and drove her back to her corner. + +"Take your positions here," ordered Del Mar to several of the men. "If +you see anybody come up through the water, these hand grenades ought to +settle them." + +Along the ledge the men were stationed each with a pile of the grenades +before him. + +"See!" cried one of them from the ledge as he caught sight of one of +our helmets appearing. + +The others crouched and stared. Del Mar himself hurried forward and +gazed in the direction the man indicated. There they could see +Woodward, Arnold and the rest of us just beginning to climb up out of +the water. + +Del Mar aimed and fired. One of the men had thrown up his arms with a +cry and fallen back into the water. + +Invaders seemed to swarm up now in every direction from the water. + +On the semi-circular ledge about one side of the harbor, Del Mar's men +were now ranged in close order near a submarine, whose hatch was open +to receive them, ready to repel the attack and if necessary retreat +into the under-sea boat. + +They fired sharply at the figures that rose from the water. Many of the +men fell back, hit, but, in turn, a large number managed to gain a +foothold on the ledge. + +Led by Woodward and Arnold, they formed quickly and stripped off the +waterproof coverings of their weapons, returning the fire sharply. +Things were more equal now. Several of Del Mar's men had fallen. The +smoke of battle filled the narrow harbor. + +In the office Elaine listened keenly to the shots. What did it all +mean? Clearly it could be nothing less than assistance coming. + +The man on guard heard also and his uncontrollable curiosity took him +to the door. As he gazed out Elaine saw her chance. She made a rush at +him and seized him, wresting the rifle from his hands before he knew +it. She sprang back just as he drew his revolver and fired at her. The +shot just narrowly missed her, but she did not lose her presence of +mind. She fired the rifle in turn and the man fell. + +A little shudder ran over her. She had killed a man! But the firing +outside grew fiercer. She had no time to think. She stepped over the +body, her face averted, and ran out. There she could see Del Mar and +his men. Many of them by this time had been killed or wounded. + +"We can't beat them; they are too many for us," muttered Del Mar. +"We'll have to get away if we can. Into the submarine!" he ordered. + +Hastily they began to pile into the open hatch. + +Just as Del Mar started to follow them, he caught sight of Elaine +running out of the office. Almost in one leap he was at her side. +Before she could raise her rifle and fire he had seized it. She +managed, however, to push him off and get away from him. + +She looked about for some weapon. There on the ledge lay one of the +hand grenades. She picked it up and hurled it at him, but he dodged and +it missed him. On it flew, landing close to the submarine. As it +exploded, another of Del Mar's men toppled over into the water. + +Between volleys, Woodward, Arnold and the rest pulled off their helmets. + +"Elaine!" cried Arnold, catching sight of her in the hands of Del Mar. + +Quickly, at the head of such men as he could muster, the hermit led a +charge. + +In the submarine the last man was waiting for Del Mar. As the hermit +ran forward with several soldiers between Del Mar and the submarine, it +was evident that Del Mar would be cut off. + +The man at the hatch climbed down into the boat. It was useless to +wait. He banged shut and clamped the hatch. Slowly the submarine began +to sink. + +Del Mar by this time had overcome Elaine and started to run toward the +submarine with her. But then he stopped short. + +There was a queer figure of a hermit leading some soldiers. He was cut +off. + +"Back into the office!" he growled, dragging Elaine. + +He banged shut the door just as the hermit and the soldiers made a rush +at him. On the door they battered. But it was in vain. The door was +locked. + +In the office Del Mar hastily went to a corner, after barring the door, +and lifted a trap-door in the floor, known only to himself. + +Elaine did not move or make any attempt to escape, for Del Mar in +addition to having a vicious looking automatic in his hand kept a +watchful eye on her. + +Outside the office, the soldiers, led by the hermit and Woodward +continued to batter at the door. + +"Now--go down that stairway--ahead of me," ordered Del Mar. + +Elaine obeyed tensely, and he followed into his emergency exit, closing +the trap. + +"Beat harder, men," urged the hermit, as the soldiers battered at the +door. + +They redoubled their efforts and the door bent and swayed. + +At last it fell in under the sheer weight of the blows. + +"By George--he's gone--with Elaine," cried the hermit, looking at the +empty office. + +Feverishly they hunted about for a means of escape but could find none. + +"Pound the floor and walls with the butts of your guns," ordered +Arnold. "There must be some place that is hollow." + +They did so, going over all inch by inch. + +Meanwhile, through the passage, along a rocky stairway, Del Mar +continued to drive Elaine before him, up and ever up to the level of +the land. + +At last Elaine, followed by Del Mar, emerged from the rocky passage in +a cleft in the cliffs, far above the promontory. + +"Go on!" he ordered, forcing her to go ahead of him. + +They came finally to a small hut on a cliff overlooking the real harbor. + +"Enter!" demanded Del Mar. + +Still meekly, she obeyed. + +Del Mar seized her and before she knew it had her bound and gagged. + +Down in the little office our men continued to search for the secret +exit. + +"Here's a place that gives an echo," shouted one of them. + +As he found the secret trap and threw it open, the hermit stripped off +the cumbersome diving-suit and jumped in, followed by Woodward, myself +and the soldiers. + +Upward we climbed until at last we came to the opening. There we paused +and looked about. Where was Del Mar? Where was Elaine? We could see no +trace of them. + +Finally, however, Arnold discovered the trail in the grass and we +followed him, slowly picking up the tracks. + + . . . . . . . + +Knowing that the submarine would cruise about and wait for him, Del Mar +decided to leave Elaine in the hut while he went out and searched for a +boat in which to look for the submarine. + +Coming out of the hut, he gazed about and moved off cautiously. +Stealthily he went down to the shore and there looked up and down +intently. + +A short distance away from him was a pier in the process of +construction. Men were unloading spiles from a cable car that ran out +on the pier on a little construction railway, as well as other material +with which to fill in the pier. At the end of the dock lay a +power-boat, moored, evidently belonging to some one interested in the +work on the pier. + +The workmen had just finished unloading a car full and were climbing +back on the empty car, which looked as if it had once been a trolley. +As Del Mar looked over the scene of activity, he caught sight of the +powerboat. + +"Just what I want," he muttered to himself. "I must get Elaine. I can +get away in that." + +The workmen signalled to the engineer above and the car ran up the +wharf and up an incline at the shore-end. + +The moment the car disappeared, Del Mar hurried away in the direction +he had come. + +At the top of the grade, he noticed, was a donkey engine which operated +the cable that drew the car up from the dock, and at the top of the +incline was a huge pile of material. + +The car had been drawn up to the top of the grade by this time. There +the engineer who operated the engine stopped it. + +Just then the whistle blew for the noon hour. The men quit work and +went to get their dinner pails, while the engineer started to draw the +fire. Beside the engine, he began to chop some wood, while the car was +held at the top of the grade by the cable. + + . . . . . . . + +In our pursuit we came at last in sight of a lonely hut. Evidently that +must be a rendezvous of Del Mar. But was he there? Was Elaine there? We +must see first. + +While we were looking about and debating what was the best thing to do, +who should appear hurrying up the hill but Del Mar himself, going +toward the hut. + +As we caught sight of him, Arnold sprang forward. Woodward and I, +followed by the soldiers also jumped out. + +Del Mar turned and ran down the hill again with us after him, in full +cry. + +While we had been waiting, some of the soldiers had deployed down the +hill and now, hearing our shouts, turned, and came up again. + +Beside his engine, we could see an engineer chopping wood. He paused +now in his chopping and was gazing out over the bay. Suddenly he had +seen something out in the water that had attracted his attention and +was staring at it. There it moved, nothing less than a half-submerged +submarine. + +As the engineer gazed off at it, Del Mar came up, unseen, behind him +and stood there, also watching the submarine, fascinated. + +Just then behind him Del Mar heard us pursuing. He looked about as we +ran toward him and saw that we had formed a wide circle, with the men +down the hill, that almost completely surrounded him. There was no +chance for escape. It was hopeless. + +But it was not Del Mar's nature to give up. He gave one last glance +about. There was the trolley car that had been converted into a cable +way. It offered just one chance in a thousand. Suddenly his face +assumed an air of desperate determination. + +He sprang toward the engineer and grappled with him, seeking to wrest +the axe from his hand. Every second counted. Our circle was now +narrowing down and closing in on him. + +Del Mar managed to knock out the engineer, taken by surprise, just as +our men fired a volley. In the struggle, Del Mar was unharmed. Instead +he just managed to get the axe. + +An instant later a leap landed him on the cable car. With a blow of the +axe he cut the cable. The car began to move slowly down the hill on the +grade. + +Some of the men were down below in its path. But the onrushing cable +car was too much for them. They could only leap aside to save +themselves. + +On down the incline, gathering momentum every second, the car dashed, +Del Mar swaying crazily but keeping his footing. We followed as fast as +we could, but it was useless. + +Out on the wharf it sped at a terrific pace. At the end it literally +catapulted itself into the water, crashing from the end of the pier. As +it did so, Del Mar gave a flying leap out into the harbor, struck the +water with a clean dive and disappeared. + +On down the hill we hurried. There in the water was Del Mar swimming +rapidly. Almost before we knew it, we saw him raise his hand and +signal, shouting. + +There only a few yards away was the periscope of a submarine. As we +watched, we could see that it had seen him, had turned in his +direction. Would they get him? + +We watched, fascinated. Some of our men fired, as accurately as they +could at a figure bobbing so uncertainly on the water. + +Meanwhile the submarine approached closer and rose a bit so that the +hatchway cleared the waves. It opened. One of the foreign agents +assisted Del Mar in. + +He had escaped at last! + + . . . . . . . + +It was most heart-breaking to have had Del Mar so nearly in our grasp +and then to have lost him. We looked from one to another, in despair. + +Only Arnold, in his disguise as a hermit, seemed undiscouraged. +Suddenly he turned to Woodward. + +"What time is it?" he asked eagerly. + +"A little past noon." + +"The Kennedy wireless torpedo!" he exclaimed. "It arrived to-day. +Burnside is trying it out." + +Suddenly there flashed over me the recollection of the marvellous +invention that Kennedy had made for the Government just before his +disappearance, as well as the memory of the experience I had had once +with the intrepid Burnside. + +Woodward's face showed a ray of interest and hope in the overwhelming +gloom that had settled on us all. + +"You and Jameson go to Fort Dale, quick," directed Arnold eagerly. "I'm +not fit. Get Burnside. Have him bring the torpedo in the air-boat." + +We needed no further urging. It was a slender chance. But I reflected +that the submarine could not run through the bay totally submerged. It +must have its periscope in view. We hurried away, leaving Arnold, who +slowly mounted the hill again. + +How we did it, I don't know, but we managed to get to the Fort in +record time. There near the aeroplane hangar, sure enough, was Burnside +with some other men adjusting the first real wireless Kennedy torpedo, +the last word in scientific warfare, making an aerial torpedo-boat. + +We ran up to the hangar calling to Burnside excitedly. It was only a +moment later, that he began to issue orders in his sharp staccato. His +men swarmed forward and took the torpedo from the spot where they had +been examining it, adjusting it now beneath the hydroaeroplane. + +"Jameson, you come with me," he asked. "You went before." + +We rose quickly from the surface and planed along out over the harbor. +Far off we could see the ripple from the periscope of the submarine +that was bearing Del Mar away. Would Kennedy's invention for which Del +Mar had dared so much in the first place prove his final undoing? We +sped ahead. + +Down below in the submersible Del Mar was giving hasty orders to his +men, to dip down as soon as all the shipping and the sand bars were +cleared. + +I strained my eyes through the glasses reporting feverishly to Burnside +what I saw so that he could steer his course. + +"There it is," I urged. "Keep on--just to the left." + +"I see it," returned Burnside a moment later catching with his naked +eye the thin line of foam on the water left by the periscope. "Would +you mind getting that torpedo ready?" he continued. "I'll tell you just +what to do. They'll try to duck as soon as they see us, but it won't be +any use. They can't get totally submerged fast enough." + +Following Burnside's directions I adjusted the firing apparatus of the +torpedo. + +"Let it go!" shouted Burnside. + +I did so, as he volplaned down almost to the water. The torpedo fell, +sank, bobbed up, then ran along just tinder the surface. Already I was +somewhat familiar with the wireless device that controlled it, so that +while Burnside steadied the aircraft I could direct it, as he coached +me. + +The submarine saw it coming now. But it was too late. It could not +turn; it could not submerge in time. + +A terrific explosion followed as the torpedo came in contact with the +boat, throwing a column of water high in the air. A yawning hole was +blown in the very side of the submarine. One could see the water rush +in. + +Inside, Del Mar and his men were now panic-stricken. Some of them +desperately tried to plug the hole. But it was hopeless. Others fell, +fainting, from the poisonous gases that were developed. + +Of them all, Del Mar's was the only cool head. + +He realized that all was over. There was nothing left to do but what +other submarine heroes had done in better causes. He seized a piece of +paper and hastily wrote: + + Tell my emperor I failed only because + Craig Kennedy was against me.--DEL MAR. + +He had barely time to place the message in a metal float near-by. Down +the submarine, now full of water, sank. + +With his last strength he flung the message clear of the wreckage as it +settled on the mud on the bottom of the bay. + +Burnside and I could but stare in grim satisfaction at the end of the +enemy of ourselves and our country. + + . . . . . . . + +Up the hillside plodded Professor Arnold still in his wild disguise as +the hermit. Now and then he turned and cast an anxious glance out over +the bay at the fast disappearing periscope of the submarine. + +Once he paused. That was when he saw the hydroaeroplane with Burnside +and myself carrying the wireless torpedo. + +Again he paused as he plodded up, this time with a gasp, of extreme +satisfaction. He has seen the water-spout and heard the explosion that +marked the debacle of Del Mar. + +The torpedo had worked. The most dangerous foreign agent of the +coalition of America's enemies was dead, and his secrets had gone with +him to the bottom of the sea. Perhaps no one would ever know what the +nation had been spared. + +He did not pause long, now. More eagerly he plodded up the hill, until +he came to the hut. + +He pushed open the door. There lay Elaine, still bound. Quickly he cut +the cords and tore the gag from her mouth. + +As he did so, his own beard fell off. He was no longer the hermit. Nor +was he what I myself had thought him, Arnold. + +"Craig!" cried Elaine in eager surprise. + +Kennedy said not a word as he grasped her two hands. + +"And you were always around us, protecting Walter and me," she half +laughed, half cried hysterically. "I knew it--I knew it!" + +Kennedy said nothing. His heart was too happy. + +"Yes," he said simply, as he gazed deeply into her great eyes, "my work +on the case is done." + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Romance of Elaine, by Arthur B. Reeve + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE *** + +***** This file should be named 5094.txt or 5094.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/9/5094/ + +Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Reeve + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5094] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 24, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + +THE CRAIG KENNEDY SERIES + +THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE + +A DETECTIVE NOVEL + +Sequel to the "Exploits" + +BY + +ARTHUR B. REEVE + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I THE SERPENT SIGN + + II THE CRYPTIC RING + + III THE WATCHING EYE + + IV THE VENGEANCE OF WU FANG + + V THE SHADOWS OF WAR + + VI THE LOST TORPEDO + + VII THE GRAY FRIAR + +VIII THE VANISHING MAN + + IX THE SUBMARINE HARBOR + + X THE CONSPIRATORS + + XI THE WIRELESS DETECTIVE + + XII THE DEATH CLOUD + +XIII THE SEARCHLIGHT GUN + + XIV THE LIFE CHAIN + + XV THE FLASH + + XVI THE DISAPPEARING HELMETS + +XVII THE TRIUMPH OF ELAINE + + + + +THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE SERPENT SIGN + + +Rescued by Kennedy at last from the terrible incubus of Bennett's +persecution in his double life of lawyer and master criminal, +Elaine had, for the first time in many weeks, a feeling of +security. + +Now that the strain was off, however, she felt that she needed +rest and a chance to recover herself and it occurred to her that a +few quiet days with "Aunt" Tabitha, who had been her nurse when +she was a little girl, would do her a world of good. + +She sent for Aunt Tabby, yet the fascination of the experiences +through which she had just gone still hung over her. She could not +resist thinking and reading about them, as she sat, one morning, +with the faithful Rusty in the conservatory of the Dodge house. + +I had told the story at length in the Star, and the heading over +it caught her eye. + +It read: + + THE CLUTCHING HAND DEAD + + ------ + + Double Life Exposed by Craig Kennedy + + Perry Bennett, the Famous Young Lawyer, Takes + Poison--Kennedy Now on Trail of Master Criminal's + Hidden Millions. + + ---- + +As Elaine glanced down the column, Jennings announced that Aunt +Tabby, as she loved to call her old friend, had arrived, and was +now in the library with Aunt Josephine. + +With an exclamation of delight, Elaine dropped the paper and, +followed by Rusty, almost ran into the library. + +Aunt Tabby was a stout, elderly, jolly-faced woman, precisely the +sort whom Elaine needed to watch over her just now. + +"Oh, I'm so glad to see you," half laughed Elaine as she literally +flung herself into her nurse's arms. "I feel so unstrung--and I +thought that if I could just run off for a few days with you and +Joshua in the country where no one would know, it might make me +feel better. You have always been so good to me. Marie! Are my +things packed? Very well. Then, get my wraps." + +Her maid left the room. + +"Bless your soul," mothered Aunt Tabby stroking her soft golden +hair, "I'm always glad to have you in that fine house you bought +me. And, faith, Miss Elaine, the house is a splendid place to rest +in but I don't know what's the matter with it lately. Joshua says +its haunts--" + +"Haunts?" repeated Elaine in amused surprise. "Why, what do you +mean?" + +Marie entered with the wraps before Aunt Tabby could reply and +Jennings followed with the baggage. + +"Nonsense," continued Elaine gaily, as she put on her coat, and +turned to bid Aunt Josephine good-bye. "Good-bye, Tabitha," said +her real aunt. "Keep good care of my little girl." + +"That I will," returned the nurse. "We don't have all these +troubles out in the country that you city folks have." + +Elaine went out, followed by Rusty and Jennings with the luggage. + +"Now for a long ride in the good fresh air," sighed Elaine as she +leaned back on the cushions of the Dodge limousine and patted +Rusty, while the butler stowed away the bags. + +The air certainly did, if anything, heighten the beauty of Elaine +and at last they arrived at Aunt Tabby's, tired and hungry. + +The car stopped and Elaine, Aunt Tabby and the dog got out. There, +waiting for them, was "Uncle" Joshua, as Elaine playfully called +him, a former gardener of the Dodges, now a plain, honest +countryman on whom the city was fast encroaching, a jolly old +fellow, unharmed by the world. + +Aunt Tabby's was an attractive small house, not many miles from +New York, yet not in the general line of suburban travel. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy and I had decided to bring Bennett's papers and documents +over to the laboratory to examine them. We were now engaged in +going over the great mass of material which he had collected, in +the hope of finding some clue to the stolen millions which he must +have amassed as a result of his villainy. The table was stacked +high. + +A knock at the door told us that the expressman had arrived and a +moment later he entered, delivering a heavy box. Kennedy signed +for it and started to unpack it. + +I was hard at work, when I came across a large manila envelope +carefully sealed, on which were written the figures "$7,000,000." +Too excited even to exclaim, I tore the envelope open and examined +the contents. + +Inside was another envelope. I opened that. It contained merely a +blank piece of paper! + +With characteristic skill at covering his tracks, Bennett had also +covered his money. Puzzled, I turned the paper over and over, +looking at it carefully. It was a large sheet of paper, but it +showed nothing. + +"Huh!" I snorted to myself, "confound him." + +Yet I could not help smiling at my own folly, a minute later, in +thinking that the Clutching Hand would leave any information in +such an obvious place as an envelope. I threw the paper into a +wire basket on the desk and went on sorting the other stuff. + +Kennedy had by this time finished unpacking the box, and was +examining a bottle which he had taken from it. + +"Come here, Walter," he called at length. "Ever see anything like +that?" + +"I can't say," I confessed, getting up to go to him. "What is it?" + +"Bring a piece of paper." he added. + +I went back to the desk where I had been working and looked about +hastily. My eye fell on the blank sheet of paper which I had taken +from Bennett's envelope, and I picked it up from the basket. + +"Here's one," I said, handing it to him. "What are you doing?" + +Kennedy did not answer directly, but began to treat the paper with +the liquid from the bottle. Then he lighted a Bunsen burner and +thrust the paper into the flame. The paper did not burn! + +"A new system of fire-proofing," laughed Craig, enjoying my +astonishment. + +He continued to hold the paper in the flame. Still it did not +burn. + +"See?" he went on, withdrawing it, and starting to explain the +properties of the new fire-proofer. + +He had scarcely begun, when he stopped in surprise. He had +happened to glance at the paper again, bent over to examine it +more intently, and was now looking at it in surprise. + +I looked also. There, clearly discernible on the paper, was a +small part of what looked like an architect's drawing of a +fireplace. + +Craig looked up at me, nonplussed. "Where did you say you got +that?" he asked. + +"It was a blank piece of paper among Bennett's effects," I +returned, as mystified as he, pointing at the littered desk at +which I had been working. + +Kennedy said nothing, but thrust the paper back again into the +flame. Slowly, the heat of the burner seemed to bring out the +complete drawing of the fireplace. + +We looked at it, even more mystified. "What is it, do you +suppose?" I queried. + +"I think," he replied slowly, "that it was drawn with sympathetic +ink. The heat of the burner brought it out into sight." + +What was it about? + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine had gone to bed that night at Aunt Tabby's in the room +which her old nurse had fixed up especially for her. It was a very +attractive little room with dainty chintz curtains and covers and +for the first time in many weeks Elaine slept soundly and +fearlessly. + +Down-stairs, in the living-room, Rusty also was asleep, his nose +between his paws. + +The living-room was in keeping with everything at Aunt Tabby's, +plain, neat, homelike. On one side was a large fireplace that gave +to it an air of quaint hospitality. + +Suddenly Rusty woke up, his ears pointed at this fireplace. He +stood a moment, listening, then, with a bark of alarm he sped +swiftly from the living-room, up the stairs at a bound, until he +came to Elaine's room. + +Elaine felt his cold nose at her hand and stirred, then awoke. + +"What is it, Rusty?" she asked, mindful of the former days when +Rusty gave warning of the Clutching Hand and his emissaries. + +Rusty wagged his tail. Something was wrong. + +Elaine followed him down to the living-room. She went over and +lighted the electric lamp on the table, then turned to Rusty. + +"Well, Rusty?" she asked, almost as if he were human. + +She had no need to repeat the question. Rusty was looking straight +at the fireplace. + +Elaine listened. Sure enough, she heard strange noises. Was that +Aunt Tabby's "haunt"? Whatever it was, it sounded as if it came up +from the very depths of the earth. + +She could not make out just what it sounded like. It might have +been some one striking a piece of iron, a bolt, with a sledge. + +What was it? + +She continued to listen in wonder, then ran to Aunt Tabby's +bedroom door, on the first floor, and knocked. + +Aunt Tabby woke up and shook Joshua. + +"Aunt Tabby! Aunt Tabby!" called Elaine. + +"Yes, my dear," answered the old nurse, now fully awake and +straightening her nightcap. "Joshua!" + +Together the old couple came out into the living-room, still in +their nightclothes, Joshua yawning sleepily still. + +"Listen!" whispered Elaine. + +There was the noise again. This time it was more as though some +one were beating a rat-tat-tat with something on a rock. It was +weird, uncanny, as all stood there, none knowing where the strange +noises came from. + +"It's the haunts!" cried Aunt Tabby, trembling a bit. "For three +nights now we've been hearing these noises." + +Around and around the room they walked, still trying to locate the +strange sounds. Were they under the floor? It was impossible to +say. They gave it up and stood there, looking blankly at each +other. Was it the work of human or superhuman hands? + +Finally Joshua went to a table drawer and opened it. He took out a +huge, murderous-looking revolver. + +"Here, Miss Elaine," he urged, pressing it on her, "take this-- +keep it near you!" + +The noises ceased at length, as strangely as they had begun. + +Half an hour later, they had all gone back to bed and were asleep. +But Elaine's sleep now was fitful, a constant procession of faces +flitted before her closed eyes. + +Suddenly, she woke with a start and stared into the semi-darkness. +Was that face real, or a dream face? Was it the hideous helmeted +face that had dragged her down into the sewer once? That man was +dead. Who was this? + +She gazed at the bedroom window, holding the huge revolver +tightly. There, vague in the night light, appeared a figure. +Surely that was no dream face of the oxygen helmet. Besides, it +was not the same helmet. + +She sat bolt upright and fired, pointblank, at the window, +shivering the glass. A second later she had leaped from the bed, +switched on the lights and was running to the sill. + +Down-stairs, Aunt Tabby and Uncle Joshua had heard the shot. +Joshua was now wide awake. He seized his old shotgun and ran out +into the livingroom. Followed by Aunt Tabby, he hurried to Elaine. + +"Wh-what was it?" he asked, puffing at the exertion of running up- +stairs. + +"I saw--a face--at the window--with some kind of thing over it!" +gasped Elaine. "It was like one I saw once before." + +Uncle Joshua did not wait to hear any more. With the gun pointed +ahead of him, ready for instant action, he ran out of the room and +into the garden, beneath Elaine's window. + +He looked about for signs of an intruder. There was not a sound. +No one was about, here. + +"I don't see any one," he called up to Elaine and Atint Tabby in +the window. + +He happened to look down at the ground. Before him was a small +box. He picked it up. + +"Here's something, though," he said. + +Joshua went back into the house. + +"What is it?" asked Elaine as he rejoined the women. + +She took the curious little box and unfastened the cover. As she +opened it, she drew back. There in the box was a little ivory +figure of a man, all hunched up and shrunken, a hideous figure. +She recoiled from it--it reminded her too much of the Chinese +devil-god she had seen,--and she dropped the box. + +For a moment all stood looking at it in horrified amazement. + + . . . . . . . + +It was the afternoon following the day of our strange discovery of +the fireplace done in sympathetic ink on the apparently blank +sheet of paper in Bennett's effects, when the speaking-tube +sounded and I answered it. + +"Why--it's Elaine," I exclaimed. + +Kennedy's face showed the keenest pleasure at the unexpected +visit. "Tell her to come right up," he said quickly. + +I opened the door for her. + +"Why--Elaine--I'm awfully glad to see you," he greeted, "but I +thought you were rusticating." + +"I was, but, Craig, it seems to me that wherever I go, something +happens," she returned. "You know, Aunt Tabby said there were +haunts. I thought it was an old woman's fear--but last night I +heard the strangest noises out there, and I thought I saw a face +at the window--a face in a helmet. And when Joshua went out, this +is what he found on the ground under my window." + +She handed Kennedy a box, a peculiar affair which she touched +gingerly and only with signs of the greatest aversion. + +Kennedy opened it. There, in the bottom of the box, was a little +ivory devil-god. He looked at it curiously a moment. + +"Let me see," he ruminated, still regarding the sign. "The house +you bought for Aunt Tabby, once belonged to Bennett, didn't it?" + +Elaine nodded her head. "Yes, but I don't see what that can have +to do with it," she agreed, adding with a shudder, "Bennett is +dead." + +Kennedy had taken a piece of paper from the desk where he had put +it away carefully. "Have you ever seen anything that looks like +this?" he asked, handing her the paper. + +Elaine looked at the plan carefully, as Kennedy and I scanned her +face. She glanced up, her expression showing plainly the wonder +she felt. + +"Why, yes," she answered. "That looks like Aunt Tabby's fireplace +in the living-room." + +Kennedy said nothing for a moment. Then he seized his hat and +coat. + +"If you don't mind," he said, "we'll go back there with you." + +"Mind?" she repeated. "Just what I had hoped you would do." + + . . . . . . . + +Wu Fang, the Chinese master mind, had arrived in New York. + +Beside Wu, the inscrutable, Long Sin, astute though he was, was a +mere pigmy--his slave, his advance agent, as it were, a tentacle +sent out to discover the most promising outlet for the nefarious +talents of his master. + +New York did not know of the arrival of Wu Fang, the mysterious-- +yet. But down in the secret recesses of Chinatown, in the ways +that are devious and dark, the oriental crooks knew--and trembled. + +Thus it happened that Long Sin was not permitted to enjoy even the +foretaste of Bennett's spoils which he had forced from him after +his weird transformation into his real self, the Clutching Hand, +when the Chinaman had given him the poisoned draught that had put +him into his long sleep. + +He had obtained the paper showing where the treasure amassed by +the Clutching Hand was hidden, but Wu Fang, his master, had come. + +Wu had immediately established himself in the most sumptuous of +apartments, hidden behind the squalid exterior of the ordinary +tenement building in Chinatown. + +The night following his arrival, Wu Fang was reclining on a divan, +when his servant announced that Long Sin was at the door. + +As Long Sin entered, it was evident that, cunning and shrewd +though he was himself, Wu was indeed his master. He approached in +fear and awe, cringing low. + +"Have you brought the map with you?" asked Wu. + +Long Sin bowed low again, and drew from under his coat the paper +which he had obtained from Bennett. For a moment the two, master +and slave in guile, bent over, closely studying it. + +At one point in the map Long Sin's bony finger paused over a note +which Bennett had made: + +BEWARE POISONED GAS UPON OPENING COMPARTMENT. + +"And you think you can trace it out?" asked Wu. + +"Without a doubt," bowed Long Sin. + +He went over to a bag near-by, which he had already sent up by +another servant, and opened it. Inside was an oxygen helmet. He +replaced it, after showing it to Wu. + +"With the aid of the science of the white devil, we shall overcome +the science of the white devil," purred Long Sin subtly. + +Outside, Wu had already ordered a car to wait, and together the +two drove off rapidly. Into the country, they sped, until at last +they came to a lonely turn in a lonely road, somewhat removed from +the section that was rapidly being built up as population reached +out from the city, but on a single-tracked trolley line. + +Long Sin alighted and disappeared with a parting word of +instruction from Wu who remained in the car. The Chinaman carried +with him the heavy bag with the oxygen helmet. + +Along this interurban trolley the cars made only half-hourly trips +at this time of night. Long Sin hurried down the road until he +came to a trolley pole, then looked hastily at his watch. It was +twenty minutes at least before the next car would pass. + +Quickly, almost monkey-like, he climbed up the pole, carrying with +him the end of a wire which he had taken from the bag. + +Having thrown this over the feed wire, he slid quickly to the +ground again. Then, carrying the other end of the wire in his +rubber-gloved hands, he made his way through the underbrush, in +and out, almost like the serpent he was, until he came to a +passageway in the rough and uncleared hillside--a small opening +formed by the rocks. + +It was dark inside, but he did not hesitate to enter, carrying the +wire and the bag with him. + + . . . . . . . + +It was nightfall before we arrived with Elaine at Aunt Tabby's. We +entered the living-room and Elaine introduced us both to Aunt +Tabby and her husband. + +It was difficult to tell whether Elaine's old nurse was more glad +to see her than the faithful Rusty who almost overwhelmed her even +after so short an absence. + +In the midst of the greetings, I took occasion to look over the +living-room. It was a very cozy room, simply and tastefully +furnished, and I fancied that I could see in the neatness of Aunt +Tabby a touch of Elaine's hand, for she had furnished it for her +faithful old friend. + +I followed Kennedy's eyes, and saw that he was looking at the +fireplace. Sure enough, it was the same in design as the fireplace +which the heat had so unexpectedly brought out in sympathetic ink +on the blank sheet of paper. + +Kennedy lost no time in examining it, and we crowded around him as +he went over it inch by inch, following the directions on the +drawing. + +At one point in the drawing a peculiar protuberance was marked. +Kennedy was evidently hunting for that. He found it at last and +pressed the sort of lever in several ways. Nothing seemed to +happen. But finally, almost by chance, he seemed to discover the +secret. + +A small section at the side of the fireplace opened up, disclosing +an iron ladder, leading down into one of those characteristic +hiding-places in which the Clutching Hand used to delight. + +Kennedy looked at the mysterious opening some time, as if trying +to fathom the mystery. + +"Let's go down and explore it," I suggested, taking a step toward +the ladder. + +Kennedy reached out and pulled me back. Then without a word he +pressed the little lever and the door closed. + +"I think we'd better wait a while, Walter," he decided. "I would +rather hear Aunt Tabby's haunts myself." + +He carefully went over not only the rest of the house but the +grounds about it, without discovering anything. + +Aunt Tabby, with true country hospitality, seemed unable to +receive guests without feeding them, and, although we had had a +big dinner at a famous road-house on the way out, still none of us +could find it in our hearts to refuse her hospitality. Even that +diversion, however, did not prevent us from talking of nothing +else but the strange noises, and I think, as we waited, we all got +into the frame of mind which would have manufactured them even if +there had been none. + +We were sitting about the room when suddenly the most weird and +uncanny rappings began. Rusty was on his feet in a moment, barking +like mad. We looked from one to another. + +It was impossible to tell where the noises came from, or even to +describe them. They were certainly not ghostly rappings. In fact, +they sounded more like some twentieth century piece of machinery. + +We listened a moment, then Kennedy walked over to the fireplace. +"You can explore it with me now, Walter," he said quietly, +touching the lever and opening the panel which disclosed the +ladder. + +He started down the ladder and I followed closely. Elaine was +about to join us, when Kennedy paused on the topmost round and +looked up at her. + +"No, no, young lady," he said with mock severity, "you have been +through enough already--you stay where you are." + +Elaine argued and begged but Kennedy was obdurate. It was only +when Aunt Tabby and Joshua added their entreaties that she +consented reluctantly to remain. + +Together, Craig and I descended into the darkness about eight or +ten feet. There we found a passageway, excavated through the earth +and rock, along which we crept. It was crooked and uneven, and we +stumbled, but kept going slowly ahead. + +Kennedy, who was a few feet in front of me, stopped suddenly and I +almost fell over him. + +"What is it?" I whispered. + + . . . . . . . + +Long Sin had made his way from the opening of the cave to the +point on the plan which was marked by a cross, and there he had +set up his electric drill which was connected to the trolley wire. +He was working furiously to take advantage of the fifteen minutes +or so before the next car would pass. + +The tunnel had been widened out at this point into a small +subterranean chamber. It was dug out of the earth and the roof was +roughly propped up, most of the weight being borne by one main +wooden prop which, in the dampness, had now become old and rotten. + +On one side it was evident that Long Sin had already been at work, +digging and drilling through the earth and rock. He had gone so +far now that he had disclosed what looked like the face of a small +safe set directly into the rock. + +As he worked he would stop from time to time and consult the map. +Then he would take up drilling again. + +He had now come to the point on which Bennett had written his +warning. Quickly he opened the bag and took out the oxygen helmet, +which he adjusted carefully over his head. Then he set to work +with redoubled energy. + +It was that drill as well as his pounding on the rock which had so +alarmed Elaine and Aunt Tabby the night before and which now had +been the signal for Kennedy's excursion of discovery. + + . . . . . . . + +Our man, whoever he was, must have heard us approaching down the +tunnel, for he paused in his work and the noise of the drill +ceased. + +He looked about a moment, then went over to the prop and examined +it, looking up at the roof of the chamber above him. Evidently he +feared that it was not particularly strong. + +From our vantage point around the bend in the passageway we could +see this strange and uncouth figure. + +"Who is it, do you think?" I whispered, crouching back against the +wall for fear that he might look even around a corner or through +the earth and discover us. + +As I spoke, my hand loosened a piece of rock that jutted out and +before I knew it there was a crash. + +"Confound it, Walter," exclaimed Kennedy. + +Down the passageway the figure was now thoroughly on the alert, +staring with his goggle-like eyes into the blackness in our +direction. It was not the roof above him that was unsafe. He was +watched, and he did not hesitate a minute to act. + +He seized the bag and picked his way quickly through the passage +as if thoroughly familiar with every turn of the walls and +roughness of the floor. + +We were discovered and if we were to accomplish anything, it was +now or never. + +Kennedy dashed forward and I followed close after him. + +We were making much better time than our strange visitor and were +gaining on him rapidly. Nearer and nearer we came to him, for, in +spite of his familiarity with the cavern he was hampered by the +outlandish head-gear that he wore. + +It was only another instant, when Kennedy would have laid his +hands on him. + +Suddenly he half turned, raised his arm and dashed something to +the earth much as a child explodes a toy torpedo. I fully expected +that it was a bomb; but, as a moment later, I found that Kennedy +and I were still unharmed, I knew that it must be some other +product of this devilish genius. + +The thickest and most impenetrable smoke seemed to pervade the +narrow cavern! + +"A Chinese smoke bomb!" sputtered and coughed Kennedy, as he +retreated a minute, then with renewed vigor endeavored to +penetrate the dense and opaque fumes. + +We managed to go ahead still, but the intruder had exploded one +after another of his peculiar bombs, always keeping ahead of the +smoke which he created, and we found that under its cover he had +made good his escape, probably reaching the entrance of the cave +in the underbrush. + +At the other end of the passageway, up in the living-room of the +cottage, the draught had carried large quantities of the smoke. +Elaine, Aunt Tabby and Joshua coughing and choking, saw it, and +opened a window, which seemed to cause a current of air to sweep +through the whole length of the passageway and helped to clear +away the fumes rapidly. + +Long Sin, meanwhile, had started to work his way through the +bushes to reach the waiting car, with Wu, then paused and +listened. Hearing no sound, he replaced the helmet which he had +taken off. + +Pursuit was now useless for us. With revolvers drawn, we crept +back along the passageway until we came again to the chamber +itself. There, on the floor, lay a bag of tools, opened, as though +somebody had been working with them. + +"Caught red-handed!" exclaimed Kennedy with great satisfaction. + +He looked at the tools a minute and then at the electric drill, +and finally an idea seemed to strike him. He took up the drill and +advanced toward the safe. Then he turned on the current and +applied the drill. + +The drill was of the very latest design and it went quickly +through the steel. But beyond that there was another thin steel +partition. This Kennedy tackled next. + +The drill went through and he withdrew it. + +Instantly the most penetrating and nauseous odor seemed to pervade +everything. + +Kennedy cried out. But his warning was too late. We staggered +back, overcome by the escaping gas and fell to the ground. + + . . . . . . . + +Long Sin, with his oxygen helmet on again, had returned to the +passageway and was now stealthily creeping back. + +He came to the chamber and there discovered us lying on the +ground, overcome. He bent down and, to his great satisfaction, saw +that we were really unconscious. + +Quickly he moved over to the safe and pried open the last thin +steel plate. + +Inside was a small box. He picked it up and tried to open it, but +it was locked. There was no time to work over it here, and he took +it under his arm and started to leave. + +He paused a moment to look at us, then took out a piece of paper +and a pencil and on the paper wrote, "Thanks for your trouble." +Beneath, it was signed by his special stamp--the serpent's head, +mouth open and fangs showing. + +Long Sin looked at us a moment, then a subtle smile seemed to +spread over his face. At last he had us in his power. + +He drew out a long, wicked-looking Chinese knife and stuck it +through the note. + +Then he felt the edge of the knife. It was keen. + + . . . . . . . + +In the sitting-room, Elaine, Aunt Tabby and Joshua had been +listening intently at the fireplace but heard nothing. + +They were now getting decidedly worried. Finally, the fumes which +we had released made their way to the room. They were considerably +diluted by fresh air by that time, but, although they were +nauseous, were not sufficient to overcome any one. Still, the +smell was terrible. + +"I can't stand it any longer," cried Elaine. "I'm going down there +to see what has become of them." + +Aunt Tabby and Joshua tried to stop her, but she broke away from +them and went down the ladder. Rusty leaped down after her. + +Joshua tried to follow, but Aunt Tabby held him back. He would +have gone, too, if she had not managed to strike the spring and +shut the door, closing up the passageway. + +Joshua got angry then. "You are making a coward of me," he cried, +beating on the panel with the butt of his gun and struggling to +open it. + +He seemed unable to fathom the secret. + +Elaine was now making her way as rapidly as she could through the +tunnel, with Rusty beside her. + + . . . . . . . + +It was just as Long Sin had raised his knife that the sound of her +footsteps alarmed him. + +He paused and leaped to his feet. + +There was no time for either to retreat. He started toward Elaine, +and seized her roughly. + +Back and forth over the rocky floor they struggled. As they +fought,--she with frantic strength, he craftily,--he backed her +slowly up against the prop that upheld the roof. + +He raised his keen knife. + +She recoiled. The prop, none too strong, suddenly gave way under +her weight. + +The whole roof of the chamber fell with a crash, earth and stone +overwhelming Elaine and her assailant. + + . . . . . . . + +By this time Joshua had left the house and had gone out into the +garden to get something to pry open the fireplace door. + +Of a sudden, to his utter amazement, a few feet from him, it +seemed as if the very earth sank in his garden, leaving a yawning +chasm. + +He looked, unable to make it out. + +Before his very eyes a strange figure, the figure of Long Sin in +his oxygen helmet, appeared, struggling up, as if by magic from +the very earth, shaking the debris off himself, as a dog would +shake off the water after a plunge in a pond. + +Long Sin was gone in a moment. + +Then again the earth began to move. A paw appeared, then a sharp +black nose, and a moment later, Rusty, too, dug himself out. + +Joshua had run into the house to get a spade when Rusty, like a +shot, bolted for the house, took the window at a leap and all +covered with earth landed before Joshua and Aunt Tabby. + +"See!--he went down there--now he's here!" cried Aunt Tabby, +pointing at the fireplace, then looking at the window. + +Rusty was running back and forth from Joshua to the window. + +"Follow him!" cried Aunt Tabby. + +Rusty led the way back again to the garden, to the cave-in. + +"Elaine!" gasped Aunt Tabby. + +By this time Joshua was digging furiously. Rusty, too, seemed to +understand. He threw back the earth with his paws, helping with +every ounce of strength in his little body. + +At last the spade turned up a bit of cloth. + +"Elaine!" Aunt Tabby cried out again. + +She was in a sort of little pocket, protected by the fortunate +formation of the earth as it fell, yet almost suffocated, weak but +conscious. + +Aunt Tabby rushed up as Joshua laid down the spade and lifted out +Elaine. + +They were about to carry her into the house, when she cried +weakly, but with all her remaining strength. + +"No--no--Dig! Craig--Walter!" she managed to gasp. + +Rusty, too, was still at it. Joshua fell to again. Man and dog +worked with a will. + +"There they are!" cried Elaine, as all three pulled us out, +unconscious but still alive. + +Though we did not know it, they carried us into the house, while +Elaine and Aunt Tabby bustled about to get something to revive us. + +At last I opened my eyes and saw the motherly Aunt Tabby bending +over me. Craig was already revived, weak but ready now to do +anything Elaine ordered, as she held his hand and stroked his +forehead softly. + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile Long Sin had made his way to the automobile where his +master, Wu, waited impatiently. + +"Did you get it?" asked Wu eagerly. + +Long Sin showed him the box. + +"Hurry, master!" he cried breathlessly, leaping into the car and +struggling to take off the helmet as they drove away. "They may be +here--at any moment." + +The machine was off like a shot and even if we had been able to +follow, we could not now have caught it. + +Back in Wu's sumptuous apartment, later, Wu and his slave, Long +Sin, after their hurried ride, dismissed all the servants and +placed the little box on the table. Wu rose and locked the door. + +Then, together, they took a sharp instrument and tried to pry off +the lid of the box. + +The lid flew off. They gazed in eagerly. + +Inside was a smaller box, which Wu seized eagerly and opened. + +There, on the plush cushion lay merely a round knobbed ring! + +Was this the end of their great expectations? Were Bennett's +millions merely mythical? + +The two stared at each other in chagrin. + +Wu was the first to speak. + +"Where there should have been seven million dollars," he muttered +to himself, "why is there only a mystic ring?" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE CRYPTIC RING + + +Kennedy had been engaged for some time in the only work outside of +the Dodge case which he had consented to take for weeks. + +Our old friend, Dr. Leslie, the Coroner, had appealed to him to +solve a very ticklish point in a Tong murder case which had set +all Chinatown agog. It was, indeed, a very bewildering case. A +Chinaman named Li Chang, leader of the Chang Wah Tong, had been +poisoned, but so far no one had been able to determine what poison +it was or even to prove that there had been a poison, except for +the fact that the man was dead, and Kennedy had taken the thing up +in a great measure because of the sudden turn in the Dodge case +which had brought us into such close contact with the Chinese. + +I had been watching Kennedy with interest, for the Tong wars +always make picturesque newspaper stories, when a knock at the +door announced the arrival of Dr. Leslie, anxious for some result. + +"Have you been able to find out anything yet?" he greeted Kennedy +eagerly as Craig looked up from his microscope. + +Kennedy turned and nodded. "Your dead man was murdered by means of +aconite, of which, you know, the active principle is the deadly +alkaloid aconitine." + +Craig pulled down from the shelf above him one of his well-thumbed +standard works on toxicology. He turned the pages and read: + +"Pure aconite is probably the most actively poisonous substance +with which we are acquainted. It does not produce any decidedly +characteristic post-mortem appearances, and, in fact, there is no +reliable chemical test to prove its presence. The chances of its +detection in the body after death are very slight." + +Dr. Leslie looked up. "Then there is no test, none?" he asked. + +"There is one that is brand new," replied Kennedy slowly. "It is +the new starch-grain test just discovered by Professor Reichert, +of the University of Pennsylvania. The peculiarities of the starch +grains of various plants are quite as great as those of the blood +crystals, which, you will recall, Walter, we used once. + +"The starch grains of the poison have remained in the wound. I +have recovered them from the dead man's blood and have studied +them microscopically. They can be definitely recognized. This is +plainly a case of aconite poisoning--probably suggested to the +Oriental mind by the poison arrows of the Ainus of Northern +Japan." + +Dr. Leslie and I both looked through the microscope, comparing the +starch grains which Kennedy had discovered with those of scores of +micro-photographs which lay scattered over the table. + +"There are several treatments for aconite poisoning," ruminated +Kennedy. "I would say that one of the latest and best is digitalin +given hypodermically." He took down a bottle of digitalin from a +cabinet, adding, "only it was too late in this case." + + . . . . . . . + +Just what the relations were between Long Sin and the Chong Wah +Tong I have never been able to determine exactly. But one thing +was certain: Long Sin on his arrival in New York had offended the +Tong and now that his master, Wu Fang, was here the offence was +even greater, for the criminal society brooked no rival. + +In the dark recesses of a poorly furnished cellar, serving as the +Tong headquarters, the new leader and several of his most trusted +followers were now plotting revenge. Long Sin, they believed, was +responsible for the murder, and, with truly Oriental guile, they +had obtained a hold over Wu Fang's secretary. + +Their plan decided on, the Chinamen left the headquarters and made +their way separately up-town. They rejoined one another in the +shelter of a rather poor house, before which was a board fence, in +the vicinity of a fashionable apartment house. A moment's +conference followed, and then the secretary glided away. + + . . . . . . . + +Wu had taken another apartment up-town in one of the large +apartment houses near a parkway; for he was far too subtle to +operate from his real headquarters back of the squalid exterior of +Chinatown. + +There Long Sin was now engaged in making all possible provisions +for the safety of his master. Any one who had been walking along +the boulevard and had happened to glance up at the roof of the +tall apartment building might have seen Long Sin's figure +silhouetted against the sky on the top of the mansard roof near a +flagpole. + +He had just finished fastening to the flagpole a stout rope which +stretched taut across an areaway some twenty or thirty feet wide +to the next building, where it was fastened to a chimney. Again +and again he tested it, and finally with a nod of satisfaction +descended from the roof and went to the apartment of Wu. + +There, alone, he paused for a few minutes to gaze in wonder at the +cryptic ring which had been the net result so far of his efforts +to find the millions which Bennett, as the Clutching Hand, had +hidden. He wore it, strangely enough, over his index finger, and +as he examined it he shook his head in doubt. + +Neither he nor his master had yet been able to fathom the +significance of the ring. + +Long Sin thought that he was unobserved. But outside, looking +through the keyhole, was Wu's secretary, who had stolen in on the +mission which had been set for him at the Tong headquarters. + +Long Sin went over to a desk and opened a secret box in which Wu +had placed several packages of money with which to bribe those +whom he wished to get into his power. It was Long Sin's mission to +carry out this scheme, so he packed the money into a bag, drew his +coat more closely about him and left the room. + +No sooner had he gone than the secretary hurried into the room, +paused a moment to make sure that Long Sin was not coming back, +then hurried over to a closet near-by. + +From a secret hiding-place he drew out a small bow and arrow. He +sat down at a table and hastily wrote a few Chinese characters on +a piece of paper, rolling up the note into a thin quill which he +inserted into a prepared place in the arrow. + +Then he raised the window and deftly shot the arrow out. + +Down the street, back of the board fence, where the final +conference has taken place, was a rather sleepy-looking Chinaman, +taking an occasional puff at a cigarette doped with opium. + +He jumped to his feet suddenly. With a thud an arrow had buried +itself quivering in the fence. Quickly he seized it, drew out the +note and read it. + +In the Canton vernacular it read briefly: "He goes with much +money." + +It was enough. Instantly the startling news overcame the effect of +the dope, and the Chinaman shuffled off quickly to the Tong +headquarters. + +They were waiting for him there, and he had scarcely delivered the +message before their plans were made. One by one they left the +headquarters, hiding in doorways, basements and areaways along the +narrow street. + + . . . . . . . + +Long Sin was making his rounds, visiting all those whom the +glitter of Wu's money could corrupt. + +Suddenly from the shadows of a narrow street, lined with the +stores of petty Chinese merchants, half a dozen lithe and +murderous figures leaped out behind Long Sin and seized him. He +struggled, but they easily threw him down. + +Any one who has visited Chinatown knows that at every corner and +bend of the crooked streets stands a policeman. It was scarcely a +second before the noise of the scuffle was heard, but it was too +late. The half dozen Tong men had seized the money which Long Sin +carried and had deftly stripped him of everything else of value. + +The sound of the approaching policeman now alarmed them. Just as +the new Tong leader had raised an axe to bring it down with +crushing force on Long Sin's skull a shot rang out and the axe +fell from the broken wrist of the Chinaman. + +In another moment the policeman had seized him. Then followed a +sharp fight in which the Tong men's knowledge of jiu-jitsu stood +them in good stead. The policeman was hurled aside, the Tong +leader broke away, and one by one his followers disappeared +through dark hallways and alleyways, leaving the policeman with +only two prisoners and Long Sin lying on the sidewalk. + +But the ring and the money were gone. + +"Are you hurt much?" demanded the burly Irish officer, assisting +Long Sin to his feet, none too gently. + +Long Sin was furious over the loss of the precious ring, yet he +knew to involve himself in the white man's law would end only in +disaster both for him and his master. He forced a painful smile, +shook his head and managed to get away down the street muttering. + +He made his way up-town and back to the apartment of Wu, and +there, pacing up and down in a fury, attended to his wounds. + +His forefinger, from which the ring had been so ruthlessly +snatched, was a constant reminder to him of the loss. Any one who +could have studied the vengefulness of his face would have seen +that it boded ill for some one. + + . . . . . . . + +It was the day after her return from Aunt Tabby's that Kennedy +called again upon Elaine to find that she and Aunt Josephine were +engaged in the pleasant pastime of arranging an entertainment. + +Jennings announced Craig and held back the portieres as he +entered. + +"Oh, good!" cried Elaine as she saw him. "You are just in time. I +was going to send you this, but I should much rather give it to +you." + +She handed him a tastefully engraved sheet of paper which he read +with interest: + + Miss Elaine Dodge + requests the honor of your presence + at an Oriental Reception + on April 6th, at 8 o'clock. + +"Very interesting," exclaimed Craig enthusiastically. "I shall be +delighted to come." + +He looked about a moment at the library which Elaine was already +rearranging for the entertainment. + +"Then you must work," she cried gaily. "You are just in time to +help me buy the decorations. No objections--come along." + +She took Kennedy's arm playfully. + +"But I have a very important investigation for the Coroner that I +am--" + +"No excuses," she cried, laughingly, dragging him out. + +Among the many places which Elaine had down on her shopping list +was a small Chinese curio shop on lower Fifth avenue. + +They entered and were greeted with a profound bow by the +proprietor. He was the new Tong leader, and this up-town shop was +his cover. In actual fact, he was what might have been called a +Chinese fence for stolen goods. + +In their interest in the wealth of strange and curious ornaments +displayed in the shop they did not notice that the Chinaman's +wrist was bound tightly under his flowing sleeve. + +Elaine explained what it was she wanted, and with Kennedy's aid +selected a number of Chinese hangings and decorations. They were +about to leave the shop when Elaine's eye was attracted by a +little show case in which were many quaint and valuable Chinese +ornaments in gold and silver and covered ivory. + +"What an odd looking thing," she said, pointing out a nobbed ring +which reposed on the black velvet of the case. + +"Quite odd," agreed Kennedy. + +The subtle Chinaman stood by the pile of hangings on the counter +which Elaine had bought, overjoyed at such a large sale. Praising +the ring to Elaine, he turned insinuatingly to Kennedy. There was +nothing else for Craig to do--he bought the ring, and the Chinaman +proved again his ability as a merchant. + +From the curio shop where Elaine had completed her purchases they +drove to Kennedy's laboratory. + +I had been at work on a story for the Star when they entered. + +"You will be there, too, Mr. Jameson?" coaxed Elaine, as she told +of their morning's work. + +I needed no urging. + +We were in the midst of planning the entertainment when a slight +cough behind me made me start and turn quickly. + +There stood Long Sin, the astute Chinaman who had delivered the +bomb to Kennedy and had betrayed Bennett. We had seen very little +of him since then. + +Long Sin bowed low and shuffled over closer to Kennedy. I noticed +that Elaine eyed Long Sin sharply. But as yet we had seen no +reason to suspect him, so cleverly had he covered his tracks. +Kennedy, having used him once to capture Bennett, was still not +unwilling to use him in attempting to discover where Bennett's +hidden millions lay. + +"I am in great trouble, Professor Kennedy," began Long Sin in a +low tone. "You don't know the Chinese of the city, but if you did +you would know what blackmailers there are among them. I have +refused to pay blackmail to the Chong Wah Tong, and since then it +has been trouble, trouble, trouble." + +Kennedy looked up quickly at the name Chong Wah Tong, thinking of +the investigation which the Coroner had asked him to make into the +murder. He and Long Sin moved a few steps away, discussing the +affair. + +Elaine and I were still talking over the entertainment. + +She happened to place her hand on the desk near Long Sin. My back +was toward him and I did not see him start suddenly and look at +her hand. On it was the ring--the ring which, unknown to us, Long +Sin had found in the passageway under Aunt Tabby's garden, of +which he had been robbed, and which now, by a strange chance, had +come into Elaine's possession. + +It was a peculiar situation for Long Sin, although as yet we did +not know it. He could not lay claim to the mystic ring, for then +Kennedy would make him prove his ownership, and the whole affair +of which we still knew nothing would be exposed. + +He acted quickly. Long Sin decided to recover the ring by stealth. + +Elaine was still talking enthusiastically about her party, when +Long Sin turned from Kennedy and moved toward us with a bow. + +"The lady speaks of an Oriental reception," he remarked. "Would +she care to engage a magician?" + +Elaine turned to him surprised. "Do you mean that you are a +magician?" she asked, puzzled. + +Long Sin smiled quietly. He reached over and took a small bottle +from Kennedy's laboratory table. Holding it in his hand almost +directly before us, he made a few sleight-of-hand passes, and, +presto! the bottle had disappeared. A few more passes, and a test +tube appeared in its place. Before we knew it he had caused the +test tube to disappear and the bottle to reappear. We all +applauded enthusiastically. + +"I don't think that is such a bad idea after all," nodded Kennedy +to Elaine. + +"Perhaps not," she agreed, a little doubtfully. "I hadn't intended +to have such a thing, but--why, of course, that would interest +everybody." + + . . . . . . . + +It was the night of the reception. The Dodge library was +transformed. The Oriental hangings which Elaine and Kennedy had +purchased seemed to breathe mysticism. At the far end of the room +a platform had been arranged to form a stage on which Long Sin was +to perform his sleight-of-hand. The drawing-room also was +decorated like the library. + +At the other end of the room Elaine and Aunt Josephine, in +picturesque Oriental costume, were greeting the guests. Every one +seemed to be delighted with the novelty of the affair. + +We came in just a bit ahead of Long Sin, and Elaine greeted us. + +Almost everybody had arrived when Elaine turned to the guests and +introduced Long Sin with a little speech. Long Sin bowed and every +one applauded. He made his way to the platform in the library and +mounted it. + +I shall not attempt to describe the amazing series of tricks which +he performed. His hands and fingers seemed to move like lightning. +Among other things, I remember he took up a cover from a table +near-by. He held it up before us. Instantly it seemed that a flock +of pigeons flew out of it around the room. How he did it I don't +know. They were real pigeons, however, and the trick brought down +the house. + +Long Sin bowed. + +Another of his feats which I recall was nothing less than kindling +a fire on a small bit of tin and, as the flames mounted, he +deliberately stepped into them, apparently as unharmed as a +salamander. + +So it went from one thing to another. The entertainment was +brilliant in itself, but Long Sin seemed to put the finishing +touch to it. In fact, I suppose that it was a couple of hours that +he continued to amuse us. + +He had finished and every one crowded about him to congratulate +him on his skill. His only answer, however, was his inscrutable +smile. + +"This is wonderful, wonderful," I repeated as I happened to meet +Elaine alone. We walked into the conservatory while the guests +were crowding around Long Sin. She seated herself for the first +time during the evening. + +"May I get you an ice?" I suggested. + +She thanked me, and I hurried off. As I passed through the +drawing-room I did not notice that Long Sin had managed to escape +further congratulations of the guests. Just then a waiter passed +through with ices on a tray. I called to him and he stopped. + +A moment later Long Sin himself took an ice from the tray and +retreated back of the portieres. No one was about, and he hastily +drew a bottle from his pocket. On the bottle was a Chinese label. +He palmed the bottle, and any one who had chanced to see him would +have noticed that he passed it two or three times over the ice, +then, lifting the portieres, entered the drawing-room again. + +He had made the circuit of the rooms in such a way as to bring +himself out directly in my path. With a smile he stopped before +me, rubbing both hands together. + +"It is for Miss Elaine?" he asked. + +I nodded. + +By this time several of the guests who were fascinated with Long +Sin gathered about us. Long Sin fluttered open a Chinese fan which +he had used in his tricks, passed it over my hand, and in some +incomprehensible way I felt the plate with the ice literally +disappear from my grasp. My face must have shown my surprise. A +burst of laughter from the other guests greeted me. I looked at +Long Sin, half angry, yet unable to say anything, for the joke was +plainly on me. He smiled, made another pass with the fan, and +instantly the plate with the ice was back in my hand. + +There was nothing for me but to take the joke in the spirit in +which the other guests had taken it. I laughed with them and +managed to get away. + +Meanwhile Kennedy had been moving from one to another of the +guests seeking Elaine. He had already taken an ice from the waiter +and was going in the direction of the conservatory. There he found +her. + +"Won't you take this ice?" he asked, handing it to her. + +"It is very kind of you," she said, "but I have already sent +Walter for one." + +Kennedy insisted and she took it. + +She had already started to eat it when I appeared in the doorway. +I was rather vexed at Long Sin for having delayed me, and I +mumbled something about it. + +Kennedy laughed, rather pleased at having beaten me. + +"Never mind, Walter," he said with a smile, "I'll take it. And er- +-I don't think that Elaine will object if you play the host for a +little while with Aunt Josephine," he hinted. + +I saw that three was a crowd and I turned to retrace my steps to +the drawing-room. + +Kennedy, however, was not alone. Back of the palms in the +conservatory two beady black eyes were eagerly watching. Long Sin +had noted every movement as his cleverly laid plan miscarried. + +Chatting with animation, Kennedy tasted the ice. He had taken only +a couple of spoonfuls when a look of wonder and horror seemed to +spread over his face. + +He rose quickly. A cold sweat seemed to break out all over him. +His nerves almost refused to respond. His tongue seemed to be +paralyzed and the muscles of his throat seemed to be like steel +bands. + +He took only a few steps, began to stagger, and finally sank down +on the floor. + +Elaine screamed. + +We rushed in from the library and drawing-room. There lay Kennedy +on the floor, his face most terribly contorted. We gathered around +him and he tried to raise himself and speak, but seemed unable to +utter a sound. + +He had fallen near the fountain and one hand drooped over into the +water. As he fell back he seemed to have only just enough strength +to withdraw his hand from the fountain. On the stone coping, +slowly and laboriously, he moved his finger. + +"What's the matter, old man?" I asked, bending over him. + +There was no answer, but he managed to turn his head, and I +followed the direction of his eyes. + +With trembling finger he was tracing out, one by one, some +letters. I looked and it flashed over me what he meant. He had +written with the water: + +"Digitalin--lab--" + +I jumped up and almost without a word dashed out of the +conservatory, down the hall and into the first car waiting +outside. + +"To the laboratory," I directed, giving the driver the directions, +"and drive like the deuce!" + +Fortunately there was no one to stop us, and I know we broke all +the speed laws of New York. I dashed into the laboratory, almost +broke open the cabinet, and seized the bottle of digitalin and a +hypodermic syringe, then rushed madly out again and into the car. + +Meanwhile some of the guests had lifted up Kennedy, too excited to +notice Long Sin in his hiding-place. They had laid Craig down on a +couch and were endeavoring to revive him. Some one had already +sent for a doctor, but the aconite was working quickly on its +victim, and he was slowly stiffening out. Elaine was frantic. + +I scarcely waited for the car to stop in front of the house. I +opened the door and rushed in. + +Without a word I thrust the antidote and the syringe into the +hands of the doctor and he went to work immediately. We watched +with anxiety. Finally Kennedy's eyes opened and gradually his +breathing seemed to become more normal. + +The antidote had been given in time. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy was considerably broken up by the narrow escape which he +had had, and, naturally, even the next morning, did not feel like +himself. + +In the excitement of leaving Elaine's we had forgotten the bottle +of digitalin. As for myself, I had been so overjoyed at seeing my +old friend restored that I would have forgotten anything. + +Kennedy looked rather wan and peaked, but insisted on going to the +laboratory as usual. + +"Do you remember what became of the bottle of digitalin?" he +asked, fumbling in the closet. + +Mechanically I felt in my own pockets; it was not there. I shook +my head. + +"I don't seem to remember what became of it--perhaps we left it +there. In fact, we must have left it there." + +"I don't like to have such things lying around loose," remarked +Kennedy, taking up his hat and coat with forced energy. "I think +we had better get it." + +Elaine had spent rather a sleepless night after the attempt to +poison her which had miscarried and resulted in poisoning Kennedy. + +To keep her mind off the thing, she had already started to take +down the decorations. Jennings and Marie, as well as a couple of +workmen, were restoring the library to its normal condition under +the direction of Aunt Josephine. + +The telephone rang and Elaine answered it. Her face showed that +something startling had happened. + +"It was Jameson," she cried, almost dropping the receiver, +overcome. + +They all hurried to her. "He says that Mr. Kennedy and he were +visiting that Chinaman this morning and Mr. Kennedy suffered a +relapse--is dying there, in the Chinaman's apartment. He wants us +to come quickly and bring that medicine that they used last night. +He says it is on the tabaret in the library. Marie, will you look +for it? And, Jennings, get the car right away." + +Jennings hurried from the room, and a moment later Marie had found +the bottle behind some ornaments on the tabaret and came back with +it. + +Scarcely knowing what to do, Elaine, followed by Aunt Josephine, +had rushed from the house, hatless and coatless, just as the car +swung around from the garage in the rear. Jennings went out with +the wraps. They seized them and leaped into the car, which started +off swiftly. + +It was only a matter of minutes when they pulled up before the +apartment house where Wu had taken the suite from which Long Sin +had telephoned the message in my name. Together Elaine and Aunt +Josephine hurried in. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy went directly from the laboratory to the Dodge house. + +I don't think I ever saw such an expression of surprise on +anybody's face as that on Jennings's when he opened the door and +saw us. He was aghast. Back of him we could see Marie. She looked +as if she had seen a ghost. + +"Is Miss Elaine in?" asked Kennedy. + +Jennings was even too dumfounded to speak. + +"Why, what's the matter?" demanded Kennedy. + +"Then--er--you are not ill again?" he managed to blurt out. + +"Ill again?" repeated Kennedy. + +"Why," explained Jennings, "didn't Mr. Jameson just now telephone +that you had had a relapse in the apartment of that Chinaman, and +for Miss Elaine to hurry over there right away with that bottle of +medicine?" Kennedy waited to hear no more. Seizing me by the arm, +he turned and dashed down the steps and back again into the +taxicab in which we had come. + + . . . . . . . + +In Wu's apartment Long Sin was giving his secretary and another +Chinaman the most explicit instructions. As he finished each +nodded and showed him a Chinese dirk concealed under his blouse. + +Just then a knock sounded at the door. The secretary opened it, +and Aunt Josephine and Elaine almost ran in. Before they knew it, +the secretary had locked the door. + +Long Sin rose and bowed with a smile. + +"Where is Mr. Kennedy?" demanded Elaine. Long Sin bowed again, +spreading out his hands, palm outward. + +"Mr. Kennedy? He is not here." + +Then, straightening up, he faced the two women squarely. + +"You have a ring that means much to me," he said quickly. "The +only way to get it from you was to bring you here." + +He was pointing now at the ring on Elaine's finger. She looked at +it a moment in surprise, then at the menacing Chinaman, and turned +quickly. She ran to the door. It was locked. + +Long Sin, motionless, smiled. "There is no way to get out," he +murmured. + +Aunt Josephine was standing now with her back to the door leading +into another room. She happened to look up and saw the secretary, +who was near her and half turned away. From where she was standing +she could see the murderous dirk up his sleeve. + +She acted instantly. Without a word she summoned all her strength +and struck him. The secretary stumbled. + +"Elaine," she cried, "look out! they have knives." + +Before Elaine knew it Aunt Josephine had taken her by the arm, had +pulled her into the back room, and, although Long Sin and the +others had rushed forward, managed to slam the door and lock it. + +The Chinamen set to work immediately to pry it open. + +While they were at work on the doer, which was already swaying, +Aunt Josephine and Elaine were running about, trying to find an +outlet from the room. + +There seemed to be no way out. Even the windows were locked. + +"I don't know why they want the ring," whispered Aunt Josephine, +"but they won't get it. Give it to me, Elaine." + +She almost seized the ring, hiding it in her waist. As she did so +the door burst open and Wu, Long Sin and the other Chinamen rushed +in. + +A second later they seized Elaine and Aunt Josephine. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy and I dashed up before the apartment house in which we +knew that Long Sin lived, leaped out of the car and hurried in. + +It was on the second floor, and we did not wait for the elevator +but took the steps two at a time. Kennedy found the door locked. +Instantly he whipped out his revolver and shot the lock in pieces. +We threw ourselves against the door, the broken lock gave way and +we rushed in through the front room. + +No one was there, but in a back room we could hear sounds. It was +Elaine and Aunt Josephine struggling with the Chinamen. Long Sin +and the others had seized Elaine and Aunt Josephine was trying to +help her just as we rushed in. With a blow Kennedy knocked out the +secretary, while I struggled with the other Chinamen who blocked +the way. + +Then Kennedy went directly at Long Sin. They struggled furiously. + +Long Sin, with his wonderful knowledge of jiu-jitsu, might not +have been a match for six other Chinamen, but he was for one white +man. With a mighty effort he threw Kennedy, rushed for the door +and, as he passed through the outside room, seized a Tong axe from +the wall. + +Afraid of the wonderful jiu-jitsu, I had picked up the first thing +handy, which was a tabaret. I literally broke it over the head of +my Chinaman, then turned and dashed out after Long Sin just as +Kennedy picked himself up and followed. + +I caught up with the Chinaman and we had a little struggle, but he +managed to break away and raised his axe threateningly. A shout +from Kennedy caused him to turn and run down the flight of stairs, +Kennedy closely behind him. + +In the main hall of the apartment house were two elevator shafts +facing the street entrance, some twenty-five or thirty feet away. +Through the street door the janitor and two or three other men +were running in. They had heard the noise of the fighting above. + +Escape to the street was cut off. We were behind him on the flight +of stairs. + +Long Sin did not hesitate a moment. He ran to the elevator, the +door of which was open, seized the elevator boy and sent him +sprawling on the marble floor. Then he slammed the door and the +elevator shot up. + +Kennedy was only a few feet behind, and he took in the situation +at a glance. He leaped into the other elevator, and before the +surprised boy could interfere shot it up only a few feet behind +Long Sin. + +Up the two elevators rose, Kennedy firing as best he could at Long +Sin, while the shots reverberated through the elevator shaft like +cannon. + +It was a wild race to the roof. Long Sin had the start, and as the +elevator reached the top floor he flung it open, dashed out and +through a door up to the roof itself. + +A second later Kennedy's elevator stopped. Craig leaped out and +fired his last shot at the legs of Long Sin as he disappeared at +the top of the flight of stairs to the roof. He flung the revolver +from him and followed. + +Without a moment's hesitation Kennedy threw himself at Long Sin. +They struggled with each other. Finally Long Sin managed to wrench +one arm lose and raise the Tong axe over Kennedy's head. + +Kennedy dodged back. As he did so he tripped on the very edge of +the roof and went sliding down the slates of the mansard. + +Fortunately he was able to catch himself in the gutter. + +It was the opportunity that Long Sin wanted. He started across the +rope, which he had stretched from this apartment house to the +building across the court, with all the deftness of the most +expert Chinese acrobat. + +By this time I had reached the roof, followed by the janitor and +the elevator boys. + +Kennedy was now crawling up the mansard, helping himself as best +he could by some of the ornamental ironwork. I hurried over with +the janitor, and together we pulled him out of danger. + +Long Sin had reached the roof on the opposite side as we ran +across in the direction of the taut rope. + +A moment later he returned and bowed at us mockingly, then +disappeared behind a skylight. + +Kennedy did not stop an instant. + +"You fellows go down to the street and see if you can head him off +that way," he cried. "Stay here, Walter." + +Before I knew it he had seized the rope and was going across to +the other building, hand over hand. It was a perilous undertaking, +but his blood was up. + +Kennedy had almost reached the other roof when suddenly from +behind the skylight stepped Long Sin. With a wicked leer, he +advanced to the edge of the roof, his axe upraised. I looked +across the yawning chasm, horrified. + +Slowly Long Sin raised the axe above his head, gathering all the +strength which he had, waiting for Kennedy to approach closer. +Kennedy stopped. Swiftly the axe descended, slashing the rope at +one blow. + +Like the weight of a pendulum Kennedy swung back against our own +building, managing to keep his hold on the rope with superhuman +strength. + +I bent far over the edge of the roof, fully expecting to see him +dashed to pieces at the bottom of the court. + +There was a tremendous shattering of glass. + +The rope had been just long enough to make him strike a window and +he had gone crashing through the glass three floors below. + +I dashed down the stairs and into the apartment. Kennedy was lying +on the floor badly cut. I raised him up. He was dazed and +considerably overcome; but as he staggered to his feet with my +help I saw that no bones were broken. + +"Help me, quick, Walter," he urged, moving toward the elevators. + +Meanwhile Long Sin had quickly dived down into the next building. +A few moments later he had come out on the ground floor at the +rear. + +Gazing about to see whether he was followed, he disappeared. + + . . . . . . . + +Back in the apartment, Elaine and Aunt Josephine were just about +to run out when the two Chinamen who had been knocked out +recovered. One of them threw himself on Elaine. Aunt Josephine +tried to ward him off, but the other one struck her and threw her +down. + +Before she could recover they had seized Elaine. + +With a hasty guttural exclamation they picked her up and ran out. +Instead of going down-stairs they crossed the hallway, slamming +the door behind them. + +As Kennedy and I reached the ground floor we saw the janitor and +one of the elevator boys on either side of Aunt Josephine. + +"Elaine! Elaine!" she cried. + +"What's the matter?" demanded Kennedy, leaning heavily on me. + +"They have kidnapped her," cried Aunt Josephine. + +Kennedy pulled himself together. + +"Tell me, quick--how did it happen?" he demanded of Aunt +Josephine. + +"It was the ring," she cried, handing it to him. + +Kennedy took the ring and looked at it for a moment. Then he +turned to us blankly. + +All the rooms were empty. + +Elaine had been spirited away. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WATCHING EYE + + +Not a clue was left by the kidnappers when they so mysteriously +spirited Elaine away from the apartment of Wu Fang. She had +disappeared as completely as if she had vanished into the thin +air. + +Kennedy was frantic. Wu and Long Sin themselves seemed to have +vanished, too. Where they held her, what had happened to her was a +sealed book. And yet, no move of ours was made, no matter how +secret, that it did not seem to be known to them. It was as though +a weird, uncanny eye glared at us, watching everything. + +Craig neglected no possibility in his eager search. He even +visited the little house in the country which Elaine had given to +Aunt Tabby, and spent several hours examining the collapsed +subterranean chamber in the vain hope that it might yield a clue. +But it had not. + +It was half filled with debris from above, where the pillar had +given way that night when we had all so nearly lost our lives. +Still, there was enough room in what remained of the cavern so +that we could move about. + +Kennedy had even dug away some of the earth and rock, in the hope +of discovering some trace of the strange visitor whom we had +surprised at work. But here, also, he had found nothing. + +It was maddening. What might at any moment be happening to Elaine- +-and he powerless to help her? + +Unescapably, he was forced to the conclusion that not only +Elaine's amazing disappearance, but the tragic succession of +events which had preceded it, had been caused, in some way, by the +curiously engraved ring which Aunt Josephine had taken from +Elaine. + +Craig had taken possession of the mystic ring himself, and now, +forced back on this sole clue, it had occurred to him that if the +ring were so valuable, other attempts would, without doubt, be +made to get possession of it. + +I came into the laboratory, one afternoon, to find Kennedy +surrounded by jeweler's tools, hard at work making an exact copy +of the ring. + +"What do you think of it, Walter?" he asked, holding up the +replica. + +"Perfect," I replied, admiringly. "What are you going to do with +it?" + +"I can't say--yet," answered Kennedy, forlornly, "but if I +understand these Chinese criminals at all, I know that the only +way we can ever track them is through some trick. Perhaps the +replica will suggest something to us later." + +He placed the copy in a velvet-lined box closely resembling that +in which the real ring lay, and dropped both into his pocket. + +"Let's see if Aunt Josephine has received any word," he remarked +abruptly, putting on his hat and coat, and nodding to me to +follow. + +Kennedy and I were not the only visitors to the subterranean +chamber where it had seemed that the clue to the Clutching Hand's +millions might be found. + +It was as though that hidden, watching eye followed us. The night +after our own unsuccessful search, Wu Fang, accompanied by Long +Sin, made his way into the cavern. + +As they flashed their electric bull's-eyes about the place, they +could see readily that we had already been digging there. + +Wu examined the safe which had been broken into, while Long Sin +repeated his experiences there. + +"And you say there was nothing else in it?" demanded Wu. + +"Nothing but the ring which they got from me," replied Long Sin, +ruefully. + +"Strange--very strange," ruminated Wu, still regarding the empty +strong box. + +Long Sin was now going over the walls of the cavern minutely, his +close-set, beady black eyes examining every square inch of it. + +A sudden low guttural exclamation caused Wu to turn to him +quickly. Long Sin had discovered, back of the debris, a small +oblong slot, cut into the rock. Above it were some peculiar marks. + +Wu hurried over to his henchman, and together they tried to +decipher what had been scratched on the rock. + +As Long Sin's slender and sinister forefinger traced over the +inscription, Wu suddenly caught him by the elbow. + +"The ring!" he cried, as at last he interpreted the meaning of the +cryptic characters. + +But what about the ring? For a moment Wu looked at the slot in +deep thought. Then he reached down and withdrew a ring from his +own finger and dropped it through the slot. + +They listened a moment. They could hear the ring tinkle as though +it were running down some sort of track-like declivity inside the +rock. Then, faintly, they could hear it drop. It had fallen into a +little cup of a compartment below at their feet. + +Nothing happened. Wu recovered his ring. But he had hit at last +upon the Clutching Hand's secret! + +Bennett had devised a ring-lock which would open, the treasure +vault. No other ring except the one which he had so carefully +hidden was of the size or weight that would move the lever which +would set the machinery working to open the treasure house. + +Again Wu tried another of his own rings, and a third time Long Sin +dropped in a ring from his finger. Still there was no result. + +"The ring which we lost is the key to the puzzle--the only key," +exclaimed Wu Fang finally. "We must recover it at all hazard." + +To his subtle mind a plan of action seemed to unfold almost +instantly. "There is no good remaining here," he added. "And we +have gained nothing by the capture of the girl, unless we can use +her to recover the ring." + +Long Sin followed his master with a sort of intuition. "If we have +to steal it," he suggested deferentially, "it can be accomplished +best by making use of Chong Wah Tong." + +The Tong was the criminal band which they had offended, which had +in fact stolen the ring from Long Sin and sold it to Elaine. Yet +in a game such as this enmity could not last when it was mutually +disadvantageous. Wu took the suggestion. He decided instantly to +make peace with his enemies--and use them. + +Later that night, in his car, Wu stopped near the little curio +shop kept by the new Tong leader. + +Long Sin alighted and entered the shop, while the Tong man eyed +him suspiciously. + +"My master has come to make peace," he began, saluting the Tong +leader behind the counter. + +Nothing, in reality, could have pleased the Tong men more, for in +their hearts they feared the master-like subtlety of Wu Fang. The +conference was short and Long Sin with a bow left quickly to +rejoin Wu, while the Tong leader disappeared into a back room of +the shop where several of the inner circle sat. + +"All is well, master," reported Long Sin when he had made his way +back to the car around the corner in which Wu was waiting. + +Wu smiled and a moment later followed by his slave in crime +entered the curio shop and passed through with great dignity into +the room in the rear. + +As the two entered, the Tong men bowed with great respect. + +"Let us be enemies no more," began Wu briefly. "Let us rather help +each other as brothers." + +He extended his right hand, palm down, as he spoke. For a moment +the Tong leader parleyed with the others, then stepped forward and +laid his own hand, palm down, over that of Wu. One by one the +others did the same, including Long Sin, the aggrieved. + +Peace was restored. + +Wu had risen to go, and the Tong men were bowing a respectful +farewell. He turned and saw a large vase. For a moment he paused +before it. It was an enormous affair and was apparently composed +of a mosaic of rare Chinese enamels, cunningly put together by the +deft and patient fingers of the oriental craftsmen. Extending from +the widely curving bowl below was an extremely long, narrow, +tapering neck. + +Wu looked at it intently; then an idea seemed to strike him. He +called the Tong leader and the others about him. + +Quickly he outlined the details of a plan. + + . . . . . . . + +"Have you received any word yet?" asked Aunt Josephine anxiously, +when Jennings had ushered us into the Dodge library. + +Kennedy shook his head sadly. There was no need to repeat the +question to Aunt Josephine. The tears in her eyes told only too +plainly that she herself had heard nothing, either. + +Craig bent over and placed his hand on her shoulder. For the +moment, none of us could control our emotions. + +A few minutes later, Jennings entered the room softly again. "The +expressmen are outside, ma'am, with a large package," he said. + +"A package?" inquired Aunt Josephine, looking up, surprised. "For +me--are you sure?" + +Jennings bowed and repeated his remark. Aunt Josephine followed +him out into the hall. + +There, already, the delivery men had set down a huge oriental vase +with a remarkably long and narrow neck. It was, as befitted such a +really beautiful object of art, most carefully crated. But to Aunt +Josephine it came as a complete surprise. "I can't imagine who +could have sent it," she temporized. "Are you quite sure it is for +me?" + +The expressman, with a book, looked up from the list of names down +which he was running his finger. "This is Mrs. Dodge, isn't it?" +he asked, pointing with his pencil to the entry with the address +following it. There seemed to be no name of a shipper. + +"Yes," she replied dubiously, "but I don't understand it. Wait +just a moment" + +She went to the library door. "Mr. Kennedy," she said, "may I +trouble you and Mr. Jameson a moment?" + +We followed her into the hall and there stood gazing at the +mysterious gift while she related its recent history. + +"Why not set it up in the library?" I suggested, seeing that the +expressmen were getting restive at the delay. "If there is any +mistake, they will send for it soon. No one ever gets anything for +nothing." + +Aunt Josephine turned to the expressmen and nodded. With the aid +of Jennings they carried the vase into the library and there it +was uncrated, while Kennedy continued to question the man with the +book, without eliciting any further information than that he +thought it had been reconsigned from another express company. He +knew nothing more than that it had been placed on his wagon, +properly marked and prepaid. + +When Kennedy rejoined us, the vase had been completely uncrated, +Aunt Josephine signed for it, and, grumbling a bit, the expressmen +left. There we stood, nonplussed by the curious gift. + +Craig walked around the vase, looking at it critically. I had a +feeling of being watched, one of those sensations which +psychologists tell us are utterly baseless and unfounded. I was +glad I had not said anything about it when he tapped the vase with +his cane, then stuck it down the long narrow neck, working it +around as well as he could. The neck was so long and narrow, +however, that his stick could not fully explore the inside of the +vase, but it seemed to me to be quite empty. + +"Well, there's nothing in it, anyhow," I ventured. + +I had spoken too soon. Kennedy withdrew his cane and on the +ferrule, adhering as though by some sticky substance, was a note. +Kennedy pulled it off and unfolded it, while we gathered about +him. + +"Maybe it's from Elaine," cried Aunt Josephine, grasping at a +straw. + +We read: + +DEAR AUNT JOSEPHINE, + +This is a token that I am unharmed. Have Mr. Kennedy give the ring +to the man at the corner of Williams and Brownlee Avenues at +midnight to-night, and they will surrender me to him.--ELAINE. + +P. S. Have him come alone or my life will be in danger. + +We looked at each other in amazement. + +"I thought something like this would happen," remarked Craig at +length. + +"Oh," cried Aunt Josephine, "it's too good to be true." + +"We'll do it," exclaimed Kennedy quickly, "only this is the ring +that we'll give them." + +He drew from his pocket the replica of the ring which he had made +and showed it to Aunt Josephine. Then he drew from another pocket +the real ring, replacing the replica. + +"Here's the real one," he said in a low tone. "Guard it as you +would guard your life." + +She took the ring, almost fearfully. It seemed as if nothing but +misfortune had followed it. Still, she realized that it was +necessary that she should take care of it, if the plan was to +work. + +"And, oh, Mr. Kennedy," she implored, as we rose to go, "please +get back my little girl for me." + +Craig clasped her hand. "I'll try my best," he replied fervently, +patting her shoulder to cheer her up, as she sank into a chair. + +Aunt Josephine was worn out with the sleepless nights of worry +since Elaine's disappearance. After we had gone, she tried to eat +dinner, but found that she had no appetite. + +All the evening she sat in the library, with a book at which she +stared, though she scarcely read a page. However, as the hours +lengthened, she found herself nodding through sheer exhaustion. + +It was getting late and her thoughts were still on Elaine, At the +desk in the library, she was examining the curious ring, which she +had taken from her jewel case, thinking of the terrible train of +events that had followed it. + +Although she had intended to sit up until she received some word +from Kennedy that night, the long strain had told on her and in +spite of her worry about Elaine, she decided, at length, to +retire. She replaced the ring in the case, locked the case, and +turned out the lights. + +"Good night, Jennings," she said, as she passed the faithful old +butler in the hall. + +"Good night, ma'am," he replied, pausing on his rounds to see that +the doors and windows were locked. + +Aunt Josephine, clasping the jewel case tightly, mounted the +stairs and entered her room. She locked the door carefully and put +the jewelry case under her pillow. Then she switched off the +light. + +The moment Jennings's footsteps ceased down-stairs in the library, +a small piece of the vase seemed to break away from the rest of +the mosaic, as though it were knocked out from the inside. Then a +large piece fell out, and another. + +At last from the strange hiding-place a lithe figure, as shiny as +though bathed in oil, naked except for a loin-cloth, seemed to +squirm forth like a serpent. It was Wu Fang--the watchful eye +which, literally as well as figuratively, had been leveled at us +in one form or another ever since the kidnapping of Elaine. + +Silently he tiptoed to the doorway and listened. There was not a +sound. Just as noiselessly then he went back to the library table +and muffling the telephone bell, took down the receiver. He +whispered a number, waited, then whispered some directions. + +A moment later he wormed his way out of the library and into the +drawing-room. On he went cautiously, snake-like, up the stairs +until he came to the door of Aunt Josephine's room. + +He bent down and listened. There was no sound except Aunt +Josephine's breathing. Silently he drew from a fold in the loin- +cloth a screwdriver and removed the screws from the hinges of the +door. Quietly he pushed the bedroom door open, pivoting it on the +lock, just far enough open so that he could slip through. + +Creeping along the floor, like a reptile whose sign he had +assumed, he came nearer and nearer Aunt Josephine's bed. As he +paused for a moment his quick eye seemed to catch sight of the +bulging lump under her pillow. His long thin hand reached out for +it. + +Aunt Josephine moved restlessly in her sleep. Instantly he seized +a murderous-looking Chinese dirk fastened to his side and raised +it above her head ready to strike on the slightest outcry. She +moved slightly, and relapsed into sound sleep again. + +Holding the knife above her, Wu slowly and quietly removed the +jewel-case from under her pillow. + + . . . . . . . + +In a country road-house Long Sin was waiting patiently. The +telephone rang and the proprietor answered. Long Sin was at his +side almost before he could hand over the receiver. It was Long +Sin's master, Wu. + +"Beware," came the whispered message over the wire. "Kennedy has +made a false ring. I'll get the real one. By the great Devil of +Gobi, you must cut him off." + +"It is done," returned Long Sin, hanging up the receiver in great +excitement. + +He hurried out of the room and left the road-house. Down the road +in an automobile, bound between two Chinamen, one at her head and +the other at her feet, was Elaine, wrapped around in blankets, not +even her face visible. The guards looked up startled as Long Sin +streaked out of the shadow to the car. + +"Quick!" he ordered. "The master will get the ring himself. I will +take care of Kennedy." + +An instant and they were gone, while Long Sin slunk back into the +shadows from which he had come. + +Through the underbrush the wily Chinaman made his way to an old +barn, which stood back some distance from the road, and entered +the front door. There was another door in the rear, and one quite +large window. + +In the dim light of a lantern hanging from a rafter could be seen +several large barrels in a corner. Without a moment's hesitation, +Long Sin seized a bucket and placed it under the spiggot of one of +the barrels. The liquid poured forth into the bucket and he +emptied the contents on the floor, filling the bucket again and +again and swinging it right and left in every direction until the +barrel had finally run dry. + +Then he moved over to the window, which he examined carefully. +Satisfied with what he had done, he drew a slip of paper from his +pocket and hastily wrote a note, resting the paper on an old box. +When he had finished writing, he folded up the note and thrust it +into a little hollow carved Chinese figure which he took also from +his pocket. + +These were, apparently, his emergency preparations which he was +ready to execute in case he received such a message from his +master as he had actually received. + +With a final hasty glance about he extinguished the lantern, +letting the moonlight stream fitfully through the single window. +Then he left the barn, with both front and rear doors open. + +Taking advantage of every bit of shelter, he made his way across +the field in the direction of the crossroads, finally dropping +down behind a huge rock some yards from the finger post that +pointed each way to Williams and Brownlee Avenues. + + . . . . . . . + + Late that night, Kennedy left his apartment prepared to follow +the instructions in the note which had been so strangely delivered +in the vase. + +As he climbed into a roadster, he tucked the robe most carefully +into a corner under the leather seat. + +"For heaven's sake, Craig," I gasped from under the robe, "let me +have a little air." + +I had taken my place under the robe before the car was driven up +before the apartment, lest some emissary of Wu Fang might be +watching to see that there was no such trick. + +"You'll get air enough when we get started, Walter," he laughed +back under his breath, apparently addressing the engine. + +Kennedy was a hard driver when he wanted to be and enough was at +stake to-night to make him drive hard. He whizzed along in the +roadster, and I was indeed glad enough to huddle up under the +robe. + +We had reached a point in the suburbs which was deserted and I did +not recognize a thing when he pulled up by the side of the road +with a jerk. I peered through a crease in the corner of the robe, +and saw him slide out from under the wheel and stand by the side +of the car, looking up and down. Ahead of us the road curved +sharply and I had no idea what was there, though Kennedy seemed to +know the place. + +A moment later he pulled the robe partly off me, and bent down as +though examining the batteries on the side of the car. + +"Get out on the other side in the shadow of the car, Walter," he +whispered hoarsely. "Go down the road a bit--only cut in and keep +under cover. This is Williams Avenue. You'll see a big rock. Hide +behind it. Ahead you'll see Brownlee Avenue. Be prepared for +anything. I shall have to trust the rest to you. I don't know +myself what's going to happen." + +I slid out and went along the edge of the road, as Craig had +directed, and finally crouched behind a huge rock, feeling on as +much tension as if I had been a boy playing at Wild West. Only +this might at any moment develop into the reality of a Wild Far +East. + +After a moment to give me a chance, Craig himself left the car +pulled up close by the side of the road and went ahead on foot. At +last he came to the cross-roads just around the bend, where in the +moonlight he could read the sign: "Williams Avenue" and "Brownlee +Avenue." He stood there a moment, then glanced at his watch which +registered both hands approaching the hour of twelve. He gazed +about at the deserted country. Had the appointment been a hoax, +after all, a scheme to get him away from the city for some +purpose? + +Suddenly, at his feet in the dust of the road something heavy +seemed to drop. He looked about quickly. No one was in sight. + +He reached down and picked up a little Chinese figure. Tapping it +with his knuckle, he examined it curiously. It was hollow. + +From the inside he drew out a piece of paper. He strained his eyes +in the moonlight and managed to make out: + +The Serpent is all-wise, and his fang is fatal. You have signed +the white girl's death warrant. + +Beneath this sinister warning was stamped the serpent sign of Wu +Fang. + +It was not a hoax, and Kennedy stood there a moment gazing about +in tense anxiety. Had that uncanny watching eye observed his every +action? Was it staring at him now in the blackness? + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile, I had made my way stealthily, peering into the bushes +and careful not even to step on anything that would make a noise +and was now, as I have said, crouched behind the big rock to which +Craig had directed me. I heard him go along the road and looked +about cautiously, but could hear and see nothing else. + +I had begun to wonder whether Kennedy might not have made a +mistake when, suddenly, from behind the shadow of another rock, +ahead of me, but toward Brownlee Avenue, I saw a tall, gaunt +figure of a man rise in the moonlight, almost as if it had sprung +from the very earth. + +My heart gave a leap, as he quickly raised his right arm and +hurled something as far as he could in the direction that Kennedy +had taken. If it had been a bomb, followed by an explosion, I +would not have been surprised. But no sound followed as the figure +dropped back as if it had been a wraith. + +I stole out from my own hiding-place in the shadow of my rock and +darted quickly to the shelter of a bush, nearer the figure. + +The figure was no wraith. It turned to steal away. I remembered +Kennedy's parting words. If the man ever gained the darkness of a +clump of woods, just beyond us, he was as good as safe. This was +the time to act. + +I leaped at him and we went down, rolling over and over in the +underbrush and stubble. We fought fiercely, but I could not seem +to get a glimpse of his face which was muffled. + +He was powerful and stronger than I and after a tough tussle he +broke loose. But I had succeeded, nevertheless. I had delayed him +just long enough. Kennedy heard the sound of the struggle and was +now crashing through the hedge at the cross-roads in our +direction. + +I managed to pick myself up, just as Kennedy reached my side and, +together, we followed the retreating figure, as it made its way +among the shadows. Across the open space before us we followed him +and at last saw him dive into an old barn. + +A moment later we followed hot-foot into the barn. As we entered, +we could hear a peculiar grating noise, as though a door was swung +on its rusty hinges. The front door was open. Evidently the man +had gone through and closed the back door. + +We threw ourselves against the back door. But it did not yield. +There was no time to waste and we turned to rush out again by the +way we had come, just as the front door was slammed shut. + +The man had trapped us. He had left both doors open, had run +through, braced the back door, then had rushed around outside just +in time to brace the front door also. + +We could hear his feet crunching the dry leaves and twigs as he +went around the side of the barn again. Together we threw +ourselves against the front door, but, although it yielded a +little he had barred it so that it would resist our united +strength for some time. + +Again and again we threw ourselves against it. It was horribly +dark in there, except for an oblong spot where the moonlight +streamed in through a window. Suddenly the pale silver of the +moonlight on the floor reddened. + +The man had struck a match and thrown it into a mass of oil-soaked +straw and gunpowder which protruded through one of the weather- +beaten boards, near the floor. + +It was only a matter of a second or so now when the fire swept +into the barn itself. There was no beating it out. Some one had +literally soaked the straw and the floor with oil. It seemed as +though the whole place burst into a sudden blaze of tinder. +Outside, we could hear footsteps rapidly retreating toward the +shelter of the clump of woods. + +For a second I looked dismayed at the rapidly-mounting flames. + +"A very pretty situation," I forced with a laugh. "But I hope he +doesn't think we'll stay here and burn, with a perfectly good +window in full view." + +I took a step toward the window, but before I could take another, +Kennedy yanked me back. + +"Don't think for a moment that he overlooked that," he shouted. + +Craig looked around hastily. In a corner, just back of us was a +long pole. He snatched it up and moved cautiously toward the +window, keeping the pole as level as possible as he endeavored to +get a leverage on the sash. The flames were mounting faster and +higher, licking up everything. + +"Keep back, Walter," he muttered, "just as far as you can." + +He had scarcely raised the window a fraction of an inch when an +old rusty, heavy anvil and a bent worn plowshare crashed down to +the floor directly over the spot where I should have been if he +had not dragged me away. I started back, aghast. Nothing had been +overlooked to finish us off. + +"I think you may try it safely now, all right," smiled Kennedy +coolly. + +We climbed out of the window, not an instant too soon from the +raging inferno about us. + +Having gained the clump of woods, the gaunt figure had paused long +enough to gloat over his clever scheme. Instead, he saw us making +good our escape. With a gesture of intense fury he turned. There +was nothing more for him to do but to zigzag his way to safety +across country. + +The barn was now burning fiercely and it was almost as light as +day about us. Kennedy paused only long enough to look down at the +ground where the fire had been started. + +"See, Walter," he exclaimed pointing to a square indention in the +soft soil. "No white man ever made a footprint like that." + +I bent over. The prints had the squareness of those paper-layered +soles of a Chinaman. + +"Long Sin," came the name involuntarily to my lips, for I knew +that Wu would delegate just such a job to his faithful slave. + +Kennedy did not pause an instant longer, but in the light of the +burning barn, as best he could, started to follow the trail in a +desperate endeavor either to overtake Long Sin, or at least to +find the final direction in which he would go. + + . . . . . . . + +At the entrance of the passageway which led to the little +underground chamber in which we had sought the treasure hidden by +the Clutching Hand, Wu Fang was seated on a rock waiting +impatiently, though now and then indulging in a sinister smile at +the subtle trick by which he had recovered the ring. + +The sound of approaching footsteps disturbed him. He was far too +clever to leave anything to chance and, like a serpent, he +wriggled behind another rock and waited. It was only a glance, +however, that he needed to allay his suspicions. It was Long Sin, +breathless. + +Wu stepped out beside him so quietly that even the acute Long Sin +did not hear. "Well?" he said in a guttural tone. + +Long Sin drew back in fear. "I have failed, oh master," he replied +in an imploring tone. "Even now they follow my tracks." + +It was bad enough to confess defeat without the fear of capture. + +Wu frowned. "We must work quickly, then," he muttered. + +He picked up a dark lantern near-by, indicating another to Long +Sin. They entered the cave, flashing the lights ahead of them. + +"Be careful," ordered Wu, proceeding gingerly from one stepping- +stone to another. "We shall be followed no further than this." + +He paused a moment and pointed his finger at the earth. +Everywhere, except here and there where a stone projected, was a +sticky, slimy substance. It was an old trick of primitive races. + +"Bird lime," hissed Wu, pointing at the viscid substance made of +the juice of the holly bark, extracted by boiling, and mixed with +a third part of nut oil and grease. + +They passed on from stone to stone until they came to the +subterranean chamber itself. Without a moment's hesitation, Wu +made his way toward the rock in which they had found the slot with +its cryptic inscription. + +Long Sin watched his master in silent admiration as, at last, he +drew forth the mystic ring for which they had dared all. + +Without a word, Wu dropped it in the slot. It tinkled down the +runway, a protuberance hit a trigger and pushed it a hair's +breadth. + +A noise behind them caused the two to turn startled. Even Wu had +not expected it. + +On the other side of the chamber, a great rock in the ground +slowly turned, as though on a pivot. They watched, fascinated. +Even then Wu did not forget the precious ring, but as the rock +turned, reached down quickly and recovered it from the cup at the +floor. + +Inch by inch the pivoted rock moved on its axis. They flashed +their lanterns full on it and, as it moved, they could see +disclosed huge piles of gold and silver in coins and bars and +ornaments, a chest literally filled with brilliants, set and +unset, rubies, emeralds, precious stones of every conceivable +variety, a cave that would have staggered even Aladdin--the rich +reward of the countless marauding operations of Bennett's other +personality. + +For a moment they could merely stand in avaricious exultation. + + . . . . . . . + +Painfully and slowly, we managed to trail Long Sin's footprints, +until we came to a road where they were lost in the hard macadam. +There was no time to stop. We must follow the road on the chance +that he had taken it. But which way? + +Kennedy chose the most likely direction, for the trail had been at +an angle to the road and Long Sin was not likely to double back. +We had not gone many rods before Kennedy paused a minute and +looked about in the moonlight. + +"It's right, Walter," he cried. "Do you recognize it?" + +I looked about. Then it flashed over me. This was the back road +that led past the entrance to the treasure vault at Aunt Tabby's. + +We went on now more quickly, listening carefully to catch any +sounds, but heard nothing. At last Kennedy stopped, then plunged +among the rocks and bushes beside the road. We were at the cave. + +"You go in this way, Walter," he directed. "I'll go around and +down where it caved in." + +I groped my way along through the darkness. + +I had gone only a yard or two, when it seemed as though something +had grasped my foot. + +With a great wrench I managed to pull it loose. But the weight on +my other foot had imbedded it deeper. I struggled to free this +foot and got the other caught. My revolver, which I had drawn, was +jarred from my hand and in the effort to recover it, I lost my +balance. Unable to move a foot in time to catch myself, I fell +forward. My hands were now covered by the slimy, sticky stuff, and +the more I struggled, the worse I seemed to get entangled. + + . . . . . . . + +Wu and Long Sin paused only a minute in astonishment. Then they +literally fell upon the wealth that lay before them, gloating over +the gold, stuffing their hands into the jewels, lifting them up +and letting the priceless gems run through their fingers. + +Suddenly they paused. There was the slight tinkle of a Chinese +bell. + +Kennedy had reached Aunt Tabby's garden, outside the roof of the +subterranean chamber where it had given way, had gone down +carefully over the earth and rock, and in doing so had broken a +string stretched across the passageway. The tinkle of a bell +attached to it aroused his attention and he stopped short, a +second, to look about. Wu Fang had arranged a primitive alarm. + +Quickly, Wu and Long Sin blew out their lanterns while Wu gave the +rock a push. Slowly, as it had opened, it now closed and they +stood there listening. + +I was still struggling in the bird lime, getting myself more and +more covered with it, when the reverberation of revolver shots +reached me. + +Wu and Long Sin had opened fire on Kennedy, and Kennedy was +replying in kind. In the cavern it sounded like a veritable +bombardment. As they retreated, they came nearer and nearer to me +and I could see the revolvers spitting fire in the darkness. So +intent were they on Kennedy that they forgot me. + +I watched them fearfully as they hopped deftly from one stone to +another to avoid the lime--and were gone. + +"Craig! Craig!" I managed to cry feebly. "Be careful. Keep to the +stones." + +He strained his eyes toward the ground in the darkness, at the +sound of my voice. Then he struck a match and instantly took in +the situation which, to me, under any other circumstances, would +have been ludicrous. + +Stepping from stone to stone, he followed the retreating Chinamen. +But they had already reached the mouth of the cave and were making +their way rapidly down the road to a bend, in the opposite +direction from which we had come. There, Wu's automobile was +waiting. They leaped into it and the driver, without a word, shot +the car off into the darkness of early dawn. + +A moment later, Kennedy appeared, but they had made their getaway. +Baffled, he turned and retraced his steps to the cave. + +I don't think that I ever welcomed him more sincerely than I did +as, finally, I crawled slowly out from the bird lime, exhausted by +the effort that I had made to free myself from the sticky mess. + +"They got away, Walter," he said, lighting a lantern they had +dropped. "By George," he added, I think a little vexed that I had +not been able to stop them, "you are a sight!" + +He was about to laugh, when I fainted. I can remember nothing +until I woke up over by the wall of the chamber where he dragged +me. + +Kennedy had been working hard to revive me, and, as I opened my +eyes, he straightened up. His eye suddenly caught something on the +rock beside him. There was a little slot carved in it, and above +the slot was a peculiar inscription. + +For several minutes, Kennedy puzzled over it, as Wu had done. Then +he discovered the little cup near the ground. + +"The ring!" he suddenly cried out. + +I was too muddled to appreciate at once what he meant, but I saw +him reach into his fob pocket and draw forth the replica of the +trinket which had caused so much disaster, as if it had been +cursed by the Clutching Hand himself. He dropped it into the slot. + +Struggling to my feet, I saw across from me the very rock itself +moving. Was it an hallucination, born of my nervous condition? + +"Look, Craig!" I cried involuntarily, pointing. + +He turned. No, it was not a vision. It actually moved. Together we +watched. Slowly the rock turned on a pivot. There were disclosed +to our astonished eyes the hidden millions of the Clutching Hand. + +I looked from the gold and jewels to Kennedy, in speechless +amazement. + +"We have beaten them, anyhow," I cried. + +Slowly Craig shook his head sadly. + +"Yes," he murmured, "we have found the Clutching Hand's millions, +but we have lost Elaine." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE VENGEANCE OF WU FANG + + +Elaine was still in the power of Wu Fang. + +Kennedy had thwarted the Chinese master criminal in his search for +the millions amassed by the Clutching Hand. But any joy that we +might have derived from this success was completely obscured by +the fear that Wu might wreak some diabolical vengeance on Elaine. + +It was a ticklish situation. In fact, I doubt whether Craig would +have discovered the treasure at all, if our pursuit of Wu and Long +Sin the night before had not literally forced us into doing so. + +Nor were Kennedy's fears unfounded. Wu and Long Sin had scarcely +reached the secret apartment back of the deceptive exterior of the +Chinatown tenement, when the subtle Chinaman began to contemplate +his revenge. + +Long Sin was smoking a Chinese pipe, resting after their hurried +flight, while Wu, the tireless, was seated at a table at the other +end of the room. At last Wu Fang took up a long Chinese dirk from +the table before him, looked at it, turned it over, felt its edge. +It was keen and the point was sharp. He rose and deliberately +walked across to a door leading into a back room. + +On a couch lay Elaine and with her, as a guardian, was Weepy Mary +whom the Clutching Hand had used to lure her to the church where +the faked record of her father's marriage was supposed to be. +Indeed, though Wu had lost the Clutching Hand's millions, he had +seen his chance and had fallen heir to what was left of Bennett's +criminal organization. + +As Wu, the Serpent, entered and advanced slowly towards Elaine, +she crouched back from him in deadly fear. He stopped before her +without a word and his menacing eye seemed to read her very +thoughts. + +Slowly he drew from under his robe the Chinese dirk. He felt the +edge of it again and gazed significantly at Elaine. She shrank +back even further, as far as the divan would permit. + +It was a critical moment. + +Just then Long Sin entered. "One of the five millions waits +outside," he reported simply, with a bow. + +Wu understood. It had been a pleasant fiction of his that although +he did not, of course, absolutely control such a stupendous +organization he could, by his subtle power, force almost unlimited +allegiance from the simple coolies in that district of China from +which he came. + +Out in the front room, just a moment before, a knock at the door +had disturbed Long Sin, and a Chinese servant had announced a +visitor. Long Sin had waved to the servant to usher him in and a +poorly clad coolie had entered. + +He bowed as Long Sin faced him. "Where is the master?" he had +asked. + +Long Sin had not deigned to speak. With a mere wave of his hand, +he indicated that he would be the bearer of the message, and had +followed Wu through the door of the back room. + +So, almost by chance, Wu was interrupted in the brutal vengeance +which had first come to his mind. He sheathed the knife and, still +without a word, went back into the main room, giving a nod to +Weepy Mary to guard Elaine closely. + +Wu eyed the coolie until the newcomer could almost feel the +master's penetrating gaze, although his head was bowed in awe. +Quickly the coolie thrust his hand under his blouse and drew forth +a package. With another bow, he advanced. + +"For your enemies, oh master," he said, handing the package over +to Wu. + +For the first time since the loss of the treasure, Wu Fang seemed +to take an interest in something besides revenge. The coolie +started to open the package, removed the paper wrapper, and then a +silk wrapping inside. Finally he came to a box, from which he drew +a leather pouch, each operation conducted with greater care as it +became evident that the contents were especially precious in some +way. Then he took from the pouch a small vial. + +"What is it?" demanded Wu Fang, as the coolie displayed it. + +The coolie drew forth now a magnifying glass and a glass slide. +Opening the vial with great care he shook something out on the +slide, then placed it under the lens. + +"Look!" he said simply. + +Wu bent over and looked. Under the lens what had formerly seemed +to be merely a black speck of dirt became now one of the most +weird and uncanny little creatures to be found in all the realm of +nature. It seemed to be all legs and feelers moving at once. A +normal person would have looked at the creature only with the +greatest repugnance. Wu regarded it with a sort of unholy +fascination. + +"And it is?" he queried. + +"What the white man calls the African tick which carries the +recurrent fever," answered the coolie deferentially. + +A flash of intense exultation seemed to darken Wu Fang's sinister +face. Several times he paced up and down the room, as he +contemplated the sight which he had just seen. Then he came to a +sudden determination. + +"Wait," he said to the coolie, as he moved slowly again into the +back room. + +Long Sin had remained there. With Weepy Mary he was guarding +Elaine when Wu Fang reentered. Elaine was thoroughly aroused by +this time. Even the fact that Wu no longer held the murderous dirk +did not serve to reassure her, for the look on his face was even +more terrible than before. + +He smiled cunningly to himself. + +"Suffering is a state of mind," he said in a low tone, "and I have +decided that it would be poor revenge for me to harm you. You are +free." + +Nothing could have come as a greater surprise to Elaine. Even Long +Sin had not expected any such speech as this. Elaine, however, was +wonder-stricken. + +"Do you--do you really mean it?" she asked, scarcely able to +believe what her ears heard. + +Wu merely nodded, and with a wave of his hand to Long Sin +indicated that Elaine was to be released. + +Long Sin, the slave, did not stop to question his master, but +merely moved over to a closet and took out the hat and wraps which +Elaine had worn when she had been kidnapped in the up-town +apartment. He handed them over to her and she put them on with +trembling hands. + +No one stopped her and she nerved herself to take several steps +toward the door. She had scarcely crossed half the room. + +"Wait!" ordered Wu sharply. + +Was he merely torturing her, as a cat might torture a mouse? She +stopped obediently, afraid to look at him. + +"This will be the vengeance of Wu Fang," he went on impressively. +"Slowly, one by one, your friends will weaken and die, then your +family, until finally only you are left. Then will come your +turn." + +He stopped again and raised his long lean forefinger. "Go," he +hissed. "I wish you much joy." + +He turned to Long Sin and whispered a word to him. A moment later, +Long Sin drew forth a large silken handkerchief and tied it +tightly over Elaine's eyes. Then he took her hand and led her out. +There was to be no chance by which she could lead a raiding party +back to the den in which she had been held. + +I don't think that in all our friendship I have ever seen Kennedy +so utterly depressed as he was when we returned after the +discovery of the vast fortune which Bennett had cleverly secreted. +I came upon him in the laboratory the next morning while he was +trying to read. He had laid aside his scientific work, and now he +had even laid aside his book. + +There seemed to be absolutely nothing to do until some new clue +turned up. I placed my hand on his shoulder, but the words that +would encourage him died on my lips. Several times I started to +speak, but each time I checked myself. There did not seem to be +anything that would be appropriate for such an occasion. + +A sharp ring at the telephone made both of us fairly jump, so +nervous had we become. Kennedy reached over instantly for the +instrument in the vague hope that at last there was some news. + +As I watched his face, it changed first from despair to wonder, +and finally it seemed to light up with the most remarkable look of +relief and happiness that one could imagine. + +"I shall be right over," he cried, jamming the receiver down on +the hook, and in the same motion reaching for his hat and coat. +"Walter," he cried, "it is Elaine! They have let her go!" + +I seized my own hat and coat in time to follow him and we dashed +out of the laboratory. + +The suspense under which Aunt Josephine had been living had told +on her. Her niece, Elaine's cousin, Mary Brown, who lived at +Rockledge, had come into the city to comfort Aunt Josephine and +they had been sitting, that morning, in the library. Marie, the +maid was busy about the room, while Aunt Josephine talked sadly +over Elaine's strange disappearance. She was on the verge of +tears. + +Suddenly a startled cry from Jennings out in the hall caused both +ladies to jump to their feet. They could scarcely believe what +they heard as the faithful old butler cried out the name. + +"Why--Miss Elaine!" he gasped. + +An instant later Elaine herself burst into the room and flung +herself into Aunt Josephine's arms. All talking and half crying +from joy at once, they crowded about her. Breathlessly she +answered the questions that flew thick and fast. + +In the excitement Aunt Josephine had seized the telephone and +called our number. She did not even wait to break the good news, +but handed the telephone to Elaine herself. + +We left the laboratory on the run, too fast to notice that just +around the building line at the corner stood a limousine with +shades drawn. Even if we had paused to glance back, we could not +have seen Wu Fang and Long Sin inside, gazing out through the +corner of the curtains. They were in European dress now and had +evidently come prepared for just what they knew was likely to +happen. + +In all the strange series of events, I doubt whether we had ever +made better time from the laboratory over to the Dodge house than +we did now. We were admitted by the faithful Jennings and almost +ran into the library. + +"Oh, Craig!" cried Elaine, as Kennedy, almost speechless, seized +her by both hands. + +For a few seconds none of us could speak. Then followed a +veritable flood of eager conversation. + +I watched Elaine carefully, in fact we all did, for she seemed, in +spite of the excitement of her return, to be almost a complete +nervous wreck from the terrible experiences she had undergone. + +"Won't you come and stay with me a few days up in the country, +dear?" urged Mary at last. + +Elaine thought a moment, then turned to Aunt Josephine. + +"Yes," considered her aunt, "I think it would do you good." + +Still she hesitated; then shyly looked at Kennedy and laughed. +"You, too, Craig, must be fagged out," she said frankly. "Come up +there with us and take a rest." + +Kennedy smiled. "I shall be delighted," he accepted promptly. + +"You, too, Mr. Jameson," she added, turning to me. + +I hesitated a moment and Kennedy tried to catch my eye. I was just +about to speak when he brought his heel down sharply on my toe. I +looked at him again and caught just the trace of a nod of his +head. I saw that I was de trop. + +"No, thank you," I replied. "I'm afraid I'd better not go. Really, +I have too much work staring at me. I can't get away--but it's +very kind of you to think of asking me." + +We chatted, then left a few moments later so that Kennedy could +pack. + +Around the corner from the laboratory, as we dashed out, had been, +as I have said, Wu Fang and Long Sin looking out from the +limousine. No sooner had we disappeared across the campus than +their driver started up the car and they sped around to our +apartment. + +Cautiously they alighted and walked down the street. Then making +sure they were not observed, they entered and mounted the stairs +to our doorway. Long Sin was stationed down the hall on guard +while Wu Fang drew from his pocket a blank key, a file and a +candle. He lighted the candle and held the key in its flame until +it was covered with soot. + +Then he inserted the key in the keyhole, turned it and took the +key out. Working quickly now, he examined the key sharply. In the +soot were slight scratches indicating where it struck and +prevented the turning of the lock. He filed the key, trying it +again and again. Finally he finished, and opened the door. +Beckoning Long Sin, he entered our rooms. + +As they stood there, Wu Fang gazed about our living-room, keenly. +He was evidently considering where to place something, for, one +after another, he picked up several articles on the desk and +examined them. Each time that he laid one down he shook his head. + +Finally his eye rested on the telephone. It seemed to suggest an +idea to him and he crossed over to it. Carefully holding down the +receiver on the hook, he unscrewed the case which holds the +diaphragm, while with his clever fingers he held the rest of the +instrument intact. Then he removed from his pocket the vial which +the coolie had given him and placed its contents on the diaphragm +itself. Quickly now he replaced the receiver, and, having finished +their work, Long Sin and Wu Fang stealthily crept out. + +A second time, as we approached our apartment after the visit to +Elaine, we were too excited to notice the limousine in which were +Wu and Long Sin. But no sooner had we entered than Long Sin left +the car with a final word of instruction from his master. + +Up-stairs, in the apartment, Kennedy began hurriedly to pack, and +I helped him as well as I could. We were in the midst of it when +the telephone rang and I answered it. + +"Hello!" I called. + +There was no response. + +"Hello, Hello!" I repeated, raising my voice. + +Still there was no answer. I worked the hook up and down but could +get no reply. Finally, disgusted, I hung up. + +A moment later, I recall now, it seemed to me as though some one +had stuck a pin into the lobe of my ear. Still, I thought nothing +of it in the excitement of Kennedy's departure, and went to work +again to help him pack. + +We had scarcely got back to work, when the telephone bell jangled +again, and a second time I answered it. + +"Is Mr. Kennedy there?" came back a strange voice. + +I handed the instrument to Craig. + +"Hello," he called. "Who is this?" + +No response. + +"Hello, hello," he shouted, working the hook as I had done and, as +in my case, there was still no answer. + +"Some crank," he exclaimed, jamming down the receiver in disgust +and returning to his packing. + +Neither of us thought anything of it at the time, but now I recall +that I did see Kennedy once or twice press the lobe of his ear as +though something had hurt it. + +We did not know until later that in a pay station down the street +our arch enemy, Long Sin, had been calling us up and then, with a +wicked smile, refusing to speak to us. + + . . . . . . . + +It was about a week later that I came home late one night from the +Star, feeling pretty done up. Whatever it was, a violent fever +seemed to have come on me suddenly. I thought nothing of it, at +first, because I soon grew better. But while it lasted, I had the +most intense shivering, excruciating pains in my limbs, and +delirious headache. I recall, too, that I felt a peculiar soreness +on the ear. It was all like nothing I had ever had before. + +Indeed the next morning when I woke up, I felt a lassitude that +made it quite hard enough even to lounge about in my bath-robe. +Finally, feeling no better, I decided to see a doctor. I put on my +clothes with a decided effort and went out. + +The nearest doctor was about half a block away and we scarcely +knew him, for neither Kennedy nor I were exactly sickly. + +"Well," asked the doctor, as he closed the door of his office and +turned to me. "What seems to be the matter?" + +I tried to smile. "I feel as though I had been celebrating not +wisely but too well," I replied, trying to cheer up, "but as a +matter of fact I have been leading the simple life." + +He sounded me and pounded me, looked at my tongue and my eyes, +listened to my heart and lungs, though I don't think he treated my +symptoms very seriously. In fact, I might have known what he would +do. He talked a little while on generalities, diet and exercise +then walked over to a cabinet, and emptied out a few pills into a +little paper box. + +"Take one every hour," he said, handing them to me, and carefully +returning the bottle to the cabinet so that I could not see what +was on the label. "Cut your cigarettes to three a day, and don't +drink coffee. Four dollars, please." + +I suppose I ought to have been cured, and in fact I was cured--of +going to that doctor. I paid him and went back to the apartment, +my head soon in a whirl from a new onset of the fever. + +I managed to get back into my bath-robe, and threw myself down on +the divan, propped up with pillows. I had taken the pills but they +had no more effect than sugar of milk. By this time, I was much +more delirious and was crying out. + +I saw faces about me, but I did not see the faces which were +actually out by our hall door. Wu Fang and Long Sin had waited +patiently for their revenge. Now that they thought sufficient time +had elapsed, they had stolen stealthily to the apartment door. +While Long Sin watched, Wu listened. + +"The white devil has it," whispered Wu Fang, as he rejoined his +fellow conspirator. + +How long I should have remained in this state, and in fact how +long I did remain, I don't know. Vaguely, I recall that our +acquaintance, Johnson, who had the apartment across the hall, at +last heard my cries and came out to his own door. He needed only a +moment to listen at ours to know that something was wrong. + +"Why, what's the matter, Jameson?" he asked, poking his head in +and looking anxiously at me. + +I could only rave some reply, and he tried his best to quiet me. +"What's the matter, old man?" he repeated. "Tell me. Shall I send +for a doctor?" + +Somehow or other I knew the state I was in. I knew it was Johnson, +yet it all seemed unreal to me. With a great effort I gathered all +my scattered wits and managed to shout out, "Telegraph Kennedy-- +Rockledge." + +By this time Johnson himself was thoroughly alarmed. He did not +lose a second in dictating a telegram over the telephone. + + . . . . . . . + +At about the same time, up at Rockledge, Kennedy and Elaine, with +her cousin Mary Brown, were starting out for a horseback ride +through the hills. They were chatting gaily, but Kennedy was +forcing himself to do so. + +In fact, they had scarcely gone half a mile when Kennedy, who was +riding between the two and fighting off by sheer nerve the illness +he felt, suddenly fell over in half a faint on the horse's neck. +Elaine and Mary reined up their horses. + +"Why, Craig," cried Elaine, startled, "what's the matter?" + +The sound of her voice seemed to arouse him. He braced up. "Oh, +nothing, I guess," he said with a forced smile. "I'm all right." + +It was no use, however. They had to cut short the ride, and +Kennedy returned to the house, glad to drop down in an easy chair +on the porch, while Elaine hovered about him solicitously. His +head buzzed, his skin was hot and dry, his eyes had an unnatural +look. Every now and then he would place his hand to his ear as +though he felt some pain. + +They had already summoned the country doctor, but it took him some +time to get out to the house. Suddenly a messenger boy rode up on +his bicycle and mounted the porch steps. "Telegram for Mr. +Kennedy," he announced, looking about and picking out Craig +naturally as the person he wanted. + +Kennedy nodded and took the yellow envelope while Elaine signed +for it. Listlessly he tore it open. It read: + +CRAIG KENNEDY, + +c/o Wellington Brown, Rockledge, N. J. + +Jameson very ill. Wants you. Better come. + +JOHNSON. + +The message seemed to rouse Kennedy in spite of his fever. His +face showed keen alarm, which he endeavored to conceal from +Elaine. But her quick eye had caught the look. + +"I must see Walter," he exclaimed, rising rather weakly and going +into the house. + +How he ever did it is still, I think, a mystery to him, but he +managed to pack up and, in spite of the alternating fever and +chills, made the journey back to the city. + +When at last Craig arrived at our apartment, it must have seemed +to him that he found me almost at death's door. I was terribly ill +and weak by that time, but had refused to see the doctor again and +Johnson had managed to get me into bed. + +Ill himself, Kennedy threw himself down for a moment exhausted. +"When did this thing come on Walter?" he asked of Johnson. + +"Yesterday, I think, at least as nearly as I can find out," +replied our friend. + +Craig was decidedly worried. "There's only one person in New York +to call on," he murmured, pulling himself out of bed and getting +into the living-room as best he could. + +"Is that you, Godowski?" he asked over the telephone. "Well, +doctor, this is Kennedy. Come over to my apartment, quick. I've a +case--two cases for you." + +Godowski was a world-famous scientist in his line and had +specialized in bacteriology, mainly in tropical diseases. + +As Kennedy hung up the receiver, he made his way back again to the +bedroom, scratching his ear. He noticed that I was doing the same +in my delirium. + +"Has Walter been scratching his ear?" he asked of Johnson. + +Johnson nodded. "That's strange," considered Craig thoughtfully. +"I've been doing the same." + +He turned back into the living-room and for a moment looked about. +Finally his eye happened to fall on the telephone and an idea +seemed to occur to him. + +He went over to the instrument and unscrewed the receiver. +Carefully he looked inside. Then he looked closer. There was +something peculiar about it and he picked up a blank sheet of +white paper, dusting off the diaphragm on it. There, on the paper, +were innumerable little black specks. + +Just then, outside, Dr. Godowski's car drew up and he jumped out, +swinging his black bag. Not being acquainted with what we were +going through, Godowski did not notice the almond-eyed Chinaman +who was watching down the street. + +"How do you do, doctor," greeted Craig faintly, at the door. + +"What seems to be the difficulty?" inquired the doctor eagerly. + +"I don't know," returned Craig, "but I have my suspicions. I'm too +ill to verify them myself. So I've called on you. Look at Jameson +first," he added. + +While Godowski was examining me, Craig managed to get out his +microscope and was looking through it at the strange black specks +on the paper. There, under the lens, he could see the most +remarkable, almost microscopic creature, all legs and feelers, a +most vicious object. + +Weak though he was, he could not help an exclamation of exultation +at his discovery, just as Godowski had finished with me. + +"Look!" he cried, calling the doctor. "I know what the trouble is, +Godowski." + +He had started to tell, but the excitement of the journey and the +exertion were so great that he could hardly mumble. + +"Here--look--on this paper," he cried. "From the telephone--" + +He had risen and was handing the paper to the scientist when his +weakness overcame him. He fell flat on his face on the floor and +dropped the paper, spilling the contents. + +Godowski, now thoroughly alarmed, bent over Craig. But the +delirium had overcome Kennedy, too. + +Unable to make any sense out of Craig's broken wanderings, +Godowski lost no time in taking samples of our blood. + +Then he hurried away to his laboratory in his car. As he did so, +however, Long Sin leaped into a taxicab which was waiting and +followed. + + . . . . . . . + +In Godowski's laboratory, where he was studying tropical diseases, +the bacteriologist set to work at once to confirm his own growing +suspicions. + +From a monkey which he had there for experimental purposes, he +drew off some blood samples. Then, with the aid of his assistant, +he took the blood samples he had obtained from us. The monkey's +blood, under the microscope, seemed full of rather elongated +wriggling germs of a peculiar species. In and out they made their +way among the blood corpuscles each like a dart aimed at life +itself. + +Then he took the samples of our blood. In them were the same +germs--carried by that gruesome tick! + +"The spirillum!" he muttered. "They are infected with African +recurrent fever. The only remedy is atoxyl, administered +intravenously, after the manner of Professor Ehrlich's famous +'606'." + +Godowski had rung the call box hastily for a messenger, when Long +Sin, who had managed stealthily to creep up to the doctor's +laboratory window, scowled, through at the action--then moved +away. + +While his assistant gathered the apparatus, the doctor wrote: + +MISS ANNE SEPTIX, 301 W.--th St. + +Please go at once to the apartment of Craig Kennedy,--Claremont +Ave. Surgical case. + +GODOWSKI, M. D. + +The boy arrived finally and the doctor gave him a generous tip to +hurry with the note. + +He had not turned the corner, however, when Long Sin appeared. +Subtly he played on the boy's cupidity to get him to deliver a +note of his own, even offered to deliver the boy's note for him. +The flash of a five dollar bill made the rest easy. + +As the boy disappeared on a fake errand, Long Sin, with the real +note hurried down-town, smiling wickedly. + +"They have discovered the fever, Master," he reported in the den. + +Wu was beside himself with rage. Before he could speak, however, +Long Sin spread out Godowski's message. "But I have this," he +added. + +It took merely a glance to suggest to Wu a new plan of action. He +rose and moved quickly into the back room. "Come," he ordered +Weepy Mary. "You must dress up as a nurse--immediately." + +Quickly she donned one of the numerous disguises while Wu planned +his campaign. + +"Here," he directed when she was ready, handing her a little vial. +"You must infect every instrument the doctor uses on Kennedy and +Jameson,--see?" + +She nodded and a moment later was on her way uptown. + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile Godowski himself had arrived at our apartment, much to +the relief of our friend Johnson, and was unpacking his +instruments. + +Quickly he improvised two operating tables, and placed one of us +on each. Then, with his assistant, he put on his white robes, +mask, gloves and other precautions for asepsis, setting out the +apparatus for the intravenous administration of the drug that +would kill the spirillum. Godowski was busy with the atoxyl, +mixing it in a normal salt solution. He would drop in a few drops +of an acid, then a few drops of an alkaline solution, so as to +keep the mixture neutral. Finally, he poured the solution into a +container, to the bottom of which was attached a long tube. This +container he raised high over our heads, clamping the tube. + +Then he fastened a tiny needle to the end of the tube, so that it +could be inserted in our arms, catching skillfully a vein--a very +difficult piece of work in which he excelled. The liquid would +then flow by the force of gravity from the container down through +the tube, through the hollow needle and into the vein where it +would act on the germs of the fever. + +They had finished their preparations and were waiting for Miss +Septix. "She ought to be here, now," muttered Godowski +impatiently, looking at his watch. + +Just then a cab drove up outside. + +"Perhaps that is she," he exclaimed. "It must be." + +A few moments later the door of the apartment opened. His face +showed his disappointment. It was a stranger. + +"Miss Septix is ill," she introduced, "and sent me to take her +place." + +The doctor looked about. "Very well, then," he said briskly, +seeing his preparations. "Are you ready to go ahead?" + +She nodded and threw off her coat that covered her immaculate +white uniform. + +The specialist plunged whole-heartedly into his work of saving us +now. "Hand me that needle, please," he directed the false nurse. + +She moved over to the table near-by and took it up, pausing only +long enough to dip it secretly into a vial she carried with her. + +"Please hurry," repeated the doctor. + +She turned from the table and handed it to him. He adjusted it and +already held it poised for the thrust which was not to cure but to +poison us further. + +"Weepy Mary!" cried a frightened voice at our door. + +Elaine had been deeply alarmed by the sudden illness of Kennedy +and the message from Jameson. No sooner had Kennedy gone, than it +flashed over her that Wu Fang had predicted something like this. + +"The threat!" she exclaimed, seeking her cousin. "Mary, I must go +to the city--right away." + +On the next train, then, she had been speeding back to New York, +and, arriving at the station, she realized that there was not a +moment to lose. She called a cab, drove directly to our apartment, +and hurried in, without even ringing the bell. + +One glance at the improvised hospital was enough to alarm her. But +the sight that had transfixed her was of a woman whose face she +remembered only too well, though Kennedy and I had never seen her. + +"Please, Miss," began Godowski's assistant, trying to quiet +Elaine, while Godowski turned in vexation to his work. + +"No, no!" repeated Elaine. "This woman is no nurse. She is a +criminal!" + +Godowski paused. It was true he did not know the woman. He gazed +from Elaine to Weepy Mary in doubt. + +The game was up. Weepy Mary dropped a piece of gauze which she had +soaked in the solution from the vial which Wu had given her and +bolted for the door. + +So sudden was her flight that no one was quick enough to stop her. +She managed to reach the hall and slam the door. Down she rushed +to the street, Godowski's assistant after her. + +There, awaiting, was Long Sin's car. She leaped in and was off in +a moment. The assistant had just time to dive at the running- +board. But his grip was poor and Long Sin easily threw him off. + +"You--you fool!" he hissed at Mary, as soon as the danger of +pursuit was over and the assistant had gone back into the +apartment. + +"Oh, sir," she begged, "it was not my fault. Miss Dodge came in-- +unexpectedly--she recognized me. If I had not fled, they would +have caught me--perhaps you, too." + +Long Sin was furious. He threatened her and she cowered back. +However, there was nothing to be gained by that and he subsided +and drove quickly down-town. + +The excitement more than ever alarmed Elaine now. "Tell me," she +appealed to Dr. Godowski, "what is the matter?" + +"In some way," he replied quickly, "they have become infected by +the bite of an African tick which carries spirillum fever." + +"She got away, in a cab," panted the assistant, returning. + +Godowski raised his hands in despair. "I was just about to start," +he cried. "Everything is ready. I can't send for another nurse. +Every minute counts." + +Elaine had thrown off her coat and hat. Her sleeves were up in a +moment and before the doctor knew what she was about she was +scrubbing her hands in the antiseptic wash. + +"Only--show me--what to do," she cried. "I will be the nurse!" + + . . . . . . . + +Several days later, when we had recovered sufficiently from the +diabolical attack that had been made upon us, Kennedy was again at +work in the laboratory, while I was writing. We still felt rather +weak, but Godowski's skill had pulled us out all right. + +Our speaking-tube sounded and I knew that it was Elaine and Aunt +Josephine. + +"How do you feel?" inquired Elaine anxiously, as she almost ran +across the laboratory to Craig. + +"Fine!" he exaggerated, brightly. + +"Really?" she repeated anxiously. + +"Look!" he said, turning to his microscope. + +He took some blood from a test tube in our electric incubator and +placed a drop on a slide. It was some of the blood infected by the +germs carried by the tick. + +"That is how our blood looked--before the new nurse arrived," he +smiled, while Elaine looked at it in horror. + +Then he pricked his arm and let a drop smear on another slide. + +"Now look at that--perfectly normal," he added. + +"Oh--I'm so glad," she exclaimed radiantly. + +"Normal--thanks to you. You saved us. You were just in time," +cried Craig taking both her hands in his. + +He was about to kiss her, when she broke away. "Craig," she +whispered, blushing and looking hastily at us. + +Aunt Josephine and I could only smile at the disgusted glance +Craig gave us, as he thrust his hands in his pockets and wished us +a thousand miles away at that moment. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SHADOWS OF WAR + + +For a long time Kennedy had, I knew, been at work at odd moments +in the laboratory secretly. What it was that he was working on, +even I was unable to guess, so closely had he guarded his secret. +But that it was something momentous, I was assured. + +Long Sin had already been arrested and it was a day or two after +the escape of Wu himself who had come just in time to prevent the +confession by one of his emissaries of the whereabouts of his +secret den. Kennedy had Chase and another detective whom he +frequently employed on routine matters at work over the clues +developed by his use of the sphygmograph. Elaine, anxious for +news, had dropped in on us at the laboratory just as Kennedy was +hastily opening his mail. + +Craig came to a large letter with an official look, slit open the +envelope, and unfolded the letter. "Hurrah!" he cried, jumping up +and thrusting the letter before us. "Read that." + +Across the top of the paper were embossed in blue the formidable +words: + +United States Navy Department, Washington, D. C. + +The letter was most interesting: + +PROFESSOR CRAIG KENNEDY, The University, New York City. + +DEAR SIR, + +Your telautomatic torpedo model was tested yesterday and I take +great pleasure in stating that it was entirely successful. There +is no doubt that the United States is safe from attack as long as +we retain its secret. + +Very sincerely yours, + +DANIEL WATERS, Ass't Sec'y. + +"Oh, Craig," congratulated Elaine, as she handed back the note. +"I'm so glad for your sake. How famous you will be!" + +"When are we going to see the wonderful invention, Craig?" I added +as I grasped his hand and, in return, he almost broke the bones in +mine wringing it. + +"As soon as you wish," he replied, moving over to the safe near-by +and opening it. "Here's the only other model in existence besides +the model I sent to Washington." + +He held up before us a cigar-shaped affair of steel, about eight +inches long, with a tiny propeller and rudder of a size to +correspond. Above was a series of wires, four or five inches in +length, which, he explained, were the aerials by which the torpedo +was controlled. + +"The principle of the thing," he went on proudly, "is that I use +wireless waves to actuate relays on the torpedo. The power is in +the torpedo; the relay releases it. That is, I send a child with a +message; the grown man, through the relay, does the work. So, you +see, I can sit miles away in safety and send my little David out +anywhere to strike down a huge Goliath." + +It was not difficult to catch his enthusiasm over the marvellous +invention, though we could not follow him through the mazes of +explanation about radio-combinators, telecommutators and the rest +of the technicalities. I may say, however, that on his radio- +combinator he had a series of keys marked "Forward," "Back," +"Start," "Stop," "Rudder Right," "Rudder Left," and so on. + +He had scarcely finished his brief description when there came a +knock at the door. I answered it. It was Chase and his assistant, +whom Kennedy had employed in the affair. + +"We've found the place on Pell Street that we think is Wu Fang's," +they reported excitedly. "It's in number fourteen, as you thought. +We've left an operative disguised as a blind beggar to watch the +place." + +"Oh, good!" exclaimed Elaine, as Craig and I hurried out after +Chase and his man with her. "May I go with you?" + +"Really, Elaine," objected Craig, "I don't think it's safe. +There's no telling what may happen. In fact, I think Walter and I +had better not be seen there even with Chase." + +She pouted and pleaded, but Craig was obdurate. Finally she +consented to wait for us at home provided we brought her the news +at the earliest moment and demonstrated the wonderful torpedo as +well. Craig was only too glad to promise and we waved good-bye as +her car whisked her off. + +Half an hour later we turned into Chinatown from the shadow of the +elevated railroad on Chatham Square, doing our best to affect a +Bowery slouch. + +We had not gone far before we came to the blind beggar. He was +sitting by number fourteen with a sign on his breast, grinding +industriously at a small barrel organ before him on which rested a +tin cup. + +We passed him and Kennedy took out a coin from his pocket and +dropped it into the cup. As he did so, he thrust his hand into the +cup and quickly took out a piece of paper which he palmed. + +The blind beggar thanked and blessed us, and we dodged into a +doorway where Kennedy opened the paper: "Wu Fang gone out." + +"What shall we do?" I asked. + +"Go in anyhow," decided Kennedy quickly. + +We left the shelter of the doorway and walked boldly up to the +door. Deftly Kennedy forced it and we entered. + +We had scarcely mounted the stairs to the den of the Serpent, when +a servant in a back room, hearing a noise, stuck his head in the +door. Kennedy and I made a dash at him and quickly overpowered +him, snapping the bracelets on his wrists. + +"Watch him, Walter," directed Craig as he made his way into the +back room. + + . . . . . . . + +In the devious plots and schemes of Wu Fang, his nefarious work +had brought him into contact not only with criminals of the lowest +order but with those high up in financial and diplomatic circles. + +Thus it happened that at such a crisis as Kennedy had brought +about for him Wu had suddenly been called out of the city and had +received an order from a group of powerful foreign agents known +secretly as the Intelligence Office to meet an emissary at a +certain rocky promontory on the Connecticut shore of Long Island +Sound the very day after Kennedy's little affair with him in the +laboratory and the day before the letter from Washington arrived. + +Though he was mortally afraid of Kennedy's pursuit, there was +nothing to do but obey this imperative summons. Quietly he slipped +out of town, the more readily when he realized that the summons +would take him not far from the millionaire cottage colony where +Elaine had her summer home, which, however, she had not yet +opened. + +There, on the rocky shore, he sat gazing out at the waves, +waiting, when suddenly, from around the promontory, came a boat +rowed by two stalwart sailors. It carried as passengers two dark- +complexioned, dark-haired men, foreigners evidently, though +carefully dressed so as to conceal both their identity and +nationality. + +As the boat came up to a strip of sandy beach among the rocks, the +sailors held it while their two passengers jumped out. Then they +rowed away as quickly as they had come. + +The two mysterious strangers saluted Wu. + +"We are under orders from the Intelligence Office," introduced one +who seemed to be the leader, "to get this American, Kennedy." + +A subtle smile overspread Wu's face. He said nothing but this +adventure promised to serve more than one end. "Information has +just come to us," the stranger went on, "that Kennedy has invented +a new wireless automatic torpedo. Already a letter is on its way +informing him that it has been accepted by the Navy." + +The other man who had been drawing a cigar-shaped outline on the +wet sand looked up. "We must get those models," he put in, adding, +"both of them--the one he has and that the government has. Can it +be done?" + +"I can get them," answered Wu sinisterly. + +And so, while Kennedy was drawing together the net about Wu, that +wily criminal had already planned an attack on him in an +unexpected quarter. + +Down in Washington the very morning that our pursuit of Wu came to +a head, the officials of the navy department, both naval and +civil, were having the final conference at which they were to +accept officially Kennedy's marvellous invention which, it was +confidently believed, would ultimately make war impossible. + +Seated about a long table in one of the board rooms were not only +the officers but the officials of the department whose sanction +was necessary for the final step. By a window sat a stenographer +who was transcribing, as they were taken, the notes of the +momentous meeting. + +They had just completed the examination of the torpedo and laid it +on the end of the table scarcely an arm's length from the +stenographer. As he finished a page of notes he glanced quickly at +his watch. It was exactly three o'clock. + +Hastily he reached over for the torpedo and with one swift, silent +movement tossed it out of the window. + +Down below, in a clump of rhododendrons, for several moments had +been crouching one of the men who had borne the orders to Wu Fang +at the strange meeting on the promontory. + +His eyes seemed riveted at the window above him. Suddenly the +supreme moment for which this dastardly plot had been timed came. +As the torpedo model dropped from the window, he darted forward, +caught it, turned, and in an instant he was gone. + + . . . . . . . + +Wu Fang himself had returned after setting in motion the forces +which he found necessary to call to aid the foreign agents in +their plots against Kennedy's torpedo. + +As Wu approached the door of his den and was about to enter, his +eye fell on our outpost, the blind beggar. Instantly his +suspicions were aroused. He looked the beggar over with a frown, +thought a moment, then turned and instead of entering went up the +street. + +He made the circuit of the block and now came to an alley on the +next street that led back of the building in which he had his den. +Still frowning, he gazed about, saw that he was not followed, and +entered a doorway. + +Up the stairs he made his way until he came to an empty loft. +Quickly he went over to the blank wall and began feeling +cautiously about as if for a secret spring hidden in the plaster. + +"No one in the back room," said Kennedy rejoining me in the den +itself with the prisoner. "He's out, all right." + +Before Craig was a mirror. As he looked into it, at an angle, he +could see a part of the decorations of the wall behind him +actually open out. For an instant the evil face of Wu Fang +appeared. + +Without a word, Craig walked into the back room. As he did so, Wu +Fang, knife in hand, stealthily opened the sliding panel its full +length and noiselessly entered the room behind me. With knife +upraised for instant action he moved closer and closer to me. He +had almost reached me and paused to gloat as he poised the knife +ready to strike, when I heard a shout from Kennedy, and a scuffle. + +Craig had leaped out from behind a screen near the doorway to the +back room where he had hidden to lure Wu on. With a powerful +grasp, he twisted the knife from Wu's hand and it fell with a +clatter on the floor. I was at Wu myself an instant later. He was +a powerful fighter, but we managed to snap the handcuffs on him +finally, also. + +"Walter," panted Kennedy straightening himself out after the +fracas, "I'll stay here with the prisoners. Go get the police." + +I hurried out and rushed down the street seeking an officer. + +Up in the den, Wu Fang, silent, stood with his back to the wall, +scowling sullenly. Close beside him hung a sort of bell-cord, just +out of reach. Kennedy, revolver in hand, was examining the +writing-table to discover whatever evidence he could. Slowly, +imperceptibly, inch by inch, Wu moved toward the bell-cord. He was +reaching out with his manacled hands to seize it when Kennedy, +alert, turned, saw him, and instantly shot. Wu literally crumpled +up and dropped to the floor as Craig bounded over to him. + +By this time I had found a policeman and he had summoned the wagon +from the Elizabeth Street station, a few blocks away. As we drove +up before the den, I leaped out and the police followed. + +Imagine my surprise at seeing Wu stretched on the floor. Kennedy +had tried to staunch the flow of blood from a wound on Wu's +shoulder with a handkerchief and now was making a temporary +bandage which he bound on him. + +"How are you, sergeant?" nodded Kennedy. "Well, I guess you'll +admit I made good this time." + +The sergeant smiled, recalling a previous occasion when the +slippery Wu had squirmed through our fingers. + +Kennedy's restless eye fell on the bell-rope which had caused the +trouble. Somehow, he seemed to have an irresistible desire to pull +that rope. He gazed about the room. + +"Walter, you and the sergeant take the prisoners into the next +room," he said. "I want to see what this thing really is." + +We moved Wu and his servant and stood in the doorway. Craig gave +the rope a yank. + +Instantly there was an explosion. A concealed shotgun in the wall +fired, scattering shot all over the front of Wu's table, just +where we had been standing, knocking over and breaking vases, +scattering papers and in general wrecking everything before it. + +"So, that's it," whistled Craig. "You fellows can come back now. +Two of you men I'm going to leave here to watch the place and make +other arrests if you can. Come on." + +With Kennedy I left the tenement while the sergeant marched the +prisoners out, and we drove off with them. Quite a crowd had +collected outside by the time we came out. Among them, naturally, +were many Chinamen, and we could not see two of them hiding behind +the rest on the outskirts, jabbering in low tones together and +making hasty plans. As we clanged away down the street they +followed more slowly on foot. + +Common humanity dictated that we take Wu first of all to a +hospital and get him fixed up and to a hospital we went. Kennedy +and I entered with our prisoners, closely guarded by the police. + +Craig handed Wu over to two young doctors and a nurse. By this +time Wu was very weak from loss of blood. Still he had his iron +nerve and that was carrying him through. The two young doctors and +the nurse had scarcely begun to take off Craig's rude bandage to +replace it properly, when a noise outside told us that a weeping +and gesticulating delegation of Chinese had arrived. + +"Keep 'em back," called one of the doctors to an attendant. The +attendant tried to drive them away, but nothing could force them +back more than an inch or two as, in broken English, they sought +to find out how Wu was. Their importunity proved too much for only +one attendant. Still gibbering and gesticulating, the crowd +brushed past him as if he had been a mere reed. The attendant +raged about until he lost his head. But it was no use. There was +nothing for him to do but to follow them in. + +Kennedy by this time had finished talking to the doctors and +handing Wu over to them. They had taken him into a room in the +dispensary. Just then the chattering crowd pushed in, some asking +questions, others bewailing the fate of the great Wu Fang. They +were so insistent that at last one of the doctors was forced to +demand that the police drive them out. They started to push them +back. + +In the melee, one of their number managed to get away from the +rest and reach the doorway to the emergency room. He was, as we +found out later, dressed almost precisely like Wu, although he had +on a somewhat different cap. In build and size as well as features +he was a veritable Dromio. + +The other Chinaman drew back behind the screen which hid the +doorway to the emergency room and concealed himself. + +Meanwhile, Kennedy and I were laughing at the truly ludicrous +antics of the astounded Celestials, thunderstruck at the capture +of the peerless leader, while the police forced them back. + +"Well, good-bye," nodded Craig to the first doctor and nurse who +had attended Wu Fang outside. + +"Good-bye. We'll fix him up and take good care that he doesn't +cheat the law," they said, with a nod to the sergeant. + + . . . . . . . + +In the emergency room, Wu was placed on an operating table and +there was bound up properly, though he was terribly weak now. + +Back of the screen, however, the other Chinaman was hiding, able +to get an occasional glance at what was going on. There happened +to be a table near him on which were gauze, cotton and other +things. He reached over and took the gauze and quickly made it +into a bandage, keeping one eye on the bandaging of Wu. Then he +placed the bandage over his own shoulder and arm in the same way +that he saw the doctors doing with Wu. + +They had finished with Wu and one of the doctors moved over to the +doorway to call the sergeant. For the moment the rest had left Wu +alone, his eyes apparently half closed through weakness. Each was +busy about his own especial task. + +From behind the screen which was only a few feet from the +operating table, the secreted Chinaman stepped out. Quickly he +placed his own hat on Wu and took Wu's, then took Wu's place on +the table while Wu slipped behind the screen. + +The doctor turned to the supposed Wu. "Come now," he ordered, +handing him over to the police. "Here he is at last." + +The sergeant started to lead the prisoner out. As he did so, he +looked sharply at him. He could scarcely believe his eyes. There +was something wrong. All Chinaman might look alike to some people +but not to him. + +"That's not Wu Fang!" he exclaimed. + +Instantly there was the greatest excitement. The doctors were +astounded as all rushed into the emergency room again. One of them +looked behind the screen. There was an open window. + +"That's how he got away," he cried. + +Meanwhile, several blocks from the hospital, Wu, still weak but +more than ever nerved up, came out of his place of concealment, +gazed up and down the street, and, seeing no one following, +hurried away from the hospital as fast as his shaky legs would +bear him. + + . . . . . . . + +Confident that at last our arch enemy was safely landed in the +hands of the police, Kennedy and I had left the hospital and were +hastening to Elaine with the news. We stopped at the laboratory +only long enough to get the torpedo from the safe and at a toy +store where Craig bought a fine little clockwork battleship. + +We found Elaine and Aunt Josephine in the conservatory and quickly +Kennedy related how we had captured Wu. + +But, like all inventors, his pet was the torpedo and soon we were +absorbed in his description of it. As he unwrapped it, Elaine drew +back, timidly, from the fearful engine of destruction. + +Kennedy smiled. "No, it isn't dangerous," he said reassuringly. +"I've removed its charge and put in a percussion cap. Let me show +you, on a small scale, how it works," he added, winding up the +battleship and placing it in the fountain. + +Next he placed the torpedo in the water at the other end of the +tank. "Come over here," he said, indicating to us to follow him +into the palms. + +There he had placed the strange wireless apparatus which +controlled the torpedo. He pressed a lever. We peered out through +the fronds of the palms. That uncanny little cigar-shaped thing +actually started to move over the surface of the water. + +"Of course I could make it dive," explained Craig, "but I want you +to see it work." + +Around the tank it went, turned, cut a figure eight, as Kennedy +manipulated the levers. Then it headed straight toward the +battleship. It struck. There was a loud report, a spurt of water. +One of the skeleton masts fell over. The battleship heeled over, +and slowly sank, bow first. + +"Wonderful!" exclaimed Elaine. "That was very realistic." + +We brushed our way out through the thick palms, congratulating +Kennedy on the perfect success of his demonstration. + +So astonished were we that we did not hear the doorbell ring. +Jennings answered it and admitted two men. + +"Is Professor Kennedy here?" asked one. "We have been to his +apartment and to the laboratory." + +"I'll see," said Jennings discretely, taking the card of one of +them and leaving them in the drawing-room. + +"Two gentlemen to see you, Mr. Kennedy," Jennings interrupted our +congratulations, handing Craig a card. "Shall I tell them you are +here, sir?" + +Craig glanced at the card. "I wonder what that can be?" he said, +turning the card toward us. + +It was engraved: + +W. R. Barnes U. S. Secret Service. + +"Yes, I'll see them," he said, then to us, "Please excuse me?" + +Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I strolled off in the palms toward the +Fifth Avenue side, while Jennings went out toward the back of the +house. + +"Well, gentlemen," greeted Kennedy as he met the two detectives, +"what can I do for you?" + +The leader looked about, then leaned over and whispered, "We've +just had word, Professor, that your model of the torpedo has been +stolen from the Navy Department in Washington." + +"Stolen?" repeated Kennedy, staring aghast. + +"Yes. We fear that an agent of a foreign government has found a +traitor in the department." + +Rapidly Kennedy's mind pictured what might be done with the deadly +weapon in the hands of an enemy. + +"And," added the Secret Service man, "we have reason to believe +that this foreign agent is using a Chinaman, Wu Fang." + +"But Wu has been arrested," replied Craig. "I arrested him myself. +The police have him now." + +"Then you don't know of his escape?" + +Kennedy could only stare as they told the story. + +Suddenly, down the hall, came cries of, "Help! Help!" + + . . . . . . . + +While Craig was showing us the torpedo, the criminal machinery +which Wu had set in motion at orders from the foreign agents was +working rapidly. + +Outside the Dodge house, a man had shadowed us. He waited until we +went in, then slunk in himself by the back way and climbed through +an open window into the cellar. + +Quietly he made his way up through the cellar until finally he +reached the library. Listening carefully he could hear us talking +in the conservatory. Stealthily he moved out of the library. + +We had left the conservatory when he entered, peering through the +palms. On he stole till he came to the fountain. He looked about. +There, bobbing up and down, was the model of the torpedo for which +he had dared so much. He picked it up and looked at it, gloating. + +The crook was about to move back toward the library, hugging the +precious model close to himself when he heard Jennings coming. He +started back to the conservatory. Jennings entered just in time to +catch a fleeting glimpse of some one. His suspicions were roused +and he followed. + +The crook reached the conservatory and opened a glass window +leading out into the little garden beside the house. He was about +to step out when the sound of voices in the garden arrested him. +Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I had gone out and Elaine was showing +me a new rose which had just been sent her. + +The crook fell back and dropped down behind the palms. Jennings +looked about, but saw no one and stood there puzzled. Then the +crook, fearing that he might be captured at any moment, looked +about to see where he might hide the torpedo. There did not seem +to be any place. Quickly he began to dig out the earth in one of +the palm pots. He dropped the torpedo, wrapped still in the +handkerchief, into the hole and covered it up. + +Jennings was clearly puzzled. He had seen some one rush in, but +the conservatory was apparently empty. He had just turned to go +out when he saw a palm move. There was a face! He made a dive for +it and in a moment both he and the crook were rolling over and +over. + + . . . . . . . + +Kennedy and the Secret Service men were talking earnestly when +they heard the cry for help and the scuffle. They rushed out and +into the conservatory in time to see the crook, who had broken +away, knock out Jennings. He sprang to his feet and darted away. + +Kennedy's mind was working rapidly. Had the man been after the +other model? The detectives went after him. But Craig went for the +torpedo. As he looked in the tank, it was gone! He turned and +followed the crook. + +I was still in the garden with Elaine and Aunt Josephine when I +heard sounds of a struggle and a moment later a man emerged +through the window of the conservatory followed by two other men. +I went for him, but he managed to elude me and dashed for the wall +in the back of the garden. The Secret Service men fired at him but +he kept on. A moment later Craig came through the window. + +"Did any of you take the torpedo?" he asked. + +"No," replied Elaine, "we left it just as you had it." + +Kennedy seemed wild with anxiety. "Then both models have been +stolen!" he cried, dashing after the Secret Service men with me +close behind. + +The crook by this time had reached the top of the wall. Just as he +was about to let himself down safely on the other side, a shot +struck him. He pitched over and we ran forward. + +But he had just enough of a start. In spite of the shock and the +wound he managed to pick himself up and with the help of a +confederate hobbled into a waiting car, which sped away just as we +came over the wall. + +We dropped to the ground just as another car approached. Craig +commandeered it from its astonished driver, the Secret Service men +and I piled in and we were off in a few seconds in hot pursuit. + + . . . . . . . + +Down at the terminal where trains came in from Washington, Wu, +much better now, was waiting. + +He had pulled a long coat over his Chinese clothes and wore a +slouch hat. As he looked at the incoming passengers he spied the +man he was waiting for, the young crook who had been waiting in +the shrubbery outside the Navy Building when the torpedo model was +thrown out. + +The man had the model carefully wrapped up, under his arm. As his +eye travelled over the crowd he recognized Wu but did not betray +it. He walked by and, as he passed, hastily handed Wu the package +containing the model. Wu slipped it under his coat. Then each went +his way, in opposite directions. + + . . . . . . . + +It was a close race between the car bearing the two crooks and +that which Kennedy had impressed into service, but we kept on up +through the city and out across the country, into Connecticut. + +Time and again they almost got away until it became a question of +following tire tracks. Once we came to a cross-road and Kennedy +stopped and leaped out. Deeply planted in the mud, he could see +the tracks of the car ahead leading out by the left road. Close +beside the tire tracks were the footprints of two men going up the +right hand road toward the Sound. + +"You follow the car and the driver," decided Craig, hastily +indicating the road by which it had gone. "I'll follow the +footprints." + +The Secret Service men jumped back into the car and Kennedy and I +went along the shore road following the two crooks. + +Already the wounded crook, supported by his pal, had made his way +down to the water and had come to a long wharf. There, near the +land-end, they had a secret hiding-place into which they went. The +other crook drew forth a smoke signal and began to prepare it. + +Kennedy and I were able, now, to move faster than they. As we came +in sight of the wharf, Kennedy paused. + +"There they are, two of them," he indicated. + +I could just make them out in their hiding-place. The fellow who +had stolen the torpedo was by this time so weak from loss of blood +that he could hardly hold his head up, while the other hurried to +fix-the smoke signal. He happened to glance up, and saw us. + +"Come, Red, brace up," he muttered. "They're on our trail." + +The wounded man was almost too weak to answer. "I--I can't," he +gasped weakly, "You--go." Then, with a great effort, remembering +the mission on which he had been sent, he whispered hoarsely, "I +hid the second torpedo model in the Dodge house in the bottom of-- +" He tried hard to finish, but he was too weak. He fell back, +dead. + +His pal had waited as long as he dared to learn the secret. He +jumped up and ran out just as we burst into the hiding-place. + +Kennedy dropped down by the dead man and searched him, while I +dashed after the other fellow. But I was not so well acquainted +with the lay of the land as he and, before I knew it, he had +darted into another of his numerous hiding-places. I hunted about, +but I had lost the track. + +When I returned, I found Kennedy writing a hasty note. + +"I couldn't follow him, Craig," I confessed. + +"Too bad," frowned Craig evidently greatly worried by what had +happened, as he folded the note. "Walter," he added seriously, "I +want you to go find the fellow." He handed me the note. "And if +anything separates us to-day--give this note to Elaine." + +I did not pay much attention to the tone he assumed, but often +afterward I pondered over it and the serious and troubled look on +his face. I was too chagrined at losing my man to think much of it +then. I took the note and hurried out again after him. + +Meanwhile, as nearly as I can now make out, Kennedy searched the +dead man again. There was certainly no clue to his identity on +him, nor had he the torpedo model. Craig looked about. Suddenly, +he fell flat on his stomach. + +There was Wu Fang himself, coming to the wharf, carrying the model +of the torpedo which had been stolen in Washington and brought up +to him by his emissary. + +Kennedy, crouching down and taking advantage of every object that +sheltered him, crawled cautiously into an angle. Unsuspecting, Wu +came to the land-end of the wharf. + +There he saw his lieutenant, dead--and the smoke signal still +beside him, unlighted. He bent over in amazement and examined the +man. + +From his hiding-place Kennedy crept stealthily. He had scarcely +got within reach of Wu when the alert Chinaman seemed to sense his +presence. He rose quickly and swung around. + +The two arch enemies gazed at each other a moment silently. Each +knew it was the final, fatal encounter. + +Slowly Wu drew a long knife and leaped at Kennedy who grappled +with him. They struggled mercilessly. + +In the struggle, Craig managed to tear the torpedo out of Wu's +hands, just as they rolled over. It fell on a rock. Instantly an +explosion tore a hole in the sand, scattering the gravel all +about. + +Relentlessly the combat raged. Out on the wharf itself they went, +right up to the edge. + +Then both went over into the water, locked in each other's vice- +like grip. + +Even in the water, they struggled, frantically. + + . . . . . . . + +My search for the escaped crook was unsuccessful. + +Somehow, however, it led me across country to a road. As I +approached, I heard a car and looked up. There were the Secret +Service men. I called them and stepped out of the bushes. They +stopped and jumped out of the car and I ran to them. + +"Come back with me," I urged. "We found two of them. One is dead. +Craig sent me to trace the other. I've lost the trail. Perhaps you +can find it for me." + +We crashed through the brush quickly. Suddenly I heard something +that caused me to start. It sounded like an explosion. + +"There's the place--over there," I pointed, pausing and indicating +the direction of the wharf whence had come the explosion. + +What was it? We did not stop a moment, but hurried in that +direction. + +We reached the shore where we saw marks of the explosion and of a +fight. Out on the pier I ran breathlessly. I rushed to the very +edge and gazed over, then climbed down the slippery piling and +peered into the black water beneath. + +A few bubbles seemed to ooze up from below. Was that all? + +No, as I gazed down I saw that some dark object was there. Slowly +Wu Fang's body floated to the surface and lay there, rocked by the +waves. Deep in his breast stuck his own knife with its handle of +the Sign of the Serpent! + +I reached down and seized him, as I peered about for Kennedy. + +There was nothing more there. + +"Craig!" I called desperately, "Craig!" + +There was no answer. The silence, the echo of the lapping water +under the wharf was appalling, mocking. + +I managed to call the Secret Service men and they got Wu Fang's +body up on the wharf. + +But I could not leave the spot. + +Where was Craig? There was not a sign of him. I could not realize +it, even when the men brought grappling irons and began to search +the black water. + +It was all a hideous dream. I saw and heard, in a daze. + + . . . . . . . + +It was not until late that night that I returned to the Dodge +house. + +I had delayed my return as long as I could, but I knew that I must +see Elaine some time. + +As I entered even Jennings must have seen that something was +wrong. Elaine, who was sitting in the library with Aunt Josephine, +rose as she saw me. + +"Did you get them?" she asked eagerly. + +I could not speak. She seemed to read the tragic look on my +haggard face and stopped. + +"Why," she gasped, clutching at the desk, "what is the matter?" + +As gently as I could, I told her of the chase, of leaving Craig, +of the explosion, of the marks of the struggle and of the finding +of Wu Fang. + +As I finished, I thought she would faint. + +"And you--you went over everything about the wharf?" + +"Everything. The men even dragged for the--" + +I checked myself over the fateful word. + +Elaine looked at me wildly. I thought that she would lose her +reason. She did not cry. The shock was too great for that. + +Suddenly I remembered the note. "Before I left him--the last +time," I blurted out, "he wrote a note--to you." + +I pulled the crumpled paper from my pocket and Elaine almost tore +it from me--the last word from him--and read: + +DEAREST: + +I may not return until the case is settled and I have found the +stolen torpedo. Matters involving millions of lives and billions +of dollars hang on the plot back of it. No matter what happens, +have no fear. Trust me. + +Lovingly, CRAIG. + +She finished reading the note and slowly laid it down. Then she +picked it up and read it again. Slowly she turned to me. + +I think I have never seen so sublime a look of faith on any one's +face before. If I had not seen and heard what I had, it might have +shaken my own convictions. + +"He told me to trust him and to have no fear," she said simply, +gripping herself mentally and physically by main force, then with +an air of defiance she looked at me. "I do not believe that he is +dead!" + +I tried to comfort her. I wanted to do so. But I could do nothing +but shake my head sadly. My own heart was full to overflowing. An +intimacy such as had been ours could not be broken except with a +shock that tore my soul. I knew that the poor girl had not seen +what I had seen. Yet I could not find it in my heart to contradict +her. + +She saw my look, read my mind. + +"No," she cried, still defiant, "no--a thousand times, no! I tell +you--he is not dead!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE LOST TORPEDO + + +From the rocks of a promontory that jutted out not far from the +wharf where Wu Fang's body was found and Kennedy had disappeared, +opened up a beautiful panorama of a bay on one side and the Sound +on the other. + +It was a deserted bit of coast. But any one who had been standing +near the promontory the next day might have seen a thin line as if +the water, sparkling in the sunlight, had been cut by a huge +knife. Gradually a thin steel rod seemed to rise from the water +itself, still moving ahead, though slowly now as it pushed its way +above the surface. After it came a round cylinder of steel, +studded with bolts. It was the hatch of a submarine and the rod +was the periscope. + +As the submarine lay there at rest, the waves almost breaking over +it, the hatch slowly opened and a hand appeared groping for a +hold. Then appeared a face with a tangle of curly black hair and +keen forceful eyes. After it the body of a man rose out of the +hatch, a tall, slender, striking person. He reached down into the +hold of the boat and drew forth a life preserver. + +"All right," he called down in an accent slightly foreign, as he +buckled on the belt. "I shall communicate with you as soon as I +have something to report." + +Then he deliberately plunged overboard and struck out for the +shore. Hand over hand, he churned his way through the water toward +the beach until at last his feet touched bottom and he waded out, +shaking the water from himself like a huge animal. + +The coming of the stranger had not been entirely unheralded. Along +the shore road by which Kennedy and I had followed the crooks whom +we thought had the torpedo, on that last chase, was waiting now a +powerful limousine with its motor purring. A chauffeur was sitting +at the wheel and inside, at the door, sat a man peering out along +the road to the beach. Suddenly the man in the machine signalled +to the driver. + +"He comes," he cried eagerly. "Drive down the road, closer, and +meet him." + +The chauffeur shot his car ahead. As the swimmer strode shivering +up the roadway, the car approached him. The assistant swung open +the door and ran forward with a thick, warm coat and hat. + +Neither the master nor the servant spoke as they met, but the man +wrapped the coat about him, hurried into the car, the driver +turned and quickly they sped toward the city. + +Secret though the entrance of the stranger had been planned, +however, it was not unobserved. + +Along the beach, on a boulder, gazing thoughtfully out to sea and +smoking an old briar pipe sat a bent fisherman clad in an oilskin +coat and hat and heavy, ungainly boots. About his neck was a long +woolen muffler which concealed the lower part of his face quite as +effectually as his scraggly, grizzled whiskers. + +Suddenly, he seemed to discover something that interested him, +slowly rose, then turned and almost ran up the shore. Quickly he +dropped behind a large rock and waited, peering out. + +As the limousine bearing the stranger, on whom the fisherman had +kept his eyes riveted, turned and drove away, the old salt rose +from behind his rock, gazed after the car as if to fix every line +of it in his memory and then he, too, quickly disappeared up the +road. + +The stranger's car had scarcely disappeared when the fisherman +turned from the shore road into a clump of stunted trees and made +his way to a hut. Not far away stood a small, unpretentious closed +car, also with a driver. + +"I shall be ready in a minute," the fisherman nodded almost +running into the hut, as the driver moved his car up closer to the +door. + +The larger motor had disappeared far down the bend of the road +when the fisherman reappeared. In an almost incredible time he had +changed his oilskins and muffler for a dark coat and silk hat. He +was no longer a fisherman, but a rather fussy-looking old +gentleman, bewhiskered still, with eyes looking out keenly from a +pair of gold-rimmed glasses. + +"Follow that car--at any cost," he ordered simply as he let +himself into the little motor, and the driver shot ahead down a +bit of side road and out into the main shore road again, urging +the car forward to overtake the one ahead. + +Such was the entrance of the stranger--Marcius Del Mar--into +America. + + . . . . . . . + +How I managed to pass the time during the first days after the +strange disappearance of Kennedy, I don't know. It was all like a +dream--the apartment empty, the laboratory empty, my own work on +the Star uninteresting, Elaine broken-hearted, life itself a +burden. + +Hoping against hope the next day I decided to drop around at the +Dodge house. As I entered the library unannounced, I saw that +Elaine, with a faith for which I envied her, was sitting at a +table, her back toward the door. She was gazing sadly at a +photograph. Though I could not see it, I needed not to be told +whose it was. + +She did not hear me come in, so engrossed was she in her thoughts. +Nor did she notice me at first as I stood just behind her. Finally +I put my hand on her shoulder as if I had been an elder brother. + +She looked up into my face. "Have you heard from him yet?" she +asked anxiously. + +I could only shake my head sadly. She sighed. Involuntarily she +rose and together we moved toward the garden, the last place we +had seen him about the house. + +We had been pacing up and down the garden talking earnestly only a +short time when a man made his way in from the Fifth Avenue gate. + +"Is this Miss Dodge?" he asked. + +"Yes," she replied eagerly. + +Neither Elaine nor I knew him at the time, though I think she +thought he might be the bearer of some message from Craig. As a +matter of fact he was the emissary to whom the stenographer had +thrown the torpedo model from the Navy Building in Washington. + +His visit was only a part of a deep-laid scheme. Only a few +minutes before, three crooks--among them our visitor--had stopped +just below the house on a side street. To him the others had given +final instructions and a note, and he had gone on, leaving the two +standing there. + +"I have a note for you," he said, bowing and handing an envelope +to Elaine, which she tore open and read. + +WASHINGTON, D. C. + +MISS ELAINE DODGE, Fifth Avenue, New York. + +MY DEAR MISS DODGE, + +The bearer, Mr. Bailey, of the Secret Service, would like to +question you regarding the disappearance of Mr. Kennedy and the +model of his torpedo. + +MORGAN BERTRAND, U. S. Secret Service. + +Even as we were talking the other two crooks had already moved up +and had made their way around back of the stone wall that cut off +the Dodge garden back of the house. There they stood, whispering +eagerly and gazing furtively over the wall as their man talked to +Elaine. + +After a moment I stepped aside, while Elaine read the note, and as +he asked her a few questions, I could not help feeling that the +affair had a very suspicious look. The more I thought of it, the +less I liked it. Finally I could stand it no longer. + +"I beg your pardon," I excused myself to the alleged Mr. Bailey, +"but may I speak to Miss Dodge alone just a minute?" + +He bowed, rather ungraciously I thought, and Elaine followed me +aside while I told her my fears. + +"I don't like the looks of it myself," she agreed. "Yes, I'll be +very careful what I say." + +While we were talking I could see out of the corner of my eye that +the fellow was looking at us askance and frowning. But if I had +had an X-ray eye, I might have seen his two companions on the +other side of the wall, peering over as they had been before and +showing every evidence of annoyance at my interference. + +The man resumed his questioning of Elaine regarding the torpedo +and she replied guardedly, as in fact she could not do otherwise. + +Suddenly we heard shouts on the other side of the wall, as though +some one were attacking some one else. + +There seemed to be several of them, for a man quickly flung +himself over the wall and ran to us. + +"They're after us," he shouted to Bailey. + +Instantly our visitor drew a gun and followed the newcomer as he +ran to get out of the garden in the opposite direction. + +Just then a tall, well-dressed, striking man came over the wall, +accompanied by another dressed as a policeman, and rushed toward +us. + + . . . . . . . + +The car bearing the mysterious stranger, Del Mar, kept on until it +reached New York, then made its way through the city until it came +to the Hotel La Coste. + +Del Mar jumped out of the car, his wet clothes covered completely +by the long coat. He registered and rode up in the elevator to +rooms which had already been engaged for him. In his suite a valet +was already unpacking some trunks and laying out clothes when Del +Mar and his assistant entered. + +With an exclamation of satisfaction at his unostentatious entry +into the city, Del Mar threw off his heavy coat. The valet +hastened to assist him in removing the clothes still wet and +wrinkled from his plunge into the sea. + +Scarcely had Del Mar changed his clothes than he received two +visitors. Strangely enough they were men dressed in the uniform of +policemen. + +"First of all we must convince them of our honesty," he said +looking fixedly at the two men. "Orders have been given to the men +employed by Wu Fang to be about in half an hour. We must pretend +to arrest them on sight. You understand?" + +"Yes, sir," they nodded. + +"Very well, come on," Del Mar ordered taking up his hat and +preceding them from the room. + +Outside the La Coste, Del Mar and his two policemen entered the +car which had driven Del Mar from the sea coast and were quickly +whisked away, up-town, until they came near the Dodge house. + +Del Mar leaped from the car followed by his two policemen. "There +they are, already," he whispered, pointing up the avenue. + +All three hastened up the avenue now where, beside a wall, they +could see two men looking through intently as though very angry at +something going on inside. + +"Arrest them!" shouted Del Mar as his own men ran forward. + +The fight was short and sharp, with every evidence of being +genuine. One of the men managed to break away and jump the garden +wall, with Del Mar and one of the policemen after him, while the +other only reached the wall to be dragged down by the other +policeman. + +Elaine and I had been, as I have said, talking with the man named +Bailey who posed as a Secret Service man, when the rumpus began. +As the man came over the fence, warning Bailey, it was evident +that neither of them had time to escape. With his club the +policeman struck the newcomer of the two flat while the tall, +athletic gentleman leaped upon Bailey and before we knew it had +him disarmed. In a most clean-cut and professional way he snapped +the bracelets on the man. + +Elaine was astounded at the kaleidoscopic turn of affairs, too +astounded even to make an outcry. As for me, it was all so sudden +that I had no chance to take part in it. Besides I should not have +known quite on which side to fight. So I did nothing. + +But as it was over so quickly, I took a step forward to our latest +arrival. + +"Beg pardon, old man," I began, "but don't you think this is just +a little raw? What's it all about?" + +The newest comer eyed me for a moment, then with quiet dignity +drew from his pocket and handed me his card which read simply: + +M. Del Mar, Private Investigator. + +As I looked up, I saw Del Mar's other policeman bringing in +another manacled man. + +"These are crooks--foreign agents," replied Del Mar pointing to +the prisoners. "The government has employed me to run them down." + +"What of this?" asked Elaine holding up the note from Bertrand. + +"A fake, a forgery," reiterated Del Mar, looking at it a moment +critically. Then to the men uniformed as police he ordered, "You +can take them to jail. They're the fellows, all right." + +As the prisoners were led off, Del Mar turned to Elaine. "Would +you mind answering a few questions about these men?" + +"Why--no," she hesitated. "But I think we'd better go into the +house, after such a thing as this. It makes me feel nervous." + +With Del Mar I followed Elaine in through the conservatory. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar had scarcely registered at the La Coste when the smaller +car which had been waiting at the fisherman's hut drew up before +the hotel entrance. From it alighted the fussy old gentleman who +bore such a remarkable resemblance to the fisherman, hastily paid +his driver and entered the hotel. + +He went directly to the desk and with well-manicured finger, +scarcely reminiscent of a fisherman, began tracing the names down +the list until he stopped before one which read: + +Marcius Del Mar and valet. Washington, D. C. Room 520. + +With a quick glance about, he made a note of it, and turned away, +leaving the La Coste to take up quarters of his own in the Prince +Henry down the street. + +Not until Del Mar had left with his two policemen did the fussy +old gentleman reappear in the La Coste. Then he rode up to Del +Mar's room and rapped at the door. + +"Is Mr. Del Mar in?" he inquired of the valet. + +"No, sir," replied that functionary. + +The little old man appeared to consider, standing a moment +dandling his silk hat. Absent-mindedly he dropped it. As the valet +stooped to pick it up, the old gentleman exhibited an agility and +strength scarcely to be expected of his years. He seized the +valet, while with one foot he kicked the door shut. + +Before the surprised servant knew what was going on, his assailant +had whipped from his pocket a handkerchief in which was concealed +a thin tube of anesthetic. Then leaving the valet prone in a +corner with the handkerchief over his face, he proceeded to make a +systematic search of the rooms, opening all drawers, trunks and +bags. + +He turned pretty nearly everything upside down, then started on +the desk. Suddenly he paused. There was a paper. He read it, then +with an air of extreme elation shoved it into his pocket. + +As he was going out he stopped beside the valet, removed the +handkerchief from his face and bound him with a cord from the +portieres. Then, still immaculate in spite of his encounter, he +descended in the elevator, reentered a waiting car and drove off. + +Quite evidently, however, he wanted to cover his tracks for he had +not gone a half dozen blocks before he stopped, paid and tipped +the driver generously, and disappeared into the theatre crowd. + +Back again in the Prince Henry, whither the fussy little old man +made his way as quickly as he could through a side street, he went +quietly up to his room. + +His door was now locked. He did not have to deny himself to +visitors, for he had none. Still, his room was cluttered by a vast +amount of paraphernalia and he was seated before a table deep in +work. + +First of all he tied a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. Then +he took up a cartridge from the table and carefully extracted the +bullet. Into the space occupied by the bullet he poured a white +powder and added a wad of paper, like a blank cartridge, placing +the cartridge in the chamber of a revolver and repeating the +operation until he had it fully loaded. It was his own invention +of an asphyxiating bullet. + +Perhaps half an hour later, the old gentleman, his room cleaned up +and his immaculate appearance restored, sauntered forth from the +hotel down the street like a veritable Turveydrop, to show +himself. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine seemed quite impressed with our new friend, Del Mar, as we +made our way to the library, though I am not sure but that it was +a pose on her part. At any rate he seemed quite eager to help us. + +"What do you suppose has become of Mr. Kennedy?" asked Elaine. + +Del Mar looked at her earnestly. "I should be glad to search for +him," he returned quickly. "He was the greatest man in our +profession. But first I must execute the commission of the Secret +Service. We must find his torpedo model before it falls into +foreign hands." + +We talked for a few moments, then Del Mar with a glance at his +watch excused himself. We accompanied him to the door, for he was +indeed a charming man. I felt that, if in fact he were assigned to +the case, I ought to know him better. + +"If you're going down-town," I ventured, "I might accompany you +part of the way." + +"Delighted," agreed Del Mar. + +Elaine gave him her hand and he took it in such a deferential way +that one could not help liking him. Elaine was much impressed. + +As Del Mar and I walked down the avenue, he kept up a running fire +of conversation until at last we came near the La Coste. + +"Charmed to have met you, Mr. Jameson," he said, pausing. "We +shall see a great deal of each other I hope." + +I had not yet had time to say good-bye myself when a slight +exclamation at my side startled me. Turning suddenly, I saw a very +brisk, fussy old gentleman who had evidently been hurrying through +the crowd. He had slipped on something on the sidewalk and lost +his balance, falling near us. + +We bent over and assisted him to his feet. As I took hold of his +hand, I felt a peculiar pressure from him. He had placed something +in my hand. My mind worked quickly. I checked my first impulse to +speak and, more from curiosity than anything else, kept the thing +he had passed to me surreptitiously. + +"Thank you, gentlemen," he puffed, straightening himself out. "One +of the infirmities of age. Thank you, thank you." + +In a moment he had bustled off quite comically. + +Again Del Mar said good-bye and I did not urge him to stay. He had +scarcely gone when I looked at the thing the old man had placed in +my hand. It was a little folded piece of paper. I opened it +slowly. Inside was printed in pencil, disguised: + +"BE CAREFUL. WATCH HIM." + +I read it in amazement. What did it mean? + + . . . . . . . + +At the La Coste, Del Mar was met by two of his men in the lobby +and they rode up to his room. + +Imagine their surprise when they opened the door and found the +valet lying bound on the floor. + +"Who the deuce did this?" demanded Del Mar as they loosened him. + +The valet rose weakly to his feet. "A little old man with gray +whiskers," he managed to gasp. + +Del Mar looked at him in surprise. Instantly his active mind +recalled the little old man who had fallen before us on the +street. + +Who--what was he? + +"Come," he said quickly, beckoning his two companions who had come +in with him. + +Some time later, Del Mar's car stopped just below the Dodge house. + +"You men go around back of the house and watch," ordered Del Mar. + +As they disappeared he turned and went up the Dodge steps. + + . . . . . . . + +I walked back after my strange experience with the fussy little +old gentleman, feeling more than ever, now that Craig was gone, +that both Elaine and Aunt Josephine needed me. + +As we sat talking in the library, Rusty, released from the chain +on which Jennings kept him, bounded with a rush into the library. + +"Good old fellow," encouraged Elaine, patting him. + +Just then Jennings entered and a moment later was followed by Del +Mar, who bowed as we welcomed him. + +"Do you know," he began, "I believe that the lost torpedo model is +somewhere in this house and I have reason to anticipate another +attempt of foreign agents to find it. If you'll pardon me, I've +taken the liberty of surrounding the place with some men we can +trust." + +While Del Mar was speaking, Elaine picked up a ribbon from the +table and started to tie it about Rusty's neck. As Del Mar +proceeded she paused, still holding the ribbon. Rusty, who hated +ribbons, saw his chance and quietly sidled out, seeking refuge in +the conservatory. + +Alone in the conservatory, Rusty quickly forgot about the ribbon +and began nosing about the palms. At last he came to the pot in +which the torpedo model had been buried in the soft earth by the +thief the night it had been stolen from the fountain. + +Quickly Elaine recalled herself and, seeing the ribbon in her hand +and Rusty gone, called him. There was no answer, and she excused +herself, for it was against the rules for Rusty to wander about. + +In his haste the thief had left just a corner of the handkerchief +sticking out of the dirt. What none of us had noticed, Rusty's +keen eyes and nose discovered and his instinct told him to dig for +it. In a moment he uncovered the torpedo and handkerchief and +sniffed. + +Just then he heard his mistress calling him. Rusty had been +whipped for digging in the conservatory and now, with his tail +between his legs, he seized the torpedo in his mouth and bolted +for the door of the drawing-room, for he had heard voices in the +library. As he did so he dropped the handkerchief and the little +propeller, loosened by his teeth, fell off. + +Elaine entered the conservatory, still calling. Rusty was not +there. He had reached the stairs, scurrying up to the attic, still +holding the torpedo model in his mouth. He pushed open the attic +door and ran in. Rusty's last refuge in time of trouble was back +of a number of trunks, among which were two of almost the same +size and appearance. Behind one of them, he had hidden a +miscellaneous collection of bones, pieces of biscuit and things +dear to his heart. He dropped the torpedo among these treasures. + +Del Mar, meanwhile, had followed Elaine through the hall and into +the conservatory. As he entered he could see her stooping down to +look through the palms for Rusty. She straightened up and went on +out. + +Del Mar followed. Beside the palm pot where Rusty had found the +torpedo, he happened to see the old handkerchief soiled with dirt. +Near-by lay the little propeller. He picked them up. + +"She has found it!" he exclaimed in wonder, following Elaine. + +By this time Rusty had responded to Elaine's calls and came +tearing down-stairs again. + +"Naughty Rusty," chided Elaine, tying the ribbon on him. + +"So--you have found him at last?" remarked Del Mar looking quickly +at Elaine to see if she would get a double meaning. + +"Yes. He's had a fine time running away," she replied. + +Del Mar was scarcely able to conceal his suspicion of her. Was she +a clever actress, hiding her discovery, he wondered? + + . . . . . . . + +Outside, on the lawn, Del Mar's men had been looking about, but +had discovered nothing. They paused a moment to speak. + +"Look out!" whispered one of them. "There's some one coming." + +They dropped down in the shadow. There in the light of the street +lamps was the fussy old gentleman coming across the lawn. He stole +up to the door of the conservatory and looked through. Del Mar's +men crawled a few feet closer. The little old man entered the +conservatory and looked about again stealthily. The two men +followed him in noiselessly and watched as he bent over the palm +pot from which the dog had dug up the torpedo. He looked at the +hole curiously. Just then he heard sounds behind him and sprang to +his feet. + +"Hands up!" ordered one of the men covering him with a gun. + +The little old man threw up his hands, raising his cane still in +his right hand. The man with the gun took a step closer. As he did +so, the little old man brought down his cane with a quick blow and +knocked the gun out of his hand. The second man seized the cane. +The old man jerked the cane back and was standing there with a +thin tough steel rapier. It was a sword-cane. Del Mar's man held +the sheath. + +As the man attacked with the sheath, the little old man parried, +sent it flying from his grasp, and wounded him. The wounded man +sank down, while the little old man ran off through the palms, +followed by the other of Del Mar's men. + +Around the hall, he ran, and back into the conservatory where he +picked up a heavy chair and threw it through the glass, dropping +himself behind a convenient hiding-place near-by. Del Mar's man, +close after him, mistaking the crash of glass for the escape of +the man he was pursuing, went on through the broken exit. Then the +little old man doubled on his tracks and made for the front of the +house. + + . . . . . . . + +With Aunt Josephine I had remained in the library. + +"What's that?" I exclaimed at the first sounds. "A fight?" + +Together we rushed for the conservatory. + +The fight followed so quickly by the crash of glass also alarmed +Elaine and Del Mar in the hallway and they hurried toward the +library, which we had just left, by another door. + +As they entered, they saw a little old gentleman rushing in from +the conservatory and locking the door behind him. He whirled +about, and he and Del Mar recognized each other at once. They drew +guns together, but the little old man fired first. + +His bullet struck the wall back of Del Mar and a cloud of vapor +was instantly formed, enveloping Del Mar and even Elaine. Del Mar +fell, overcome, while Elaine sank more slowly. The little old man +ran forward. + +In the conservatory, Aunt Josephine and I heard the shooting, just +as one of Del Mar's men ran in again. With him we ran back toward +the library. + +By this time the whole house was aroused. Jennings and Marie were +hurrying down-stairs, crying for help and making their way to the +library also. + +In the library, the little old man bent over Del Mar and Elaine. +But it was only a moment later that he heard the whole house +aroused. Quickly he shut and locked the folding-doors to the +drawing-room, as, with Del Mar's man, I was beating at the rear +library door. + +"I'll go around," I suggested, hurrying off, while Del Mar's man +tried to beat in the door. + +Inside the little old man who had been listening saw that there +was no means of escape. He pulled off his coat and vest and turned +them inside out. On the inside he had prepared an exact copy of +Jennings' livery. + +It was only a matter of seconds before he had completed his +change. For a moment he paused and looked at the two prostrate +figures before him. Then he took a rose from a vase on the table +and placed it in Elaine's hand. + +Finally, with his whiskers and wig off he moved to the rear door +where Del Mar's man was beating and opened it. + +"Look," he cried pointing in an agitated way at Del Mar and +Elaine. "What shall we do?" + +Del Mar's man, who had never seen Jennings, ran to his master and +the little old man, in his new disguise, slipped quietly into the +hall and out the front door, where he had a taxicab waiting for +him, down the street. + +A moment later I burst open the other library door and Aunt +Josephine followed me in, just as Jennings himself and Marie +entered from the drawing-room. + +It was only a moment before we had Del Mar, who was most in need +of care, on the sofa and Elaine, already regaining consciousness, +lay back in a deep easy chair. + +As Del Mar moved, I turned again to Elaine who was now nearly +recovered. + +"How do you feel?" I asked anxiously. + +Her throat was parched by the asphyxiating fumes, but she smiled +brightly, though weakly. + +"Wh-where did I get that?" she managed to gasp finally, catching +sight of the rose in her hand. "Did you put it there?" + +I shook my head and she gazed at the rose, wondering. + +Whoever the little man was, he was gone. + +I longed for Craig. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE GRAY FRIAR + + +So confident was Elaine that Kennedy was still alive that she +would not admit to herself what to the rest of us seemed obvious. + +She even refused to accept Aunt Josephine's hints and decided to +give a masquerade ball which she had planned as the last event of +the season before she closed the Dodge town house and opened her +country house on the shore of Connecticut. + +It was shortly after the strange appearance of the fussy old +gentleman that I dropped in one afternoon to find Elaine +addressing invitations, while Aunt Josephine helped her. As we +chatted, I picked up one from the pile and mechanically +contemplated the address: + +"M. Del Mar, Hotel La Coste, New York City." + +"I don't like that fellow," I remarked, shaking my head dubiously. + +"Oh, you're--jealous, Walter," laughed Elaine, taking the envelope +away from me and piling it again with the others. + +Thus it was that in the morning's mail, Del Mar, along with the +rest of us, received a neatly engraved little invitation: + +Miss Elaine Dodge requests the pleasure of your presence at the +masquerade ball to be given at her residence on Friday evening +June 1st. + +"Good!" he exclaimed, reaching for the telephone, "I'll go." + +In a restaurant in the white light district two of those who had +been engaged in the preliminary plot to steal Kennedy's wireless +torpedo model, the young woman stenographer who had betrayed her +trust and the man to whom she had passed the model out of the +window in Washington, were seated at a table. + +So secret had been the relations of all those in the plot that one +group did not know the other and the strangest methods of +communication had been adopted. + +The man removed a cover from a dish. Underneath, perhaps without +even the waiter's knowledge, was a note. + +"Here are the orders at last," he whispered to the girl, unfolding +and reading the note. "Look. The model of the torpedo is somewhere +in her house. Go to-night to the ball as a masquerader and search +for it." + +"Oh, splendid!" exclaimed the girl. "I'm crazy for a little +society after this grind. Pay the check and let's get out and +choose our costumes." + +The man paid the check and they left hurriedly. Half an hour later +they were at a costumer's shop choosing their disguises, both +careful to get the fullest masks that would not excite suspicion. + +It was the night of the masquerade. + +During the afternoon Elaine had been thinking more than ever of +Kennedy. It all seemed unreal to her. More than once she stopped +to look at his photograph. Several times she checked herself on +the point of tears. + +"No," she said to herself with a sort of grim determination. "No-- +he IS alive. He will come back to me--he WILL." + +And yet she had a feeling of terrific loneliness which even her +most powerful efforts could not throw off. She was determined to +go through with the ball, now that she had started it, but she was +really glad when it came time to dress, for even that took her +mind from her brooding. + +As Marie finished helping her put on a very effective and +conspicuous costume, Aunt Josephine entered her dressing-room. + +"Are you ready, my dear?" she asked, adjusting the mask which she +carried so that no one would recognize her as Martha Washington. + +"In just a minute, Auntie," answered Elaine, trying hard to put +out of her mind how Craig would have liked her dress. + +Somewhat earlier, in my own apartment, I had been arraying myself +as Boum-Boum and modestly admiring the imitation I made of a +circus clown as I did a couple of comedy steps before the mirror. + +But I was not really so light-hearted. I could not help thinking +of what this night might have been if Kennedy had been alive. +Indeed, I was glad to take up my white mask, throw a long coat +over my outlandish costume and hurry off in my waiting car in +order to forget everything that reminded me of him in the +apartment. + +Already a continuous stream of guests was trickling in through the +canopy from the curb to the Dodge door, carriages and automobiles +arriving and leaving amid great gaping from the crowd on the +sidewalk. + +As I entered the ballroom it was really a brilliant and +picturesque assemblage. Of course I recognized Elaine in spite of +her mask, almost immediately. + +Characteristically, she was talking to the one most striking +figure on the floor, a tall man in red--a veritable +Mephistopheles. As the music started, Elaine and his Satanic +Majesty laughingly fox-trotted off but were not lost to me in the +throng. + +I soon found myself talking to a young lady in a spotted domino. +She seemed to have a peculiar fascination for me, yet she did not +monopolize all my attention. As we trotted past the door, I could +see down the hall. Jennings was still admitting late arrivals, and +I caught a glimpse of one costumed as a gray friar, his cowl over +his head and his eyes masked. + +Chatting, we had circled about to the conservatory. A number of +couples were there and, through the palms, I saw Elaine and +Mephisto laughingly make their way. + +As my spotted domino partner and I swung around again, I happened +to catch another glimpse of the gray friar. He was not dancing, +but walking, or rather stalking, about the edge of the room, +gazing about as if searching for some one. + +In the conservatory, Elaine and Mephisto had seated themselves in +the breeze of an open window, somewhat in the shadow. + +"You are Miss Dodge," he said earnestly. + +"You knew me?" she laughed. "And you?" + +He raised his mask, disclosing the handsome face and fascinating +eyes of Del Mar. + +"I hope you don't think I'm here in character," he laughed easily, +as she started a bit. + +"I--I--well, I didn't think it was you," she blurted out. + +"Ah--then there is some one else you care more to dance with?" + +"No--no one--no." + +"I may hope, then?" + +He had moved closer and almost touched her hand. The pointed hood +of the gray friar in the palms showed that at last he saw what he +sought. + +"No--no. Please--excuse me," she murmured rising and hurrying back +to the ballroom. + +A subtle smile spread over the gray friar's masked face. + +Of course I had known Elaine. Whether she knew me at once I don't +know or whether it was an accident, but she approached me as I +paused in the dance a moment with my domino girl. + +"From the--sublime--to the ridiculous," she cried excitedly. + +My partner gave her a sharp glance. "You will excuse me?" she +said, and, as I bowed, almost ran off to the conservatory, leaving +Elaine to dance off with me. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar, quite surprised at the sudden flight of Elaine from his +side, followed more slowly through the palms. + +As he did so he passed a Mexican attired in brilliant native +costume. At a sign from Del Mar he paused and received a small +package which Del Mar slipped to him, then passed on as though +nothing had happened. The keen eyes of the gray friar, however, +had caught the little action and he quietly slipped out after the +Mexican bolero. + +Just then the domino girl hurried into the conservatory. "What's +doing?" she asked eagerly. + +"Keep close to me," whispered Del Mar, as she nodded and they left +the conservatory, not apparently together. + +Up-stairs, away from the gayety of the ballroom, the bolero made +his way until he came to Elaine's room, dimly lighted. With a +quick glance about, he entered cautiously, closed the door, and +approached a closet which he opened. There was a safe built into +the wall. + +As he stooped over, the man unwrapped the package Del Mar had +handed him and took out a curious little instrument. Inside was a +dry battery and a most peculiar instrument, something like a +little flat telephone transmitter, yet attached by wires to ear- +pieces that fitted over the head after the manner of those of a +wireless detector. + +He adjusted the head-piece and held the flat instrument against +the safe, close to the combination which he began to turn slowly. +It was a burglar's microphone, used for picking combination locks. +As the combination turned, a slight sound was made when the proper +number came opposite the working point. Imperceptible ordinarily +to even the most sensitive ear, to an ear trained it was +comparatively easy to recognize the fall of the tumblers over this +microphone. + +As he worked, the door behind him opened softly and the gray friar +entered, closing it and moving noiselessly over back of the +shelter of a big mahogany high-boy, around which he could watch. + +At last the safe was opened. Rapidly the man went through its +contents. "Confound it!" he muttered. "She didn't put it here-- +anyhow." + +The bolero started to close the safe when he heard a noise in the +room and looked cautiously back of him. Del Mar himself, followed +by the domino girl, entered. + +"I've opened it," whispered the emissary stepping out of the +closet and meeting them, "but I can't find the--" + +"Hands up--all of you!" + +They turned in time to see the gray friar's gun yawning at them. +Most politely he lined them up. Still holding his gun ready, he +lifted up the mask of the domino girl. + +"So--it's you," he grunted. + +He was about to lift the mask of the Mexican, when the bolero +leaped at him. Del Mar piled in. But sounds down-stairs alarmed +them and the emissary, released, fled quickly with the girl. The +gray friar, however, kept his hold on Mephistopheles, as if he had +been wrestling with a veritable devil. + + . . . . . . . + +Down in the hall, I had again met my domino girl, a few minutes +after I had resigned Elaine to another of her numerous admirers. + +"I thought you deserted me," I said, somewhat piqued. + +"You deserted me," she parried, nervously. "However, I'll forgive +you if you'll get me an ice." + +I hastened to do so. But no sooner had I gone than Del Mar stalked +through the hall and went up-stairs. My domino girl was watching +for him, and followed. + +When I returned with the ice, I looked about, but she was gone. It +was scarcely a moment later, however, that I saw her hurry down- +stairs, accompanied by the Mexican bolero. I stepped forward to +speak to her, but she almost ran past me without a word. + +"A nut," I remarked under my breath, pushing back my mask. + +I started to eat the ice myself, when, a moment later, Elaine +passed through the hall with a Spanish cavalier. + +"Oh, Walter, here you are," she laughed. "I've been looking all +over for you. Thank you very much, sire," she bowed with mock +civility to the cavalier. "It was only one dance, you know. Please +let me talk to Boum-Boum." + +The cavalier bowed reluctantly and left us. + +"What are you doing here alone?" she asked, taking off her own +mask. "How warm it is." + +Before I could reply, I heard some one coming down-stairs back of +me, but not in time to turn + +"Elaine's dressing-table," a voice whispered in my ear. + +I turned suddenly. It was the gray friar. Before I could even +reach out to grasp his robe, he was gone. + +"Another nut!" I exclaimed involuntarily. + +"Why, what did he say?" asked Elaine. + +"Something about your dressing-table." + +"My dressing-table?" she repeated. + +We ran quickly up the steps. Elaine's room showed every evidence +of having been the scene of a struggle, as she went over to the +table. There she picked up a rose and under it a piece of paper on +which were some words printed with pencil roughly. + +"Look," she cried, as I read with her: + + Do honest assistants search safes? + Let no one see this but Jameson. + +"What does it mean?" I asked. + +"My safe!" she cried moving to a closet. As she opened the door, +imagine our surprise at seeing Del Mar lying on the floor, bound +and gagged before the open safe. "Get my scissors on the dresser," +cried Elaine. + +I did so, hastily cutting the cords that bound Del Mar. + +"What does it all mean?" asked Elaine as he rose and stretched +himself. + +Still clutching his throat, as if it hurt, Del Mar choked, "I +found a man, a foreign agent, searching the safe. But he overcame +me and escaped." + +"Oh--then that is what the--" + +Elaine checked herself. She had been about to hand the note to Del +Mar when an idea seemed to come to her. Instead, she crumpled it +up and thrust it into her bosom. + +On the street the bolero and the domino girl were hurrying away as +fast as they could. + +Meanwhile, the gray friar had overcome Del Mar, had bound and +gagged him, and trust him into the closet. Then he wrote the note +and laid it, with a rose from a vase, on Elaine's dressing-table +before he, too, followed. + +More than ever I was at a loss to make it out. + + . . . . . . . + +It was the day after the masquerade ball that a taxicab drove up +to the Dodge house and a very trim but not over-dressed young lady +was announced as "Miss Bertholdi." + +"Miss Dodge?" she inquired as Jennings held open the portieres and +she entered the library where Elaine and Aunt Josephine were. + +If Elaine had only known, it was the domino girl of the night +before who handed her a note and sat down, looking about so +demurely, while Elaine read: + +MY DEAR MISS DODGE, + +The bearer, Miss Bertholdi, is an operative of mine. I would +appreciate it if you would employ her in some capacity in your +house, as I have reason to believe that certain foreign agents +will soon make another attempt to find Kennedy's lost torpedo +model. + +Sincerely, M. DEL MAR. + +Elaine looked up from reading the note. Miss Bertholdi was good to +look at, and Elaine liked pretty girls about her. + +"Jennings," she ordered, "call Marie." + +To the butler and her maid, Elaine gave the most careful +instructions regarding Miss Bertholdi. "She can help you finish +the packing, first," she concluded. + +The girl thanked her and went out with Jennings and Marie, asking +Jennings to pay her taxicab driver with money she gave him, which +he did, bringing her grip into the house. + +Later in the day, Elaine had both Marie and Bertholdi carrying +armsful of her dresses from the closets in her room up to the +attic where the last of her trunks were being packed. On one of +the many trips, Bertholdi came alone into the attic, her arms full +as usual. Before her were two trunks, very much alike, open and +nearly packed. She laid her armful of clothes on a chair near-by +and pulled one of the trunks forward. On the floor lay the trays +of both trunks already packed. Bertholdi began packing her burden +in one trunk which was marked in big white letters, "E. Dodge." + +Down in Elaine's room at the time Jennings entered. "The +expressman for the trunks is here, Miss Elaine," he announced. + +"Is he? I wonder whether they are all ready," Elaine replied +hurrying out of the room. "Tell him to wait." + +In the attic, Bertholdi was still at work, keeping her eyes open +to execute the mission on which Del Mar had sent her. + +Rusty, forgotten in the excitement by Jennings, had roamed at will +through the house and seemed quite interested. For this was the +trunk behind which he had his cache of treasures. + +As Bertholdi started to move behind the trunk, Rusty could stand +it no longer. He darted ahead of her into his hiding-place. Among +the dog biscuit and bones was the torpedo model which he had dug +up from the palm pot in the conservatory. He seized it in his +mouth and turned to carry it off. + +There, in his path, was his enemy, the new girl. Quick as a flash, +she saw what it was Rusty had, and grabbed at it. + +"Get out!" she ordered, looking at her prize in triumph and +turning it over and over in her hands. + +At that moment she heard Elaine on the stairs. What should she do? +She must hide it. She looked about. There was the tray, packed and +lying on the floor near the trunk marked, "E. Dodge." She thrust +it hastily into the tray pulling a garment over it. + +"Nearly through?" panted Elaine. + +"Yes, Miss Dodge." + +"Then please tell the expressman to come up." + +Bertholdi hesitated, chagrined. Yet there was nothing to do but +obey. She looked at the trunk by the tray to fix it in her mind, +then went down-stairs. + +As she left the room, Elaine lifted the tray into the trunk and +tried to close the lid. But the tray was too high. She looked +puzzled. On the floor was another tray almost identical. + +"The wrong trunk," she smiled to herself, lifting the tray out and +putting the other one in, while she placed the first tray with the +torpedo concealed in the other, unmarked, trunk where it belonged. +Then she closed the first trunk. + +A moment later the expressman entered, with Bertholdi. + +"You may take that one," indicated Elaine. + +"Miss Dodge, here's something else to go in," said Bertholdi in +desperation, picking up a dress. + +"Never mind. Put it in the other trunk." + +Bertholdi was baffled, but she managed to control herself. She +must get word to Del Mar about that trunk marked "E. Dodge." + + . . . . . . . + +Late that afternoon, before a cheap restaurant might have been +seen our old friend who had posed as Bailey and as the Mexican. He +entered the restaurant and made his way to the first of a row of +booths on one side. + +"Hello," he nodded to a girl in the booth. + +Bertholdi nodded back and he took his seat. She had begged an hour +or two off on some pretext + +Outside the restaurant, a heavily-bearded man had been standing +looking intently at nothing in particular when Bertholdi entered. +As Bailey came along, he followed and took the next booth, his hat +pulled over his eyes. In a moment he was listening, his ear close +up to the partition. + +"Well, what luck?" asked Bailey. "Did you get a clue?" + +"I had the torpedo model in my hands," she replied, excitedly +telling the story. "It is in a trunk marked 'E. Dodge.'" + +All this and more the bearded stranger drank in eagerly. + +A moment later Bailey and Bertholdi left the booth and went out of +the restaurant followed cautiously by the stranger. On the street +the two emissaries of Del Mar stopped a moment to talk. + +"All right, I'll telephone him," she said as they parted in +opposite directions. + +The stranger took an instant to make up his mind, then followed +the girl. She continued down the street until she came to a store +with telephone booths. The bearded stranger followed still, into +the next booth but did not call a number. He had his ear to the +wall. + +He could hear her call Del Mar, and although he could not hear Del +Mar's answers, she repeated enough for him to catch the drift. +Finally, she came out, and the stranger, instead of following her +further, took the other direction hurriedly. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar himself received the news with keen excitement. Quickly he +gave instructions and prepared to leave his rooms. + +A short time later his car pulled up before the La Coste and, in a +long duster and cap, Del Mar jumped in, and was off. + +Scarcely had his car swung up the avenue when, from an alleyway +down the street from the hotel, the chug-chug of a motor-cycle +sounded. A bearded man, his face further hidden by a pair of +goggles, ran out with his machine, climbed on and followed. + +On out into the country Del Mar's car sped. At every turn the +motor-cycle dropped back a bit, observed the turn, then crept up +and took it, too. So they went for some time. + + . . . . . . . + +On the level of the Grand Central where the trains left for the +Connecticut shore where Elaine's summer home was located, Bailey +was now edging his way through the late crowd down the platform. +He paused before the baggage-car just as one of the baggage motor +trucks rolled up loaded high with trunks and bags. He stepped back +as the men loaded the luggage on the car, watching carefully. + +As they tossed on one trunk marked "E. Dodge," he turned with a +subtle look and walked away. Finally he squirmed around to the +other platform. No one was looking and he mounted the rear of the +baggage-car and opened the door. There was the baggageman sitting +by the side door, his back to Bailey. Bailey closed the door +softly and squeezed behind a pile of trunks and bags. + + . . . . . . . + +Finally Del Mar reached a spot on the railroad where there were +both a curve and a grade ahead. He stopped his car and got out. + +Down the road the bearded and goggled motorcyclist stopped just in +time to avoid observation. To make sure, he drew a pocket field- +glass and leveled it ahead. + +"Wait here," ordered Del Mar. "I'll call when I want you." + +Back on the road the bearded cyclist could see Del Mar move down +the track though he could not hear the directions. It was not +necessary, however. He dragged his machine into the bushes, hid +it, and hurried down the road on foot. + +Del Mar's chauffeur was waiting idly at the wheel when suddenly +the cold nose of a revolver was stuck under his chin. + +"Not a word--and hands up--or I'll let the moonlight through you," +growled out a harsh voice. + +Nevertheless, the chauffeur managed to lurch out of the car and +the bearded stranger, whose revolver it was, found that he would +have to shoot. Del Mar was not far enough away to risk it. + +The chauffeur flung himself on him and they struggled fiercely, +rolling over and over in the dust of the road. + +But the bearded stranger had a grip of steel and managed to get +his fingers about the chauffeur's throat as an added insurance +against a cry for help. + +He choked him literally into insensibility. Then, with a strength +that he did not seem to possess, he picked up the limp, blue-faced +body and carried it off the road and around the car. + + . . . . . . . + +In the baggage-car, the baggageman was smoking a surreptitious +pipe of powerful tobacco between stations and contemplating the +scenery thoughtfully through the open door. + +As the engine slowed up to take a curve and a grade, Bailey who +had now and then taken a peep out of a little grated window above +him, crept out from his hiding-place. Already he had slipped a +dark silk mask over his face. + +As he made his way among the trunks and boxes, the train lurched +and the baggageman who had his back to Bailey heard him catch +himself. He turned and leaped to his feet. Bailey closed with him +instantly. + +Over and over they rolled. Bailey had already drawn his revolver +before he left his hiding-place. A shot, however, would have been +fatal to his part in the plans and was only a last resort for it +would have brought the trainmen. + +Finally Bailey rolled his man over and getting his right arm free, +dealt the baggageman a fierce blow with the butt of the gun. + +The train was now pulling slowly up the grade. More time had been +spent in overcoming the baggageman than he expected and Bailey had +to work quickly. He dragged the trunk marked "E. Dodge" from the +pile to the door and glanced out. + + . . . . . . . + +Just around the curve in the railroad, Del Mar was waiting, +straining his eyes down the track. + +There was the train, puffing up the grade. As it approached he +rose and waved his arms. It was the signal and he waited +anxiously. Had his plans been carried out? + +The train passed. From the baggage-car came a trunk catapulted out +by a strong arm. It hurtled through the air and landed with its +own and the train's momentum. + +Over it rolled in the bushes, then stopped--unbroken, for Elaine +had had it designed to resist even the most violent baggage- +smasher. + +Del Mar ran to it. As the tail light of the train disappeared he +turned around in the direction from which he had come, placed his +two hands to his mouth and shouted. + + . . . . . . . + +From the side of the road by Del Mar's car the bearded motor- +cyclist had just emerged, buttoning the chauffeur's clothes and +adjusting his goggles to his own face. + +As he approached the car, he heard a shout. Quickly he tore off +the black beard which had been his disguise and tossed it into the +grass. Then he drew the coat high up about his neck. + +"All right!" he shouted back, starting along the road. + +Together he and Del Mar managed to scramble up the embankment to +the road and, one at each handle of the trunk, they carried it +back to the car, piling it in the back. + +The improvised chauffeur started to take his place at the wheel +and Del Mar had his foot on the running-board to get beside him, +when the now unbearded stranger suddenly swung about and struck +Del Mar full in the face. It sent him reeling back into the dust. + +The engine of the car had been running and before Del Mar could +recover consciousness, the stranger had shot the car ahead, +leaving Del Mar prone in the roadway. + + . . . . . . . + +The train, with Bailey on it, had not gained much speed, yet it +was a perilous undertaking to leap. Still, it was more so now to +remain. The baggageman stirred. It was now a case of murder or a +getaway. + +Bailey jumped. + +Scratched and bruised and shaken, he scrambled to his feet in the +briars along the track. He staggered up to the road, pulled +himself together, then hurried back as fast as his barked shins +would let him. + +He came to the spot which he recognized as that where he had +thrown off the trunk. He saw the trampled and broken bushes and +made for the road. + +He had not gone far when he saw, far down, Del Mar suddenly +attacked and thrown down, apparently by his own chauffeur. Bailey +ran forward, but it was too late. The car was gone. + +As he came up to Del Mar lying outstretched in the road, Del Mar +was just recovering consciousness. + +"What was the matter?" he asked. "Was he a traitor?" + +He caught sight of the real chauffeur on the ground, stripped. + +Del Mar was furious. "No," he swore, "it was that confounded gray +friar again, I think. And he has the trunk, too!" + + . . . . . . . + +Speeding up the road the former masquerader and motor-cyclist +stopped at last. + +Eagerly he leaped out of Del Mar's car and dragged the trunk over +the side regardless of the enamel. + +It was the work of only a moment for him to break the lock with a +pocket jimmy. + +One after another he pulled out and shook the clothes until frocks +and gowns and lingerie lay strewn all about. + +But there was not a thing in the trunk that even remotely +resembled the torpedo model. + +The stranger scowled. + +Where was it? + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE VANISHING MAN + + +Del Mar had evidently, by this time, come to the conclusion that +Elaine was the storm centre of the peculiar train of events that +followed the disappearance of Kennedy and his wireless torpedo. + +At any rate, as soon as he learned that Elaine was going to her +country home for the summer, he took a bungalow some distance from +Dodge Hall. In fact, it was more than a bungalow, for it was a +pretentious place surrounded by a wide lawn and beautiful shade +trees. + +There, on the day that Elaine decided to motor in from the city, +Del Mar arrived with his valet. + +Evidently he lost no time in getting to work on his own affairs, +whatever they might be. Inside his study, which was the largest +room in the house, a combination of both library and laboratory, +he gave an order or two to his valet, then immediately sat down to +his new desk. He opened a drawer and took out a long hollow +cylinder, closed at each end by air-tight caps, on one of which +was a hook. + +Quickly he wrote a note and read it over: "Install submarine bell +in place of these clumsy tubes. Am having harbor and bridges mined +as per instructions from Government. D." + +He unscrewed the cap at one end of the tube, inserted the note and +closed it. Then he pushed a button on his desk. A panel in the +wall opened and one of the men who had played policeman once for +him stepped out and saluted. + +"Here's a message to send below," said Del Mar briefly. + +The man bowed and went back through the panel, closing it. + +Del Mar cleaned up his desk and then went out to look his new +quarters over, to see whether everything had been prepared +according to his instructions. + +From the concealed entrance to a cave on a hillside, Del Mar's man +who had gone through the panel in the bungalow appeared a few +minutes later and hurried down to the shore. It was a rocky coast +with stretches of cliffs and now and then a ravine and bit of +sandy beach. Gingerly he climbed down the rocks to the water. + +He took from his pocket the metal tube which Del Mar had given him +and to the hook on one end attached a weight of lead. A moment he +looked about cautiously. Then he threw the tube into the water and +it sank quickly. He did not wait, but hurried back into the cave +entrance. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I motored down to Dodge Hall from the +city. Elaine's country house was on a fine estate near the Long +Island Sound and after the long run we were glad to pull up before +the big house and get out of the car. As we approached the door, I +happened to look down the road. + +"Well, that's the country, all right," I exclaimed, pointing down +the road. "Look." + +Lumbering along was a huge heavy hay rack on top of which perched +a farmer chewing a straw. Following along after him was a dog of a +peculiar shepherd breed which I did not recognize. Atop of the hay +the old fellow had piled a trunk and a basket. + +To our surprise the hay rack stopped before the house. "Miss +Dodge?" drawled the farmer nasally. + +"Why, what do you suppose he can want?" asked Elaine moving out +toward the wagon while we followed. "Yes?" + +"Here's a trunk, Miss Dodge, with your name on it," he went on +dragging it down. "I found it down by the railroad track." + +It was the trunk marked "E. Dodge" which had been thrown off the +train, taken by Del Mar and rifled by the motor-cyclist. + +"How do you suppose it ever got here?" cried Elaine in wonder. + +"Must have fallen off the train," I suggested. "You might have +collected the insurance under this new baggage law!" + +"Jennings," called Elaine. "Get Patrick and carry the trunk in." + +Together the butler and the gardener dragged it off. + +"Thank you," said Elaine, endeavoring to pay the farmer. + +"No, no, Miss," he demurred as he clucked to his horses. + +We waved to the old fellow. As he started to drive away, he +reached down into the basket and drew out some yellow harvest +apples. One at a time he tossed them to us as he lumbered off. + +"Truly rural," remarked a voice behind us. + +It was Del Mar, all togged up and carrying a magazine in his hand. + +We chatted a moment, then Elaine started to go into the house with +Aunt Josephine. With Del Mar I followed. + +As she went Elaine took a bite of the apple. To her surprise it +separated neatly into two hollow halves. She looked inside. There +was a note. Carefully she unfolded it and read. Like the others, +it was not written but printed in pencil: + +Be careful to unpack all your trunks yourself. Destroy this note.- +-A FRIEND. + +What did these mysterious warnings mean, she asked herself in +amazement. Somehow so far they had worked out all right. She tore +up the note and threw the pieces away. + +Del Mar and I stopped for a moment to talk. I did not notice that +he was not listening to me, but was surreptitiously watching +Elaine. + +Elaine went into the house and we followed. Del Mar, however, +dropped just a bit behind and, as he came to the place where +Elaine had thrown the pieces of paper, dropped his magazine. He +stooped to pick it up and gathered the pieces, then rejoined us. + +"I hope you'll excuse me," said Elaine brightly. "We've just +arrived and I haven't a thing unpacked." + +Del Mar bowed and Elaine left us. Aunt Josephine followed shortly. +Del Mar and I sat down at a table. As he talked he placed the +magazine in his lap beneath the table, on his knees. I could not +see, but he was in reality secretly putting together the torn note +which the farmer had thrown to Elaine. + +Finally he managed to fit all the pieces. A glance down was +enough. But his face betrayed nothing. Still under the table, he +swept the pieces into his pocket and rose. + +"I'll drop in when you are more settled," he excused himself, +strolling leisurely out again. + + . . . . . . . + +Up in the bedroom Elaine's maid, Marie, had been unpacking. + +"Well, what do you know about that?" she exclaimed as Jennings and +Patrick came dragging in the banged-up trunk. + +"Very queer," remarked Jennings, detailing the little he had seen, +while Patrick left. + +The entrance of Elaine put an end to the interesting gossip and +Marie started to open the trunk. + +"No, Marie," said Elaine. "I'll unpack them my self. You can put +the things away later. You and Jennings may go." + +Quickly she took the things out of the battered trunk. Then she +started on the other trunk which was like it but not marked. She +threw out a couple of garments, then paused, startled. + +There was the lost torpedo--where Bertholdi had stuck it in her +haste! Elaine picked it up and looked at it in wonder as it +recalled all those last days before Kennedy was lost. For the +moment she did not know quite what to make of it. What should she +do? + +Finally she decided to lock it up in the bureau drawer and tell +me. Not only did she lock the drawer but, as she left her room, +she took the key of the door from the lock inside and locked it +outside. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar did not go far from the house, however. He scarcely +reached the edge of the grounds where he was sure he was not +observed when he placed his fingers to his lips and whistled. An +instant later two of his men appeared from behind a hedge. + +"You must get into her room," he ordered. "That torpedo is in her +luggage somewhere, after all." + +They bowed and disappeared again into the shrubbery while Del Mar +turned and retraced his steps to the house. + +In the rear of the house the two emissaries of Del Mar stole out +of the shelter of some bushes and stood for a moment looking. +Elaine's windows were high above them, too high to reach. There +seemed to be no way to get to them and there was no ladder in +sight. + +"We'll have to use the Dutch house-man's method," decided one. + +Together they went around the house toward the laundry. It was +only a few minutes later that they returned. No one was about. +Quickly one of them took off his coat. Around his waist he had +wound a coil of rope. Deftly he began to climb a tree whose upper +branches fell over the roof. Cat-like he made his way out along a +branch and managed to reach the roof. He made his way along the +ridge pole to a chimney which was directly back of and in line +with Elaine's windows. Then he uncoiled the rope and made one end +fast to the chimney. Letting the other end fall free down the +roof, he carefully lowered himself over the edge. Thus it was not +difficult to get into Elaine's room by stepping on the window-sill +and going through the open window. + +The man began a rapid search of the room, turning up and pawing +everything that Elaine had unpacked. Then he began on the little +writing-desk, the dresser and the bureau drawers. A subtle smile +flashed over his face as he came to one drawer that was locked. He +pulled a sectional jimmy from his coat and forced it open. + +There lay the precious torpedo. + +The man clutched at it with a look of exultation. Without another +glance at the room he rushed to the window, seized the rope and +pulled himself to the roof, going as he had come. + + . . . . . . . + +It did not take me long to unpack the few things I had brought and +I was soon back again in the living-room, where Aunt Josephine +joined me in a few minutes. + +Just as Elaine came hurriedly down the stairway and started toward +me, Del Mar entered from the porch. She stopped. Del Mar watched +her closely. Had she found anything? He was sure of it. + +Her hesitation was only for a moment, however. "Walter," she said, +"may I speak to you a moment? Excuse us, please?" + +Aunt Josephine went out toward the back of the house to see how +the servants were getting on, while I followed Elaine up-stairs. +Del Mar with a bow seated himself and opened his magazine. No +sooner had we gone, however, than he laid it down and cautiously +followed us. + +Elaine was evidently very much excited as she entered her dainty +little room and closed the door. "Walter," she cried, "I've found +the torpedo!" + +We looked about at the general disorder. "Why," she exclaimed +nervously, "some one has been here--and I locked the door, too." + +She almost ran over to her bureau drawer. It had been jimmied open +in the few minutes while she was down-stairs. The torpedo was +gone. We looked at each other, aghast. + +Behind us, however, we did not see the keen and watchful eyes of +Del Mar, opening the door and peering in. As he saw us, he closed +the door softly, went down-stairs and out of the house. + + . . . . . . . + +Perhaps half a mile down the road, the farmer abandoned his hay +rack and now, followed by his peculiar dog, walked back. He +stopped at a point in the road where he could see the Dodge house +in the distance, sat on the rail fence and lighted a blackened +corn-cob pipe. + +There he sat for some time apparently engrossed in his own +thoughts about the weather, the dog lying at his feet. Now and +then he looked fixedly toward Dodge Hall. + +Suddenly his vagrant attention seemed to be riveted on the house. +He drew a field-glass from his pocket and levelled it. Sure +enough, there was a man coming out of a window, pulling himself up +to the roof by a rope and going across the roof tree. He lowered +the glasses quickly and climbed off the fence with a hitherto +unwonted energy. + +"Come, Searchlight," he called to the dog, as together they moved +off quickly in the direction he had been looking. Del Mar's men +were coming through the hedge that surrounded the Dodge estate +just as the farmer and his dog stepped out in front of them from +behind a thicket. + +"Just a minute," he called. "I want to speak to you." + +He enforced his words with a vicious looking gun. It was two to +one and they closed with him. Before he could shoot, they had +knocked the gun out of his hand. Then they tried to break away and +run. + +But the farmer seized one of them and held him. Meanwhile the dog +developed traits all his own. He ran in and out between the legs +of the other man until he threw him. There he stood, over him. The +man attempted to rise. Again the dog threw him and kept him down. +He was a trained Belgian sheep hound, a splendid police dog. + +"Confound the brute," growled the man, reaching for his gun. + +As he drew it, the dog seized his wrist and with a cry the man +dropped the gun. That, too, was part of the dog's training. + +While the farmer and the other man struggled on the ground, the +torpedo worked its way half from the man's pocket. The farmer +seized it. The man fell back, limp, and the farmer, with the +torpedo in one hand, grasped at the gun on the ground and +straightened up. + +He had no sooner risen than the man was at him again. His +unconsciousness had been merely feigned. The struggle was renewed. + +At that point, the hedge down the road parted and Del Mar stepped +out. A glance was enough to tell him what was going on. He drew +his gun and ran swiftly toward the combatants. + +As Del Mar approached, his man succeeded in knocking the torpedo +from the farmer's hand. There it lay, several feet away. There +seemed to be no chance for either man to get it. + +Quickly the farmer bent his wrist, aiming the gun deliberately at +the precious torpedo. As fast as he could he pulled the trigger. +Five of the six shots penetrated the little model. + +So surprised was his antagonist that the farmer was able to knock +him out with the butt of his gun. He broke away and fled, +whistling on a police whistle for the dog just as Del Mar ran up. +A couple of shots from Del Mar flew wild as the farmer and his dog +disappeared. + +Del Mar stopped and picked up the model. It had been shot into an +unrecognizable mass of scrap. In a fury, Del Mar dashed it on the +ground, cursing his men as he did so. The strange disappearance +of the torpedo model from Elaine's room worried both of us. +Doubtless if Kennedy had been there he would have known just what +to do. But we could not decide. + +"Really," considered Elaine, "I think we had better take Mr. Del +Mar into our confidence." + +"Still, we've had a great many warnings," I objected. + +"I know that," she persisted, "but they have all come from very +unreliable sources." + +"Very well," I agreed finally, "then let's drive over to his +bungalow." + +Elaine ordered her little runabout and a few moments later we +climbed into it and Elaine shot the car away. + +As we rode along, the country seemed so quiet that no one would +ever have suspected that foreign agents lurked all about. But it +was just under such a cover that the nefarious bridge and harbor- +mining work ordered by Del Mar's superiors was going ahead +quietly. + +As our car climbed a hill on the other side of which, in the +valley, was a bridge, we could not see one of Del Mar's men in +hiding at the top. He saw us, however, and immediately wigwagged +with his handkerchief to several others down at the bridge where +they were attaching a pair of wires to the planking. + +"Some one coming," muttered one who was evidently a lookout. + +The men stopped work immediately and hid in the brush. Our car +passed over the bridge and we saw nothing wrong. But no sooner had +we gone than the men crept out and resumed work which had +progressed to the point where they were ready to carry the wires +of an electric connection through the grass, concealing them as +they went. + +In the study of his bungalow, all this time, Del Mar was striding +angrily up and down, while his men waited in silence. + +Finally he paused and turned to one of them. "See that the coast +is clear and kept clear," he ordered. "I want to go down." + +The man saluted and went out through the panel. A moment later Del +Mar gave some orders to the other man who also saluted and left +the house by the front door, just as our car pulled up. + +Del Mar, the moment the man was gone, put on his hat and moved +toward the panel in the wall. He was about to enter when he heard +some one coming down the hall to the study and stepped back, +closing the panel. It was the butler announcing us. + +We had entered Del Mar's bungalow and now were conducted to his +library. There Elaine told him the whole story, much to his +apparent surprise, for Del Mar was a wonderful actor. + +"You see," he said as she finished telling of the finding and the +losing of the torpedo, "just what I had feared would happen has +happened. Doubtless the foreign agents have the deadly weapon, +now. However, I'll not quit. Perhaps we may run them down yet." + +He reassured us and we thanked him as we said good-bye. Outside, +Elaine and I got into the car again and a moment later spun off, +making a little detour first through the country before hitting +the shore road back again to Dodge Hall. + +On the rocky shore of the promontory, several men were engaged in +sinking a peculiar heavy disk which they submerged about ten or +twelve feet. It seemed to be held by a cable and to it wires were +attached, apparently so that when a key was pressed a circuit was +closed. + +It was an "oscillator", a new system for the employment of sound +for submarine signalling, using water instead of air as a medium +to transmit sound waves. It was composed of a ring magnet, a +copper tube lying in an air-gap in a magnetic field and a +stationary central armature. The tube was attached to a steel +diaphragm. Really it was a submarine bell which could be used for +telegraphing or telephoning both ways through water. + +The men finished executing the directions of Del Mar and left, +carefully concealing the land connections and key of the bell, +while we were still at Del Mar's. + +We had no sooner left, however, than one of the men who had been +engaged in installing the submarine bell entered the library. + +"Well?" demanded Del Mar. + +"The bell is installed, sir," he said. "It will be working soon." + +"Good," nodded Del Mar. + +He went to a drawer and from it took a peculiar looking helmet to +which was attached a sort of harness fitting over the shoulders +and carrying a tank of oxygen. The head-piece was a most weird +contrivance, with what looked like a huge glass eye in front. It +was in reality a submarine life-saving apparatus. + +Del Mar put it on, all except the helmet which he carried with +him, and then, with his assistant, went out through the panel in +the wall. Through the underground passage the two groped their +way, lighted by an electric torch, until at last they came to the +entrance hidden in the underbrush, near the shore. + +Del Mar went over to the concealed station from which the +submarine bell was sounded and pressed the key as a signal. Then +he adjusted the submarine helmet to his head and deliberately +waded out into the water, further and further, up to his head, +then deeper still. + +As he disappeared into the water, his emissary turned and went +back toward the shore road. + + . . . . . . . + +The ride around through the country and back to the shore, road +from Del Mar's was pleasant. In fact it was always pleasant to be +with Elaine, especially in a car. + +We were spinning along at a fast clip when we came to a rocky part +of the coast. As we made a turn a sharp breeze took off my hat and +whirled it far off the road and among the rocks of the shore. +Elaine shut down the engine, with a laugh at me, and we left the +car by the road while we climbed down the rocks after the hat. + +It had been carried into the water, close to shore and, still +laughing, we clambered over the rocks. Elaine insisted on getting +it herself and in fact did get it. She was just about to hand it +to me, when something bobbed up in the water just in front of us. +She reached for it and fished it out. It was a cylinder with air- +tight caps on both ends, in one of which was a hook. + +"What do you suppose it is?" she asked, looking it over as we made +our way up the rocks again to the car. "Where did it come from?" + +We did not see a man standing by our car, but he saw us. It was +Del Mar's man who had paused on his way to watch us. As we +approached he hid on the other side of the road. + +By this time we had reached the car and opened the cylinder. +Inside was a note which read: + + "Chief arrived safely. Keep watch." + +"What does it mean?" repeated Elaine, mystified. + +Neither of us could guess and I doubt whether we would have +understood any better if we had seen a sinister face peering at us +from behind a rock near-by, although doubtless the man knew what +was in the tube and what it meant. + +We climbed into the car and started again. As we disappeared, the +man came from behind the rocks and ran quickly up to the top of +the hill. There, from the bushes, he pulled out a peculiar +instrument composed of a strange series of lenses and mirrors set +up on a tripod. + +Eagerly he placed the tripod, adjusting the lenses and mirrors in +the sunlight. Then he began working them, and it was apparent that +he was flashing light beams, using a Morse code. It was a +heliograph. + +Down the shore on the top of the next hill sat the man who had +already given the signal with the handkerchief to those in the +valley who were working on the mining of the bridge. As he sat +there, his eye caught the flash of the heliograph signal. He +sprang up and watched intently. Rapidly he jotted down the message +that was being flashed in the sunlight: + + Dodge girl has message from below. + Coming in car. Blow first bridge she + crosses. + +Down the valley the lookout made his way as fast as he could. As +he approached the two men who had been mining the bridge, he +whistled sharply. They answered and hurried to meet him. + +"Just got a heliograph," he panted. "The Dodge girl must have +picked up one of the messages that came from below. She's coming +over the hill now in a car. We've got to blow up the bridge as she +crosses." + +The men were hurrying now toward the bridge which they had mined. +Not a moment was to be lost, for already they could see us coming +over the crest of the hill. + +In a few seconds they reached the hidden plunger firing-box which +had been arranged to explode the charge under the bridge. There +they crouched in the brush ready to press the plunger the moment +our car touched the planking. + +One of the men crept out a little nearer the road. "They're +coming!" he called back, dropping down again. "Get ready!" + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar's emissaries had not reckoned, however, that any one else +might be about to whom the heliograph was an open book. + +But, further over on the hill, hiding among the trees, the old +farmer and his dog were sitting quietly. The old man was sweeping +the Sound with his glasses, as if he expected to see something any +moment. + +To his surprise, however, he caught a flash of the heliograph from +the land. Quickly he turned and jotted down the signals. As he did +so, he seemed greatly excited, for the message read: + + Dodge girl has message from below. + Coming in car. Blow first bridge she + crosses. + +Quickly he turned his glasses down the road. There he could see +our car rapidly approaching. He put up his glasses and hurried +down the hill toward the bridge. Then he broke into a run, the dog +scouting ahead. + +We were going along the road nicely now, coasting down the hill. +As we approached the bridge, Elaine slowed up a bit, to cross, for +the planking was loose. + +Just then the farmer who had been running down the hill saw us. + +"Stop!" he shouted. + +But we did not hear. He ran after us, but such a chase was +hopeless. He stopped, in despair. + +With a gesture of vexation he took a step or two mechanically off +the road. + +Elaine and I were coming fast to the bridge now. + +In their hiding-place, Del Mar's men were watching breathlessly. +The leader was just about to press the plunger when all of a +sudden a branch in the thicket beside him crackled. There stood +the farmer and his dog! + +Instantly the farmer seemed to take in the situation. With a cry +he threw himself at the man who had the plunger. Another man +leaped at the farmer. The dog settled him. The others piled in and +a terrific struggle followed. It was all so rapid that, to all, +seconds seemed like hours. + +We were just starting to cross the bridge. + +One of the men broke away and crawled toward the plunger box. Our +car was now in the middle of the bridge. + +Over and over rolled the men, the dog doing his best to help his +master. The man who had broken away reached toward the plunger. + +With a shout he pushed it down. + + . . . . . . . + +Our car had just cleared the bridge when we were startled by a +terrific roar behind us. It was as though a thousand tires had +blown out at once. Elaine shut off the engine automatically and we +looked back. + +The whole bridge had been blown up. A second before we had been in +the middle of it. + +As the explosion came, the men who had been struggling in the +thicket, paused, startled, and stared out. At that instant the old +farmer saw his chance. It was all over and he bolted, calling the +dog. + +Along the road to the bridge he ran, two of the men after him. + +"Come back," growled the leader. "Let him go. Do you want us all +to get caught?" + +As the farmer ran up to the bridge, he saw it in ruins. But down +the road he could see Elaine and myself, sitting in the car, +staring back at the peril which we had so narrowly escaped. His +face lighted up in as great joy as a few moments before it had +showed despair. + +"What can that have been?" asked Elaine, starting to get out of +the car. "What caused it?" + +"I don't know," I returned, taking her arm firmly. "But enough has +happened to-day. If it was intended for us, we'd better not stop. +Some one might take a shot at us. Come. We have the car. We can +get out before any one does anything more. Let's do it. Things are +going on about us of which we know nothing. The safest thing is to +get away." + +Elaine looked at the bridge in ruins and shuddered. It was the +closest we could have been to death and have escaped. Then she +turned to the wheel quickly and the little car fairly jumped +ahead. + +"Oh, if Craig were only here," she murmured. "He would know what +to do." + +As we disappeared over the crest of the next hill, safe, the old +farmer and his dog looked hard at us. + +The silence after the explosion was ominous. + +He glanced about. No one was pursuing him. That seemed ominous, +too. But if they did pursue he was prepared to elude them. They +must never recognize the old farmer. + +As he turned, he deliberately pulled off his beard, then plunged +again into the woods and was lost. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE SUBMARINE HARBOR + + +It was not long after the almost miraculous escape of Elaine and +myself from the blowing up of the bridge on the shore road that +Del Mar returned from his mysterious mission which had, +apparently, taken him actually down to the bottom of the sea. + +The panel in the wall of his library opened and in the still +dripping submarine suit, holding under his arm the weird helmet, +Del Mar entered. No sooner had he begun to remove his wet diving- +suit than the man who had signalled with the heliograph that we +had found Del Mar's message from "below," whatever that might +mean, entered the house and was announced by the valet. + +"Let him come in immediately," ordered Del Mar, placing his suit +in a closet. Then to the man, as he entered, he said, "Well, +what's new?" + +"Quite a bit," returned the man, frowning still over Elaine's +accidental discovery of the under-water communication. "The Dodge +girl happened to pick up one of the tubes with a message just +after you went down. I tried to get her by blowing up the bridge, +but it didn't work, somehow." + +"We'll have to silence her," remarked Del Mar angrily with a +sinister frown. "You stay here and wait for orders." + +A moment later he made his way down to a private dock on his +grounds and jumped aboard a trim little speed boat moored there. +He started the motor and off the boat feathered in a cloud of +spray. + +It was only a moment by water before he reached the Dodge dock. +There he tied his boat and hurried up the dock. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine and I arrived home without any further experiences after +our hairbreadth escape from the explosion at the bridge. + +We were in doubt at first, however, just what to do about the +mysterious message which we had picked up in the harbor. + +"Really, Walter," remarked Elaine, after we had considered the +matter for some time, "I think we ought to send that message to +the government at Washington." + +Already she had seated herself at her desk and began to write, +while I examined the metal tube and the note again. + +"There," she said at length, handing me the note she had written. +"How does that sound?" + +I read it while she addressed the envelope. "Very good," I +replied, handing it back. + +She folded it and shoved it into the envelope on which she had +written: + + Chief, + Secret Service, + Washington, D. C. + +I was studying the address, wondering whether this was just the +thing to do, when Elaine decided the matter by energetically +ringing the bell for Jennings. + +"Post that, Jennings, please," she directed. + +The butler bowed just as the door-bell rang. He turned to go. + +"Just a minute," I interrupted. "I think perhaps I'd better mail +it myself, after all." + +He handed me the letter and went out. + +"Yes, Walter," agreed Elaine, "that would be better. Register it, +too." + +"How do you do?" greeted a suave voice. + +It was Del Mar. As he passed me to speak to Elaine, apparently by +accident, he knocked the letter from my hand. + +"I beg your pardon," he apologized, quickly stooping and picking +it up. + +Though he managed to read the address, he maintained his composure +and handed the letter back to me. I started to go out, when Elaine +called to me. + +"Excuse me just a moment, Mr. Del Mar?" she queried, accompanying +me out on the porch. + +Already a saddle horse had been brought around for me. + +"Perhaps you'd better put a special delivery stamp on it, too, +Walter," she added, walking along with me. "And be very careful." + +"I will," I promised, as I rode off. + +Del Mar, alone, seized the opportunity to go over quietly to the +telephone. It was the work of only a moment to call up his +bungalow where the emissary who had placed the submarine bell was +waiting for orders. Quickly Del Mar whispered his instructions +which the man took, and hung up the receiver. + +"I hope you'll pardon me," said Elaine, entering just as Del Mar +left the telephone. "Mr. Jameson was going into town and I had a +number of little things I wanted him to do. Won't you sit down?" + +They chatted for a few moments, but Del Mar did not stay very +long. He excused himself shortly and Elaine bade him good-bye at +the door as he walked off, apparently, down the road I had taken. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar's emissary hurried from the bungalow and almost ran down +the road until he came to a spot where two men were hiding. + +"Jameson is coming with a letter which the Dodge girl has written +to the Secret Service," he cried pointing excitedly up the road. +"You've got to get it, see?" + +I was cantering along nicely down the road by the shore, when +suddenly, from behind some rocks and bushes, three men leaped out +at me. One of them seized the horse's bridle, while the other two +quickly dragged me out of the saddle. + +It was very unexpected, but I had time enough to draw my gun and +fire once. I hit one of the men, too, in the arm, and he staggered +back, the blood spurting all over the road. + +But before I could fire at the others, they knocked the gun from +my hand. Frightened, the horse turned and bolted, riderless. + +Together, they dragged me off the road and into the thicket where +I was tied and gagged and laid on the ground while one of them +bound up the wounded arm of the man I had hit. It was not long +before one of them began searching me. + +"Aha!" he growled, pulling the letter from my pocket and looking +at it with satisfaction. "Here it is." + +He tore the letter open, throwing the envelope on the ground, and +read it. + +"There, confound you," he muttered. "The government 'll never get +that. Come on, men. Bring him this way." + +He shoved the letter into his pocket and led the way through the +underbrush, while the others half-dragged, half-pushed me along. +We had not gone very far before one of the three men, who appeared +to be the leader, paused. + +"Take him to the hang-out," he ordered gruffly. "I'll have to +report to the Chief." + +He disappeared down toward the shore of the harbor while the +others prodded me along. + + . . . . . . . + +Down near the Dodge dock, along the shore, walked a man wearing a +broad-brimmed hat and a plain suit of duck. His prim collar and +tie comported well with his smoked glasses. Instinctively one +would have called him "Professor", though whether naturalist, +geologist, or plain "bugologist", one would have had difficulty in +determining. + +He seemed, as a matter-of-fact, to be a naturalist, for he was +engrossed in picking up specimens. But he was not so much +engrossed as to fail to hear the approach of footsteps down the +gravel walk from Dodge Hall to the dock. He looked up in time to +see Del Mar coming, and quietly slipped into the shrubbery up on +the shore. + +On the dock, Del Mar stood for some minutes, waiting. Finally, +along the shore came another figure. It was the emissary to whom +Del Mar had telephoned and who had searched me. The naturalist +drew back into his hiding-place, peering out keenly. + +"Well?" demanded Del Mar. "What luck?" + +"We've got him," returned the man with brief satisfaction. "Here's +the letter she was sending to the Secret Service." + +Del Mar seized the note which the man handed to him and read it +eagerly. "Good," he exclaimed. "That would have put an end to the +whole operations about here. Come on. Get into the boat." + +For some reason best known to himself, the naturalist seemed to +have lost all interest in his specimens and to have a sudden +curiosity about Del Mar's affairs. As the motor-boat sped off, he +came slowly and cautiously out of his hiding-place and gazed +fixedly at Del Mar. + +No sooner had Del Mar's boat got a little distance out into the +harbor than the naturalist hurried down the Dodge dock. There was +tied Elaine's own fast little runabout. He jumped into it and +started the engine, following quickly in Del Mar's wake. + +"Look," called the emissary to Del Mar, spying the Dodge boat with +the naturalist in it, skimming rapidly after them. + +Del Mar strained his eyes back through his glass at the pursuing +boat. But the naturalist, in spite of his smoked glasses, seemed +not to have impaired his eyesight by his studies. He caught the +glint of the sun on the lens at Del Mar's eye and dropped down +into the bottom of his own boat where he was at least safe from +scrutiny, if his boat were not. + +Del Mar lowered his glass. "That's the Dodge boat," he said +thoughtfully. "I don't like the looks of that fellow. Give her +more speed." + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar had not been gone long before Elaine decided to take a +ride herself. She ordered her horse around from the stables while +she donned her neat little riding-habit. A few minutes later, as +the groom held the horse, she mounted and rode away, choosing the +road by which I had gone, expecting to meet me on the return from +town. + +She was galloping along at a good clip when suddenly her horse +shied at something. + +"Whoa, Buster," pacified Elaine. + +But it was of no use. Buster still reared up. + +"Why, what is the matter?" she asked. "What do you see?" + +She looked down at the ground. There was a spot of blood in the +dust. Buster was one of those horses to whom the sight of blood is +terrifying. + +Elaine pulled up beside the road. There was a revolver lying in +the grass. She dismounted and picked it up. No sooner had she +looked at it than she discovered the initials "W. J." carved on +the butt. + +"Walter Jameson!" she exclaimed, realizing suddenly that it was +mine. "It's been fired, too!" + +Her eye fell again on the blood spots. "Blood and--footprints-- +into the brush! "she gasped in horror, following the trail." What +could have happened to Walter?" + +With the revolver, Elaine followed where the bushes were trampled +down until she came to the place where I had been bound. There she +spied some pieces of paper lying on the ground and picked them up. + +She put them together. They were pieces of the envelope of the +letter which we had decided to send to Washington. + +"Which way did they take him?" she asked, looking all about but +discovering no trail. + +She was plainly at a loss what course to pursue. + +"What would Craig do?" she asked herself. + +Finding no answer, she stood thinking a moment, slowly tearing the +envelope to pieces. If she were to do anything at all, it must be +done quickly. Suddenly an idea seemed to occur to her. She threw +the pieces of paper into the air and let them blow away. It was +unscientific detection, perhaps, but the wind actually took them +and carried them in the direction in which the men had forced me +to walk. + +"That's it!" cried Elaine to herself. "I'll follow that +direction." + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile, the men had hurried me off along a trail that led to +the foot of a cliff. Then the trail wound up the cliff. We climbed +it until we reached the top. + +There in the rock was a rude stairway. I drew back. But one man +drew a gun and the other preceded me down. Along the steep stone +steps cut out in the face of the rock, they forced me. + +Below, in a rift in the very wall of the cliff, was a cave in +which already were two more of Del Mar's men, talking in low +tones, in the dim light. + +As we made our way down the breakneck stairway, the foremost of my +captors stepped on a large flat rock. As he did so, it gave way +slightly under his foot. + +A light in the cave flashed up. Under the rock was a secret +electric connection which operated a lamp. + +"Some one coming," muttered the two men, on guard instantly. + +It was a somewhat precarious footing as we descended and for the +moment I was more concerned for my safety from a fall than +anything else. Once my foot did slip and a shower of pebbles and +small pieces of rock started down the face of the cliff. + +As we passed down, the man behind me, still keeping me covered, +raised the flat stone on the top step. Carefully, he reset the +connection of the alarm rock, a series of metal points that bent +under the weight of a person and made a contact which signalled +down in the cavern the approach of any one who did not know the +secret. + +As he did so, the light in the cavern went out. "It's all right," +said one of the men down there, with a look of relief. + +We now went down the perilous stairway until we came to the cave. + +"I've got a prisoner--orders of the Chief," growled one of my +captors, thrusting me in roughly. + +They forced me into a corner where they tied me again, hand and +foot. Then they began debating in low, sinister tones, what was to +be done with me next. Once in a while I could catch a word. Fear +made my senses hypersensitive. + +They were arguing whether they should make away with me now or +later! + +Finally the leader rose. "It's three to one," I heard him mutter. +"He dies now." + +He turned and took a menacing step toward me. + +"Hands up!" + +It was a shrill, firm voice that rang out at the mouth of the cave +as a figure cut off what little light there was. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine passed along, hunting for the trail. Suddenly a shower of +pebbles came falling down from a cliff above her. Some of them hit +her and she looked up quickly. + +There she could see me being led along by my captors. She hid in +the brush and watched. During all the operations of the descent of +the rock stairway and the resetting of the alarm, she continued to +watch, straining her eyes to see what they were doing. + +As we entered the cave, she stepped out from her concealment and +looked sharply up at us, as we disappeared. Then she climbed the +path up the cliff until she came to the flight of stone steps +leading downward again. + +Already she had seen the man behind me doing something with the +stone that formed the top step. She stooped down and examined the +stone. Carefully she raised it and looked underneath before +stepping on it. There she could see the electric connection. She +set the stone aside and looked again down the dangerous stairway. + +It made her shudder. "I must get him," she murmured to herself. +"Yes, I must. Even now it may be too late." + +With a supreme effort of determination she got herself together, +drew my gun which she had picked up, and started down the cliff, +stepping noiselessly. + +At last Elaine came to the cave. She stood just aside from the +door, gun in hand, and listened, aghast. + +Inside she could hear voices of four men, and they were arguing +whether they should kill me or not. It was four against one woman, +but she did not falter. + +They had just decided to make away with me immediately and the +leader had turned toward me with the threat still on his lips. It +was now or never. Resolutely she took a step forward and into the +cave. + +"Hands up!" she demanded, firmly. + +The thing was so unexpected in the security of their secret +hiding-place protected by the rock alarm that, before they knew +it, Elaine had them all lined up against the wall. + +Keeping them carefully covered, she moved over toward me. She +picked up a knife that lay near-by and started to cut the ropes +which held me. + +As she did so, one of the men, with an oath, leaped forward to +rush her. But Elaine was not to be caught off her guard. Instantly +she fired. The man staggered back, and fell. + +That cooled the ardor of the other three considerably, especially +now as I was free, too. While she held them up still, with their +hands in the air, I went through their pockets, taking out their +weapons. + +Then, still keeping them covered, we backed out of the cave. +Backward we made our way up the dangerous flight of steps again +with guns levelled at the cave entrance, Elaine going up first. + +Once a head stuck itself out of the cave entrance. I fired +instantly and it jerked itself back in again just in time. That +was the only trouble we had, apparently. + +Cautiously and slowly we made our way toward the top of the cliff. + + . . . . . . . + +One look backward from his motor-boat was enough for Del Mar. He +must evade that inquisitive naturalist. He turned to his man. + +"Get out that apparatus," he ordered. + +The man opened a locker and brought out the curious submarine +rescue helmet and suit. Del Mar took them up and began to put the +suit on, stooping down in the shelter of the boat so that his +actions could not be seen by the naturalist in the pursuing boat. + +The naturalist was all this time peering ahead keenly at Del Mar's +boat, trying to make it out. He bent over and adjusted the engine +to get up more speed and the boat shot ahead faster. + +By this time, Del Mar had put on the submarine apparatus, all +except the helmet, and was crouching low in the boat. Hastily, he +rolled a piece of canvas into the semblance of a body, put his +coat and hat on it and set it on the seat which he had occupied +before. + +Just then Del Mar's boat ran around the promontory where Wu Fang +had met the submarine that had brought Del Mar into the country +and landed him so strangely. + +The boat slowed down under shelter of the rocks and Del Mar added +a pair of heavy lead-soled shoes to his outfit in order to weight +himself down. Finally he put on the helmet, let himself over the +side of the boat, and disappeared into the water. + +His aide started the motor and the boat shot ahead again, with the +dummy still occupying Del Mar's seat. As the boat swung out and +made a wide sweeping curve away from the point at which Del Mar +had gone overboard, the naturalist in the Dodge boat came around +the promontory and saw it, changing his course accordingly, and +gaining somewhat. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar sank, upright and rapidly, down in the shallow water to +the bottom. Once having his feet on something approaching firm +ground, he gazed about through the window-like eye of the helmet +until he got his bearings. Then he began to walk heavily along the +bottom of the harbor, over sand and rocks. + +It was a strange walk that he took, half stumbling, slowly and +cumbersomely groping his way like a queer under-water animal. + +If any one could have seen him, he would have noted that Del Mar +was going toward the base of a huge Focky cliff that jutted far +out into the harbor, where the water was deep, a dangerous point, +avoided by craft of all kinds. Far over his head the waves beat on +the rocks angrily. But down there, concealed beneath the surface +of the harbor, was a sort of huge arch of stone, through which a +comparatively rapid current ran as the tide ebbed and flowed. + +Del Mar let himself be carried along with the current which was +now running in and thus with comparative ease made his way, still +groping, through the arch. Once under it and a few feet beyond, he +deliberately kicked off the leaden-soled shoes and, thus +lightened, rose rapidly to the surface of the water. + +As he bobbed up, a strange sight met his eyes--not strange +however, to Del Mar. Above, the rocks formed a huge dome over the +water which the tides forced in and out through the secret +entrance through which he came. No other entrance, apparently, +except that from the waters of the harbor led to this peculiar +den. + +Lying quietly moored to the rocky piers lay three submarine boats. +Further back, on a ledge of rocks, blasted out, stood a little +building, a sort of office or headquarters. Near-by was a shed +where were kept gas and oil, supplies and ammunition, in fact +everything that a submarine might need. + +This was the reason for Del Mar's presence in the neighborhood. It +was the secret submarine harbor of the foreign agents who were +operating in America! + +Already a sentry, pacing up and down, had seen the bubbles in the +water that indicated that some one had come through the archway +and was down "below," as Del Mar and his men called it. + +Gazing down the sentry saw the queer helmeted figure float up from +the bottom of the pool. He reached out and helped the figure +clamber up out of the water to the ledge on which he stood. Del +Mar saluted, and the sentry returned the secret salute, helping +him remove the dripping helmet and suit. + +A moment later, in the queer little submarine office, Del Mar had +evidently planned to take up the nefarious secret work on which he +was engaged. Several men of a naval and military bearing were +seated about a table, already, studying maps and plans and +documents of all descriptions. They did not seem to belong to any +nation in particular. In fact their uniforms, if such they might +be called, were of a character to disguise their nationality. But +that they were hostile to the country under which they literally +had their hidden retreat, of that there could be no doubt. + +How high Del Mar stood in their counsels could have been seen at a +glance from the instant deference exhibited at the mere mention of +his name by the sentry who entered with the submarine suit while +Del Mar got himself together after his remarkable trip. + +The men at the council table rose and saluted as Del Mar himself +entered. He returned the salute and quietly made his way to the +head of the table where he took a seat, naturally. + +"This is the area in which we must work first of all," he began, +drawing toward him a book and opening it. "And we must strike +quickly, for if they heed the advice in this book, it may be too +late for us to take advantage of their foolish unpreparedness." + +It was a book entitled "Defenseless America", written by a great +American inventor, Hudson Maxim. + +Del Mar turned the pages until he came to and pointed out a map. +The others gathered about him, leaning forward eagerly as he +talked to them. There, on the map, with a radius of some one +hundred and seventy miles, was drawn a big segment of a circle, +with Peekskill, New York, as a centre. + +"That is the heart of America," said Del Mar, earnestly. "It +embraces New York, Boston, Philadelphia. But that is not the +point. Here are the great majority of the gun and armor factories, +the powder and cartridge works, together with the principal coal +fields of Pennsylvania." + +He brought his fist down decisively on the table. "If we hold this +section," he declared, "we practically hold America!" + +Eagerly the other emissaries listened as Del Mar laid before them +the detailed facts which he was collecting, the greater mission +than the mere capture of Kennedy's wireless torpedo which had +brought him into the country. Detail after detail of their plans +they discussed as they worked out the gigantic scheme. + +It was a war council of a secret advance guard of the enemies of +America! + + . . . . . . . + +Meanwhile, Del Mar's man in his boat, cutting a wide circle and +avoiding the Dodge boat carrying the naturalist, made his way +across the harbor until he came to the shore. + +There he landed and proceeded up the beach to the foot of a rocky +cliff, where he turned and followed a trail up it to the top. It +was the same path already travelled by my captors with me and +later followed by Elaine. + +As he came stealthily out from under cover, Del Mar's man gazed +down the stairway. He drew back at what he saw. Slowly he pulled a +gun from his pocket, watching down the steps with tense interest. +There he could see Elaine and myself wearily climbing toward the +top, our backs toward him, as we covered the men in the cave. + +So surprised was he at what he saw that he forgot that his boat +below had been followed by the mysterious naturalist, who, the +moment Del Mar's man had landed, put on the last burst of speed +and ran the Dodge boat close to the spot where the aide had left +Del Mar's. + +A glance into the boat sufficed to tell the naturalist that the +figure in it was only a dummy. He did not pause, but followed the +trail up the hill, until he was close after the emissary ahead, +going more slowly. + +Only a few feet further along the cliff, the naturalist paused, +too, keeping well under cover, for the man was now just ahead of +him. He looked fixedly at him and saw him gaze down the cliff. +Then he saw him slowly draw a gun. + +Who could be below? Quickly the naturalist's mind seemed to work. +He crouched down, as if ready to spring. + +The emissary slowly raised his revolver and took careful aim at +the backs of Elaine and myself, as we came up the steps. + +But before he could pull the trigger, the naturalist, more like +one of the wild animals which he studied than like a human being, +sprang from his concealment in the bushes and pounced on the man +from behind, seizing him firmly. + +Over and over they rolled, struggling almost to the brink of the +precipice. + +Elaine and I had got almost to the top of the flight of steps, +when suddenly we heard a shout above us and sounds of a terrific +struggle. We turned, to see two men, neither of whom we knew, +fighting. One seemed to be a professor of natural history from his +dress and general appearance. The other had a sinister nondescript +look. + +Nearer and nearer the edge of the cliff they rolled. We crouched +closer to the rocky wall, gazing up at the death grapple of the +two. Who they were we did not know but that one was fighting for +and the other against us we could readily see. + +The more vicious of the two seemed to be forcing the naturalist +slowly back, when, with a superhuman effort, the naturalist braced +himself. His foot was actually on a small ledge of rock directly +at the edge of the cliff. + +He swung around quickly and struck the other man. The vicious +looking man pitched headlong over the cliff. + +We shrank back closer to the rock as the man hurtled through the +air only a few feet from us. Down below, we could hear him land +with a sickening thud. + +Far over the edge Elaine leaned in a sort of fascination at the +awful sight. For a moment, I thought the very imp of the perverse +had got possession of her and that she herself would fall over. +She brushed her hand unsteadily over her eyes and staggered. I +caught her just in time. + +It was only an instant before the brave girl recovered control of +herself. Then, together, we started again to climb up. + +As we did so the naturalist looked down and caught sight of us +approaching. Hastily he hid in the bushes. We reached the top of +the stairway and gazed about for the victor in the contest. To our +surprise he was gone. + +"Come," I urged. "We had better get away, quickly." + +As Elaine and I disappeared, the naturalist slowly emerged again +from the bushes and looked after us. Then he gave a hasty glance +over the edge of the cliff at the man, twisted and motionless, far +below. + +If we had looked back we might have seen the naturalist shake his +head in a manner strangely reminiscent as he turned and gazed +again after us. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CONSPIRATORS + + +"You remember Lieutenant Woodward, the inventor of trodite?" I +asked Elaine one day after I had been out for a ride through the +country. + +"Very well indeed," she nodded with a look of wistfulness as the +mention of his name recalled Kennedy. "Why?" + +"He's stationed at Fort Dale, not very far from here, at the +entrance of the Sound," I answered. + +"Then let's have him over at my garden party to-night," she +exclaimed, sitting down and writing. + +DEAR LIEUTENANT, + +I have just learned that you are stationed at Fort Dale and would +like to have you meet some of my friends at a little garden party +I am holding to-night. + +Sincerely, ELAINE DODGE. + +Thus it was that a few hours afterward, in the officers' quarters +at the Fort, an orderly entered with the mail and handed a letter +to Lieutenant Woodward. He opened it and read the invitation with +pleasure. He had scarcely finished reading and was hastening to +write a reply when the orderly entered again and saluted. + +"A Professor Arnold to see you, Lieutenant," he announced. + +"Professor Arnold?" repeated Woodward. "I don't know any Professor +Arnold. Well, show him in, anyhow." + +The orderly ushered in a well-dressed man with a dark, heavy beard +and large horn spectacles. Woodward eyed him curiously and a bit +suspiciously, as the stranger seated himself and made a few +remarks. + +The moment the orderly left the room, however, the professor +lowered his voice to a whisper. Woodward listened in amazement, +looked at him more closely, then laughed and shook hands +cordially. + +The professor leaned over again. Whatever it was that he said, it +made a great impression on the Lieutenant. + +"You know this fellow Del Mar?" asked Professor Arnold finally. + +"No," replied Woodward. + +"Well, he's hanging around Miss Dodge all the time," went on +Arnold. "There's something queer about his presence here at this +time." + +"I've an invitation to a garden party at her house to-night," +remarked Woodward. + +"Accept," urged the professor, "and tell her you are bringing a +friend." + +Woodward resumed writing and when he had finished handed the note +to the stranger, who read: + +DEAR MISS DODGE, + +I shall be charmed to be with you to-night and with your +permission will bring my friend, Professor Arnold. + +Truly yours, EDWARD WOODWARD. + +"Good," nodded the professor, handing the note back. + +Woodward summoned an orderly. "See that that is delivered at Dodge +Hall to Miss Dodge herself as soon as possible," he directed, as +the orderly took the note and saluted. + +Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I were in the garden when Lieut. +Woodward's orderly rode up and delivered the letter. + +Elaine opened it and read. "That's all right," she thanked the +orderly. "Oh, Walter, he's coming to the garden party, and is +going to bring a friend of his, a Professor Arnold." + +We chatted a few moments about the party. + +"Oh," exclaimed Elaine suddenly, "I have an idea." + +"What is it?" we asked, smiling at her enthusiasm. + +"We'll have a fortune teller," she cried. "Aunt Josephine, you +shall play the part." + +"All right, if you really want me," consented Aunt Josephine +smiling indulgently as we urged her. + + . . . . . . . + +Down in the submarine harbor that afternoon, Del Mar and his men +were seated about the conference table. + +"I've traced out the course and the landing points of the great +Atlantic cable," he said. "We must cut it." + +Del Mar turned to one of the men. "Take these plans to the captain +of the steamer and tell him to get ready," he went on. "Find out +and send me word when the cutting can be done best." + +The man saluted and went out. + +Leaving the submarine harbor in the usual manner, he made his way +to a dock on the shore around the promontory and near the village. +Tied to it was a small tramp steamer. The man walked down the dock +and climbed aboard the boat. There several rough looking sailors +were lolling and standing about. The emissary selected the +captain, a more than ordinarily tough looking individual. + +"Mr. Del Mar sends you the location of the Atlantic cable and the +place where he thinks it best to pick it up and cut it," he said. + +The captain nodded. "I understand," he replied. "I'll send him +word later when it can be done best." + +A few minutes after dispatching his messenger, Del Mar left the +submarine harbor himself and entered his bungalow by way of the +secret entrance. There he went immediately to his desk and picked +up the mail that had accumulated in his absence. One letter he +read: + +DEAR MR. DEL MAR, + +We shall be pleased to see you at a little garden party we are +holding to-night. + +Sincerely, + +ELAINE DODGE. + +As he finished reading, he pushed the letter carelessly aside as +though he had no time for such frivolity. Then an idea seemed to +occur to him. He picked it up again and read it over. + +"I'll go," he said to himself, simply. + + . . . . . . . + +That night Dodge Hall was a blaze of lights and life, overflowing +to the wide verandas and the garden. Guests in evening clothes +were arriving from all parts of the summer colony and were being +received by Elaine. Already some of them were dancing on the +veranda. + +Among the late arrivals were Woodward and his friend, Professor +Arnold. + +"I'm so glad to know that you are stationed at Fort Dale," greeted +Elaine. "I hope it will be for all summer." + +"I can't say how long it will be, but I shall make every effort to +make it all summer," he replied gallantly. "Let me present my +friend, Professor Arnold." + +The professor bowed low and unprofessionally over Elaine's hand +and a moment later followed Woodward out into the next room as the +other guests arrived to be greeted by Elaine. For a moment, +however, she looked after him curiously. Once she started to +follow as though to speak to him. Just then, however, Del Mar +entered. + +"Good evening," he interrupted, suavely. + +He stood for a moment with Elaine and talked. + +One doorway in the house was draped and a tent had been erected in +the room. Over the door was a sign which read: "The past and the +future are an open book to Ancient Anna." There Aunt Josephine +held forth in a most effective disguise as a fortune teller. + +Aunt Josephine had always had a curious desire to play the old hag +in amateur dramatics and now she had gratified her desire to the +utmost. Probably none of the guests knew that Ancient Anna was in +reality Elaine's guardian. + +Elaine being otherwise occupied, I had selected one of the +prettiest of the girls and we were strolling through the house, +seeking a quiet spot for a chat. + +"Why don't you have your fortune told by Ancient Anna?" laughed my +companion as we approached the tent. + +"Do you tell a good fortune reasonably?" I joked, entering. + +"Only the true fortunes, young man," returned Ancient Anna +severely, starting in to read my palm. "You are very much in +love," she went on, "but the lady is not in this tent." + +Very much embarrassed, I pulled my hand away. + +"How shocking!" mocked my companion, making believe to be very +much annoyed. "I don't think I'll have my fortune told," she +decided as we left the room. + +We sauntered along to the veranda where another friend claimed my +companion for a dance which she had promised. As I strolled on +alone, Del Mar and Elaine were already finishing a dance. He left +her a moment later and I hurried over, glad of the opportunity to +see her at last. + +Del Mar made his way alone among the guests and passed Aunt +Josephine disguised as the old hag seated before her tent. Just +then a waiter came through with a tray of ices. As he passed, Del +Mar stopped him, reached out and took an ice. + +Under the ice, as he had known, was a note. He took the note +surreptitiously, turned and presented the ice to Ancient Anna with +a bow. + +"Thank you, kind sir," she curtsied, taking it. + +Del Mar stepped aside and glanced at the little slip of paper. +Then he crumpled it up and threw it aside, walking away. + +No sooner had he gone than Aunt Josephine reached out and picked +up the paper. She straightened it and looked at it. There was +nothing on the paper but a crude drawing of a sunrise on the +ocean. + +"What's that?" asked Aunt Josephine, in surprise. + +Just then Elaine and Lieutenant Woodward came in and stopped +before the tent. Aunt Josephine motioned to Elaine to come in and +Elaine followed. Lieutenant Woodward started after her. + +"No, no, young man," laughed Ancient Anna, shaking her forefinger +at him, "I don't want you. It's the pretty young lady I want." + +Woodward stood outside, though he did not know quite what it was +all about. While he was standing there, Professor Arnold came up. +He had not exactly made a hit with the guests. At least, he seemed +to make little effort to do so. He and Woodward walked away, +talking earnestly. + +In the tent Aunt Josephine handed Elaine the piece of paper she +had picked up. + +"What does it mean?" asked Elaine, studying the curious drawing in +surprise. + +"I'm sure I don't know," confessed Aunt Josephine. + +"Nor I." + +Meanwhile Lieutenant Woodward and his friend had moved to a corner +of the veranda and stood looking intently into the moonlight. +There was Del Mar deep in conversation with a man who had slipped +out, at a quiet signal, from his hiding-place in the shrubbery. + +"That fellow is up to something, mark my words," muttered Arnold +under his breath. "I'd like to make an arrest, but I've got to +have some proof." + +They continued watching Del Mar but, so far at least, he did +nothing that would have furnished them any evidence of anything. + +So the party went on, most merrily until, long after the guests +had left, Elaine sat in her dressing-gown up in her room, about to +retire. + +Her maid had left her and she picked up the slip of paper from her +dresser, looking at it thoughtfully. + +"What can a crude drawing of a sunrise on the sea mean?" she asked +herself. + +For a long time she studied the paper, thinking it over. At last +an idea came to her. + +"I'll bet I have it," she exclaimed to herself. "Something is +going to happen on the water at sunrise." + +She took a pretty little alarm clock from the table, set it, and +placed it near her bed. + +Returning from the party to his library, Del Mar entered. Except +for the moonlight streaming in through the windows the room was +dark. He turned on the lights and crossed to the panel in the +wall. As he touched a button the panel opened. Del Mar switched +off the lights and went through the panel, closing it. + +Outside, at the other end of the passageway, was one of his men, +waiting in the shadows as Del Mar came up. For a moment they +talked. "I'll be there, at sunrise," agreed Del Mar, as the man +left and he reentered the secret passage. + +While he was conferring, at the library window appeared a face. It +was Professor Arnold's. Cautiously he opened the window and +listened. Then he entered. + +First he went over to the door and set a chair under the knob. +Next he drew an electric pocket bull's-eye and flashed it about +the room. He glanced about and finally went over to Del Mar's desk +where he examined a batch of letters, his back to the secret +panel. + +Arnold was running rapidly through the papers on the desk, as he +flashed his electric bull's-eye on them, when the panel in the +wall opened slowly and Del Mar stepped into the room noiselessly. +To his surprise he saw a round spot of light from an electric +flashlight focussed on his desk. Some one was there! He drew a +gun. + +Arnold started suddenly. He heard the cocking of a revolver. But +he did not look around. He merely thought an instant, quicker than +lightning, then pulled out a spool of black thread with one hand, +while with the other he switched off the light, and dived down on +his stomach on the floor in the shadow. + +"Who's that?" demanded Del Mar. "Confound it! I should have fired +at sight." + +The room was so dark now that it was impossible to see Arnold. Del +Mar gazed intently. Suddenly Arnold's electric torch glowed forth +in a spot across the room. + +Del Mar blazed at it, firing every chamber of his revolver, then +switched on the lights. + +No one was in the room. But the door was open. Del Mar gazed +about, vexed, then ran to the open door. + +For a second or two he peered out in rage, finally turning back +into the empty room. On the mantlepiece lay the torch of the +intruder. It was one in which the connection is made by a ring +falling on a piece of metal. The ring had been left up by Arnold. +Connection had been made as he was leaving the room by pulling the +thread which he had fastened to the ring. Del Mar followed the +thread as it led around the room to the doorway. + +"Curse him!" swore Del Mar, smashing down the innocent torch on +the floor in fury, as he rushed to the desk and saw his papers all +disturbed. + +Outside, Arnold had made good his escape. He paused in the +moonlight and listened. No one was pursuing. He drew out two or +three of the letters which he had taken from Del Mar's desk, and +hastily ran through them. + +"Not a thing in them," he exclaimed, tearing them up in disgust +and hurrying away. + +At the first break of dawn the little alarm dock awakened Elaine. +She started up and rubbed her eyes at the suddenness of the +awakening, then quickly reached out and stopped the bell so that +it would not disturb others in the house. She jumped out of bed +hurriedly and dressed. + +Armed with a spy glass, Elaine let herself out of the house +quietly. Directly to the shore she went, walking along the beach. +Suddenly she paused. There were three men. Before she could level +her glass at them, however, they disappeared. + +"That's strange," she said to herself, looking through the glass. +"There's a steamer at the dock that seems to be getting ready for +something. I wonder what it can be doing so early." + +She moved along in the direction of the dock. At the dock the +disreputable steamer to which Del Mar had dispatched his emissary +was still tied, the sailors now working under the gruff orders of +the rough captain. About a capstan were wound the turns of a long +wire rope at the end of which was a three-pronged drag-hook. + +"You see," the captain was explaining, "we'll lower this hook and +drag it along the bottom. When it catches anything we'll just pull +it up. I have the location of the cable. It ought to be easy to +grapple." + +Already, on the shore, at an old deserted shack of a fisherman, +two of Del Mar's men had been waiting since before sun-up, having +come in a dirty, dingy fishing smack anchored offshore. + +"Is everything ready?" asked Del Mar, coming up. + +"Everything, sir," returned the two, following him along the +shore. + +"Who's that?" cautioned one of the men, looking ahead. + +They hid hastily, for there was Elaine. She had seen the three and +was about to level her glass in their direction as they hid. +Finally she turned and discovered the steamer. As she moved toward +it, Del Mar and the others came out from behind a rock and stole +after her. + +Elaine wandered on until she came to the dock. No one paid any +attention to her, apparently, and she made her way along the dock +and even aboard the boat without being observed. + +No sooner had she got on the boat, however, than Del Mar and his +men appeared on the dock and also boarded the steamer. + +The captain was still explaining to the men just how the drag-hook +worked when Elaine came up quietly on the deck. She stood +spellbound as she heard him outline the details of the plot. +Scarcely knowing what she did, she crouched back of a deckhouse +and listened. + +Behind her, Del Mar and his men came along, cat-like. A glance was +sufficient to tell them that she had overheard what the captain +was saying. + +"Confound that girl!" ground out Del Mar. "Will she always cross +my path? We'll get her this time!" + +The men scattered as he directed them. Sneaking up quietly, they +made a sudden rush and seized her. As she struggled and screamed, +they dragged her off. thrusting her into the captain's cabin and +locking the door. + +"Cast off!" ordered Del Mar. + +A few moments later, out in the harbor, Del Mar was busy directing +the dragging for the Atlantic cable at a spot where it was known +to run. They let the drag-hook down over the side and pulled it +along slowly on the bottom. + +In the cabin, Elaine beat on the door and shouted in vain for +help. + +I had decided to do some early morning fishing the day after the +party, and knowing that Elaine and the others were usually late +risers, I said nothing about it, determined to try my luck alone. + +So it happened that only a few minutes after Elaine let herself +out quietly, I did the same, carrying my fishing-tackle. I made my +way toward the shore, undecided whether to fish from a dock or +boat. Finally I determined to do some casting from the shore. + +I had cast once or twice before I was aware that I was not alone +in the immediate neighborhood. Some distance away I saw a little +steamer at a wharf. A couple of men ran along the deck, apparently +cautioning the captain against something. + +Then I saw them run to one side and drag out a girl, screaming and +struggling as they hurried her below. I could scarcely believe my +eyes. It was Elaine! + +Only a second I looked. They were certainly too many for me. I +dropped my rod and line and ran toward the dock, however. As I +came down it, I saw that I was too late. The little steamer had +cast off and was now some distance from the dock. I looked about +for a motor-boat in desperation--anything to follow them in. But +there was nothing, absolutely nothing, not even a rowboat. + +I ran back along the dock as I had come and struck out down the +shore. + + . . . . . . . + +Out at the parade grounds at Fort Dale, in spite of the early +hour, there was some activity, for the army is composed of early +risers. + +Lieutenant Woodward and Professor Arnold left the house in which +the Lieutenant was quartered, where he had invited Arnold to spend +the night. Already an orderly had brought around two horses. They +mounted for an early morning ride through the country. + +Off they clattered, naturally bending their course toward the +shore. They came soon to a point in the road where it emerged from +the hills and gave them a panoramic view of the harbor and sound. + +"Wait a minute," called the professor. + +Woodward reined up and they gazed off over the water. + +"What's that--an oyster boat?" asked Woodward, looking in the +direction Arnold indicated. + +"I don't think so, so early," replied Arnold, pulling out his +pocket glass and looking carefully. + +Through it he could see that something like a hook was being cast +over the steamer's side and drawn back again. + +"They're dragging for something," he remarked as they brought up +an object dark and covered with seagrowth, then threw it overboard +as though it was not what they wanted. "By George--the Atlantic +cable lands here--they're going to cut it!" + +Woodward took the glasses himself and looked in in surprise. +"That's right," he cried, his surprise changed to alarm in an +instant. "Here, take the glass again and watch. I must get back to +the Fort." + +He swung his horse about and galloped off, leaving Arnold sitting +in the saddle gazing at the strange boat through his glass. + +By the time Woodward reached the parade ground again, a field-gun +and its company were at drill. He dashed furiously across the +field. + +"What's the trouble?" demanded the officer in charge of the gun. + +Woodward blurted out what he had just seen. "We must stop it--at +any cost," he added, breathlessly. + +The officer turned to the company. A moment later the order to +follow Woodward rang out, the horses were wheeled about, and off +the party galloped. On they went, along the road which Woodward +and Arnold had already traversed. + +Arnold was still gazing, impatiently now, through the glass. He +could see the fore-deck of the ship where Del Mar, muffled up, and +his men had succeeded in dragging the cable to the proper position +on the deck. They laid it down and Del Mar was directing the +preparations for cutting it. Arnold lowered his glass and looked +about helplessly. + +Just then Lieutenant Woodward dashed up with the officer and +company and the field-gun. They wheeled it about and began +pointing it and finding the range. + +Would they never get it? Arnold was almost beside himself. One of +Del Mar's men seized an axe and was about to deliver the fatal +blow. He swung it and for a moment held it poised over his head. + +Suddenly a low, deep rumble of a reverberation echoed and reechoed +from the hills over the water. The field-gun had bellowed +defiance. + +A solid shot crashed through the cabin, smashing the door. +Astounded, the men jumped back. As they did so, in their fear, the +cable, released, slipped back over the rail in a great splash of +safety into the water and sank. + +"The deuce take you--you fools," swore Del Mar, springing forward +in rage, and looking furiously toward the shore. + +Two of the men had been hit by splinters. It was impossible to +drag again. Besides, again the gun crew loaded and fired. + +The first shot had dismantled the doorway of the cabin. Elaine +crouched fearfully in the furthest corner, not knowing what to +expect next. Suddenly another shot tore through just beside the +door, smashing the woodwork terrifically. She shrank back further, +in fright. + +Anything was better than this hidden terror. Nerved up, she ran +through the broken door. + +Arnold was gazing through his glass at the effect of the shots. He +could now see Del Mar and the others leaping into a swift little +motor-boat alongside the steamer which they had been using to help +them in dragging for the cable. + +Just then he saw Elaine run, screaming, out from the cabin and +leap overboard. + +"Stop!" shouted Arnold in a fever of excitement, lowering his +glass. "There's a girl--by Jove--it's Miss Dodge!" + +"Impossible!" exclaimed Woodward. + +"I tell you, it is," reiterated Arnold, thrusting the glass into +the Lieutenant's hand. + +The motor-boat had started when Del Mar saw Elaine in the water. +"Look," he growled, pointing, "There's the Dodge girl." + +Elaine was swimming frantically away from the boat. "Get her," he +ordered, shielding his face so that she could not see it. + +They turned the boat and headed toward her. She struck out harder +than ever for the shore. On came the motor-boat. + +Arnold and Woodward looked at each other in despair. What could +they do? + + . . . . . . . + +Somehow, by a sort of instinct, I suppose, I made my way as +quickly as I could along the shore toward Fort Dale, thinking +perhaps of Lieutenant Woodward. + +As I came upon the part of the grounds of the Fort that sloped +down to the beach, I saw a group of young officers standing about +a peculiar affair on the shore in the shallow water--half bird, +half boat. + +As I came closer, I recognized it as a Thomas hydroaeroplane. + +It suggested an idea and I hurried, shouting. + +One of the men, seated in it, was evidently explaining its working +to the others. + +"Wait," he said, as he saw me running down the shore, waving and +shouting at them. "Let's see what this fellow wants." + +It was, as I soon learned, the famous Captain Burnside, of the +United States Aerial Corps. Breathless, I told him what I had seen +and that we were all friends of Woodward's. + +Burnside thought a moment, and quickly made up his mind. + +"Come--quick--jump up here with me," he called. Then to the other +men, "I'll be back soon. Wait here. Let her go!" + +I had jumped up and they spun the propeller. The hydroaeroplane +feathered along the water, throwing a cloud of white spray, then +slowly rose in the air. + +The sensation of flying was delightful, as the fresh morning wind +cut our faces. We seemed to be hardly moving. It was the earth or +rather the water that rushed past under us. But I forgot all about +my sensations in my anxiety for Elaine. + +As we rose we could see over the curve in the shore. + +"Look!" I exclaimed, straining my eyes. "She's overboard. There's +a motor-boat after her. Faster--over that way!" + +"Yes, yes," shouted Burnside above the roar of the engine which +almost made conversation impossible. + +He shifted the planes a bit and crowded on more speed. + +The men in the boat saw us. One figure, tall, muffled, had a +familiar look, but I could not place it and in the excitement of +the chase had no chance to try. But I could see that he saw us and +was angry. Apparently the man gave orders to turn, for the boat +swung around just as we swooped down and ran along the water. + +Elaine was exhausted. Would we be in time? + +We planed along the water, while the motor-boat sped off with its +baffled passengers. Finally we stopped, in a cloud of spray. + +Together, Burnside and I reached down and caught Elaine, not a +moment too soon, dragging her into the boat of the hydroaeroplane. + +If we had not had all we could do, we might have heard a shout of +encouragement and relief from the hill where Woodward and Arnold +and the rest were watching anxiously. + +I threw my coat about her, as the brave girl heroically clung to +us, half conscious. + +"Oh--Walter," she murmured, "you were just in time." + +"I wish I could have been sooner," I apologized. + +"They--they didn't cut the cable--did they?" she asked, as we rose +from the water again, bearing her now to safety. "I did my best." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE WIRELESS DETECTIVE + + +Del Mar made his way cautiously along the bank of a little river +at the mouth of which he left the boat after escaping from the +little steamer. + +Quite evidently he was worried by the failure to cut the great +Atlantic cable and he was eager to see whether any leak had +occurred in the organization which, as secret foreign agent, he +had so carefully built up in America. + +As he skirted the shore of the river, he came to a falls. Here he +moved even more cautiously than before, looking about to make +certain that no one had followed him. + +It was a beautiful sheet of water that tumbled with a roar over +the ledge of rock, then raced away swiftly to the sea in a cloud +of spray. + +Assured that he was alone, he approached a crevice in the rocks, +near the falls. With another hasty look about, he reached in and +pulled a lever. + +Instantly a most marvellous change took place, incredible almost +beyond belief. The volume of water that came over the falls +actually and rapidly decreased until it almost stopped, dripping +slowly in a thin veil. There was the entrance of a cave--literally +hidden behind the falls! + +Del Mar walked in. Inside was the entrance to another, inner cave, +higher up in the sheer stone of the wall that the waters had +eroded. From the floor to this entrance led a ladder. Del Mar +climbed it, then stopped just inside the entrance to the inner +cave. For a moment he paused. Then he pressed another lever. +Almost immediately the thin trickle of water grew until at last +the roaring falls completely covered the cave entrance. It was a +clever concealment, contrived by damming the river above and +arranging a new outlet controlled by flood-gates. + +There Del Mar stood, in the inner cave. A man sat at a table, a +curious gear fastened over his head and covering his ears. Before +him was a huge apparatus from which flared a big bluish-green +spark, snapping and crackling above the thunder of the waves. From +the apparatus ran wires apparently up through cables that +penetrated the rocky roof of the cavern and the river above. + +It was Del Mar's secret wireless station, close to the hidden +submarine harbor which had been established beneath the innocent +rocks of the promontory up the coast. Far overhead, on the cliff +over the falls, were the antennae of the wireless. + +"How is she working?" asked Del Mar. + +"Pretty well," answered the man. + +"No interference?" queried Del Mar, adjusting the apparatus. + +The man shook his head in the negative. + +"We must get a quenched spark apparatus," went on Del Mar, pleased +that nothing was wrong here. "This rotary gap affair is out of +date. By the way, I want you to be ready to send a message, to be +relayed across to our people. I've got to consult the board below +in the harbor, first, however. I'll send a messenger to you." + +"Very well, sir," returned the man, saluting as Del Mar went out. + +Out at Fort Dale, Lieutenant Woodward was still entertaining his +new friend, Professor Arnold, and had introduced him to Colonel +Swift, the commanding officer at the Fort. + +They were discussing the strange events of the early morning, when +an orderly entered, saluted Colonel Swift and handed him a +telegram. The Colonel tore it open and read it, his face growing +grave. Then he handed it to Woodward, who read: + +WASHINGTON, D. C. + +Radio station using illegal wave length in your vicinity. +Investigate and report. + +BRANDON, + +Radio Bureau. + +Professor Arnold shook his head slowly, as he handed the telegram +back. "There's a wireless apparatus of my own on my yacht," he +remarked slowly. "I have an instrument there which I think can +help you greatly. Let's see what we can do." + +"All right," nodded Colonel Swift to Woodward. "Try." + +The two went out and a few minutes later, on the shore, jumped +into Arnold's fast little motor-boat and sped out across the water +until they swung around alongside the trim yacht which Arnold was +using. + +It was a compact and comfortable little craft with lines that +indicated both gracefulness and speed. On one of the masts, as +they approached, Woodward noticed the wireless aerial. They +climbed up the ladder over the side and made their way directly to +the wireless room, where Arnold sat down and at once began to +adjust the apparatus. + +Woodward seemed keenly interested in inspecting the plant which +was of a curious type and not exactly like any that he had seen +before. + +"Wireless apparatus," explained Arnold, still at work, "as you +know, is divided into three parts, the source of power, the making +and sending of wireless waves, including the key, spark, condenser +and tuning coil, and the receiving apparatus--head telephones, +antennae, ground and detector. This is a very compact system with +facilities for a quick change from one wave length to another. It +has a spark gap, quenched type, break system relay--operator can +hear any interference while transmitting--transformation by a +single throw of a six-point switch which tunes the oscillating and +open circuits to resonance." + +Woodward watched him keenly, following his explanation carefully, +as Arnold concluded. + +"You might call it a radio detective," he added. + +Even the startling experience of the morning when she was carried +off and finally jumped from the little tramp steamer that had +attempted to cut the cable did not dampen Elaine's ardor. She +missed the guiding hand of Kennedy, yet felt impelled to follow up +and investigate the strange things that had been happening in the +neighborhood of her summer home since his disappearance. + +I succeeded in getting her safely home after Burnside and I +rescued her in the hydroaeroplane, but no sooner had she changed +her clothes for dry ones than she disappeared herself. At least I +could not find her, though, later, I found that she had stolen +away to town and there had purchased a complete outfit of men's +clothes from a second hand dealer. + +Cautiously, with the large bundle under her arm, she returned to +Dodge Hall and almost sneaked into her own home and up-stairs to +her room. She locked the door and hastily unwrapped the bundle +taking out a tattered suit and the other things, holding them up +and laughing gleefully as she took off her own pretty clothes and +donned these hideous garments. + +Quickly she completed her change of costume and outward character. +As she surveyed herself in the dainty mirror of her dressing-table +she laughed again at the incongruity of her pretty boudoir and the +rough men's clothes she was wearing. Deftly she arranged her hair +so that her hat would cover it. She picked a black mustache from +the table and stuck it on her soft upper lip. It tickled and she +made a wry face over it. Then she hunted up a cigarette from the +bundle which she had brought in, lighted it and stuck it in the +corner of her mouth, letting it droop jauntily. It made her cough +tremendously and she threw it away. + +Finally she went to the door and down-stairs. No one was about. +She opened the door and gazed around. All was quiet. It was a new +role for her, but, with a bold front, she went out and passed down +to the gate of the grounds, pulling her hat down over her eyes and +assuming a tough swagger. + +Only a few minutes before, down in the submarine harbor, the +officers of the board of foreign agents had been grouped about Del +Mar, who had entered and taken his place at their head, very angry +over the failure to cut the cable. As they concluded their hasty +conference, he wrote a message on a slip of paper. + +"Take this to our wireless station," he ordered, handing it to one +of the men. + +The man took it, rose, and went to a wardrobe from which he +extracted one of the submarine suits. With the message in his +hand, he went out of the room, buckling on the suit. + +A few minutes later the messenger in the submarine suit bobbed up +out of the water, near the promontory, and climbed slowly over the +rocks toward a crevice, where he began to take off the diving +outfit. + +Having finished, he hid the suit among the rocks and then went +along to the little river, carefully skirting its banks into the +ravine in which were the falls and the wireless cave. + +In her disguise, Elaine had made her way by a sort of instinct +along the shore to the rocky promontory where we had discovered +the message in the tin tube in the water. + +Something, she knew not what, was going on about there, and she +reasoned that it was not all over yet. She was right. As she +looked about keenly she did see something, and she hid among the +rocks. It was a man, all dripping, in an outlandish helmet and +suit. + +She saw him slink into a crevice and take off the suit, then, as +he moved toward the river ravine, she stole up after him. + +Suddenly she stopped stark still, surprised, and stared. + +The man had actually gone up to the very waterfall. He had pressed +what looked like a lever and the water over the falls seemed to +stop. Then he walked directly through into a cave. + +In the greatest wonder, Elaine crept along toward the falls. +Inside the cave Del Mar's emissary started to climb a ladder to an +inner cave. As he reached the top, he glanced out and saw Elaine +by the entrance. With an oath he jumped into the inner entrance. +His hand reached eagerly for a lever in the rocks and as he found +and held it, he peered out carefully. + +Elaine cautiously came from behind a rock where she had hidden +herself and seeing no one apparently watching, now, advanced until +she stood directly under the trickle of water which had once been +the falls. She gazed into the cave, curiously uncertain whether +she dared to go in alone or not. + +The emissary jerked fiercely at the lever as he saw Elaine. + +Above the falls a dam had been built and by a system of levers the +gates could be operated so that the water could be thrown over the +falls or diverted away, at will. As the man pressed the lever, the +flood gates worked quickly. + +Elaine stood gazing eagerly into the blackness of the cave. Just +then a great volume of water from above crashed down on her, with +almost crushing weight. + +How she lived through it she never knew. But, fortunately, she had +not gone quite far enough to get the full force of the water. +Still, the terrific flood easily overcame her. + +She was swept, screaming, down the stream. + + . . . . . . . + +Rather alarmed at the strange disappearance of Elaine after I +brought her home, I had started out along the road to the shore to +look for her, thinking that she might perhaps have returned there. + +As I walked along a young tough--at least at the time I thought it +was a young tough, so good was the disguise she had assumed and so +well did she carry it off--slouched past me. + +What such a character could be doing in the neighborhood I could +not see. But he was so noticeably tough that I turned and looked. +He kept his eyes averted as if afraid of being recognized. + +"Great Caesar," I muttered to myself, "that's a roughneck. This +place is sure getting to be a hang-out for gunmen." + +I shrugged my shoulders and continued my walk. It was no business +of mine. Finding no trace of Elaine, I returned to the house. Aunt +Josephine was in the library, alone. + +"Where's Elaine?" I asked anxiously. + +"I don't know," she replied. "I don't think she's at home." "Well, +I can't find her anywhere," I frowned wandering out at a loss what +to do, and thrusting my hands deep in my pockets as an aid to +thought. + +Somehow, I felt, I didn't seem to get on well as a detective +without Kennedy. Yet, so far, a kind providence seemed to have +watched over us. Was it because we were children--or--I rejected +that alternative. + +Walking along leisurely I made my way down to the shore. At a +bridge that crossed a rather turbulent stream as it tumbled its +way toward the sea, I paused and looked at the water reflectively. + +Suddenly my vagrant interest was aroused. Up the stream I saw some +one struggling in the water and shouting for help as the current +carried her along, screaming. + +It was Elaine. The hat and mustache of her disguise were gone and +her beautiful Titian hair was spread out on the water as it +carried her now this way, now that, while she struck out with all +her strength to keep afloat. I did not stop to think how or why +she was there. I swung over the bridge rail, stripping off my +coat, ready to dive. On she came with the swift current to the +bridge. As she approached I dived. It was not a minute too soon. +In her struggles she had become thoroughly exhausted. She was a +good swimmer but the fight with nature was unequal. + +I reached her in a second or so and took her hand. Half pulling, +half shoving her, I struck out for the shore. We managed to make +it together where the current was not quite so strong and climbed +safely up a rock. + +Elaine sank down, choking and gasping, not unconscious but pretty +much all in and exhausted. I looked at her in amazement. She was +the tough character I had just seen. + +"Why, where in the world did you get those togs?" I queried. + +"Never mind my clothes, Walter," she gasped. "Take me home for +some dry ones. I have a clue." + +She rose, determined to shake off the effects of her recent plunge +and went toward the house. As I helped her she related +breathlessly what she has just seen. + +Meanwhile, back of that wall of water, the wireless operator in +the cave was sending the messages which Del Mar's emissary +dictated to him, one after another. + + . . . . . . . + +With the high resistance receiving apparatus over his head, Arnold +was listening to the wireless signals that came over his "radio +detective" on the yacht, moving the slider back and forth on a +sort of tuning coil, as he listened. Woodward stood close beside +him. + +"As you know," Arnold remarked, "by the use of an aerial, messages +may be easily received from any number of stations. Laws, rules, +and regulations may be adopted by the government to shut out +interlopers and to plug busybody ears, but the greater part of +whatever is transmitted by the Hertzian waves can be snatched down +by this wireless detective of mine. Here I can sit in my wireless +room with this ear-phone clamped over my head drinking in news, +plucking the secrets of others from the sky--in other words, this +is eavesdropping by a wireless wire-tapper." + +"Are you getting anything now?" asked Woodward. + +Arnold nodded, as he seized a pencil and started to write. The +lieutenant bent forward in tense interest. Finally Arnold read +what he had written and with a peculiar, quiet smile handed it +over. Woodward read. It was a senseless jumble of dots and dashes +of the Morse code but, although he was familiar with the code, he +could make nothing out of it. + +"It's the Morse code all right," he said, handing it back with a +puzzled look, "but it doesn't make any sense." + +Arnold smiled again, took the paper, and without a word wrote on +it some more. Then he handed it back to Woodward. "An old trick," +he said. "Reverse the dots and dashes and see what you get." + +Woodward looked at it, as Arnold had reversed it and his face +lighted up. + +"Harbor successfully mined," he quoted in surprise. + +"I'll show you another thing about this radio detective of mine," +went on Arnold energetically. "It's not only a wave length +measurer, but by a process of my own I can determine approximately +the distance between the sending and the receiving points of a +message." + +He attached another, smaller machine to the wireless detector. In +the face was a moving finger which swung over a dial marked off in +miles from one upward. As Arnold adjusted the new detector, the +hand began to move slowly. Woodward looked eagerly. It did not +move far, but came to rest above the figure "2." + +"Not so very far away, you see, Lieutenant," remarked Arnold, +pointing at the dial face. + +He seized his glass and hurried to the deck, levelling it at the +shore, leaning far over the rail in his eagerness. As he swept the +shore, he stopped suddenly. There was a house-roof among the trees +with a wireless aerial fastened to the chimney, but not quite +concealed by the dense foliage. + +"Look," he cried to Woodward, with an exclamation of satisfaction, +handing over the glass. + +Woodward looked. "A secret wireless station, all right," he +agreed, lowering the glass after a long look. + +"We'd better get over there right away," planned Arnold, leading +the way to the ladder over the side of the yacht and calling to +the sailor who had managed the little motor-boat to follow him. + +Quickly they skimmed across to the shore. "I think we'd better +send to the Fort for some men," considered Arnold as they landed. +"We may need reinforcements before we get through." + +Woodward nodded and Arnold hastily wrote a note on a rather large +scrap of paper which he happened to have in his pocket. + +"Take this to Colonel Swift at Fort Dale," he directed the sailor. +"And hurry!" + +The sailor loped off, half on a run, as Arnold and Woodward left +down the shore, proceeding carefully. + +At top speed, Arnold's sailor made his way to Fort Dale and was +directed by the sentry to Colonel Swift who was standing before +the headquarters with several officers. + +"A message from Lieutenant Woodward and Professor Arnold," he +announced, approaching the commanding officer and handing him the +note. Colonel Swift tore it open and read: + +Have located radio aerial in the woods along shore. Please send +squad of men with bearer.--ARNOLD. + +"You just left them?" queried the Colonel. + +"Yes sir," replied the sailor. "We came ashore in his boat. I +don't know exactly where they went but I know the direction and we +can catch up with them easily if we hurry, sir." + +The colonel handed the note quickly to a cavalry officer beside +him who read it, saluted at the orders that followed, turned and +strode off, hastily stuffing the paper in his belt, as the sailor +went, too. + +Meanwhile, Del Mar's valet was leaving the bungalow and walking +down the road on an errand for his master. Up the road he heard +the clatter of hoofs. He stepped back off the road and from his +covert he could see a squad of cavalry headed by the captain and a +sailor cantering past. + +The captain turned in the saddle to speak to the sailor, who rode +like a horse marine, and as he did so, the turning of his body +loosened a paper which he had stuffed quickly into his belt. It +fell to the ground. In their hurry the troop, close behind, rode +over it. But it did not escape the quick eye of Del Mar's valet. + +They had scarcely disappeared around a bend in the road when he +stepped out and pounced on the paper, reading it eagerly. Every +line of his face showed fear as he turned and ran back to the +bungalow. + +"See what I found," he cried breathlessly bursting in on Del Mar +who was seated at his desk, having returned from the harbor. + +Del Mar read it with a scowl of fury. Then he seized his hat, and +a short hunter's axe, and disappeared through the panel into the +subterranean passage which took him by the shortest cut through +the very hill to the shore. + +Slowly Arnold and Woodward made their way along the shore, +carefully searching for the spot where they had seen the house +with the aerial. At last they came to a place where they could see +the deserted house, far up on the side of a ravine above a river +and a waterfalls. They dived into the thick underbrush for cover +and went up the hill. + +Some distance off from the house, they parted the bushes and gazed +off across an open space at the ramshackle building. As they +looked they could see a man hurry across from the opposite +direction and into the house. + +"As I live, I think that's Del Mar," muttered Arnold. + +Woodward nodded, doubtfully, though. + +In the house, Del Mar hurried to a wall where he found and pressed +a concealed spring. A small cabinet in the plaster opened and he +took out a little telephone which he rang and through which he +spoke hastily. "Pull in the wires," he shouted. "We're discovered, +I think." + +Down in the wireless station in the cave, the operator at his +instrument heard the signal of the telephone and quickly answered +it. "All right, sir," he returned with a look of great excitement +and anxiety. "Cut the wires and I'll pull them in." + +Putting back the telephone, Del Mar ran to the window and looked +out between the broken slats of the closed blinds. "Confound +them!" he muttered angrily. + +He could see Arnold and Woodward cautiously approaching. A moment +later he stepped back and pulled a silk mask over his upper face, +leaving only his eyes visible. Then he seized his hunter's axe and +dashed up the stairs. Through the scuttle of the roof he came, +making his way over to the chimney to which the wireless antennae +were fastened. + +Hastily he cut the wires which ran through the roof from the +aerial. As he did so he saw them disappear through the roof. +Below, in the cave, down in the ravine back of the falls, the +operator was hastily hauling in the wire Del Mar had cut. + +Viciously next, Del Mar fell upon the wooden aerial itself, +chopping it right and left with powerful blows. He broke it off +and threw it over the roof. + +Below, Arnold and Woodward, taking advantage of every tree and +shrub for concealment, had almost reached the house when the +broken aerial fell with a bang almost on them. In surprise they +dropped back of a tree and looked up. But from their position they +could see nothing. Together they drew their guns and advanced more +cautiously at the house. + +Del Mar made his way back quickly over the roof, back through the +scuttle and down the stairs again. Should he go out? He looked out +of the window. Then he went to the door. An instant he paused +thinking and listening, his axe raised, ready for a blow. + +Arnold and Woodward, by this time, had reached the door which +swung open on its rusty hinges. Woodward was about to go in when +he felt a hand on his arm. + +"Wait," cautioned Arnold. He took off his hat and jammed it on the +end of a stick. Slowly he shoved the door open, then thrust the +hat and stick just a fraction of a foot forward. + +Del Mar, waiting, alert, saw the door open and a hat. He struck at +it hard with the axe and merely the hat and stick fell to the +floor. + +"Now, come on," shouted Arnold to Woodward. + +In the other hand, Del Mar held a chair. As Woodward dashed in +with Arnold beside him, Del Mar shied the chair at their feet. +Woodward fell over it in a heap and as he did so the delay was all +that Del Mar had hoped to gain. Without a second's hesitation he +dived through an open window, just as Arnold ran forward, avoiding +Woodward and the chair. It was spectacular, but it worked. Arnold +fired, but even that was not quick enough. He turned and with +Woodward who had picked himself up in spite of his barked shins +and they ran back through the door by which they had entered. + +Recovering himself, Del Mar dashed for the woods just as Arnold +and Woodward ran around the side of the house, still blazing away +after him, as they followed, rapidly gaining. + +Elaine changed her clothes quickly. Meanwhile she had ordered +horses for both of us and a groom brought them around from the +stables. It took me only a short time to jump into some dry things +and I waited impatiently. + +She was ready very soon, however, and we mounted and cantered off, +again in the direction of the shore where she had seen the +remarkable waterfall, of which she had told me. + +We had not gone far when we heard sounds, as if an army were +bearing down on us. "What's that?" I asked. + +Elaine turned and looked. It was a squad of cavalry. + +"Why, it's Lieutenant Woodward's friend, Captain Price," she +exclaimed, waving to the captain at the head of the squad. + +A moment later Captain Price pulled up and bowed. Quickly we told +him of what Elaine had just discovered. + +"That's strange," he said. "This man--" indicating the sailor-- +"has just told me that Lieutenant Woodward and Professor Arnold +are investigating a wireless outfit over near there. Perhaps +there's some connection." + +"May we join you?" she asked. + +"By all means," he returned. "I was about to suggest it myself." + +We fell in behind with the rest and were off again. + +Under the direction of the sailor we came at last to the ravine +where we looked about searchingly for some trace of Arnold and +Woodward. + +"What's that noise?" exclaimed one of the cavalrymen. + +We could hear shots, above us. + +"They may need us," cried Elaine, impatiently. + +It was impossible to ride up the sheer height above. + +"Dismount," ordered Captain Price. + +His men jumped down and we followed him. Elaine struggled up, now +helped by me, now helping me. + +Further down the hill from the deserted house which we could see +above us at the top was an underground passage which had been +built to divert part of the water above the falls for power. +Through it the water surged and over this boiling stream ran a +board walk, the length of the tunnel. + +Into this tunnel we could see that a masked man had made his way. +As he did so, he turned for just a moment and fired a volley of +shots. + +Elaine screamed. There were Arnold and Woodward, his targets, +coming on boldly, as yet unhit. They rushed in after him, in spite +of his running fire, returning his shots and darting toward the +tunnel entrance through which he still blazed back at them. + +From our end of the ravine, we could see precisely what was going +on. "Come--the other end of the tunnel," shouted Price, who had +evidently been over the ground and knew it. + +We made our way quickly to it and it seemed as if we had our man +trapped, like a rat in a hole. + +In the tunnel the man was firing back at his pursuers as he ran +along the board walk for our end. He looked up just in time as he +approached us. There he could see Price and his cavalry waiting, +cutting off retreat. We were too many for him. He turned and took +a step back. There were Arnold and Woodward with levelled guns +peering in as though they could not see very clearly. In a moment +their eyes would become accustomed as his to the darkness. What +should he do? There was not a second to waste. He looked down at +the planks beneath him and the black water slipping past on its +way to the power station. It was a desperate chance. But it was +all that was left. He dropped down and let himself without even a +splash into the water. + +Arnold and Woodward took a step into the darkness, scarcely +knowing what to expect, their eyes a bit better accustomed to the +dusk. But if they had been there an hour, in all probability they +could not have seen what was at their very feet. + +Del Mar had sunk and was swimming under water in the swift black +current sweeping under them. As they entered, he passed out, +nerved up to desperation. + +Down the stream, just before it took its final plunge to the power +wheel, Del Mar managed by a superhuman effort to reach out and +grasp a wooden support of the flooring again and pull himself out +of the stream. Smiling grimly to himself, he hurried up the bank. + +"Some one's coming," whispered Price. "Get ready." + +We levelled our guns. I was about to fire. + +"Look out! Don't shoot!" warned a voice sharply. It was Elaine. +Her keen eyes and quick perception had recognized Arnold, leading +Woodward. We lowered our guns. + +"Did you see a man, masked, come out here?" cried Woodward. + +"No--he must have gone your way," we called. + +"No, he couldn't." + +Arnold was eagerly questioning the captain as Elaine and I +approached. "Dropped into the water--risked almost certain death," +he muttered, half turning and seeing us. + +"I want to congratulate you on your nerve for going in there," +began Elaine, advancing toward the professor. + +Apparently he neither heard nor saw us, for he turned as soon as +he had finished with Price and went into the cave as though he +were too busy to pay any attention to anything else. + +Elaine looked up at me, in blank astonishment. + +"What an impolite man," she murmured, gazing at the figure all +stooped over as it disappeared in the darkness of the tunnel. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE DEATH CLOUD + + +Off a lonely wharf in a deserted part of the coast some miles from +the promontory which afforded Del Mar his secret submarine harbor, +a ship was riding at anchor. + +On the wharf a group of men, husky lascars, were straining their +eyes at the mysterious craft. + +"Here she comes," muttered one of the men, "at last." + +From the ship a large yawl had put out. As she approached the +wharf it could be seen that she was loaded to the gunwales with +cases and boxes. She drew up close to the wharf and the men fell +to unloading her, lifting up the boxes as though they were +weighted with feathers instead of metal and explosives. + +Down the shore, at the same time, behind a huge rock, crouched a +rough looking tramp. His interest in the yawl and its cargo was +even keener than that of the lascars. + +"Supplies," he muttered, moving back cautiously and up the bluff. +"I wonder where they are taking them?" + +Marcus Del Mar had chosen an old and ruined hotel not far from the +shore as his storehouse and arsenal. Already he was there, pacing +up and down the rotted veranda which shook under his weight. + +"Come, hurry up," he called impatiently as the first of the men +carrying a huge box on his back made his appearance up the hill. + +One after another they trooped in and Del Mar led them to the +hotel, unlocking the door. + +Inside, the old hostelry was quite as ramshackle as outside. What +had once been the dining-room now held nothing but a long, rickety +table and several chairs. + +"Put them there," ordered Del Mar, directing the disposal of the +cases. "Then you can begin work. I shall be back soon." + +He went out and as he did so, two men seized guns from a corner +near-by and followed him. On the veranda he paused and turned to +the men. + +"If any one approaches the house--any one, you understand--make +him a prisoner and send for me," he ordered. "If he resists, +shoot." + +"Yes, sir," they replied, moving over and stationing themselves +one at each angle of the narrow paths that ran before the old +house. + +Del Mar turned and plunged deliberately into the bushes, as if for +a cross country walk, unobserved. + +Meanwhile, by another path up the bluff, the tramp had made his +way parallel to the line taken by the men. He paused at the top of +the bluff where some bushes overhung and parted them. + +"Their headquarters," he remarked to himself, under his breath. + + Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I were on the lawn that forenoon when +a groom in resplendent livery came up to us. + +"Miss Elaine Dodge?" he bowed. + +Elaine took the note he offered and he departed with another bow. + +"Oh, isn't that delightful," she cried with pleasure, handing the +note to me. + +I read it: "The Wilkeshire Country Club will be honored if Miss +Dodge and her friends will join the paper chase this afternoon. +L.H. Brown, Secretary." + +"I suppose a preparation for the fox or drag hunting season?" I +queried. + +"Yes," she replied. "Will you go?" + +"I don't ride very well," I answered, "but I'll go." + +"Oh, and here's Mr. Del Mar," she added, turning. "You'll join us +at the Wilkeshire hunt in a paper chase this afternoon, surely, +Mr. Del Mar?" + +"Charmed, I'm sure," he agreed gracefully. + +For several minutes we chatted, planning, then he withdrew. "I +shall meet you on the way to the Club," he promised. + +It was not long before Elaine was ready, and from the stable a +groom led three of the best trained cross-country horses in the +neighborhood, for old Taylor Dodge, Elaine's father, had been +passionately fond of hunting, as had been both Elaine and Aunt +Josephine. + +We met on the porch and a few minutes later mounted and cantered +away. On the road Del Mar joined us and we galloped along to the +Hunt Club, careful, however, to save the horses as much as +possible for the dash over the fields. + + . . . . . . . + +For some time the uncouth tramp continued gazing fixedly out of +the bushes at the deserted hotel. + +Suddenly, he heard a noise and dropped flat on the ground, looking +keenly about. Through the trees he could see one of Del Mar's men +stationed on sentry duty. He was leaning against a tree, on the +alert. + +The tramp rose cautiously and moved off in another direction to +that in which he had been making his way, endeavoring to flank the +sentry. Further along, however, another of Del Mar's men was +standing in the same attentive manner near a path that led from +the woods. + +As the tramp approached, the sentry heard a crackle of the brush +and stepped forward. Before the tramp knew it, he was covered by a +rifle from the sentry in an unexpected quarter. + +Any one but the sentry, with half an eye, might have seen that the +fear he showed was cleverly feigned. He threw his hands above his +head even before he was ordered and in general was the most +tractable captive imaginable. The sentry blew a whistle, whereat +the other sentry ran in. + +"What shall we do with him," asked the captor. + +"Master's orders to take any one to the rendezvous," responded the +other firmly, "and lock him up." + +Together they forced the tramp to march double quick toward the +old hotel. One sentry dropped back at the door and the other drove +the tramp before him into the hotel, avoiding the big room on the +side where the men were at work and forcing him up-stairs to the +attic which had once been the servant's quarters. + +There was no window in the room and it was empty. The only light +came in through a skylight in the roof. + +The sentry thrust the tramp into this room and tried a door +leading to the next room. It was locked. At the point of his gun +the sentry frisked the tramp for weapons, but found none. As he +did so the tramp trembled mightily. But no sooner had the sentry +gone than the tramp smiled quietly to himself. He tried both +doors. They were locked. Then he looked at the skylight and +meditated. + +Down below, although he did not know it, in the bare dining-room +which had been arranged into a sort of chemical laboratory, Del +Mar's men were engaged in manufacturing gas bombs much like those +used in the war in Europe. Before them was a formidable array of +bottles and retorts. The containers for the bombs were large and +very brittle globes of hard rubber. As the men made the gas and +forced it under tremendous pressure into tubes, they protected +themselves by wearing goggles for the eyes and large masks of +cloth and saturated cotton over their mouths and noses. + +Satisfied with the safety of his captive, the sentry made his way +down-stairs and out again to report to Del Mar. + +At the bungalow, Del Mar's valet was setting the library in order +when he heard a signal in the secret passage. He pressed the +button on the desk and opened the panel. From it the sentry +entered. + +"Where is Mr. Del Mar?" he asked hurriedly, looking around. "We've +been followed to the headquarters by a tramp whom I've captured, +and I don't know what to do with him." + +"He is not here," answered the valet. "He has gone to the Country +Club." + +"Confound it," returned the sentry, vexed at the enforced waste of +time. "Do you think you can reach him?" + +"If I hurry, I may," nodded the valet. + +"Then do so," directed the sentry. + +He moved back into the panel and disappeared while the valet +closed it. A moment later he, too, picked up his hat and hurried +out. + +At the Wilkeshire Club a large number of hunters had arrived for +the imitation meet. Elaine, Aunt Josephine, Del Mar and myself +rode up and were greeted by them as the Master of Fox Hounds +assembled us. Off a bit, a splendid pack of hounds was held by the +huntsman while they debated whether to hold a paper chase or to +try a drag hunt. + +"You start your cross-country riding early," commented Del Mar. + +"Yes," answered Elaine. "You see we can hardly wait until autumn +and the weather is so fine and cool, we feel that we ought to get +into trim during the summer. So we have paper chases and drag +hunts as soon as we can, mainly to please the younger set." + +The chase was just about to start, when the valet came up. Del Mar +caught his eye and excused himself to us. What he said, we could +not hear, but Del Mar frowned, nodded and dismissed him. + +Just then the horn sounded and we went off, dashing across the +road into a field in full chase after the hounds, taking the +fences and settling down to a good half hour's run over the most +beautiful country I have ever seen. + +The hounds had struck the trail, which of course, as was finally +decided, was nothing but that laid by an anise-seed bag dragged +over the ground. It was none the less, in fact perhaps more +interesting for that. + +The huntsman winded his horn and mirthful shouts of "Gone away!" +sounded in imitation of a real hunt. The blast of the horn once +heard is never forgotten, thrilling the blood and urging one on. + +The M. F. H. seemed to be everywhere at once, restraining those +who were too eager and saving the hounds often from being ridden +down by those new to the hunt who pressed them. + +Elaine was one of the foremost. Her hunter was one carefully +trained, and she knew all the tricks of the game. + +Somehow, I got separated, at first, from the rest and followed, +until finally I caught up, and then kept behind one of the best +riders. + +Del Mar also got separated, but, as I afterward learned, by +intention, for he deliberately rode out of the course at the first +opportunity he had and let Elaine and the rest of us pass without +seeing him. + +Elaine's blood was up, but somehow, in spite of herself, she went +astray, for the hounds had distanced the fleetest riders and she, +in an attempt at a short cut over the country which she thought +she knew so well, went a mile or so out of the way. + +She pulled up in a ravine and looked about. Intently she listened. +There was no sign of the hunt. She was hot and tired and thirsty +and, at a loss just to join the field again, she took this chance +to dismount and drink from a clear stream fed by mountain springs. + +As she did so, floating over the peaceful woodland air came the +faint strains of the huntsman's horn, far, far off. She looked +about, straining her eyes and ears to catch the direction of +sound. Just then her horse caught the winding of the horn. His +ears went erect and without waiting he instantly galloped off, +leaving her. Elaine called and ran after him, but it was too late. +She stopped and looked dejectedly as he disappeared. Then she made +her way up the side of the ravine, slowly. + +On she climbed until, to her surprise, she came to the ruins of an +old hotel. She remembered, as a child, when it had been famous as +a health resort, but it was all changed now--a wreck. She looked +at it a moment, then, as she had nothing better to do, approached +it. + +She advanced toward a window of the dining-room and looked in. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar waited only until the last straggler had passed. Then he +dashed off as fast as his horse would carry him straight toward +the deserted hotel which served him as headquarters for the +supplies he was accumulating. As he rode up, one of his sentries +appeared, as if from nowhere, and, seeing who it was, saluted. + +"Here, take care of this horse," ordered Del Mar, dismounting and +turning the animal over to the man, who led him to the rear of the +building as Del Mar entered the front door, after giving a secret +signal. + +There were his men in goggles and masks at the work, which his +knock had interrupted. + +"Give me a mask before I enter the room," he ordered of the man +who had answered his signal. + +The man handed the mask and goggles to him, as well as a coat, +which he put on quickly. Then he entered the room and looked at +the rapid progress of the work. + +"Where's the prisoner?" asked Del Mar a moment later, satisfied at +the progress of his men. + +"In the attic room," one of his lieutenants indicated. + +"I'd like to take a look at him," added Del Mar, just about to +turn and leave the room. + +As he did so, he happened to glance at one of the windows. There, +peering through the broken shutters, was a face--a girl's face-- +Elaine! + +"Just what I wanted guarded against," he cried angrily, pointing +at the window. "Now--get her!" + +The men had sprung up at his alarm. They could all see her and +with one accord dashed for the door. Elaine sprang back and they +ran as they saw that she was warned. In genuine fear now she too +ran from the window. But it was too late. + +For just then the sentry who had taken Del Mar's horse came from +behind the building cutting off her retreat. He seized her just as +the other men ran out. Elaine stared. She could make nothing of +them. Even Del Mar, in his goggles and breathing mask was +unrecognizable. + +"Take her inside," he ordered disguising his voice. Then to the +sentry he added, "Get on guard again and don't let any one +through." + +Elaine was hustled into the big deserted hallway of the hotel, +just as the tramp had been. + +"You may go back to work," Del Mar signed to the other men, who +went on, leaving one short but athletic looking fellow with Del +Mar and Elaine. + +"Lock her up, Shorty," ordered Del Mar, "and bring the other +prisoner to me down here." + +None too gently the man forced Elaine up-stairs ahead of him. + + . . . . . . . + +In the attic, the tramp, pacing up and down, heard footsteps +approach on the stairs and enter the next room. + +Quickly he ran to the doorway and peered through the keyhole. +There he could see Elaine and the small man enter. He locked the +door to the hall, then quickly took a step toward the door into +the tramp's room. + +There was just time enough for the tramp to see his approach. He +ran swiftly and softly over to the further corner and dropped down +as if sound asleep. The key turned in the lock and the small man +entered, careful to lock the door to Elaine's room. He moved over +to where the tramp was feigning sleep. + +"Get up," he growled, kicking him. + +The tramp sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Come now, be +reasonable," demanded the man. "Follow me." + +He started toward the door into the hall. He never reached it. +Scarcely was his hand on the knob when the tramp seized him and +dragged him to the floor. One hand on the man's throat and his +knees on his chest, the tramp tore off the breathing mask and +goggles. Already he had the man trussed up and gagged. + +Quickly the tramp undressed the man and left him in his +underclothes, still struggling to get loose, as he took Shorty's +clothes, including the strange head-gear, and unlocked the door +into the next room with the key he also took from him. + +Elaine was pacing anxiously up and down the little room into which +she had been thrown, greatly frightened. + +Suddenly the door through which her captor had left opened +hurriedly again. A most disreputable looking tramp entered and +locked the door again. Elaine started back in fear. + +He motioned to her to be quiet. "You'll never get out alive," he +whispered, speaking rapidly and thickly, as though to disguise his +voice. "Here--take these clothes. Do just as I say. Put them on. +Put on the mask and goggles. Cover up your hair. It is your only +chance." + +He laid the clothes down and went out into the hallway. Outside he +listened carefully at the head of the stairs and looked about +expecting momentarily to be discovered. + +Elaine understood only that suddenly a friend in need had +appeared. She changed her clothes quickly, finding fortunately +that they fitted her pretty well. By pulling the hat over her hair +and the goggles over her eyes and tying on the breathing mask, she +made a very presentable man. + +Cautiously she pushed open the door into the hallway. There was +the tramp. "What shall I do?" she asked. + +"Don't talk," he whispered close to her ear. "Go out--and if you +meet any one, just salute and walk past." + +"Yes--yes, I understand," she nodded back, "and--thank you." + +He gave her no time to say more, even if it had been safe, but +turned and locked the door of her room. + +Trying to keep the old stairway from creaking and betraying her, +she went down. She managed to reach the lower hallway without +seeing anybody or being discovered. Quietly she went to the door +and out. She had not gone far when she met an armed man, the +sentry, who had been concealed in the shrubbery. + +"Who goes there?" he challenged. + +Elaine did not betray herself by speaking, but merely saluted and +passed on as fast as she could without exciting further suspicion. +Nonplused, the man turned and watched her curiously as she moved +away down the path. + +"Where's HE going?" the sentry muttered, still staring. + +Elaine in her eagerness was not looking as carefully where she was +going as she was thinking about getting away in safety. Suddenly +an overhanging branch of a tree caught her hat and before she knew +it pulled it off her head. There was no concealing her golden hair +now. + +"Stop!" shouted the sentry. + +Elaine did not pause, but dived into the bushes on the side of the +path, just as the man fired and ran forward, still shouting for +her to halt. She ran as fast as she could, pulling off the goggles +and mask and looking back now and then in terror at her pursuer +who was rapidly gaining on her. + +Before she could catch herself she missed her footing and slipped +over the edge of a gorge. Down she went, with a rush. It was +unfortunate, dangerous, but, after all, it was the only thing that +saved her, at least for the time. Half falling, half sliding, +scratching herself and tearing her clothes, she descended. + +The sentry checked himself just in time at the top of the gorge +and leaned as far over the edge as he dared. He raised his gun +again and fired. But Elaine's course was so hidden by the trees +and so zigzag that he missed again. A moment he hesitated, then +started and climbed down after her as fast as he could. + +At the bottom of the hill she picked herself up and dashed again +into the woods, the sentry still after her and gaining again. + +At the same time, we who were still in the chase had circled about +the country until we were very near where we started. Following +the dogs over a rail fence, I drew up suddenly, hearing a scream. + +There was Elaine, on foot, running as if her life depended on it. +I needed no second glance. Behind her was a man with a rifle, +almost overtaking her. + +As luck would have it, the momentum of my horse carried me right +at them. Careful to avoid Elaine, I rode square at the man, +striking at him viciously with my riding crop before he knew what +had struck him. + +The fellow dropped, stunned. I leaped from my horse and ran to +her, just as the rest of the hunt came up. + +Eagerly questioning us, they gathered about. + +Having waited until he was sure that Elaine had got away safely, +the old tramp slowly and carefully followed down the stairs of the +ruined hotel. + +As he went down, he heard a shot from the woods. Could it be one +of the sentries? He looked about keenly, hesitating just what to +do. + +In an instant, down below, he heard the scurry of footsteps from +the improvised laboratory and shouts. He turned and stealthily ran +up-stairs, just as the door opened. + +The tramp had not been the only one who had been alarmed by the +shot of the sentry. + +Del Mar was talking again to the men when it rang out. "What's +that?" he exclaimed. "Another intruder?" + +The men stared at him blankly, while Del Mar dashed for the door, +followed by them all. In the hall he issued his orders quickly. + +"Here, you fellows," he called dividing the men, "get outside and +see what is doing. You other men follow me. I want you to see if +everything's all right up above." + +Meanwhile the tramp had gained the upper hallway and dashed past +the room which he occupied. Outside, in the hall, Del Mar and his +men rushed up to the door of the room in which Elaine had been +thrown. It was locked and they broke in. She was gone! + +On into the next room they dashed, bearing down this door also. +There was Shorty, trussed up in his underclothes. They hastened to +release him. + +"Where are they--where's the tramp?" demanded Del Mar angrily. + +"I think I heard some one on the roof," replied Shorty weakly. He +was right. The tramp had managed to get through a scuttle on the +roof. Then he climbed down to the edge and began to let himself +hand over hand down the lightning rod. + +Reaching the ground safely, he scurried about to the back of the +building. There, tied, was the horse which Del Mar had ridden to +the hunt. He untied it, mounted and dashed off down the path +through the woods, taking the shortest cut in the direction of +Fort Dale. + +Dusty and flecked with foam, the tramp and his mount, a strange +combination, were instantly challenged by the sentry at the Fort. + +"I must see Lieutenant Woodward immediately," urged the tramp. + +A heated argument followed until finally a corporal of the guards +was called and led off the tramp toward the headquarters. + +It was only a few minutes before Woodward was convinced of the +identity of the tramp with his friend, Professor Arnold. At the +head of a squad of cavalry, Woodward and the tramp dashed off. + +Already on the qui vive, Elaine heard the sound of hoof-beats long +before the rest of us crowded around her. For the moment we all +stood ready to repel an attack from any quarter. + +But it was not meant for us. It was Woodward at the head of a +score or so of cavalrymen. With him rode a tramp on a horse which +was strangely familiar to me. + +"Oh," cried Elaine, "there's the man who saved me!" + +As they passed, the tramp paused a moment and looked at us +sharply. Although he carefully avoided Elaine's eyes, I fancied +that only when he saw that she was safe was he satisfied to gallop +off and rejoin the cavalry. + + . . . . . . . + +Around the old hotel, in every direction, Del Mar's men were +searching for the tramp and Elaine, while in the hotel another +search was in progress. + +"Have you discovered anything?" asked Del Mar, entering. + +"No, sir," they reported. + +"Confound it!" swore Del Mar, going up-stairs again. + +Here also were men searching. "Find anything?" he asked briefly. + +"No luck," returned one. + +Del Mar went on up to the top floor and out through the open +scuttle to the roof. "That's how he got away, all right," he +muttered to himself, then looking up he exclaimed under his +breath, as his eye caught something far off, "The deuce--what's +that?" + +Leaning down to the scuttle, he called, "Jenkins--my field- +glasses--quick!" + +One of his men handed them to him and he adjusted them, gazing off +intently. There he could see what looked like a squad of cavalry +galloping along headed by an officer and a rough looking +individual. + +"Come--we must get ready for an attack!" he shouted diving down +the scuttle again. + +In the laboratory dining-room, his men, recalled, hastily took his +orders. Each of them seized one of the huge black rubber newly +completed gas bombs and ran out, making for a grove near-by. + +Quickly as Del Mar had acted, it was not done so fast but that the +troop of cavalry as they pulled up on the top of a hill and +followed the directing finger of the tramp could see men running +to the cover of the grove. + +"Forward!" shouted Woodward. + +As if all were one machine, the men and horses shot ahead, until +they came to the grove about the old hotel. There they dismounted +and spread out in a semi-circular order, advancing on the grove. +As they did so, shots rang out from behind the trees. Del Mar's +men, from the shelter were firing at them. But it seemed hopeless +for the fugitives. + +"Ready!" ordered Del Mar as the cavalrymen advanced, relentless. + +Each of his men picked up one of the big black gas bombs and held +it high up over his head. + +"Come on!" urged Woodward. + +His men broke into a charge on the grove. + +"Throw them!" ordered Del Mar. + +As far as he could hurl it, each of the men sent one of the black +globes hurtling through the air. They fell almost simultaneously, +a long line of them, each breaking into a thousand bits. Instantly +dense, greenish-yellow fumes seemed to pour forth, enveloping +everything. The wind which Del Mar had carefully noted when he +chose the position in the grove, was blowing from his men toward +the only position from which an attack could be made successfully. + +Against Woodward's men as they charged, it seemed as if a +tremendous, slow-moving wall of vapor were advancing from the +trees. It was only a moment before it completely wrapped them in +its stifling, choking, suffocating embrace. Some fell, overcome. +Others tried to run, clutching frantically at their throats and +rubbing their eyes. + +"Get back--quick--till it rolls over," choked Woodward. + +Those who were able to do so, picked up their stupefied comrades +and retreated, as best they could, stumbling blindly back from the +fearful death cloud of chlorine. + +Meantime, under cover of this weird defence, Del Mar and his men, +their own faces covered and unrecognizable in their breathing +masks and goggles, dashed to one side, with a shout and +disappeared walking and running behind and even through the safety +of their impregnable gas barrier. + +More slowly we of the hunt had followed Woodward's cavalry until, +some distance off, we stood, witnessing and wondering at the +attack. To our utter amazement we saw them carrying off their +wounded and stupefied men. We hurried forward and gathered about, +offering whatever assistance we could to resuscitate them. + +As Elaine and I helped, we saw the unkempt figure of the tramp +borne in and laid down. He was not completely overcome, having had +presence of mind to tie a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. + +Elaine hurried toward him with an exclamation of sympathy. Just +recovering full consciousness, he heard her. + +With the greatest difficulty, he seemed to summon some reserve +force not yet used. He struggled to his feet and staggered off, as +though he would escape us. + +"What a strange old codger," mused Elaine, looking from me at the +retreating figure. "He saved my life--yet he won't even let me +thank him--or help him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SEARCHLIGHT GUN + + +"I don't understand it," remarked Elaine one day as, with Aunt +Josephine and myself, she was discussing the strange events that +had occurred since the disappearance of Kennedy, "but, somehow, it +is as if a strange Providence seems to be watching over us." + +"Nor do I," I agreed. "It does seem that, although we do not see +it, a mysterious power for good is about us. It's uncanny." + +"A package for you, Miss Dodge," announced Marie, coming in with a +small parcel which had been delivered by a messenger who did not +wait for an answer. + +Elaine took it, looked at it, turned it over, and then looked at +the written address again. + +"It's not the handwriting of any one which I recognize," she +mused. "Now, I suppose I ought to be suspicious of it Yet, I'm +going to open it." + +She did so. Inside, the paper wrapping covered a pasteboard box. +She opened that. There lay a revolver, which she picked up and +turned over. It was a curious looking weapon. + +"I never knew so much about firearms as I have learned in the past +few weeks," remarked Elaine. "But what do you suppose this is--and +who sent it to me--and why?" + +She held the gun up. From the barrel stuck out a little rolled-up +piece of paper. "See," she cried, reading and handing the paper to +me, "there it is again--that mysterious power." + +Aunt Josephine and I read the note: + +DEAR MISS DODGE: + +This weapon shoots exactly into the center of the light disc. Keep +it by you.--A FRIEND. + +"Let me see it," I asked, taking the gun. Sure enough, along the +barrel was a peculiar tube. "A searchlight gun," I exclaimed, +puzzled, though still my suspicions were not entirely at rest. +"Suppose it's sighted wrong," I could not help considering. "It +might be a plant to save some one from being shot." + +"That's easily settled," returned Elaine. "Let's try it." + +"Oh, mercy no,--not here," remonstrated Aunt Josephine. + +"Why not--down cellar?" persisted Elaine. "It can't hurt anything +there." + +"I think it would be a good plan," I agreed, "just to make sure +that it is all right." + +Accordingly we three went down cellar. There, Elaine found the +light switch and turned it. Eagerly I hunted about for a mark. +There, in some rubbish that had not yet been carted away, was a +small china plate. I set it up on a small shelf across the room +and took the gun. But Elaine playfully wrenched it from my hand. + +"No," she insisted, "it was sent to me. Let me try it first." + +Reluctantly I consented. + +"Switch off the light, Walter, please," she directed, standing a +few paces from the plate. + +I did so. In the darkness Elaine pointed the gun and pulled a +little ratchet. Instantly a spot of light showed on the wall. She +moved the revolver and the spot of light moved with it. As it +rested on a little decorative figure in the center of the plate, +she pulled the trigger. The gun exploded with a report, deafening, +in the confined cellar. + +I switched on the light and we ran forward. There was the plate-- +smashed into a hundred bits. The bullet had struck exactly in the +centre of the little bull's-eye of light. + +"Splendid," cried Elaine enthusiastically, as we looked at each +other in surprise. + +Though none of us guessed it, half an hour before, in the +seclusion of his yacht, Woodward's friend, Professor Arnold, had +been standing with the long barrelled gun in his hand, adjusting +the tube which ran beneath the barrel. + +In one hand he held the gun; in the other was a piece of paper. As +he brought the paper before the muzzle and pressed a ratchet by +gripping the revolver handle, a distinct light appeared on the +paper, thrown out from the tube under the barrel. + +Having adjusted the tube and sighted it, Arnold wrote a hasty note +on another piece of paper and inserted it into the barrel of the +gun, with the end sticking out just a bit. Then he wrapped the +whole thing up in a box, rang a bell, and handed the package to a +servant with explicit instructions as to its delivery to the right +person and only to that person. + +Down in the submarine harbor, Del Mar was in conference with his +board of strategy and advice, laying the plan for the attack on +America. + +"Ever since we have been at work," he remarked, "Elaine Dodge has +been busy hindering and frustrating us. That girl must go!" + +Before him, on the table, he placed a square package. "It must +stop," he added ominously, tapping the package. + +"But how?" asked one of the men. "We've done our best." + +"This is a bomb," replied Del Mar, continuing to tap the package. +"When our man--let me see, X had better do it,--arrives, have him +look in the secret cavern by the landing-place. There I will leave +it. I want him to put it in her house to-night." + +He handed the bomb to one of his men who took it gingerly. Then +with a few more words of admonition, he took up his diving helmet +and left the headquarters, followed by the man. + +Several minutes later, Del Mar, alone, emerged from the water just +outside the submarine harbor and took off his helmet. + +He made his way over the rocks, carrying the bomb, until he came +to a little fissure in the rocks, like a cavern. There he hid the +bomb carefully. Still carrying the helmet, he hurried along until +he came to the cave entrance that led to the secret passage to the +panel in his bungalow library. Up through the secret passage he +went, reaching the panel and opening it by a spring. + +In the library Del Mar changed his wet clothes and hid them, then +set to work on an accumulation of papers on his desk. + + . . . . . . . + +That afternoon, Elaine decided to go for a little ride through the +country in her runabout. + +As she started to leave her room, dressed for the trip, it was as +though a premonition of danger came to her. She paused, then +turned back and took from the drawer the searchlight gun which had +been sent to her. She slipped it into the pocket of her skirt and +went out. + +Off she drove at a fast clip, thoroughly enjoying the ride until, +near a bend in the road, as it swept down toward the shore, she +stopped and got out, attracted by some wild flowers. They grew in +such profusion that it seemed no time before she had a bunch of +them. On she wandered, down to the rocks, watching the restless +waters of the Sound. Finally she found herself walking alone along +the shore, one arm full of flowers, while with her free hand she +amused herself by skimming flat stones over the water. + +As she turned to pick up one, her eye caught something in the +rocks and she stared at it. There in a crevice, as though it had +been hidden, was a strange square package. She reached down and +picked it up. What could it be? + +While she was examining it, back of her, another of those strange +be-helmeted figures came up out of the water. It watched her for +an instant, then sank back into the water again. + +Elaine, holding the package in her hand, walked up the shore, +oblivious to the strange eye that had been fixed on her. + +"I must show this to Lieutenant Woodward," she said to herself. + +In the car she placed the package, then jumped in herself +carefully and started off. + +A moment after she had gone, the diver reappeared, looking about +cautiously. This time the coast was clear and he came all the way +out, taking off his helmet and placed it in the secret hiding- +place which Del Mar and his men used. Then, with another glance, +now of anger, in the direction of Elaine, he hurried up the shore. + +Meanwhile, as fast as her light runabout would carry her, Elaine +whizzed over to Fort Dale. + +As she entered the grounds, the sentry saluted her, though that +part of the formalities of admission was purely perfunctory, for +every one at the Fort knew her now. + +"Is Lieutenant Woodward in?" she inquired. + +"Yes ma'am," returned the sentry. "I will send for him." + +A corporal appeared and took a message for her to Woodward. It was +only a few minutes before Lieutenant Woodward himself appeared. + +"What is the trouble, Miss Dodge?" he asked solicitously, noting +the look on her face. + +"I don't know what it is," she replied dubiously. "I've found +something among the rocks. Perhaps it is a bomb." + +Woodward looked at the package, studying it. "Professor Arnold is +investigating this affair for us," he remarked. "Perhaps you'd +better take the package to him on his yacht. I'm sorry I can't go +with you, but just now I'm on duty." + +"That's a good idea," she agreed. "Only I'm sorry you can't go +along with me." + +She started up the car and drove off as Woodward turned back to +the Fort with a lingering look. + +Del Mar was hard at work in the library when, suddenly, he heard a +sound at the panel. He reached over and pressed a button on his +desk, and the panel opened. Through it came the diver still +wearing his dripping suit and carrying the weird helmet under his +arm. + +"That Dodge girl has crossed us again!" he exclaimed excitedly. + +"How?" demanded Del Mar, with an oath. + +"I saw her on the rocks just now. She happened to stumble on the +bomb which you left there to be placed." + +"And then?" demanded Del Mar. + +"She took it with her in her car." + +"The deuce!" ejaculated the foreign agent, furiously. "You must +get the men out and hunt the country thoroughly. She must not +escape now at any cost." + +The diving man dove back into the panel to escape Del Mar's wrath, +while Del Mar hurried out, leaving his valet in the library. + +Quickly, Del Mar made his way to a secret hiding-place in the +hills back of the bay. There he found his picked band of men armed +with rifles. + +As briefly as he could he told them of what had happened. "We must +get her this time--dead or alive," he ordered. "Now scatter about +the country. Keep in touch with each other and when you find her, +close in on her at any cost." + +The men saluted and left in various directions to scour the +country. Del Mar himself picked up a rifle and followed shortly, +passing down a secret trail to the road where he had a car with a +chauffeur waiting. Still carrying the rifle, he climbed in and the +man shot the car along down the road. + + . . . . . . . + +On the top of a hill one of the men was posted as a sort of +lookout. Gazing over the country carefully, his eye was finally +arrested by something at which he stared eagerly. Far away, on the +road, he could see a car in which was a girl, alone. Waving in the +breeze was a red feather in her hat. He looked more sharply. It +was Elaine Dodge. + +The man turned and waved a signal with a handkerchief to another +man far off. Down the valley another of Del Mar's men was waiting +and watching. As soon as he saw the signal, he waved back and ran +along the road. + +As Del Mar whizzed along, he could see one of his men approaching +over the road, waving to him. "Stop!" he ordered his driver. + +The man hurried forward. "I've got the signal," he panted. "They +have seen her car over the hill." + +"Good," exclaimed Del Mar, pulling a black silk mask over his +eyes. "Now, get off quickly. We've got to catch her." + +They sped away again in a cloud of dust. + +But even while Del Mar was speeding toward her, another of his men +had discovered her presence, so vigilant were they. + +He had been keeping a sharp watch on the road, when he was +suddenly all attention. He saw a car, through the foliage. +Quickly, his rifle went to his shoulder. Through the sight he +could just cover Elaine's head, for her hat, with a bright red +feather in it, showed plainly just over the bushes. + +He aimed carefully and fired. + +I had been out for a tramp over the hills with no destination in +particular. As I swung along the road, I heard the throbbing of a +car coming up the hill, the cut-out open. I turned, for cars make +walking on country roads somewhat hazardous nowadays. + +As I did so, some one in the car waved to me. I looked again. It +was Elaine. + +"Where are you going?" she called. + +"Where are YOU going?" I returned, laughing. + +"I've just had a very queer experience--found something down on +the rocks," she replied seriously, pointing to the square package +on the floor of the car. "I took it to Lieutenant Woodward and he +advised me to take it to Professor Arnold on his yacht. I think it +is a bomb. I wish you'd go with me." + +Before I could answer, up the hill a rifle shot cracked. There was +a whirr in the air and a bullet sang past us, cutting the red +feather off Elaine's hat. + +"Duck!" I cried, jumping into the car, "And drive like the +dickens!" + +She turned and we fairly ricocheted down that road back again. + +Behind us, a man, a stranger whom we did not pause to observe, +rushed from the bushes and fired after us again. + +Suddenly another rifle shot cracked. It was from another car that +had stealthily sneaked up on us--coming fast, recklessly. + +"There's her car," pointed one of the occupants to a man who was +masked in black. + +"Yes," he nodded. "Give her a little more gas!"' + +"Crouch down," I muttered, "as low as you can." + +We did so, racing for life, the more powerful motor behind us +overhauling us every instant. + +We were coming to a very narrow part of the road where it turned, +on one side a sheer hill, on the other a stream several feet down. + +If we had an accident, I thought, it might be ticklish for us, +supposing the square package really to be a bomb. What if it +should go off? The idea suggested another, instantly. The car +behind was only a few feet off. + +As we reached the narrow road by the stream, I rose up. As far as +I could, back of me, I hurled the infernal machine. It fell. We +received a shower of dirt and small stones, but the cover of the +car protected us. Where the bomb landed, however, it cut a deep +hole in the roadway. + +On came Del Mar's car, the driver frantically tugging at the +emergency brake. But it was of no use. There was not room to turn +aside. The car crashed into the hole, like a gigantic plow. + +It took one header over the side of the road and down several feet +into the stream, just as the masked man and the driver jumped far +ahead into the water. + +Safe now in our car which was slackening its terrific speed, I +looked back. "They've been thrown!" I cried. "We're all right." + +On the edge of the water, just covered by some wreckage, the +chauffeur lay motionless. The masked man crawled from under the +wreckage and looked at him a moment. + +"Dead!" he exclaimed, still mechanically gripping a rifle in his +hand. + +Angrily he raised it at us and fired. + +A moment later, some other men gathered from all directions about +him, each armed. + +"Don't mind the wreck," he cried, exasperated. "Fire!" + +A volley was delivered at us. But the distance was now apparently +too great. + +We were just congratulating ourselves on our escape, when a stray +shot whizzed past, striking a piece directly out of the head of +the steering-post, almost under Elaine's hands. + +Naturally she lost control, though fortunately we were not going +so fast now. Crazily, our car swerved from side to side of the +road, as she vainly tried to control both its speed and direction. +On the very edge of the ditch, however, it stopped. + +We looked back. There we could see a group of men who seemed to +spring out of the woods, as if from nowhere, at the sound of the +shots. A shout went up at the sight of the bullet taking effect, +and they ran forward at us. + +One of their number, I could see, masked, who had been in the +wrecked car, stumbled forward weakly, until finally he sank down. + +A couple of the others ran to him. "Go on," he must have urged +vehemently. "One of you is enough to stay with me. I'm going back +to the submarine harbor. The rest--go on--report to me there." + +As the rest ran toward us, there was nothing for us to do but to +abandon the car ourselves and run for it. We left the road and +struck into the trackless woods, followed closely now by two of +the men who had outdistanced the rest. Through the woods we fled, +taking advantage of such shelter as we could find. + +"Look, here's a cave," cried Elaine, as we plunged, exhausted and +about ready to drop, down into a ravine. + +We hurried in and the bushes swung over the cave entrance. Inside +we stopped short and gazed about. It was dark and gloomy. We +looked back. There was no hope there. They had been overtaking us. +On down a passageway, we went. + +The two men who were pursuing us plunged down the ravine also. As +ill-luck would have it, they saw the cave entrance and dashed in, +then halted. Crouching in the shadow we could see their figures +silhoutted in the dim light of the entrance of the cavern. One +stopped at the entrance while the other advanced. He was a big +fellow and powerfully built and the other fellow was equally +burly. I made up my mind to fight to the last though I knew it was +hopeless. It was dark. I could not even see the man advancing now. + +Quickly Elaine reached into her pocket and drew out something. + +"Here, Walter, take this," she cried. I seized the object. It was +the searchlight gun. + +Hastily I aimed it, the spot of light glowing brightly. Indeed, I +doubt whether I could have shot very accurately otherwise. As the +man approached cautiously down the passageway the bright disc of +light danced about until finally it fell full on his breast. I +fired. The man fell forward instantly. + +Again I fired, this time at the man in the cave entrance. He +jumped back, dropping his gun which exploded harmlessly. His hand +was wounded. Quickly he drew back and disappeared among the trees. + +We waited in tense silence, and then cautiously looked out of the +mouth of the cave. No one seemed to be about. + +"Come--let's make a dash for it," urged Elaine. + +We ran out and hurried on down the ravine, apparently not +followed. + +Back among the trees, however, the man had picked up a rifle which +he had hidden. While he was binding up his hand with a +handkerchief, he saw us. Painfully he tried to aim his gun. But it +was too heavy for his weakened arm and the pain was too great. He +had to lower it. With a muttered imprecation, he followed us at a +distance. + +Evidently, to us, we had eluded the pursuers, for no one seemed +now to be following, at least as far as we could determine. We +kept on, however, until we came to the water's edge. There, down +the bay, we could see Professor Arnold's yacht. + +"Let us see Professor Arnold, anyhow," said Elaine, leading the +way along the shore. + +We came at last, without being molested, to a little dock. A +sailor was standing beside it and moored to it was a swift motor- +boat. Out at anchor was the yacht. + +"You are Professor Arnold's man?" asked Elaine. + +"Yes'm," he replied, remembering her. + +"Is the Professor out on his boat?" we asked. + +He nodded. "Did you want to see him?" + +"Very much," answered Elaine. + +"I'll take you out," he offered. + +We jumped into the motor-boat, he started the engine and we planed +out over the water. + +Though we did not see him, the man whom I had wounded was still +watching us from the shore, noting every move. He had followed us +at a distance across the woods and fields and down along the shore +to the dock, had seen us talking to Arnold's man, and get into the +boat. + +From the shore he continued to watch us skim across the bay and +pull up alongside the yacht. As we climbed the ladder, he turned +and hurried back the way he had come. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine and I climbed aboard the yacht where we could see the +Professor sitting in a wicker deck chair. + +"Why, how do you do?" he welcomed us, adjusting his glasses so +that his eyes seemed, if anything, more opaque than before. + +I could not help thinking that, although he was glad to see us, +there was a certain air of restraint about him. + +Quickly Elaine related the story of finding the bomb in the rocks +and the peculiar events and our escape which followed. Once, at +the mention of the searchlight gun, Professor Arnold raised his +hand and coughed back of it. I felt sure that it was to hide an +involuntary expression of satisfaction and that it must be he who +had sent the gun to Elaine. + +He was listening attentively to her, while I stood by the rail, +now and then looking out over the water. Far away I noted +something moving over the surface, like a rod, followed by a thin +wake of foam. + +"Look!" I exclaimed, "What's that?" + +Elaine turned to me, as Arnold seized his glasses. + +"Why, it seems to be moving directly at us," exclaimed Elaine. + +"By George, it's the periscope of a submarine," cried Arnold a +moment later, lowering his glasses. + +He did not hesitate an instant. + +"Get the yacht under way," he ordered the captain, who immediately +shouted his orders to the rest. + +Quickly the engine started and we plowed ahead, that ominous +looking periscope following. + +In the submarine harbor to which he had been taken, Del Mar found +that he had been pretty badly shaken up by the accident to his +car. His clothes were torn and his face and body scratched. No +bones were broken, however, though the shock had been great. +Several of his men were endeavoring to fix him up in the little +submarine office, but he was angry, very angry. + +At such a juncture, a man in a dripping diving-suit entered and +pulled off his helmet, after what had evidently been a hasty trip +from the land through the entrance and up again into the harbor. +As he approached, Del Mar saw that the man's hand was bound up. + +"What's the matter?" demanded Del Mar. "How did you get that?" + +"That fellow Jameson and the girl did it," he replied, telling +what had happened in the cave. "Some one must have given them one +of those new searchlight guns." + +Del Mar, already ugly, was beside himself with rage now. + +"Where are they?" he asked. + +"I saw them go out to the yacht of that Professor Arnold." + +"He's the fellow that gave her the gun," almost hissed Del Mar. +"On the yacht, are they?" + +An evil smile seemed to spread over his face. "Then we'll get them +all, this time. Man the submarine--the Z99." + +All left the office on the run, hurrying around the ledge and down +into the open hatch of the submarine. Del Mar came along a moment +later, giving orders sharply and quickly. + +The hatch was closed and the vessel sealed. On all sides were +electrical devices and machines to operate the craft and the +torpedoes--an intricate system of things which it seemed as if no +human mind could possibly understand. + +Del Mar threw on a switch. The submarine hummed and trembled. +Slowly she sank in the harbor until she was at the level of the +underwater entrance through the rocks. Carefully she was guided +out through this entrance into the waters of the larger, real +harbor. + +Del Mar took his place at the periscope, the eye of the submarine. +Anxiously he turned it about and bent over the image which it +projected. + +"There it is," he muttered, picking out Arnold's yacht and +changing the course of the submarine so that it was headed +directly at it, the planes turned so that they kept the boat just +under the surface with only the periscope showing above. + +Forward, about the torpedo discharge tubes men were busy, testing +the doors, and getting ready the big automobile torpedoes. + +"They must have seen us," muttered Del Mar. "They've started the +yacht. But we can beat them, easily. Are you ready?" + +"Yes," called back the men forward, pushing a torpedo into the +lock-like compartment from which it was launched. + +"Let it go, then," bellowed Del Mar. + +The torpedo shot out into the water, travelling under her own +power, straight at the yacht. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine and I looked back. The periscope was much nearer than +before. "Can we outdistance the submarine?" I asked of Arnold. + +Arnold shook his head, his face grave. On came the thin line of +foam. "I'm afraid we'll have to leave the yacht," he said +warningly. "My little motor-boat is much faster." + +Arnold shouted his orders as he led us down the ladder to the +motor-boat into which we jumped, followed by as many of the crew +as could get in, while the others leaped into the water from the +rail of the yacht and struck out for the shore which was not very +distant. + +"What's that?" cried Elaine, horrified, pointing back. + +The water seemed to be all churned up. A long cigar-shaped affair +was slipping along near enough to the surface so that we could +just make it out--murderous, deadly, aimed right at the heart of +the yacht. + +"A torpedo!" exclaimed Arnold. "Cast off!" + +We moved off from the yacht as swiftly as the speedy little open +motor-boat would carry us, not a minute too soon. + +The torpedo struck the yacht almost exactly amidships. A huge +column of water spurted up into the air as though a gigantic whale +were blowing off. The yacht itself seemed lifted from the water +and literally broken in half like a brittle rod of glass and +dropped back into the water. + +Below in the submarine, Del Mar was still at the periscope +directing things. + +"A hit!" he cried exultingly. "We got the whole bunch this time!" + +He turned to the men to congratulate them, a smile on his evil +face. But as he looked again, he caught sight of our little motor- +boat skimming safely away on the other side of the wreck. + +"The deuce!" he muttered. "Try another. Here's the direction." + +Furiously he swore as the men guided the submarine and loaded +another torpedo into a tube. As the tube came into position, they +let the torpedo go. An instant later it was hissing its way at us. + +"See, there's another!" I cried, catching sight of it. + +All looked. Sure enough, through the water could be seen another +of those murderous messengers dashing at us. + +Arnold ran forward and seized the wheel himself, swinging the boat +around hard to starboard and the land. We turned just in time. The +torpedo, brainless but deadly, dashed past us harmlessly. + +As fast as we could now we made for the shore. No one could catch +us with such a start, not even the swiftest torpedo. We had been +rescued by Arnold's quick wit from a most desperate situation. + +Somewhere below the water, I could imagine a man consumed with +fury over our escape, as the periscope disappeared and the +submarine made off. + +We were safe. But, looking out over the water, we could not help +shuddering at the perils beneath its apparently peaceful surface. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE LIFE CHAIN + + +Early one morning, a very handsome woman of the adventuress type +arrived with several trunks at the big summer hotel, just outside +the town, the St. Germain. + +Among the many fashionable people at the watering-place, however, +she attracted no great attention and in the forenoon she quietly +went out in her motor for a ride. + +It was Madame Larenz, one of Del Mar's secret agents who, up to +this time, had been engaged in spying on wealthy and +impressionable American manufacturers. + +Her airing brought her, finally, to the bungalow of Del Mar and +there she was admitted in a manner that showed that Del Mar +trusted her highly. + +"Now," he instructed, after a few minutes chat, "I want you to get +acquainted with Miss Dodge. You know how to interest her. She's +quite human. Pretty gowns appeal to her. Get her to the St. +Germain. Then I'll tell you what to do." + +A few minutes later the woman left in her car, so rapidly driven +that no one would recognize her. + +It was early in the afternoon that Aunt Josephine was sitting on +the veranda, when an automobile drove up and a very stylishly +gowned and bonnetted woman stepped out. + +"Good afternoon," she greeted Aunt Josephine ingratiatingly as she +approached the house. "I am Madame Larenz of New York and Paris. +Perhaps you have heard of my shops on Fifth Avenue and the Rue de +la Paix." + +Aunt Josephine had heard the name, though she did not know that +this woman had assumed it without being in any way connected with +the places she mentioned. + +"I'm establishing a new sort of summer service at the better +resorts," the woman explained. "You see, my people find it +annoying to go into the city for gowns. So I am bringing the +latest Paris models out to them. Is Miss Dodge at home?" + +"I think she is playing tennis," returned Aunt Josephine. + +"Oh, yes, I see her, thank you," the woman murmured, moving toward +the tennis court, back of the house. + +Elaine and I had agreed to play a couple of games and were tossing +rackets for position. + +"Very well," laughed Elaine, as she won the toss, "take the other +court." + +It was a cool day and I felt in good spirits. Just to see whether +I could do it still, I jumped over the net. + +Our game had scarcely started when we were interrupted by the +approach of a stunning looking woman. + +"Miss Dodge?" she greeted. "Will you excuse me a moment?" + +Elaine paused in serving the ball and the woman handed her a card +from her delicate gold mesh bag. It read simply: + +Mme. Larenz Paris Gowns + +Elaine looked at the card a moment while the woman repeated what +she had already told Aunt Josephine. + +"You have them here, then?" queried Elaine, interested. + +"Yes, I have some very exclusive models which I am showing at my +suite in the St. Germain." + +"Oh, how lovely," exclaimed Elaine. "I must see them." + +They talked a few minutes, while I waited patiently for Elaine to +start the game again. That game, however, was destined never to be +finished. More weighty matters were under discussion. + +I wondered what they were talking about and, suppressing a yawn, I +walked toward them. As I approached, I heard scattered remarks +about styles and dress fabrics. + +Elaine had completely forgotten tennis and me. She took a couple +of steps away from the court with the woman, as I came up. + +"Aren't you going to play?" I asked. + +"I know you'll excuse me, Walter," smiled Elaine. "My frocks are +all so frightfully out of date. And here's a chance to get new +ones, very reasonably, too." + +They walked off and I could not help scowling at the visitor. On +toward the house Elaine and Madame Larenz proceeded and around it +to the front porch where Aunt Josephine was standing. + +"Just think, Auntie," cried Elaine, "real Paris gowns down here +without the trouble of going to the city--and cheaply, too." + +Aunt Josephine was only mildly interested, but that did not seem +to worry Madame Larenz. + +"I shall be glad to see you at three, Miss Dodge," she said as she +got into her car again and drove off. + +By that time, I had caught up with Elaine again. "Just one game," +I urged. + +"Please excuse me,--this time, Walter," she pleaded, laughing. +"You don't know how sadly I'm in need of new frocks." + +It was no use of further urging her. Tennis was out of her mind +for good that day. Accordingly, I mounted to my room and there +quickly donned my riding clothes. + +When I came down, I found Aunt Josephine still on the veranda. In +addition to my horse which I had telephoned for, Elaine's little +runabout had been driven to the door. While I was talking to Aunt +Josephine, Elaine came down-stairs and walked over to the car. + +"May I go with you?" I pleaded. + +"No, Walter," she replied laughing merrily. "You can't go. I want +to try them on." + +Properly squelched, I retreated. Elaine drove away and a moment +later, I mounted and cantered off leisurely. + +Near Del Mar's bungalow might have been seen again the mysterious +naturalist, walking along the road with a butterfly net in his +hand and what appeared to be a leather specimen case, perhaps six +inches long, under his other arm. + +As Madame Larenz whizzed past in her car, he looked up keenly in +spite of his seeming near-sightedness and huge smoked glasses. He +watched her closely, noting the number of the car, then turned and +followed it. + +Madame Larenz drew up, a second time, before Del Mar's. As she got +out and entered, the naturalist, having quickened his pace, came +up and watched her go in. Then, after taking in the situation for +a moment, he made his way around the side of the bungalow. + +"Is Mr. Del Mar at home?" inquired Madame Larenz, as the valet +ushered her into the library. + +"No ma'am," he returned. "Mr. Del Mar is out. But he left word +that if you came before he got back, you were to leave word." + +The woman sat down at the desk and wrote hastily. When she had +finished the short note, she read it over and folded it up. + +"Tell Mr. Del Mar I've left a note here on his desk," she said to +the valet. + +A moment later she left the library, followed by the valet, who +accompanied her to her car and assisted her in. + +"The hotel," she directed to her driver, as he started off, while +the valet returned to the bungalow. + +Outside, the naturalist had come through the shrubbery and had +been looking in at the library window, watching every move of +Madame Larenz as she wrote. As she went out, he paused just a +second to look about. Then he drew a long knife from his pocket, +forced the window catch, and quickly climbed into the room. + +Directly to the desk he went and hurriedly ran over the papers on +it. There was the note. He picked it up and read it eagerly. + +"My apartment--St. Germain--3 P. M. + +"LARENZ." + +For a moment he seemed to consider what to do. Then he replaced +the note. Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps. It was the +valet returning. Quickly the naturalist ran to the window and +jumped out. + +A moment later, the valet entered the library again. "That's +strange," he exclaimed under his breath, "I don't recall opening +that window over there to-day." + +He looked puzzled. But as no one was about, he went over and shut +it. + +Some distance down the road, the naturalist quietly emerged in +safety from the bushes. With scarcely a moment's hesitation, his +mind thoroughly made up to his course, he hurried along the road. + +Meanwhile, at the St. Germain, Madame Larenz entered and passed +through the rotunda of the hotel, followed by many admiring +glances of the men. + +Up in her room stood several large trunks, open. From them had +been taken a number of gowns which were scattered about or hung up +for exhibition. + +As she entered, quickly she selected one of the trunks whose +contents were more smart than the rest and laid the gowns out most +fetchingly about the room. + +In the office of the hotel a few moments later, the naturalist +entered. He looked around curiously, then went to the desk and +glanced over the register. At the name "Mme Larenz, Paris, Room +22," he paused. + +For some seconds he stood thinking. Then he deliberately walked +over to a leather chair and took a prominent seat near-by in the +lobby. He had discarded his net, but still had the case which now +he had shoved into his pocket. From a table, he picked up a +newspaper. + +It was not long before Del Mar pulled up before the hotel and +entered in his usual swagger manner. He had returned to the +bungalow, read the note and hurried over to the St. Germain. + +He crossed the lobby, back to the office. As he did so, the +naturalist had his face hidden deeply in the open newspaper. But +no sooner had Del Mar passed than the newspaper fell unappreciated +and he gazed after him, as he left the lobby by the back way. + +It was only a few minutes after she had completed arranging her +small stock so that it looked quite impressive, that Madame Larenz +heard a knock at the door and recognized Del Mar's secret code. +She opened the door and he strode in. + +"I got your note," he said briefly, coming directly to business +and telling her just what he wanted done. "Let me see," he +concluded, glancing at his watch. "It is after three now. She ought +to be here any minute." + +Outside, Elaine drove up to the rather garish entrance of the St. +Germain and one of the boys in uniform ran forward to open the +door and take charge of the car. She, too, crossed the lobby +without seeing the old naturalist, though nothing escaped him. + +As she passed, he started to rise and cross toward her, then +appeared to change his mind. + +Elaine went on out through the back of the lobby, directed by a +boy, and mounted a flight of stairs, in preference to taking the +lift to the second, or sort of mezzanine floor. Down along the +corridor she went, hunting for number twenty-two. At last she +found it at the end, and knocked. + +Del Mar and Madame Larenz were still talking in low tones when +they heard a light tap on the door. + +"There she is, now," whispered Larenz. + +"All right. Let her in," answered Del Mar, leaping quietly to a +closet. "I'll hide here until I get the signal. Do just as I told +you." + +Outside, at the same time, according to his carefully concocted +plans, Del Mar's car had driven up and stopped close to the side +of the hotel, which was on a slight hill that brought the street +level here not so far below the second story windows. Three of his +most trusted men were in the car. + +Madame Larenz opened the door. "Oh, I'm so glad you came," she +rattled on to Elaine. "You see, I've got to get started. Not a +customer yet. But if you'll only take a few gowns, other people +will come to me. I'll let you have them cheaply, too. Just look at +this one." + +She held up one filmy, creamy creation that looked like a delicate +flower. + +"I'd like to try it on," cried Elaine, fingering it rapturously. + +"By all means," agreed Madame. "We are alone. Do so." + +With deft fingers, Larenz helped her take off her own very pretty +dress. As Elaine slipped the soft gown over her head, with her +head and arms engaged in its multitudinous folds, Madame Larenz, a +powerful woman, seized her. Elaine was effectually gagged and +bound in the gown itself. + +Instantly, Del Mar flung himself from the closet, disguising his +voice. Together, they wrapped the dress about Elaine even more +tightly to prevent her screaming. + +Madame 'Larenz seized a blanket and threw that over Elaine's head, +also, while Del Mar ran to the window. There were his men in the +car, waiting below. + +"Are you ready?" he called softly to them. + +They looked about carefully. There was no one on that side of the +hotel just at the moment. + +"Ready," responded one. "Quick!" + +Together, Del Mar and Madame Larenz passed Elaine, ineffectually +struggling, out of the window. The men seized her and placed her +in the bottom of the car, which was covered. Then they shot away, +taking a back road up the hill. + +Hurriedly the naturalist went through the lobby in the direction +Elaine had gone, and a moment later reached the corridor above. + +Down it, he could hear some one coming out of room twenty-two. He +slid into an angle and hid. + +It was Del Mar and the woman he had seen at the bungalow. They +passed by without discovering him, nor could he make out anything +that they said. What mischief was afoot? Where was Elaine? + +He ran to the door and tried it. It was locked. Quickly, he took +from his pocket a skeleton key and unlocked it. There was Elaine's +hat and dress lying in a heap on the bed. But she was not there. +He was now thoroughly alarmed. + +She could not have passed him in the hall. Therefore she must have +gone or been taken out through the window. That would never have +been voluntary, especially leaving her things there. + +The window was still open. He ran to it. One glance out was +enough. He leaped to the ground. Sure enough, there were +automobile tracks in the dust. + +"Del Mar's car," he muttered to himself, studying them. + +He fairly ran around the side of the hotel. There he came suddenly +upon Elaine's car standing alone, and recognized it. + +There was no time for delay. He jumped into it, and let the swift +little racer out as he turned and gathered momentum to shoot up +the hill on high speed. + +Meanwhile, I had been jogging along through the country, lonely +and disconsolate. I don't know how it happened, but I suppose it +was by some subconscious desire. At any rate I found myself at the +road that came out across one leading to the St. Germain and it +occurred to me that Elaine might by this time have purchased +enough frocks to clothe her for a year. At any rate I quickened my +pace in the hope of seeing her. + +Suddenly, my horse shied and a familiar little car flashed past +me. But the driver was not familiar. It was Elaine's roadster. In +it was a stranger--a man who looked like a "bugologist," as nearly +as I can describe him. Was he running off with her car while she +was waiting inside the hotel? + +I galloped after him. + +Del Mar's automobile, with Elaine bound and gagged in it, drove +rapidly by back and unfrequented ways into the country until at +last it pulled up before an empty two-story house in a sort of +grove of trees. + +The men leaped out, lifted Elaine, and carried her bodily into the +house, taking her up-stairs and into an upper room. She had +fainted when they laid her down and loosened the dress from about +her face so that she could breathe. There they left her, on the +floor, her hands and feet bound, and went out. + +How long she lay there, she never knew, but at last the air +revived her and she regained consciousness and sat up. Her muscles +were sore and her head ached. But she set her teeth and began +struggling with the cords that bound her, managing at last to pull +the dress over herself at least. + +In Elaine's car, the naturalist drove slowly at times, following +the tracks of the automobile ahead. At last, however, he came to a +place where he saw that the tracks went up a lonely side road. To +approach in a car was to warn whoever was there. He ran the cat up +alongside the road in the bushes and jumped out leaving it and +following the tracks up the side roadway. + +As he approached a single deserted house, he left even the narrow +road altogether and plunged into the woods, careful to proceed +noiselessly. Through the bushes, near the house, he peered. There +he could see one of Del Mar's men in the doorway, apparently +talking to others behind him. + +Stealthily the naturalist crept around, still hiding, until he was +closer to the house on the other side. At last he worked his way +around to the rear door. He tried it. It was bolted and even the +skeleton key was unavailing to slide the bolt. Seconds were +precious. + +Quickly, he went to the corner of the house. There was a water- +leader. He began to climb it, risking its precarious support. + +On the roof at last, the naturalist crawled along, looking for +some way of getting into the house. But he could not seem to find +any. Carefully, he crawled to the edge of the roof and looked +over. Below, he could hear sounds, but could make nothing of them. + +From his pocket, he took the leather case and opened it. There was +a peculiar arrangement, like some of the collapsible arms on which +telephone instruments are often fastened to a desk or wall, +capable of being collapsed into small space or of being extended +for some distance. On the thing was arranged a system of mirrors, +which the naturalist adjusted. + +It was a pocket periscope. + +He thrust the thing over the edge of the roof and down, and looked +through it. Below, he could see into the room from which came the +peculiar sounds. + +He looked anxiously. There he could see Elaine endeavoring still +to loosen the cords and unable to do so. Only for a moment he +looked. Then he folded up the pocket periscope into the case and +shoved it back into his pocket. Quickly he crossed the roof again, +and slid back down the rain-pipe. + +At the door stood three of Del Mar's men waiting for Del Mar who +had told them he would follow immediately. + +The naturalist had by this time reached the ground and was going +along carefully back of the house. He drew his revolver and, +pointing it down, fired. Then he dodged back of an extension and +disappeared for the moment. + +Instantly, the three men sprang up and ran toward the spot where +it seemed the shot had been fired. There was no one about the side +of the house. But the wind had carried the smoke into some bushes +beside the grove and they crashed into the bushes, beating about. + +At the same time, the naturalist, having first waited until he saw +which way the men were going, dashed about the house in the +opposite direction. Then he slipped, unopposed and unobserved, in +through the open front door, up the stairs and along to the room +into which he had just been looking. He unlocked the door, and +entered. Elaine was still struggling with the cords when she +caught sight of the stranger. + +"Not a word," he cautioned under his breath. + +She was indeed too frightened to cry out. Quickly, he loosened +her, still holding his finger to his lips to enjoin silence. + +"Follow me," he whispered. + +She obeyed mechanically, and they went out into the hall. On down- +stairs went the naturalist, Elaine still keeping close after him. + +He looked out through the front door, then drew back. Quickly he +went through the lower hall until he came to the back door in the +kitchen, Elaine following. He unbolted the door and opened it. + +"Run," he said, simply, pointing out of the door. "They're coming +back the other way. I'll hold them." + +She needed no further urging, but darted from the house as he +closed the door after her. + + . . . . . . . + +It was just at this point that Del Mar came riding along the main +road on horseback. He pulled up suddenly as he saw a car run in +alongside the road. + +"That's Elaine's runabout," he muttered, as he dismounted and tied +his horse. "How came it here?" + +He approached the car, much worried by its unaccountable presence +there instead of before the St. Germain. Then he drew his gun and +hurried up the side road. + +He heard a shot and quickened his pace. In the woods unexpectedly +he came upon his three men still beating about, searching with +drawn revolvers for the person who had fired the shot. + +"Well?" he demanded sharply, "what's all this?" + +"Some one fired a shot," they explained, somewhat crestfallen. + +"It was a trick, you fools," he answered testily. "Get back to +your prisoner." + +Without a word they turned and hurried toward the house, Del Mar +following. "You two go in," he ordered the foremost. "I'll go +around the house with Patrick." + +As Del Mar and the other man ran around the corner, they could +just catch a fleeting glimpse on some one disappearing among the +trees. + +It was Elaine. + +The man hurried forward, blazing away with his gun. + +Running, breathless, Elaine heard the shot behind her which Del +Mar's man had fired in his eagerness. The bullet struck a tree +near her with a "ping!" She glanced back and saw the man. But she +did not stop. Instead, she redoubled her efforts, running zigzag +in among the trees where they were thickest. + +Del Mar, a little bit behind his man where she could not recognize +him, urged the man on, following carefully. + +On fled Elaine, her heart beating fast. Suddenly she stopped and +almost cried out in vexation. A stream blocked her retreat, a +stream, swift and deep. + +She looked back, terrified. Her pursuers were coming ahead fast +now in her direction. Wildly she gazed around. There was a canoe +on the bank. In an instant she jumped in, untied it, and seized +the paddle. Off she went, striking for the opposite shore. But the +current was racing swiftly, and she was already tired and +exhausted. She could scarcely make any headway at all in the +fierce eddies. But at least, she thought hurriedly, she was +getting further and further away from them down-stream. + +Up above, Del Mar and his man came to the edge of the water. There +they stood for a moment looking down. + +"There she is," pointed the man. + +Del Mar raised his revolver and fired. + +Suddenly a bullet struck Elaine's paddle and broke it. Clutching +the useless splintered shaft, she was now at the mercy of the +current, swept along like a piece of driftwood. + +She looked about frantically. What was that roaring noise? + +It was the waterfalls ahead! + + . . . . . . . + +In the meantime, Del Mar's other two men had entered the house and +had run up-stairs, knowing well his wrath if anything had +happened. As they did so, the naturalist poked his head cautiously +out of the kitchen where he had been hiding, and saw them. Then he +followed noiselessly, his revolver ready. + +Headlong they ran into the room where they had left Elaine. She +was gone! + +Before they could turn, the naturalist locked the door, turned and +took the steps down, two at a time. + +Then he ran out of the front door and into the woods at an angle +to the direction taken by Elaine, turning and going down hill, +where a rapid, swollen stream curved about through a gorge. As he +reached the stream, he heard a shot above, and a scream. + +He looked up. There was Elaine, swept down toward him. Below he +knew the stream tumbled over a tall cataract into the gorge below. + +What could he do? + +A sudden crackling of the twigs caused him to turn and catch sight +of me, just coming up. + +For, as best I could on horseback, I had followed Elaine's car +until at last I saw that it had been abandoned. Thoroughly +alarmed, I rode on, past a deserted house until suddenly I heard a +shot and a scream. It seemed to come from below me and I leaped +off my horse, making for it as fast as I could, racing toward a +stream whose roar I could hear. + +There on the bank I came upon a queer old codger, looking about +wildly. Was he the automobile thief? I ran forward, ready to seize +him. But as I did so, he whirled about and with a strength +remarkable in one so old seized my own wrist before I could get +his. + +"Look!" he cried simply, pointing up the stream. + +I did. A girl in a canoe was coming down toward the falls, +screaming, her paddle broken and useless. My heart leaped into my +mouth. It was Elaine! + +"Come," he panted eagerly to me. "I can save her. You must do just +as I say." + +He pointed to an overhanging rock near-by and we ran to it. + +By this time Elaine was almost upon us, each second getting nearer +the veritable maelstrom above the falls. + +From the rock overhung also a tree at the very edge of the water. + +There was nothing to do but obey him. Above, though we did not see +them, Del Mar and his man were gloating over the result of their +work. But they were gloating too soon. We came to the rock and the +tree. + +"Here," cried the new-found friend, "I'll get hold of the tree and +then hold you." + +Instantly he threw himself on his stomach, hooking his leg about +the tree trunk. I crawled out over the ledge of slippery rock to +the very edge and looked over. It was the only chance. + +The old naturalist seized my legs in his hands. I slid down the +rock, letting myself go. + +Literally, his presence of mind had invented what was really a +life chain, a human rope. + +On came the canoe, Elaine in it as white as death, crying out and +trying to stop or guide it as, nearer and nearer through the +smooth-worn walls of the chasm, it whirled to the falls. + +With a grip of steel, the naturalist held to the tree which swayed +and bent, while also he held me, as if in a vise, head down. + +On came Elaine--directly at us. + +She stood up and balanced herself, a dangerous feat in a canoe at +any time, but doubly so in those dark, swirling, treacherous +waters. + +"Steady!" I encouraged. "Grab my arms!" + +As the canoe reached us, she gave a little jump and seized my +forearms. Her hands slipped, but I grasped her own arms, and we +held each other. + +The momentum of her body was great. For an instant I thought we +were all going over. But the naturalist held his grip and slowly +began to pull himself and us up the slippery rock. + +A second later the canoe crashed over the falls in a cloud of +spray and pounding water. + +As we reached the bank above the rock, I almost lifted Elaine and +set her down, trembling and gasping for breath. Before either of +us knew it the queer old fellow had plunged into the bushes and +was gone without another word. + +"Walter," she cried, "call him back, I must tell him how much I +owe him--my life!" + +But he had disappeared, absolutely. We shouted after him. It was +of no use. + +"Well, what do you think of that?" cried Elaine. "He saved my +life--then didn't wait even to be thanked." + +Who was he? + +We looked at each other a moment. But neither of us spoke what was +in our hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE FLASH + + +Alone in the doorway before his rude shack on the shore of the +promontory sat an old fisherman, gazing out fixedly at the harbor +as though deeply concerned over the weather, which, as usual, was +unseasonable. + +Suddenly he started and would have disappeared into his hut but +for the fact that, although he could not himself be seen, he had +already seen the intruder. + +It was a trooper from Fort Dale. He galloped up and, as though +obeying to the letter his instructions, deliberately dropped an +envelope at the feet of the fisherman. Then, without a word, he +galloped away again. + +The fisherman picked up the envelope and opened it quickly. Inside +was a photograph and a note. He read: + + FORT DALE + PROFESSOR ARNOLD, + + J. Smith, clerk in the War Department, has disappeared. + We are not sure, but fear that he has a copy + of the new Sandy Hook Defense Plans. It is believed + he is headed your way. He walks with a slight limp. + Look out for him. + + LIEUTENANT WOODWARD. + +For a long time the fisherman appeared to study the face on the +photograph until he had it indelibly implanted in his memory, as +if by some system such as that of the immortal Bertillon and his +clever "portrait parle," or spoken picture, for scientific +identification and apprehension. It was not a pleasant face and +there were features that were not easily forgotten. + +Finally he turned and entered his hut. Hastily he took off his +stained reefer. From a wooden chest he drew another outfit of +clothes. The transformation was complete. When he issued forth +from his hut again, it was no longer the aged disciple of Izaac +Walton. He was now a trim chauffeur, bearded and goggled. + + . . . . . . . + +In the library of his bungalow, Del Mar was pacing up and down, +now and then scowling to himself, as though there flashed over his +mind stray recollections of how some of his most cherished plans +were miscarrying. + +Still, on the whole, he had nothing to complain of. For, a moment +later the valet entered with a telegram for which he had evidently +been waiting. Del Mar seized it eagerly and tore open the yellow +envelope. On the blank was printed in the usual way the following +non-committal message: + + WASHINGTON, D. C., + August 12, 1915. + +MR. DEL MAR, + +What you request is coming. Answer to sign of the +ring.--SMITH. + +"Good," muttered Del Mar as he finished reading. "Strange, what a +little gold will do--when you know how to dispose of it." + +He smiled cynically to himself at the sentiment. + + . . . . . . . + +At the little railroad station, they were quite proud of the fact +that at least two of the four hacks had been replaced already by +taxicabs. + +It was, then, with some surprise and not a little open jealousy +that they saw a new taxicab drive up and take its stand by the +platform. + +If the chauffeur, transformed from the lonely fisherman, had +expected a cordial reception, he might better have stayed before +his hut, for the glances the other drivers gave him were as black +and lowering as the clouds he had been looking at. + +The new chauffeur got off his seat. Instead of trying to brazen it +out, he walked over to the others who were standing in a group +waiting for the approaching train whose whistle had already +sounded. + +"I'm not going to locate here permanently," he said, pulling out a +roll of bills as he spoke. "Leave any fare I claim to me," he +added, passing a bill of a good denomination to each of the four +jehus. + +They looked at him curiously. But what business of theirs was it? +The money felt good. + +"All right, bo," they agreed. + +Thundering down the platform came the afternoon train, a great +event in the town life. + +As the baggage was being tossed off, the passengers alighted and +the five hackmen swarmed at them. + +"Keb, sir, kerridge. Taxi, lady!" + +From the Pullman alighted a widow, in deep mourning. As she got +off and moved down the platform, it was apparent that she walked +with a pronounced limp. + +At the end of the platform, the chauffeurs were still calling, +while the newcomer looked over the crowd hastily. Suddenly he +caught sight of the face of the widow. He stepped forward, as she +approached. The others held back as they had agreed and paid no +attention. It was like forcing a card. + +He held the door open and she entered the cab, unsuspecting. "Mr. +Del Mar's," she directed, simply. + +As the new taxicab driver cranked his engine and climbed into the +seat, he was careful to let no action of his, however small, +betray the intense satisfaction he felt at the working of his +scheme. + +He pulled away from the station. On through the pretty country +roads the chauffeur drove the heavily veiled widow until at last +they came to Del Mar's bungalow. + +At the gate he stopped and ran around to open the door to assist +his fare to alight. + +"Wait for me," she said, without paying him yet. "I shall not be +long and I want to be driven back to the station to catch the four +twenty-nine to New York." + +As she limped up the gravel walk, he watched her closely. She went +to the door and rang the bell, and the valet admitted her. + +Del Mar was still sitting, thinking, in the library. + +"Mr. Del Mar?" she inquired. + +The voice was not exactly soft, and Del Mar eyed her suspiciously. +Was this the person he expected, or a "plant?" + +"Yes," he answered, guardedly, "I am Mr. Del Mar. And you?" + +The widow, too, evidently wished to make no mistake. As she spoke, +she raised her hand. By that simple action she displayed a curious +and conspicuous seal ring on her finger. It was the sign of the +ring for which Del Mar had been waiting. + +He extended his own left hand. On the ring finger was another +ring, but not similar. As he did so, the widow took the ring from +her own finger and placed it on the little finger of Del Mar. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. + +Every action of the sign of the ring had been carried out. + +The woman raised her thick veil, disclosing the face of--a man! + +It was the same face, also, that had appeared in the photograph +sent to the old fisherman by Woodward. + +Awkwardly, the man searched in the front of his shirtwaist and +drew forth a paper which Del Mar almost seized in his eagerness. +It was a pen and ink copy of a Government map, showing a huge spit +of sand in the sea before a harbor, Sandy Hook and New York. On it +were indicated all the defenses, the positions of guns, +everything. + +Together, Del Mar and Smith bent over it, while the renegade clerk +explained each mark on the traitorous map. They were too occupied +to see a face flattened against the pane of a window near-by. + +The chauffeur had no intention of remaining inactive outside while +he knew that something that interested him was transpiring inside. +He had crept up by the side of the house to the window. But he +could see little and hear nothing. + +A moment he strained every sense. It was no use. He must devise +some other way. How could he get into that room? Slowly he +returned to his car, thinking it over. There he stood for a moment +revolving in his mind what to do. He looked up the road. An idea +came to him. There he saw a little runabout approaching rapidly. + +Quickly he went around to the front of his car and lifted up the +hood. Then he bent over and pretended to be tinkering with his +engine. + +As the car was about to pass he deliberately stepped back, +apparently not seeing the runabout, and was struck and knocked +down. + +The runabout stopped, the emergency brakes biting hard. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine had asked me to go shopping in the village with her that +afternoon. While I waited for her in her little car, she came down +at last, carrying a little handbag. We drove off a moment later. + +It was a delightful ride, not too warm, but sunny. Without +realizing it, we found ourselves on the road that led past Del +Mar's. + +As we approached, I saw that there was a taxicab standing in front +of the gate. The hood was lifted and the driver was apparently +tinkering with his engine. + +"Let's not stop," said Elaine, who had by this time a peculiar +aversion to the man. + +As we passed the driver, apparently not seeing us, stepped out +and, before we could turn out, we had knocked him down. We stopped +and ran back. + +There he lay on the road, seemingly unconscious. We lifted him up +and I looked toward Del Mar's house. + +"Help!" I shouted at the top of my voice. + +The valet came to the door. + +Hearing me, the valet ran out down the walk. "All right," he +cried. "I'll be there in a minute." + +With his help I picked up the taxicab chauffeur and we carried him +into the house. + +Del Mar was talking with a person who looked like a widow, when +they heard our approach up the walk carrying the injured man. + +So engrossed had they been in discerning what the stolen document +contained that, as we finally entered, the widow had only time to +drop her veil and conceal her identity as the renegade Smith. Del +Mar still held the plan in his hand. + +The valet and I entered with Elaine and we placed the chauffeur on +a couch near Del Mar's desk. I remember that there was this +strange woman all in black, heavily veiled, in the room at the +time. + +"I think we ought to telephone for a doctor," said Elaine placing +her hand-bag on the desk and excitedly telling Del Mar how we had +accidentally knocked the man down. + +"Call up my doctor, Henry," said Del Mar, hastily thrusting the +plan into a book lying on the desk. + +We gathered about the man, trying to revive him. + +"Have you a little stimulant?" I asked, turning from him. + +Del Mar moved toward a cellarette built into the wall. We were all +watching him, our backs to the chauffeur, when suddenly he must +have regained consciousness very much. Like a flash his hand shot +out. He seized the plan from between the leaves of the book. He +had not time to get away with it himself. Perhaps he might be +searched. He opened Elaine's bag, and thrust it in. + +The valet by this time had finished telephoning and spoke to Del +Mar. + +"The doctor will be here shortly, Miss Dodge," said Del Mar. "You +need not wait, if you don't care to. I'll take care of him." + +"Oh, thank you--ever so much," she murmured. "Of course it wasn't +our fault, but I feel sorry for the poor fellow. Tell the doctor +to send me the bill." + +She and Del Mar shook hands. I thought he held her hand perhaps a +little longer and a little tighter than usual. At any rate Elaine +seemed to think so. + +"Why, what a curious ring, Mr. Del Mar," she said, finally +releasing her own hand from his grasp. + +Then she looked quickly at the woman, half joking, as if the ring +had something to do with the strange woman. She looked back at the +ring. Del Mar smiled, shook his head and laughed easily. + +Then Elaine picked up her bag and we went out. A moment later we +climbed back into the car and were off again. + + . . . . . . . + +Having left us at the door, Del Mar hurried back to the library. +He went straight to the desk and picked up the book, eager now to +make sure of the safety of the plan. + +It was gone! + +"Did you, Smith--" he began hastily, then checked himself, knowing +that the clerk had not taken the plan. + +Del Mar walked over to the couch and stood a moment looking at the +chauffeur. "I wonder who he is," he said to himself. "I don't +recall ever seeing him at the station or in the village." + +He leaned over closer. "The deuce!" he exclaimed, "that's a fake +beard the fellow has on." + +Del Mar made a lunge for it. As he did so, the chauffeur leaped to +his feet and drew a gun. "Hands up!" he shouted. "And the first +man that moves is a dead one!" + +Before the secret agent knew it, both he and Smith were covered. +The chauffeur took a step toward Smith and unceremoniously jerked +off the widow's weeds, as well as the wig. + +At that very moment one of Del Mar's men came up to the secret +panel that opened from the underground passageway into his +library. He was about to open it when he heard a sound on the +other side that startled him. He listened a moment, then slid it +just a short distance and looked in. + +There he saw a chauffeur holding up Del Mar and Smith. Having +pulled the disguise from Smith, he went next around Del Mar and +took his gun from his pocket, then passed his hands over the folds +of Smith's dress, but found no weapon. He stepped back away from +them. + +At that point the man quietly slid the panel all the way open and +silently stepped into the room, behind the chauffeur. Cautiously +he began sneaking up on him. + +As he did so, Del Mar and Smith watched, fascinated. Somehow their +faces must have betrayed that something was wrong. For, as the +newcomer leaped at him, the chauffeur turned suddenly and fired. +The shot wounded the man. + +It was a signal for a free-for-all fight. Del Mar and Smith leaped +at the intruder. Over and over they rolled, breaking furniture, +overturning and smashing bric-a-brac. + +Del Mar's revolver was knocked out of the chauffeur's hand. With a +blow of a chair, the chauffeur laid out Smith, entangled in his +unfamiliar garments, shook himself loose from the two others, and +made a rush at the door. + +Del Mar paused only long enough to pick up the revolver from the +floor. Instantly he fired at the retreating form. But the +chauffeur had passed out and banged shut the door. Down the walk +he sped and out to the gate, into his car, the engine of which he +had left running. + +Hard after him came Del Mar and the rest, joined now by Henry, the +valet. One shot was left in the chauffeur's revolver and he blazed +away as he leaped into the car. + +"He's got me," groaned Smith as he stumbled and fell forward. + +On kept Del Mar and the others. They caught up with the car just +as it was starting. But the chauffeur knocked the gun from Del +Mar's hand before he could get a good aim and fire, at the same +time bowling over the man who had come through the panel. + +Off the car went, now rapidly gaining speed. Del Mar had just time +to swing on the rear of it. + +Around the rapidly-driven car, he climbed, hanging on for dear +life, over the mud-guard and toward the running-board. On sped the +car, swaying crazily back and forth, Del Mar crouched on the +running-board and working his way slowly and perilously to the +front seat. + +The chauffeur felt the weight of some one on that side. Just as he +turned to see what it was, Del Mar leaped at him. Still holding +the wheel, the chauffeur fought him off with his free hand, Del +Mar holding on to some spare tires with one hand, also. +Handicapped by having the steering-wheel to manage, nevertheless +the chauffeur seemed quite well able to give a good account of +himself. + + . . . . . . . + +Somehow, Elaine and I must have been hoodooed that day. + +We had not been gone five minutes from Del Mar's after the +accident to the chauffeur, when we heard a mysterious knock in the +engine. + +"More engine trouble," I sighed. "Pull up along the road and I'll +see if I can fix it." + +We stopped and both got out. There was no fake about this trouble +or about the dirt and grease I acquired on my hands and face, +tinkering with that motor. For, regardless of my immaculate +flannels, I had to set to work. A huge spot of grease spattered on +me. Elaine laughed outright. + +"Here, let me powder your nose, Walter," she cried undismayed at +our trouble, gayly opening her bag. "Well--of all things--what's +this, and where did it come from?" + +I turned from the engine and looked. She was holding some kind of +plan or document in her hand. In blank surprise she examined it. +It looked like a fort or a series of forts. But I was sure at a +glance that it was not Fort Dale. + +"What do you think it is, Walter?" she asked, handing it to me. + +I took it and examined it carefully. Incredible as it seemed, I +figured out quickly that it must be nothing short of a plan of the +new defenses at Sandy Hook. + +"I don't know what it all means," I said. "But I do know that we +won't get any dinner till I get this engine running again." + +I fell to work again, eager to get away with our dangerous prize, +Elaine now and then advising me. Finally I turned the engine over. +For a wonder it ran smoothly. "Well, that's all right, at last," I +sighed, wiping the grease off my hands on a piece of waste. + +"What's the matter now?" exclaimed Elaine, turning quickly and +looking up the road along which we had just come. + +There, lurching along at full speed was a car. Two men were +actually fighting on the front of it regardless of speed and +safety. As it neared us, I saw it was the taxicab that had been +standing before Del Mar's. I looked closer at it. To my utter +amazement, who should be driving it but the very chauffeur whom we +had left at Del Mar's only a few minutes before, apparently +unconscious. He could not have been hurt very badly, for he was +not only able to drive but was fighting off a man clinging on the +running-board. + +On rushed the car, directly at us. Just as it passed us, the +chauffeur seemed to summon all his strength. He struck a powerful +blow at the man, recoiled and straightened out his car just in +time. The man fell, literally at our feet. + +It was Del Mar himself! + +On sped the taxicab. Bruised though he must have been by the fall, +Del Mar nevertheless raised himself by the elbow and fired every +chamber of his revolver as fast as he could pump the bullets. + +I must say that I admired the man's pluck. Elaine and I hurried +over to him. I still had in my hand the queer paper which she had +found so strangely in her hand-bag. + +"Why, what's all this about?" I asked eagerly. + +Before I could raise him up, Del Mar had regained his feet. + +"Just a plain crook, who attacked me," he muttered, brushing off +his clothes to cover up the quick recognition of what it was that +I was holding in my hand, for he had seen the plan immediately. + +"Can't we drive you back?" asked Elaine, quite forgetting our +fears of Del Mar in the ugly predicament in which he just had +been. "We've had trouble but I guess we can get you back." + +"Thank you," he said, forcing a smile. "I think anything would be +an improvement on my ride here and I'm sure you can do more than +you claim." + +He climbed up and sat on the floor of the roadster, his feet +outside, and we drove off. At last we pulled up at Dodge Hall +again. + +"Won't you come in?" asked Elaine as we got out. + +"Thank you, I believe I will for a few minutes," consented Del +Mar, concealing his real eagerness to follow me. "I'm all shaken +up." + +As we entered the living-room, I was thinking about the map. I +opened a table drawer, hastily took the plan from my pocket and +locked it in the drawer. Elaine, meanwhile, was standing with Del +Mar who was talking, but in reality watching me closely. + +A smile of satisfaction seemed to flit over his face as he saw +what I had done and now knew where the paper was. + +I turned to him. "How are you now?" I asked. + +"Oh, I'm much better--all right," he answered. Then he looked at +his watch. "I've a very important appointment. If you'll excuse +me, I'll walk over to my place. Thank you again, Miss Dodge, ever +so kindly." + +He bowed low and was gone. + + . . . . . . . + +Down the road past where we had turned, before a pretty little +shingle house, the taxicab chauffeur stopped. One of the bullets +had taken effect on him and his shoulder was bleeding. But the +worst, as he seemed to think it, was that another shot had given +him a flat tire. + +He jumped out and looked up the road whence he had come. No one +was following. Still, he was worried. He went around to look at +the tire. But he was too weak now from loss of blood. It had been +nerve and reserve force that had carried him through. Now that the +strain was off, he felt the reaction to the full. + +Just then the doctor and his driver, whom the valet had already +summoned to Del Mar's, came speeding down the road. The doctor saw +the chauffeur fall in a half faint, stopped his car and ran to +him. The chauffeur had kept up as long as he could. He had now +sunk down beside his machine in the road. + +A moment later they picked him up and carried him into the house. +There was no acting about his hurts now. In the house they laid +the man down on a couch and the doctor made a hasty examination. + +"How is he?" asked one of the kind Samaritans. + +"The wound is not dangerous," replied the physician, "but he's +lost a lot of blood. He cannot be moved for some time yet." + + . . . . . . . + +We talked about nothing else at Dodge Hall after dressing for +dinner but the strange events over at Del Mar's and what had +followed. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me +that we would never be left over night in peaceful possession of +the plan which both Elaine and I decided ought on the following +day to be sent to Washington. + +Accordingly I cudgelled my brain for some method of protecting +both ourselves and it. The only thing I could think of was a +scheme once adopted by Kennedy in another case. How I longed for +him. But I had to do my best alone. + +I had a small quick shutter camera that had belonged to Craig and +just as we were about to retire, I brought it into the living-room +with a package I had had sent up from the village. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Elaine curiously. + +I assumed an air of mystery but did not say, for I was not sure +but that even now some one was eavesdropping. It was not late, but +the country air made us all sleepy and Aunt Josephine, looking at +the clock, soon announced that she was going to retire. + +She had no sooner said good-night than Elaine began again to +question me. But I had determined not to tell her what I was +doing, for if my imitation of Kennedy failed, I knew that she +would laugh at me. + +"Oh, very well," she said finally in pique, "then, if you're going +to be so secret about it, you can sit up alone--there!" + +She flounced off to bed. Sure as I could be at last that I was +alone, I opened the package. There were the tools that I had +ordered, a coil of wire and some dry cells. Then I went to the +table, unlocked the drawer and put the plan in my pocket. I had +determined that whether the idea worked or not, no one was to get +the plan except by overcoming me. + +Although I was no expert at wiring, I started to make the +connections under the table with the drawer, not a very difficult +thing to do as long as it was to be only temporary and for the +night. From the table I ran the wires along the edge of the carpet +until I came to the book-case. There, masked by the books, I +placed the little quick shutter camera, and at a distance also +concealed the flash-light pan. + +Next I aimed the camera carefully and focussed it on a point above +the drawer on the writing-table where any one would be likely to +stand if he attempted to open it. Then I connected the shutter of +the camera and a little spark coil in the flash-pan with the +wires, using an apparatus to work the shutter such as I recalled +having seen Craig use. Finally I covered the sparking device with +the flash-light powder, gave a last look about and snapped off the +light. + +Up in my bedroom, I must say I felt like "some" detective and I +could not help slapping myself on the chest for the ingenuity with +which I had duplicated Craig. + +Then I lay down on the bed with my clothes on and picked up a +book, determined to keep awake to see if anything happened. It was +a good book, but I was tired and in spite of myself I nodded over +it, and then dropped it. + + . . . . . . . + +In his bungalow, now that Smith had gone back again to New York +and Washington, Del Mar was preparing to keep the important +engagement he had told us about, another of his nefarious +nocturnal expeditions. + +He drew a cap on his head, well over his ears and forehead. His +eyes and face he concealed as well as he could with a mask to be +put on later. To his equipment he added a gun. Then with a hasty +word or two to his valet, he went out. + +By back ways so that even in the glare of automobile headlights he +would not be recognized, he made his way to Dodge Hall. As he saw +the house looming up in the moonlight he put on his mask and +approached cautiously. Gaining the house, he opened a window, +noiselessly turning the catch as deftly as a house-breaker, and +climbed into the living-room. + +A moment he looked around, then tiptoed over to the table. He +looked at it to be sure that it was the right one and the right +drawer. Then he bent down to force the drawer open. + +"Pouf!" a blinding flash came and a little metallic click of the +shutter, followed by a cloud of smoke. + +As quick as it happened, there went through Del Mar's head, the +explanation. It was a concealed camera. He sprang back, clapping +his hands over his face. Out of range for a moment, he stood +gazing about the room, trying to locate the thing. + +Suddenly he heard footsteps. He dived through the window that he +had opened, just as some one ran in and switched on the lights. + + . . . . . . . + +Half asleep, I heard a muffled explosion, as if of a flash-light. +I started up and listened. Surely some one was moving about down- +stairs. I pulled my gun from my pocket and ran out of the room. +Down the steps I flung myself, two at a time. + +In the living-room, I switched on the lights in time to see some +one disappear through an open window. I ran to the window and +looked out. There was a man, half doubled up, running around the +side of the house and into a clump of bushes, then apparently +lost. I shot out of the window and called. + +My only answer was an imprecation and return volley that shattered +the glass above my head. I ducked hastily and fell flat on the +floor, for in the light streaming out, I must have been a good +mark. + +I was not the only one who heard the noise. The shots quickly +awakened Elaine and she leaped out of bed and put on her kimono. +Then she lighted the lights and ran down-stairs. + +The intruder had disappeared by this time and I had got up and was +peering out of the window as she came breathlessly into the +living-room. + +"What's the matter, Walter?" she asked. + +"Some one broke into the house after those plans," I replied. "He +escaped, but I got his picture, I think, by this device of +Kennedy's. Let's go into a dark room and develop it." + +There was no use trying to follow the man further. To Elaine's +inquiry of what I meant, I replied by merely going over to the +spot where I had hidden the camera and disconnecting it. + +We went up-stairs where I had rigged up an impromptu dark room for +my amateur photographic work some days before. Elaine watched me +closely. At last I found that I had developed something. As I drew +the film through the hypo tray and picked it up, I held it to the +red light. + +Elaine leaned over and looked at the film with me. There was a +picture of a masked man, his cap down, in a startled attitude, his +hands clapped to his face, completely hiding what the mask and cap +did not hide. + +"Well, I'll be blowed!" I cried in chagrin at the outcome of what +I thought had been my cleverest coup. + +A little exclamation of astonishment escaped Elaine. I turned to +her. "What is it?" I asked. + +"The ring!" she cried. + +I looked again more closely. On the little finger of the left hand +was a peculiar ring. Once seen, I think it was not readily +forgotten. "The ring!" she repeated excitedly. "Don't you +remember--that ring? I saw it on Mr. Del Mar's hand--at his house- +-this afternoon!" + +I could only stare. + +At last we had a real clue! + +In his bungalow, Del Mar at that moment threw down his hat and +tore off his mask furiously. + +What had he done? + +For a long time he sat there, his chin on his hand, gazing fixedly +before him, planning to protect himself and revenge. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE DISAPPEARING HELMETS + + +It was early the following morning that, very excited, Elaine and +I showed Aunt Josephine the photograph which we had snapped and +developed by using Kennedy's trick method. + +"But who is it?" asked Aunt Josephine examining the print +carefully and seeing nothing but a face masked and with a pair of +hands before it, a seal ring on the little finger of one hand. + +"Oh, I forgot that you hadn't seen the ring before," explained +Elaine. "Why, we knew him at once, in spite of everything, by that +seal ring--Mr. Del Mar!" + +"Mr. Del Mar?" repeated Aunt Josephine, looking from one to the +other of us, incredulous. + +"I saw the ring at his own bungalow and on his own finger," +reiterated Elaine positively. + +But what are you going to do, now?" asked Aunt Josephine. + +"Have him arrested, of course," Elaine replied. + +Still talking over the strange experience of the night before, we +went out on the veranda. + +"Well, of all the nerve!" exclaimed Elaine, catching sight of a +man coming up the gravel walk. "If that isn't Henry, Mr. Del Mar's +valet!" + +The valet advanced as though nothing had happened and, indeed, I +suppose that as far as he knew nothing had happened or was known +to us. He bowed and handed Elaine a note which she tore open +quickly and read. + +"Would you go?" she asked, handing the note over to me. + +It read: + +DEAR MISS DODGE, + +If you and Mr. Jameson will call on me to-day, I will have +something of interest to tell you concerning my investigations in +the case of the disappearance of Craig Kennedy. + +Sincerely, + +M. DEL MAR. + +"Yes," I asserted, "I would go." + +"Tell Mr. Del Mar we shall see him as soon as possible," nodded +Elaine to the valet who bowed and left quickly. + +"What is it?" inquired Aunt Josephine, rejoining us. + +"A note from Mr. Del Mar," replied Elaine showing it to her. + +"Well," queried Aunt Josephine, "what are you going to do?" + +"We're going, of course," cried Elaine. + +"You're not," blurted out Aunt Josephine. "Why, just think. He's +sure to do something." + +But Elaine and I had made up our minds. + +"I know it," I interjected. "He's sure to try something that will +show his hand--and then I've got him." + +Perhaps I threw out my chest a little more than was necessary, but +then I figured that Elaine with her usual intuition had for once +agreed with me and that it must be all right. I drew my gun and +twirled the cylinder about as I spoke. Indeed I felt, since the +success of the snapshot episode, that I was a match for several +Del Mar's. + +"Yes, Walter is right," agreed Elaine. + +Aunt Josephine continued to shake her head sagely in protest. But +Elaine waved all her protestations aside and ran into the house to +get ready for the visit. + +Half an hour later, two saddle horses were brought around to the +front of Dodge Hall and Elaine and I sallied forth. + +Aunt Josephine was still protesting against our going to Del +Mar's, but we had made up our minds to carry the thing through. +"You know," she insisted, "that Mr. Kennedy is not around to +protect you two children. Something will surely happen to you if +you don't keep out of this affair." + +"Oh, Auntie," laughed Elaine, a bit nervously, however, "don't be +a kill-joy. Suppose Craig isn't about? Who's going to do this, if +Walter and I don't?" + +In spite of all, we mounted and rode away. + + . . . . . . . + +Del Mar, still continuing his nefarious work of mining American +harbors and bridges, had arrived at a scheme as soon as he +returned from the attempt to get back from us the Sandy Hook +plans. Smith, who had stolen the plans from the War Department, +was still at the bungalow. + +Early in the morning, Del Mar had seated himself at his desk and +wrote a letter. + +"Here, Henry," he directed his valet, "take this to Miss Dodge." + +As the valet went out, he wrote another note. "Read that," he +said, handing it over to Smith. "It's a message I want you to take +to headquarters right away." + +It was worded cryptically: + +A. A. L. N. Y. + Closely watched. Must act soon or all will be discovered.--M. + +Smith read the note, nodded, and put it into his pocket, as he +started to the door. + +"No, no," shouted Del Mar, calling him back. "This thing means +that you'll have to be careful in your getaway. You'd better go +out through my secret passage," he added, pointing to the panel in +the library wall. + +He pressed the button on the desk and Smith left through the +hidden passage. Down it he groped and at the other end emerged. +Seeing no one around, he made his way to the road. There seemed to +be no one who looked at all suspicious on the road, either, and +Smith congratulated himself on his easy escape. + +On a bridge over a creek, however, as Smith approached, was one +inoffensive-looking person who might have been a minister or a +professor. He was leaning on the rail in deep thought, gazing at +the creek that ran beneath him, and now and then flashing a sharp +glance about. + +Suddenly he saw something approaching. Instantly he dodged to the +farther end of the bridge and took refuge behind a tree. Smith +walked on over the bridge, oblivious to the fact that he was +watched. No sooner had he disappeared than the inquisitive +stranger emerged again from behind the tree. + +It was the mysterious Professor Arnold who many times had shown a +peculiar interest in the welfare of Elaine and myself. + +Evidently he had recognized Del Mar's messenger, for after +watching him a moment he turned and followed. + +At the railroad station, just before the train for New York pulled +in, the waiting crowd was increased by one stranger. Smith had +come in and taken his place unostentatiously among them. + +But if he thought he was to be lost in the little crowd, he was +much mistaken. Arnold had followed, but not so quickly that he had +not had time to pick up the two policemen that the town boasted, +both of whom were down at the station at the time. + +"There he is," indicated Arnold, "the fellow with the slight limp. +Bring him to my room in the St. Germain Hotel." + +"All right, sir," replied the officers, edging their way to the +platform as Arnold retreated back of the station and disappeared +up the street. + +Just then the train pulled into the station and the passengers +crowded forward to mount the steps. Smith was just about to push +his way on with them, when the officers elbowed through the crowd. + +"You're wanted," hissed one of them, seizing his shoulder. + +But Smith, in spite of his deformity, was not one to submit to +arrest without a struggle. He fought them off and broke away, +running toward the baggage-room. + +As he rushed in, they followed. One of them was gaining on him and +took a flying football tackle. The other almost fell over the +twisted mass of arms and legs. The struggle now was short and +sharp and ended in the officers slipping the bracelets over the +wrists of Smith. While the passengers and bystanders crowded about +to watch the excitement, they led him off quickly. + + . . . . . . . + +In his rooms at the St. Germain, cluttered with test tubes and +other paraphernalia which indicated his scientific tendencies, +Professor Arnold entered and threw off his hat, lighting a +cigarette and waiting impatiently. + +He had not as long to wait as he had expected. A knock sounded at +the door and he opened it. There was Smith handcuffed and forced +in by the two policemen. + +"Good work," commended Arnold, at once setting to work to search +the prisoner who fumed but could not resist. + +"What have we here?" drawled Arnold in mock courtesy and surprise +as he found and drew forth from Smith's pocket a bundle of papers, +which he hastily ran through. + +"Ah!" he muttered, coming to Del Mar's note, which he opened and +read. "What's this? 'A. A. L. N. Y. Closely watched. Must act soon +or all will be discovered. M.' Now, what's all that?" + +Arnold pondered the text deeply. "You may take him away, now," he +concluded, glancing up from the note to the officers. "Thank you." + +"All right, sir," they returned, prodding Smith along out. + +Still studying the note, Arnold sat down at the desk. Thoughtfully +he picked up a pencil. Under the letters A. A. L. he slowly wrote +"Anti-American League" and under the initial M the name, "Martin." + +"Now is the time, if ever, to use that new telaphotograph +instrument which I have installed for the War Department in +Washington and carry around with me," he said to himself, rising +and going to a closet. + +He took out a large instrument composed of innumerable coils and a +queer battery of selenium cells. It was the receiver of the new +instrument by which a photograph could be sent over a telegraph +wire. + +Down-stairs, in the telegraph room of the hotel, Arnold secured +the services of one of the operators. Evidently by the way they +obeyed him they had received orders from the company regarding +him, and knew him well there. + +"I wish you'd send this message right away to Washington," he +said, handing in a blank he had already written. + +The clerk checked it over: + + U. S. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C. + + Wire me immediately photograph and personal history + of Martin arrested two years ago as head of Anti- + American League.--ARNOLD. + +As the message was ticked off, Arnold attached his receiving +telaphotograph instrument to another wire. + +It was a matter scarcely of seconds before a message was flashed +back to Arnold from Washington: + + Martin escaped from Fort Leavenworth six months + ago. Thought to be in Europe. Photograph follows. + + EDWARDS. + +"Very well," nodded Arnold with satisfaction. "I think I know what +is going on here now. Let us wait for the photograph." + +He went over to the new selenium telaphotograph and began +adjusting it. + +Far away, in Washington, in a room in the War Department where +Arnold had already installed his system for the secret government +service, a clerk was also working over the sending part of the +apparatus. + +No sooner had the clerk finished his preparations and placed a +photograph in the transmitter than the buzzing of the receiver +which Arnold had installed announced to him that the marvellous +transmission of a picture over a wire, one of the very newest +triumphs of science, was in progress. In the little telegraph +office of the St. Germain, the clerks and operators crowded about +Arnold, watching breathlessly. + +"By Jove, it works!" cried one, no longer sceptical. + +Slowly a print was being evolved before their eyes as if by a +spirit hand. Arnold watched the synchronizer apparatus carefully +as, point after point, the picture developed. He bent over +closely, his attention devoted to every part of the complicated +apparatus. + +At last the transmission of the photograph was completed and the +machine came to rest. Arnold almost tore the print from the +receiver and held it up to examine it. + +A smile of intense satisfaction crossed his face. + +"At last!" he muttered. + +There was a photograph of the man who had been identified with the +arch conspirators of two years before, Martin. Only, now he had +changed his name and appeared in a new role. + +It was Marcus Del Mar! + + . . . . . . . + +Already, in the library of his bungalow, Del Mar had summoned one +of his trusted men and was talking to him, when Henry, the valet, +reentered after his trip to see us. + +"They're coming as soon as they can," he reported. + +Del Mar smiled a cynical smile. "Good," he exclaimed triumphantly, +then, looking about at the electric fixtures, added to the man, +"Let us see where to install the thing." + +He walked over to the door and put his hand on the knob, then +pointed back at the fixtures. + +"That's the idea," he cried. "You can run the line from the +brackets to this door-knob and the mat. How's that?" + +"Very clever," flattered the man, putting on a heavy pair of +rubber gloves. + +Taking a pair of pliers and other tools from a closet in the +library, he began removing the electric fixture from the wall. As +Del Mar directed, the man ran a wire from the fixture along the +moulding, and down the side of a door, where he made a connection. + +In the meantime Del Mar brought out a wire mat and laid it in +front of the door where any one who entered or left would be sure +to step on it. The various connections made, the man placed a +switch in the concealment of a heavily-curtained window and +replaced everything as he found it. + +Thus it was that Elaine and I came at last to Del Mar's bungalow, +I must admit, with some misgivings. But I had gone too far to draw +back now and Elaine was more eager even than I was. We dismounted, +tethered our horses and went toward the house, where I rang the +bell. + +Preparations for our reception had just been completed and Del Mar +was issuing his final instructions to his man, when the valet, +Henry, ran in hastily. + +"They're here, sir, now," he announced excitedly. + +"All right, I'm ready," nodded Del Mar, turning to his man again +and indicating a place back of the folds of the heavy curtains by +the window. "You get back there by that switch. Don't move--don't +even breathe. Now, Henry, let them in." + +As his valet withdrew Del Mar gazed about his library to make sure +that everything was all right. Just then the valet reappeared and +ushered us in. + +"Good morning," greeted Del Mar pleasantly. "I see that you got my +note and I'm glad you were so prompt. Won't you be seated?" + +Both Elaine and I were endeavoring to appear at ease. But there +was a decided tension in the atmosphere. We sat down, however. Del +Mar did not seem to notice anything wrong. + +"I've something at last to report to you about Kennedy," he said a +moment later, clearing his throat. + + . . . . . . . + +Aunt Josephine turned from us as Elaine and I rode off on our +horses from Dodge Hall considerably worried. + +Then an idea seemed to occur to her and she walked determinedly +into the house. + +"Jennings," she called to the butler, "have the limousine brought +around from the garage immediately." + +"Yes, ma'am," acquiesced the faithful Jennings, hurrying out. + +It was only a few minutes later that the car pulled around before +the door. Aunt Josephine bustled out and entered. + +"Fort Dale," she directed the driver, greatly agitated. "Ask for +Lieutenant Woodward." + +Out at Fort Dale, Woodward was much astonished when an orderly +announced that Aunt Josephine was waiting in her car to see him on +very urgent business. He ordered that she be admitted at once. + +"I hope there's nothing wrong?" he inquired anxiously, as he noted +the excitement and the worried look on her face. + +"I--I'm afraid there may be," she replied, sitting down and +explaining what Elaine and I had just done. + +The Lieutenant listened gravely. + +"And," she concluded, "they wouldn't listen to me, Lieutenant. +Can't you follow them and keep them out of trouble?" + +Woodward who had been listening to her attentively jumped up as +she concluded. "Yes," he cried sympathetically, "I can. I'll go +myself with some of the men from the post. If they get into any +scrape, I'll rescue them." + +Almost before she could thank him, Woodward had hurried from his +office, followed by her. On the parade grounds were some men. +Quickly he issued his orders and a number of them sprang up as he +detailed them off for the duty. It was only a moment before they +returned, armed. An instant later three large touring cars from +the Fort swept up before the office of Woodward. Into them the +armed men piled. + +"Hurry--to the Del Mar bungalow," ordered the Lieutenant, jumping +up with the driver of the first car. "We must see that nothing +happens to Miss Dodge and Mr. Jameson." + +They shot away in a cloud of dust, followed hard by the other two +cars, dashing at a breakneck speed over the good roads. + +In the narrow, wooded roadway near Del Mar's, Woodward halted his +car and the soldiers all jumped out and gathered about him as +hastily he issued his directions. + +"Surround the house, first," he ordered. "Then arrest any one who +goes in or out." + +They scattered, forming a wide circle. As soon as word was passed +that the circle was completed, they advanced cautiously at a +signal from Woodward, taking advantage of every concealment. + + . . . . . . . + +Around in the kitchen back of Del Mar's, Henry, the valet, had +retired to visit one of the maids. He was about to leave when he +happened to look out of the window. + +"What's that?" he muttered to himself. + +He stepped back and peered cautiously through the window again. +There he could see a soldier, moving stealthily behind a bush. + +He drew back further and thought a minute. He must not alarm us. + +Then he wrote a few words on a piece of paper and tore it so that +he could hold it in his palm. Next he hurried from the kitchen and +entered the study. + +Del Mar had scarcely begun to outline to us a long and +circumstantial pseudo-investigation into what he was pleased to +hint had been the death of Kennedy, when we were interrupted again +by the entrance of his valet. + +"Excuse me, sir," apologized Henry, as Del Mar frowned, then noted +that something was wrong. + +As the valet said the words, he managed surreptitiously to hand to +Del Mar the paper which he had written, now folded up into a very +small space. + +I had turned from Del Mar when the valet entered, apparently to +speak to Elaine, but in reality to throw them off their guard. + +Under that cover I was able to watch the precious pair from the +tail of my eye, I saw Del Mar nod to the valet as though he +understood that some warning was about to be conveyed. Although +nothing was said, Del Mar was indicating by dumb show orders of +some kind. I had no idea what it was all about but I stood ready +to whip out my gun on the slightest suspicious move from either. + +"I hope you'll pardon me, Miss Dodge," Del Mar deprecated, as the +valet retreated toward the door to the kitchen and pantry. "But, +you see, I have to be housekeeper here, too, it seems." + +Actually, though he was talking to us, it was in a way that +enabled him by palming something in his hand, I fancied, to look +at it. It was, though I did not know it, the hastily scrawled +warning of the valet. + +It must have been hard to read, for I managed by a quick shift at +last to catch just a fleeting glimpse that it was a piece of paper +he held in his hand. What was it, I asked myself, that he should +be so secret about it? Clearly, I reasoned, it must be something +that was of interest to Elaine and myself. If I must act ever, I +concluded, now was the time to do so. + +Suddenly I reached out and snatched the note from his hand. But +before I could read it Del Mar had sprung to his feet. + +At the same instant a man leaped out from behind the curtains. + +But I was on my guard. Already I had drawn my revolver and had +them all covered before they could make another move. + +"Back into that corner--by the window--all of you," I ordered, +thinking thus to get them together, more easily covered. Then, +handing the note, with my other hand, to Elaine, I said to her, +"See what it says--quick." + +Eagerly she took it and read aloud, "House surrounded by +soldiers." + +"Woodward," I cried. + +Still keeping them covered, I smiled quietly to myself and took +one step after another slowly to the door. Elaine followed. + +I reached the door and I remember that I had to step on a metal +mat to do so. I put my hand behind me and grasped the knob about +to open the door. + +As I did so, the man who had jumped from behind the curtain +suddenly threw down his upraised hands. Before I could fire, +instantaneously in fact, I felt a thrill as though a million +needles had been thrust into all parts of my body at once +paralyzing every muscle and nerve. The gun fell from my nerveless +hand, clattering to the floor. + +The man had thrown an electric switch which had completed a +circuit from the metal mat to the door-knob through my body and +then to the light and power current of high power. There I was, +held a prisoner, by the electric current! + +At the same instant, also, Del Mar with an oath leaped forward and +seized Elaine by the arms. I struggled with the door-knob but I +could no more let go than I could move my feet off that mat. It +was torture. + +"Henry!" called Del Mar to the valet. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Open the cabinet. Give me the helmets and the suits." + +The valet did so, bringing out a number of queer looking head- +pieces with a single weird eye of glass in the front, as well as +rubber suits of an outlandish design. While he was doing so, Del +Mar stuffed a handkerchief into Elaine's mouth to keep her quiet. + +By this time, Del Mar, as well as the man from behind the curtains +and the valet were provided with suits, and one at a time holding +Elaine, the others put them on. + +Del Mar moved toward Elaine, holding an extra helmet. He strapped +it on her, then started to force her into a suit. + +I struggled still, but in vain, to free myself from the door-knob +and mat. It was more than I could stand, and I sank down, half +conscious. + +I revived only long enough to see that Del Mar had forced one of +the suits on Elaine finally. Then he pressed a button hidden on +the side of his desk and a secret panel in the wall opened. +Picking up Elaine he and the others hurried through into what +looked like a dark passage and the panel closed. + +They were gone. I put forth all my remaining strength in one last +desperate struggle. Somehow, I managed to kick the wire mat from +under my feet, breaking the contact. + +I staggered toward the panel, but fell to the floor, unconscious. + + . . . . . . . + +Outside, the iron ring, as Woodward had planned it, of soldiers +were looking about, alert for any noise or movement. Suddenly, two +of them who had been watching the grounds attentively signalled to +each other that they saw something. + +From the shrubbery emerged a most curious and uncouth figure, all +in rags, with long, unkempt hair and beard, sallow complexion, and +carrying a long staff. It might have been a tramp or a hermit, +perhaps, who was making his way toward the house. + +The two soldiers stole up noiselessly, close to him. Almost before +he knew it, the hermit felt himself seized from behind by four +powerful arms. Escape was impossible. + +"Let me go," he pleaded. "Can't you see I'm harming no one?" + +But the captors were obdurate. "Tell it to the Lieutenant," they +rejoined grimly forcing him to go before them by twisting his +arms, "Our orders were to seize any one entering or leaving." + +Protests were in vain. The hermit was forced to go before +Lieutenant Woodward who was just in the rear directing the +advance. + +"Well," demanded Woodward, "what's your business?" + +For an instant the hermit stood mute. What should he do? He has +reason to know that the situation must be urgent. + +Slowly he raised his beard so that Woodward could see not only +that it was false but what his features looked like. + +"Arnold!" gasped Woodward, startled. "What brings you here? Elaine +and Jameson are in the house. We have it surrounded." + +Half an hour before, in the St. Germain, Arnold had no sooner +received the telaphotograph than he hurried up to his room. From a +closet he had produced another of his numerous disguises and +quickly put it on. With scant white locks falling over his +shoulders and long scraggly beard, he had made himself into a +veritable wild man. Then he had put on the finishing touches and +had made his way toward Del Mar's. + +A look of intense anxiety now flashed over Arnold's face as he +heard Woodward's words. + +"But," he cried, "there is an underground passage from the house +to the shore." + +"The deuce!" muttered Woodward, more alarmed now than ever. "Come, +men,--to the house," he shouted out his orders as they passed them +around the line. "Arnold, lead the way!" + +Together the soldier and the strange figure rushed to the front +door of the bungalow. All was still inside. Heavy as it was, they +broke it down and burst in. + +"Walter, there's Walter!" cried Woodward as he saw me lying on the +floor of the study when they ran in. + +They hurried to me and as quickly as they could started to bring +me around. + +"Where's Elaine?" asked the strange figure of the hermit. + +Weakly, I was able only to point to the panel. But it was enough. +The soldiers understood. They dashed for it, looking for a button +or an opening. Finding neither, they started to bang on it and +batter it in with the butts of their guns. + +It was only seconds before it was splintered to kindling. There +was the passage. Instantly, Woodward, the hermit, and the rest +plunged into it utterly regardless of danger. On through the +tunnel they went until at last they came, unmolested, to the end. +There they paused to look about. + +The hermit pointed to the ground. Clearly there were footprints, +leading to the shore. They followed them on down to the beach. + +"Look!" pointed the hermit. + +Off in the water they could now see the most curious sights. Four +strangely helmeted creatures were wading out, each like a huge +octopus-head, without tenacles. + +Only a few seconds before, Del Mar and his companions, carrying +Elaine had emerged from the secret entrance of the tunnel and had +dashed for the shore of the promontory. + +Stopping only an instant to consider what was to be done, Del Mar +had seen some one else emerge from the tunnel. + +"Come--we must get down there quickly," he shouted, hurriedly +issuing orders, as all three, carrying Elaine, waded out into the +water. + +At sight of the strange figures the soldiers raised their guns and +a volley of shot rang out. + +"Stop!" shouted the hermit, his hair streaming wildly as he ran +before the guns and threw up as many as he could grasp with his +outstretched arms. "Do you want to kill her?" + +"Her?" repeated Woodward. + +All stood there, wonderingly, gazing at the queer creatures. + +What did it mean? + +Slowly, they disappeared--literally under the water. + +They were gone--with Elaine! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE TRIUMPH OF ELAINE + + +Half carrying, half forcing Elaine down into the water, Del Mar +and his two men, all four of the party clad in the outlandish +submarine suits, bore the poor girl literally along the bottom of +the bay until they reached a point which they knew to be directly +under the entrance to the secret submarine harbor. + +Del Mar's mind was working feverishly. Though he now had in his +power the girl he both loved and also feared as the stumbling- +block in the execution of his nefarious plans against America, he +realized that in getting her he had been forced to betray the +precious secret of the harbor itself. + +At the point where he knew that the harbor was above him, hidden +safely beneath the promontory, he took from under his arm a float +which he released. Upward it shot through the water. + +Above, in the harbor, a number of his men were either on guard or +lounging about. + +"A signal from the chief," cried a sentry, pointing to the float +as it bobbed up. + +"Kick off the lead shoes," signalled Del Mar to the others, under +the water. + +They did so and rose slowly to the surface, carrying Elaine up +with them. The men at the surface were waiting for them and helped +to pull Del Mar and his companions out of the water. + +"Come into the office, right away," beckoned Del Mar anxiously, +removing his helmet and leading the way. + +In the office, the others removed their helmets, while Del Mar +took the head-gear off Elaine. She stared about her bewildered. + +"Where am I?" she demanded. + +"A woman!" exclaimed the men in the harbor in surprise. + +"Never mind where you are," growled Del Mar, plainly worried. Then +to the men, he added, "We can't stay any longer. The harbor is +discovered. Get ready to leave immediately." + +Murmurs of anger and anxiety rose from the men as Del Mar related +briefly between orders what had just happened. + +Immediately there was a general scramble to make ready for the +escape. + +In the corner of the office, Elaine, again in her skirt and +shirtwaist which the diving-suit had protected, sat open-eyed +watching the preparations of the men for the hasty departure. Some +had been detailed to get the rifles which they handed around to +those as yet unarmed. Del Mar took one as well as a cartridge +belt. + +"Guard her," he shouted to one man indicating Elaine, "and if she +gets away this time, I'll shoot you." + +Then he led the others down the ledge until he came to a submarine +boat. The rest followed, still making preparations for a hasty +flight. + + . . . . . . . + +Woodward along with Professor Arnold, in his disguise as a hermit, +stood for a moment surrounded by the soldiers, after the +disappearance of Elaine and Del Mar in the water. + +"I see it all, now," cried the hermit, "the submarine, the strange +disappearances, the messages in the water. They have a secret +harbor under those cliffs, with an entrance beneath the water +line." + +Hastily he wrote a note on a piece of paper. + +"Send one of your men to my headquarters with that," he said, +handing it to Woodward to read: + +RODGERS,--Send new submarine telescope by bearer. You will find it +in case No. 17, closet No. 3.--ARNOLD. + +"Right away," nodded Woodward, comprehending and calling a soldier +whom he dispatched immediately with hurried instructions. The +soldier saluted and left almost on a run. + +Then Woodward turned and with Arnold lead the men up the shore, +still conferring on the best means of attacking the harbor. + +On a wharf along the shore Woodward, Arnold and the soldiers +gathered, waiting for the telescope. Already Woodward had had a +fast launch brought up, ready for use. + + . . . . . . . + +When Woodward, Arnold and the attacking party had discovered me +unconscious in Del Mar's study, there had been no time to wait for +me to regain full consciousness. They had placed me on a couch and +run into the secret passageway after Elaine. + +Now, however, I slowly regained my senses and, looking about, +vaguely began to realize what had happened. + +My first impulse was to search the study, looking in all the +closets and table drawers. In a corner was a large chest, I opened +it. Inside were several of the queer helmets and suits which I had +seen Del Mar use and one of which he had placed on Elaine. + +For some moments I examined them curiously, wondering what their +use could be. Somehow it seemed to me, if Del Mar had used them in +the escape, we should need them in the pursuit. + +Then my eye fell on the broken panel. I entered it and groped +cautiously down the passageway. At the end I gazed about, trying +to discover which way they had all gone. + +At last, down on the shore, before a wharf I could see Woodward, +the strange old hermit and the rest. + +I ran toward them, calling. + + . . . . . . . + +By this time the soldier who had been sent for the submarine +telescope arrived at last, with the telescope in sections in +several long cases. + +"Good!" exclaimed the old hermit, almost seizing the package which +the soldier handed him. + +He unwrapped it and joined the various sections together. It was, +as I have said, a submarine telescope, but after a design entirely +new, differing from the ordinary submarine telescope. It had an +arm bent at right angles, with prismatic mirrors so that it was +not only possible to see the bottom of the sea but by an +adjustment also to see at right angles, or, as it were, around a +corner. + +It was while he was joining this contrivance together that I came +up from the end of the secret passage down to the wharf. + +"Why, here's Jameson," greeted Woodward. "I'm glad you're so much +better." + +"Where's Elaine?" I interrupted breathlessly. + +They began to tell me. + +"Aren't you going to follow?" I cried. + +"Follow? How can we follow?" + +Excitedly I told of my discovery of the helmets. + +"Just the thing!" exclaimed the hermit. "Send some one back to get +them." + +Woodward quickly detached several soldiers to go with me and I +hurried back to the bungalow, while others carried the submarine +telescope to the boat. + +It was only a few minutes later that in Del Mar's own car, I drove +up to the wharf again and we unloaded the curious submarine +helmets and suits. + +Quickly Woodward posted several of his men to act as sentries on +the beach, then with the rest we climbed into the launch and +slipped off down the shore. + +The launch which Woodward had commandeered moved along in the +general direction which they had seen Del Mar and his men take +with Elaine. With the telescope over the side, we cruised about +slowly in a circle, Arnold gazing through the eyepiece. All of us +were by this time in the diving-suits which I had brought from Del +Mar's, except that we had not yet strapped on the helmets. + +Suddenly Arnold raised his hand and signalled to stop the launch. + +"Look!" he cried, indicating the eyepiece of the submarine +telescope which he had let down over the side. + +Woodward gazed into the eyepiece and then I did, also. There we +could see the side of a submerged submarine a short distance away, +through the cave-like entrance of what appeared to be a great +under-water harbor. + +"What shall we do?" queried Woodward. + +"Attack it now before they are prepared," replied the hermit +decisively. "Put on the helmets." + +All of us except those who were running the launch buckled on the +head-pieces, wrapping our guns in waterproof covers which we had +found with the suits. + +As soon as we had finished, one after another, we let ourselves +over the side of the boat and sank to the bottom. + +On the bottom we gathered and slowly, in the heavy unaccustomed +helmets and cumbersome suits, we made our way in a body through +the entrance of the harbor. + +Upward through the archway we went, clinging to rocks, anything, +but always upward. + +As we emerged a shot rang out. One of our men threw up his arms +and fell back into the water. + +On we pressed. + + . . . . . . . + +Elaine sat in a corner of the office, mute, while the man who was +guarding her, heavily armed, paced up and down. + +Suddenly an overwhelming desire came over her to attempt an +escape. But no sooner had she made a motion as though to run +through the door than the man seized her and drove her back to her +corner. + +"Take your positions here," ordered Del Mar to several of the men. +"If you see anybody come up through the water, these hand grenades +ought to settle them." + +Along the ledge the men were stationed each with a pile of the +grenades before him. + +"See!" cried one of them from the ledge as he caught sight of one +of our helmets appearing. + +The others crouched and stared. Del Mar himself hurried forward +and gazed in the direction the man indicated. There they could see +Woodward, Arnold and the rest of us just beginning to climb up out +of the water. + +Del Mar aimed and fired. One of the men had thrown up his arms +with a cry and fallen back into the water. + +Invaders seemed to swarm up now in every direction from the water. + +On the semi-circular ledge about one side of the harbor, Del Mar's +men were now ranged in close order near a submarine, whose hatch +was open to receive them, ready to repel the attack and if +necessary retreat into the under-sea boat. + +They fired sharply at the figures that rose from the water. Many +of the men fell back, hit, but, in turn, a large number managed to +gain a foothold on the ledge. + +Led by Woodward and Arnold, they formed quickly and stripped off +the waterproof coverings of their weapons, returning the fire +sharply. Things were more equal now. Several of Del Mar's men had +fallen. The smoke of battle filled the narrow harbor. + +In the office Elaine listened keenly to the shots. What did it all +mean? Clearly it could be nothing less than assistance coming. + +The man on guard heard also and his uncontrollable curiosity took +him to the door. As he gazed out Elaine saw her chance. She made a +rush at him and seized him, wresting the rifle from his hands +before he knew it. She sprang back just as he drew his revolver +and fired at her. The shot just narrowly missed her, but she did +not lose her presence of mind. She fired the rifle in turn and the +man fell. + +A little shudder ran over her. She had killed a man! But the +firing outside grew fiercier. She had no time to think. She +stepped over the body, her face averted, and ran out. There she +could see Del Mar and his men. Many of them by this time had been +killed or wounded. + +"We can't beat them; they are too many for us," muttered Del Mar. +"We'll have to get away if we can. Into the submarine!" he +ordered. + +Hastily they began to pile into the open hatch. + +Just as Del Mar started to follow them, he caught sight of Elaine +running out of the office. Almost in one leap he was at her side. +Before she could raise her rifle and fire he had seized it. She +managed, however, to push him off and get away from him. + +She looked about for some weapon. There on the ledge lay one of +the hand grenades. She picked it up and hurled it at him, but he +dodged and it missed him. On it flew, landing close to the +submarine. As it exploded, another of Del Mar's men toppled over +into the water. + +Between volleys, Woodward, Arnold and the rest pulled off their +helmets. + +"Elaine!" cried Arnold, catching sight of her in the hands of Del +Mar. + +Quickly, at the head of such men as he could muster, the hermit +led a charge. + +In the submarine the last man was waiting for Del Mar. As the +hermit ran forward with several soldiers between Del Mar and the +submarine, it was evident that Del Mar would be cut off. + +The man at the hatch climbed down into the boat. It was useless to +wait. He banged shut and clamped the hatch. Slowly the submarine +began to sink. + +Del Mar by this time had overcome Elaine and started to run toward +the submarine with her. But then he stopped short. + +There was a queer figure of a hermit leading some soldiers. He was +cut off. + +"Back into the office!" he growled, dragging Elaine. + +He banged shut the door just as the hermit and the soldiers made a +rush at him. On the door they battered. But it was in vain. The +door was locked. + +In the office Del Mar hastily went to a corner, after barring the +door, and lifted a trap-door in the floor, known only to himself. + +Elaine did not move or make any attempt to escape, for Del Mar in +addition to having a vicious looking automatic in his hand kept a +watchful eye on her. + +Outside the office, the soldiers, led by the hermit and Woodward +continued to batter at the door. + +"Now--go down that stairway--ahead of me," ordered Del Mar. + +Elaine obeyed tensely, and he followed into his emergency exit, +closing the trap. + +"Beat harder, men," urged the hermit, as the soldiers battered at +the door. + +They redoubled their efforts and the door bent and swayed. + +At last it fell in under the sheer weight of the blows. + +"By George--he's gone--with Elaine," cried the hermit, looking at +the empty office. + +Feverishly they hunted about for a means of escape but could find +none. + +"Pound the floor and walls with the butts of your guns," ordered +Arnold. "There must be some place that is hollow." + +They did so, going over all inch by inch. + +Meanwhile, through the passage, along a rocky stairway, Del Mar +continued to drive Elaine before him, up and ever up to the level +of the land. + +At last Elaine, followed by Del Mar, emerged from the rocky +passage in a cleft in the cliffs, far above the promontory. + +"Go on!" he ordered, forcing her to go ahead of him. + +They came finally to a small hut on a cliff overlooking the real +harbor. + +"Enter!" demanded Del Mar. + +Still meekly, she obeyed. + +Del Mar seized her and before she knew it had her bound and +gagged. + +Down in the little office our men continued to search for the +secret exit. + +"Here's a place that gives an echo," shouted one of them. + +As he found the secret trap and threw it open, the hermit stripped +off the cumbersome diving-suit and jumped in, followed by +Woodward, myself and the soldiers. + +Upward we climbed until at last we came to the opening. There we +paused and looked about. Where was Del Mar? Where was Elaine? We +could see no trace of them. + +Finally, however, Arnold discovered the trail in the grass and we +followed him, slowly picking up the tracks. + + . . . . . . . + +Knowing that the submarine would cruise about and wait for him, +Del Mar decided to leave Elaine in the hut while he went out and +searched for a boat in which to look for the submarine. + +Coming out of the hut, he gazed about and moved off cautiously. +Stealthily he went down to the shore and there looked up and down +intently. + +A short distance away from him was a pier in the process of +construction. Men were unloading spiles from a cable car that ran +out on the pier on a little construction railway, as well as other +material with which to fill in the pier. At the end of the dock +lay a power-boat, moored, evidently belonging to some one +interested in the work on the pier. + +The workmen had just finished unloading a car full and were +climbing back on the empty car, which looked as if it had once +been a trolley. As Del Mar looked over the scene of activity, he +caught sight of the powerboat. + +"Just what I want," he muttered to himself. "I must get Elaine. I +can get away in that." + +The workmen signalled to the engineer above and the car ran up the +wharf and up an incline at the shore-end. + +The moment the car disappeared, Del Mar hurried away in the +direction he had come. + +At the top of the grade, he noticed, was a donkey engine which +operated the cable that drew the car up from the dock, and at the +top of the incline was a huge pile of material. + +The car had been drawn up to the top of the grade by this time. +There the engineer who operated the engine stopped it. + +Just then the whistle blew for the noon hour. The men quit work +and went to get their dinner pails, while the engineer started to +draw the fire. Beside the engine, he began to chop some wood, +while the car was held at the top of the grade by the cable. + + . . . . . . . + +In our pursuit we came at last in sight of a lonely hut. Evidently +that must be a rendezvous of Del Mar. But was he there? Was Elaine +there? We must see first. + +While we were looking about and debating what was the best thing +to do, who should appear hurrying up the hill but Del Mar himself, +going toward the hut. + +As we caught sight of him, Arnold sprang forward. Woodward and I, +followed by the soldiers also jumped out. + +Del Mar turned and ran down the hill again with us after him, in +full cry. + +While we had been waiting, some of the soldiers had deployed down +the hill and now, hearing our shouts, turned, and came up again. + +Beside his engine, we could see an engineer chopping wood. He +paused now in his chopping and was gazing out over the bay. +Suddenly he had seen something out in the water that had attracted +his attention and was staring at it. There it moved, nothing less +than a half-submerged submarine. + +As the engineer gazed off at it, Del Mar came up, unseen, behind +him and stood there, also watching the submarine, fascinated. + +Just then behind him Del Mar heard us pursuing. He looked about as +we ran toward him and saw that we had formed a wide circle, with +the men down the hill, that almost completely surrounded him. +There was no chance for escape. It was hopeless. + +But it was not Del Mar's nature to give up. He gave one last +glance about. There was the trolley car that had been converted +into a cable way. It offered just one chance in a thousand. +Suddenly his face assumed an air of desperate determination. + +He sprang toward the engineer and grappled with him, seeking to +wrest the axe from his hand. Every second counted. Our circle was +now narrowing down and closing in on him. + +Del Mar managed to knock out the engineer, taken by surprise, just +as our men fired a volley. In the struggle, Del Mar was unharmed. +Instead he just managed to get the axe. + +An instant later a leap landed him on the cable car. With a blow +of the axe he cut the cable. The car began to move slowly down the +hill on the grade. + +Some of the men were down below in its path. But the onrushing +cable car was too much for them. They could only leap aside to +save themselves. + +On down the incline, gathering momentum every second, the car +dashed, Del Mar swaying crazily but keeping his footing. We +followed as fast as we could, but it was useless. + +Out on the wharf it sped at a terrific pace. At the end it +literally catapulted itself into the water, crashing from the end +of the pier. As it did so, Del Mar gave a flying leap out into the +harbor, struck the water with a clean dive and disappeared. + +On down the hill we hurried. There in the water was Del Mar +swimming rapidly. Almost before we knew it, we saw him raise his +hand and signal, shouting. + +There only a few yards away was the periscope of a submarine. As +we watched, we could see that it had seen him, had turned in his +direction. Would they get him? + +We watched, fascinated. Some of our men fired, as accurately as +they could at a figure bobbing so uncertainly on the water. + +Meanwhile the submarine approached closer and rose a bit so that +the hatchway cleared the waves. It opened. One of the foreign +agents assisted Del Mar in. + +He had escaped at last! + + . . . . . . . + +It was most heart-breaking to have had Del Mar so nearly in our +grasp and then to have lost him. We looked from one to another, in +despair. + +Only Arnold, in his disguise as a hermit, seemed undiscouraged. +Suddenly he turned to Woodward. + +"What time is it?" he asked eagerly. + +"A little past noon." + +"The Kennedy wireless torpedo!" he exclaimed. "It arrived to-day. +Burnside is trying it out." + +Suddenly there flashed over me the recollection of the marvellous +invention that Kennedy had made for the Government just before his +disappearance, as well as the memory of the experience I had had +once with the intrepid Burnside. + +Woodward's face showed a ray of interest and hope in the +overwhelming gloom that had settled on us all. + +"You and Jameson go to Fort Dale, quick," directed Arnold eagerly. +"I'm not fit. Get Burnside. Have him bring the torpedo in the air- +boat." + +We needed no further urging. It was a slender chance. But I +reflected that the submarine could not run through the bay totally +submerged. It must have its periscope in view. We hurried away, +leaving Arnold, who slowly mounted the hill again. + +How we did it, I don't know, but we managed to get to the Fort in +record time. There near the aeroplane hangar, sure enough, was +Burnside with some other men adjusting the first real wireless +Kennedy torpedo, the last word in scientific warfare, making an +aerial torpedo-boat. + +We ran up to the hangar calling to Burnside excitedly. It was only +a moment later, that he began to issue orders in his sharp +staccato. His men swarmed forward and took the torpedo from the +spot where they had been examining it, adjusting it now beneath +the hydroaeroplane. + +"Jameson, you come with me," he asked. "You went before." + +We rose quickly from the surface and planed along out over the +harbor. Far off we could see the ripple from the periscope of the +submarine that was bearing Del Mar away. Would Kennedy's invention +for which Del Mar had dared so much in the first place prove his +final undoing? We sped ahead. + +Down below in the submersible Del Mar was giving hasty orders to +his men, to dip down as soon as all the shipping and the sand bars +were cleared. + +I strained my eyes through the glasses reporting feverishly to +Burnside what I saw so that he could steer his course. + +"There it is," I urged. "Keep on--just to the left." + +"I see it," returned Burnside a moment later catching with his +naked eye the thin line of foam on the water left by the +periscope. "Would you mind getting that torpedo ready?" he +continued. "I'll tell you just what to do. They'll try to duck as +soon as they see us, but it won't be any use. They can't get +totally submerged fast enough." + +Following Burnside's directions I adjusted the firing apparatus of +the torpedo. + +"Let it go!" shouted Burnside. + +I did so, as he volplaned down almost to the water. The torpedo +fell, sank, bobbed up, then ran along just tinder the surface. +Already I was somewhat familiar with the wireless device that +controlled it, so that while Burnside steadied the aircraft I +could direct it, as he coached me. + +The submarine saw it coming now. But it was too late. It could not +turn; it could not submerge in time. + +A terrific explosion followed as the torpedo came in contact with +the boat, throwing a column of water high in the air. A yawning +hole was blown in the very side of the submarine. One could see +the water rush in. + +Inside, Del Mar and his men were now panic-stricken. Some of them +desperately tried to plug the hole. But it was hopeless. Others +fell, fainting, from the poisonous gases that were developed. + +Of them all, Del Mar's was the only cool head. + +He realized that all was over. There was nothing left to do but +what other submarine heroes had done in better causes. He seized a +piece of paper and hastily wrote: + + Tell my emperor I failed only because + Craig Kennedy was against me.--DEL MAR. + +He had barely time to place the message in a metal float near-by. +Down the submarine, now full of water, sank. + +With his last strength he flung the message clear of the wreckage +as it settled on the mud on the bottom of the bay. + +Burnside and I could but stare in grim satisfaction at the end of +the enemy of ourselves and our country. + + . . . . . . . + +Up the hillside plodded Professor Arnold still in his wild +disguise as the hermit. Now and then he turned and cast an anxious +glance out over the bay at the fast disappearing periscope of the +submarine. + +Once he paused. That was when he saw the hydroaeroplane with +Burnside and myself carrying the wireless torpedo. + +Again he paused as he plodded up, this time with a gasp, of +extreme satisfaction. He has seen the water-spout and heard the +explosion that marked the debacle of Del Mar. + +The torpedo had worked. The most dangerous foreign agent of the +coalition of America's enemies was dead, and his secrets had gone +with him to the bottom of the sea. Perhaps no one would ever know +what the nation had been spared. + +He did not pause long, now. More eagerly he plodded up the hill, +until he came to the hut. + +He pushed open the door. There lay Elaine, still bound. Quickly he +cut the cords and tore the gag from her mouth. + +As he did so, his own beard fell off. He was no longer the hermit. +Nor was he what I myself had thought him, Arnold. + +"Craig!" cried Elaine in eager surprise. + +Kennedy said not a word as he grasped her two hands. + +"And you were always around us, protecting Walter and me," she +half laughed, half cried hysterically. "I knew it--I knew it!" + +Kennedy said nothing. His heart was too happy. + +"Yes," he said simply, as he gazed deeply into her great eyes, "my +work on the case is done." + +THE END + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE *** + +This file should be named romel10.txt or romel10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, romel11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, romel10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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