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IN THE AUDITORIUM. MEYERSDALE, EACH THURSDAY EVENING. READ THE STORY AND SEE THE PICTURES.
Ves!
'a%6% ee e "ee "a%e’e’ Poteve ves!
‘The Exploits of Elaine
A Detective Novel and a Motion Picture Drama
By ARTHUR B. REEVE :
The Well-Known Novelist and the Creator of the “Craig Kennedy” Stories
Presented in Collaboration With the Pathe Players and
the Eclectic Film Company
Copyright, 1914. by the Star Company All Foreign Rights Reserved
3
,
x
SRS
52s, .
SYNOFSIS.
The New York police are mystified by a
series of murders and other crimes. The
rincipal clue to the criminal is the warn-
ng letter which is sent the victims, signed
with a “clutching hand.” The latest vie-
tim of the mysterious assassin {s Taylor
Dodge, the insurance resident. His
daughter, Elaine, employs Craig Kennedy,
the famous scientific detective, to try to
unravel the mystery. What Kendedy ac-
complishes is told by his friend Jameson,
a newspaper man. Enraged at the deter-
mined effort which Elaine and Craig Ken-
nedy are making to put an end to his
crimes, the Clutching Hand, as this
strange criminal is known, resorts to all
sorts of the most diabolical schemes to
put them out of the way. Each chapter
of the story tells of a new plot against
their lives and of the way the great de-
tective uses all his skill to save this pret-
ty girl and himself from death.
TWELFTH EPISODE
THE BLOOD CRYSTALS.
“On your right is the residence of
Miss Elaine Dodge, who is pursuing
the famous master criminal known as
the Clutching Hand.”
The barker had been grandiloguent-
ly pointing out the residences. of noted
New Yorkers as the big sight-seeing
car lumbered along through the
streets.
No one had paid any attention to
the unobtrusive Chinaman who sat in-
conspicuously in the middle of the car.
He was Mr. Wong Long Sin, but no
one saw anything particularly mys-
terious about an Oriental visitor, more
or less, viewing New York city.
Wong was of the mandarin type,
with long, drooping mustache, well
SE So SR SS SR SF Se 384
Mary. She looked at it with interest,
as one woman always does at the pic-
ture of another pretty woman. It was
a newspaper cut of Elaine, under
which was:
“ELAINE DODGE, THE HEIR-
ESS, WHOSE BATTLE WITH
THE CLUTCHING HAND IS CRE-
ATING WORLD-WIDE INTER-
EST.”
“Now,” he began at last, breaking
the silence, “I'll show you just what I
want you to do.”
He went over to the wall and took
down a curious long Chinese knife
from a scabbard which hung there
conspicuously.
“See that?” he added, holding it up.
Before she could say a word he had
plunged the knife, apparently, into his
own breast.
“Oh!” cried Mary, startled.
She expected to see him fall. But
nothing happened. Wong laughed. It
was an oriental trick knife, in which
the blade telescoped into the handle.
“Look at it,” he added, handing it
to her. !
Long Sin took a bladder of water
from a table near by and concealed it
under his coat. “Now, you stab me,”
he directed.
Mary hesitated. But he repeated the
command and she plunged the knife
gingerly at him. It telescoped. He
made her try it over, and she stabbed
him more resolutely. The water from
the bladder poured out.
“Good!” cried Long Sin, much
dressed in American clothes, and con-
forming to the new customs of an Oc-
cidentalized China.
Anyone, however, who had been
watching Long Sin would have seen
that he showed much interest when-
ever any of the wealthy residents of
the city were mentioned. The name
of Elaine Dodge seemed particularly
to strike him. He listened with subtle
interest to what the barker said and
looked keenly at the Dodge house.
The sight-seeing car had passed the
house, when he rose slowly and mo-
tioned that he wanted to be let off.
The car stopped, he alighted and slow-
ly rambled away, evidently marveling
greatly at the strange customs of these
. uncouth Westerners. :
Elaine was going out when she met
Perry Bennett almost on the steps of
the house.
“I've brought you the watch,” re-
marked Bennett. “Thought I'd like to
give it to you myself.”
He displayed the watch which he
himself had bought a couple of days
before for her birthday. He had called
for it himself at the jeweler’s, where it
had now been regulated.
“Oh, thank you,” exclaimed Elaine.
“Won't you come in?” =
L. They had scarcely greeted each other
whén Long Sin strolled along. Neither
of them, however, had time to notice
the quiet Chinaman who passed the
house, looking at Elaine sharply out of
the corner of his eye. They entered
and Wong disappeared down the
street.
“Isn’t it a beauty?” cried Elaine,
holding it out from her as they entered
the library, and examining it with
great appreciation. “And, oh, do you
know, the strangest thing happened
yesterday! Sometimes Mr. Kennedy
acts too queerly for anything.”
She related how Craig had burst in
on her and Aunt Josephine and had
almost torn the other watch off her
wrist.
“Another watch?” repeated Bennett,
amazed. “It must have been a mis-
take. Kennedy is crazy.”
“I don’t understand it, myself,” mur-
mured Elaine.
* * * * *® ® *
Long Sin was revolving some dark
and devious plan beneath his impas-
sive Oriental countenance. He was no
ordinary personage. In fact, he was
astute enough to have no record. He
left that to his tools.
This remarkable criminal had estab-
lished himself in a hired apartment
down town.
Long Sin, now in rich Oriental cos-
tume, was reclining on a divan smok-
ing a strange-looking pipe and playing
with two pet white rats. Bach white rat
had a gold band around his leg, to
which was connected a gold chain
about a foot in length, and the chains
ended in rings which were slipped
over Wong's little fingers. Ordinarily
he carried the pets up the capacious
sleeve of each arm.
A little Chinese girl, also in native
costume, entered and bowed deferen-
tially.
“A Miss Mary Carson,” she lisped in
soft English.
«Let the lady enter,” waved Long
Sin, with a smile of subtle satisfaction.
The girl bowed again and silently
left the room, returning with a hand-
some, very well-dressed white woman.
It would be difficult to analyze just
what the fascination was that Long
Sin exercised over Mary Carson. But
as the servant left the room, Mary
bowed almost as deferentially as the
little Chinese girl. Wong merely nod-
ded in reply.
After a moment he slowly rose and
took from a drawer a newspaper clip-
iv
| ging up a contrivance by which I
pleased. “Now,” he added, seating
himself beside her, “I want you to
lure Elaine here.”
* * * * * *
I had been amusing myself by rig-
could make it possible to see through.
or, rather, over, a door.
Kennedy, who had been busy at the
other end of the laboratory, happened
to look over in my direction. “What's
the big idea, Walter?” he asked.
It was, I admit, a rather cumber-
some and clumsy affair.
“Well, you see, Craig,” I explained,
“you put the top mirror through the
transom of a door and—"
Kennedy interrupted with a hearty
burst of laughter. “But suppose the
door has no transom?” he asked,
pointing to his own door.
I scratched my head thoughtfully. I
had assumed that the door would
have a transom. A moment later
Craig went to the cabinet and drew
out a tube about as big around as a
putty blower and as long.
“Now, here’s what I call my de-
tectascope,” he remarked. “None of
your mirrors for me.”
“1 know,” I said somewhat nettled,
“but what can you see through that
Elaine Took Out the Package of Bills.
putty blower? A keyhole is just as
good.”
“Do you realize how little you can
really see through a keyhole?” he re-
plied confidently. “Try it over there.”
1 did, and, to tell the truth, I could
see merely a little part of the hall
Then Kennedy inserted the detecta-
scope.
«Look through that,” he directed.
I put my eye to the eye piece and
gazed through the bulging lens of
the other end. I could see almost
the whole hall.
*® * * * * * *
Elaine was playing with Rusty when
Jennings brought in a card on which
was engraved the name, “Miss Mary
Carson,” and underneath in pencil was
| written “Belgian Relief Committee.”
‘ i » commented
ompanying Jen-
room. “I won-
va
“yer ed to greet you, Miss Car-
“You gee, Miss Dodge,” began Mary,
“We're getting up this movement to
help the Belgians and we have splen-
did backing. Just let me show you
some of the names on our commit
She handed Hlaine a list.
“I've just been sent to see if I can-
not persuade you to join the commit-
tee and attend a meeting at Mrs. Riv-
erton’s,” she went on.
considered Elaine,
thoughtfully, “er—yes. It must be
all right with such people in it.”
“Can you go down with me now?”
“Just as well as later,” agreed
Elaine. |
They went out together, and as
they were leaving the house a man
who had been loitering outside looked
at Elaine, then fixedly at her compan-
ion.
No sooner had they gone than he
sped off to a car waiting around the
corner. In the dark depths was a sin-
ister figure, the master criminal him-
self. The watcher had been an em-
issary of the Clutching Hand. i
“Chief,” he whispered eagerly, “you
know Adventurous Mary? Well, she’s
got Elaine Dodge in tow!”
“The deuce!” cried Clutching Hand.
“Then we must teach Mary Carson,
or whoever she is working for, a les-
son. No one shall interfere with our
affairs. Follow them!”
* * * * * * ®
Flaine and Mary had gone down-
town, talking animatedly—walking
down the avenue toward Mrs. Riving-
ton’s apartment.
Meanwhile, Wong Sin, still in his
Chinese costume, was explaining to
another male servant just what he
wished done, pointing out the dagger
on the wall. and placing the bladder
under his jacket. A box of opium
was on the table, and he was giv-
ing most explicit directions. It was
into such a web that Elaine was be
ing unwittinly led by Mary.
Entering the hallway of the apart
ment, Mary rang the bell
The servant opened the door and
Elaine and Mary entered. He closed
the door and almost before they knew
it was gone into the back room.
Flaine gazed about it in trepdiation.
But before she could say anything,
Mary, with a great show of surprise,
exclaimed. “Why, I must have made
a mistake. This isn’t Mrs. Riving-
ton’s apartment. How stupid of me.”
They looked at each other a mo
ment. Then each laughed nervously.
as together they started to go out of
the door. It was locked!
Quickly they ran to another door.
It was locked also. .
Just then the Chinaman entered and
stood a moment gazing at them. They
turned and Elaine recoiled from him.
Wong bowed.
“Oh, sir,” cried Mary, “we've made a
mistake. Can't you tell us how to
get out?”
room. There Mary looked at the mo-
tionless body on the floor and recoiled,
horrified.
Elaine noticed some spots on her
hands, and, seeing that they were
stained by the blogd of Long Sin,
wiped the spots off on her handker-
‘chief, dropping it to the floor.
“Ugh!” exclaimed a guttural voice
behind them.
It was the servant who had come
in.
“You—kill him—with knife?” insin-
uated the Chinese.
Elaine was dumb. The servant did
not wait for an answer, but hastily
opened the hall door.
To Elaine it seemed that something
must be done quickly. A moment and
all the house would be in uproar.
' Instead, he placed his finger on his
lips. “Quick—no word,” he said, lead-
ing the way to the hall door, “and—oh,
you must not leave that—it will be
a clue,” he added, picking up the
bloody handkerchief and pressing it
into Elaine’s hand.
They quickly ran out into the hall.
“Go—quick!” he urged again, “and
hide the handkerchief in the bag. Let
no one see it!”
He shut the door. As they hurried
away Hlaine breathed a sigh of relief.
They had reached the street. Afraid
to run, they hurried as fast as they
could until they turned the first cor
ner.
They pressed each other's hands and
parted.
Meanwhile in the front room Long
Sin was on his feet again, brushing
himself off and mopping up the blood.
“It worked very well, Sam,” he said
to the servant.
They were conversing eagerly and
laughing and did not hear a noise in
the back room.
A sinister figure had made its way
by means of a fire escape to a rear
“No speke Englis,” he said, glid-
closing the door. ”
despalr, |
“What shall we do?” asked Elaine.
Mary said nothing, but with a hasty
glance discovered on the wall the
knife which Wong had already told
her about. She took it from its scab-
bard. As she did so the Chinaman re-
turned with a tray on which were queer
drinks and glasses.
At the sight of Mary with the knife
he scowled blackly, laid down the
tray. and took a few steps in her ai-
rection. She brandished the knife
threateningly; then, as if her nerve
failed her, fainted, letting the knife
fall carefully on the floor so that it
struck on the hondle, and not on the
blade. :
Wong quickly caught her as she
fainted and carrying her out of the
room, banged shut the door. Elaine
followed in a moment, loyally to pro-
tect her supposed friend, but found
that the door had a snap lock on the
other side.
She looked about wildly, and in a
moment Wong reappeared. As he ad-
vanced slowly and insinuatingly, she
drew back, pleading. But her words
fell on seemingly deaf ears.
She had picked up the knife which
Mary had dropped, and when at last
‘Wong maneuvered to get her cornered
and was about to seize her, she nerved
herself up and stabbed at him reso-
lutely. i
Wong staggered back—and fell.
As he did so, he pressed the
bladder which he had already placed
under his coat. A dark red fluid,
lke blood, oozed out all over him and
ran in a pool on the floor.
Elaine, too horror-stricken at what
had happened even to scream, dropped
the knife and bent over him. He did
not move. She rose quickly and ran
through the now open door. As she
did so, Wong seemed suddenly to come
to life. He raised himself and looked
after her, then with a subtle smile
sank back into his former assumed
posture on the floor.
When Elaine reached the other room
she found Mary there with the Chi-
nese servant who was glving her a
glass of water. At the sight of her,
the servant paused, then withdrew in-
to another room farther back. Mary,
now apparently recovering from her
faintness, smiled wanly at Elaine.
“It’s all right,” she murmured. “He
is a Chinese prince who thought we
were callers.”
At the reassuring nod of Mary to-
ward the front room, Elaine was over-
come.
“I—I killed him!” she managed to
gasp.
“What?” cried Mary, starting up and
bling violently. “You killed
“He came at
” sobbed Elaine.
t nif struck at
mo—hasd 1
a Lig KIllic—i
him.—”
ping. Without a word he handed it to
she greeted her visitor.
The two girls ran into the other
ing out again from: the room and '
Flaine and Mary looked about in |
wa
! window, that was not barred, and si-
lently he had stolen in on them.
They turned at a slight noise and
saw him. Genuine fright was now on
their faces as they looked at him,
open mouthed.
“What's all this?” he growled “1
am known as the Clute Hand. I
allow no interference with my affairs.
Tell me what you are doing here with
Blaine Dodge.”
Their beady almond eyes flashed
fear. The Clutching Hand moved me-
nacingly. There was nothing for the
astute Wong Long Sin to do but to
submit.
With a low bow, Wong spread out
his hands in surrender and submission.
“I will tell you, honorable sir,” mo
said at length.
“Go on!” growled the criminal.
Quickly Wong rehearsed what had
happened from the moment the idea
of blackmail entered his head.
“How about Mary Carson?” asked
Clutching Hand. “I saw her here,”
Wong gave a glance of almost su-
perstitious dread at the man.
“She will be back—is here now,” he
added, opening the door at a knock
and admitting her.
Adventuress Mary had hurried back
to see that all was right. This time
Mary was genuinely scared at the for-
bidding figure of which she had heard.
“It is all right,” pacified Wong.
“Henceforth we work with the hon-
orable Clutching Hand.”
» * * * * ’ »
At home at last, Elaine sank down
into a deep library chair and stared
straight ahead. She saw visions of
arrest and trial, of the terrible elec-
tric chair with herself in it, bound,
and of the giving of the fatal signal
for turning on the current. ;
Were such things as these going to
happen to her, without Kennedy's
help? Why had they quarreled? She
buried her face in her hands and wept.
Then she could stand it no longer.
She had not taken off her street
clothes. She rose and almost fled
from the house.
Kennedy and I were still in the la-
boratory when a knock sounded at
the door. I went to the door and
opened it. There stood Elaine Dodge.
It was a complete surprise to Craig.
“What is the matter?” he asked.
She hesitated, then suddenly burst
out, “Craig—I—I am—a murderess!”
I had never before seen such a look
on Craig’s face as suddenly came over
it.
Then she poured forth the story sub-
stantially as I have set it down, but
without the expla 3h
ee
She opened the bag and displayed
the blood-spotted handkerchief. He
took it and examined it carefully.
“Elaine,” he said earnestly, not at
all displeased I could see, that some-
thing had come up that might blot out
the past unfortunate misunderstand-
ing, “there simply, must be something
wrong here. Leave this handkerchief
with me. I'll do my best.”
“Thank you,” she said simply as
she left the laboratory.
Craig went to work abruptly without
a word.
On the laboratory table he placed his
splendid microscope and several cases
of slides, as well as innumerable mi-
cro-photographs. He had been work-
ing for some time when he looked up.
“It is dog's blood—not human blood,”
he said simply, “but what's the game
back of all this—that’s the main ques-
tion now.”
* * * * * * *
It was not much later that Elaine
received a second visit from Mary.
“Do you know why the servant al-
lowed us to leave the apartment?”
whispered Mary with a glance about
fearfully, as if the walls had ears.
“No—why?” inquired Elaine anxious-
“He’s a tong man who has been
chosen to do away with the prince.
He followed me, and says you have
done his work for him. If you will
give him ten thousand dollars for ex-
penses he will attend to hiding the
body.”
Here, at least,was a way out.
“It is the safest way out of the
trouble. Yes, I'll do it. I'll stop at the
bank now and get the money.”
They rose and Mary preceded her,
eager to get away from the house.
At the door, however, Elaine asked
her to wait while she ran back on
! some pretext.
Our telephone rang in the middle
Horror-Stricken Even to Scream, Dropped the Knife and Bent
i Over Him.
of our conversation on blood crys-
tals, and Kennedy himself answered it.
It was Elaine asking Craig's ad-
vice. :
thing up for ten thousand dollars,” she
said in a muffled voice.
She seemed bent on doing it, and no
amount of argument from him could
stop her.
cept the evidence of the blood crys-
tals as better than what her own eyes
told her she had seen and done.
“Then wait for half an hour,” he
answered, without arguing further.
“You can do that without exciting
suspicion. Then go with her to her
hotel and hand her over the money.”
“All right—I'll do it,” she agreed.
“What is the hotel ?”
Craig wrote on a slip of paper what
she told him—“Room 509, Hotel La
Coste.”
Hastily he threw on his street coat.
“Go into the back room and get me a
brace and bit, Walter,’ he said.
I did so. When I returned I saw
that he had placed the detectascope
and some stuff in a bag. He shoved
in the brace and bit also.
“Come on—hurry!” he urged.
We must have made record time in
getting to the La Coste. It was an or
nate place, where merely to breathe
was expensive. We entered, and by
some excuse Kennedy contrived to
get past the vigilant bell-hops. We
passed the telephone switchboard and
entered the elevator, getting off at
the fifth floor. Ls
With a hasty glance up and down
the corridor, to make sure no one was
about, Kennedy came to Room 509,
then passed to the next room, 611,
opening the door with a skeleton key.
Quickly Craig went to the door
which led to the next room. It was,
of course, locked also. He listened a
moment carefully. Not a sound. Quick-
ly, with an exclamation of satisfac-
tion, he opened that door also and
went into 509.
This room was much like that in
which we had already been. He
opened the hall door.
“Watch here, Walter,” he directed.
“Let mo know at the slightest alarm.”
Craig had already taken the brace
Spanish dancer—a. spot directly back
of her snapping black eyes. He fin-
ished quickly and inserted the detecta-
scope so that the lens fitted as an eye
in the picture. The eye-piece was in
room 511. Then he started to brush
time was nc
“Oh.”
be some
possible.”
| “No,” she asserted. ‘‘Look—he
my handkerchief all spotted with
| blood.”
re’s
A Rr smi ti
“Craig,”
an elevator door,
I whispered has as I
ot”
ng!
He hurried to the door
“There t!
, as he saw
Jlaine and Mary rounding the corner
of the hall.
| om.
Ee
“They have offered to hush the
She simply refused to ac
and bit from the bag and started to i
bore through the wall in Room 511, |
selecting a spot behind a picture of a |
up the pieces of plaster on the floor. |
and looked.
Across tne hall, although we did no?
know it at the time, in room 540, ai’
ready Wong Sin had taken up his sta~
tion, just to be handy. There he had
been with his servant, playing with{
his two trained white rats. |
Wong placed them up his capacious’
sleeves and carefully opened the door
to look out. Unfortunately he was
Het in the door of £09
open and disclese us.
We hurried inte 511 and shut the
door.
Kennedy mounted a chair and ap-
plied his eye to the detectascope. Just
then Mary and Elaine entered the
next room, Mary opening the door
with a regular key.
“Won't you step in?” she asked.
Elaine did so and Mary hesitated
in the hall. Wong Sin had slipped
out. on noiseless feet and taken ref-
uge behind some curtains. As he saw
her alone, he beckoned, tor Mary.
“There’s a stranger in the next
room,” he whispered. “I don’t like
him. Take the money and as quickly
as possible get out and go to my
apartment.”
At the news that there was a sus-
picious stranger about Mary showed
great alarm. Everything was so rap-
id now that the slightest hesitation
meant disaster. Perhaps by quick-
ness even a suspicious stranger could
ha fooled, she reasoned. At any rate,
"ong Sin was resourceful. She had
better trst him.
Mary followed Elaine into the room,
. where she had seated herself already,
and locked the door.
“Have you the money there?” she
asknd.
“Yes,” nodded Elaine, taking out
the package of bills which she had got
from the bank during the half-hour
delay.
All this we could see by gazing al-
ternately throuch the detectascope.
Flaine handed Mary the money.
Marv counted it slowly. At lest she
loo» vn
“It’s all right,” she said. “Now. I'll
take this tn that tong leader. He's in
a room only inst across the hall”
| She went out.
Mary hod just succeeded in getting
on the elevator as Yennedy hurried
down the hall. The door was closed
and the car descended. He rang the
puch bell furiously, but there was
| No answer.
| He dashed back to the room with
| us and jerked the telephone receiver.
| “Hecllo—hello—hello!” he called.
i There seemed to be no way to get
| a connection. What was the mat-
| ter?
i
1
|
Sma tn ~~
He hrrried down the hall again.
Down in the hotel lobby, with his
| follower, the Chinaman paused before
the telephone switchboard, where two
girls were at work.
“You may go,” ordered Wong, and,
as his man left, he moved over close
to the switchboard.
Just as a call from 509 flashed up,
| Wong slipped the rings off his little
| fingers and loosened the white rats
on the telephone switchboard itself.
With a shriek the telephone system
of the Coste went temporarily out of
business. ker
- *
* * -; :
Kennedy had succeeded in finding
the alcove of the floor clerk in charge
| of the fifth floor. There on his desk
was an instrument having a stylus on
the end of two arms, connected to &
system of magnets. It was a telauto-
graph.
Unceremoniously Craig pushed the
clerk out of his seat and sat dowm
himself. It was a last chance, now
| that the telephone was out of com-
mission. :
i Downstairs in the hotel office, where
the excitement had not spread to ew
i ery one, was the other end of the elec-
tric long-distance writer.
+ It started to write,
‘ wrote, upstairs:
“House Detective—quick—hold wom-
an with blue chatelaine bag, getting
out of elevator.”
The clerks downstairs saw it and
shouted above the din of the rat-bait-
ing: !
“McCann—McCann!* :
The clerk had torn off the message
from the telautograph register and
handed it to the house man, who
pushed his way to the desk. .
Quickly the detective called to the
bell-hops. Together they hurried af-
ter the well-dressed woman who had
just swept out of the elevator. Mary
had already passed through the ex-
¢ited lobby and out, and was about
to cross the street—safe. 8]
McCann and the bell-hops were now
in full ory after her. Flight was use-
less. She took refuge in indignation
and threats. i
But McCann was obdurate. She
passed quickly to tears and pleadings.
It had no effect. They insisted on
i leading her back. The game was up.
“Here,” cried Kennedy, “take her up
j in the elevator. I'll prove the case.”
: * * * * * - *
as Kennedy
i “Now—not a word of who she is in
‘ the papers, McCann,” Kennedy con-
; cluded, referring to Elaine. “You
. know, it wouldn't sound well for the
1 La Coste. As for that woman—well,
{TYe got the money back. You can
{ take her off—make the charge.”
! As the house man left with Mary I
i handed Craig his bag. We moved to-
ward the door, and as we stood there
a moment with Elaine, he quietly hand-
ed over to her the big roll of money.
If he had been less of a scientist, he
might have understood the look om
her face, but, with a nod to me, he
i turned and went.
As she looked first at him, then at
the paltry ten thousand in her hand,
Elaine stamped her little foot in vex-
ation.
“’m glad I didn’t say anything
more,” she cried. ‘“No—no—hse shall
beg my pardon first—there!”
(TO BE CONTINUED.)