Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1915-06-22
Thirteenth EPISODE
THE DEVIL WoRsHIPERs.

room with Aunt Josephine one after
noon, when her lawyer, Perry Ben
nett, dropped in Unexpectedly.
He had hardly greeted them when
the butler, Jennings, in his usual i'm
passive manner announced that Aunt
Josephine was wanted on the tele-
phone.
No sooner were Elaine and Bennett
alone than Elaine. turning to him, ex-
claimed:
Last night I dreamed that father
came to me and told me that If
would give up Kennedy and put my
trust in you, would find the Clutch
ing Hand. don't know what to think
OF It,"
Bennett. who had been listening In
tently, moved over nearer to Elaine
and bent over her.
Elaine" he said In low tone, his
remarkable eyes looking straight into
her own, you must know that / love
you. Then give me the right to pro-
tect you. 1t was your fathers dearest
wish, believe, that we should marry.
Let me share your dangers and
swear that sooner or later there will
be an end to the Clutching Hand.
Give me your answer, Elaine" he
urged, "and make me the happiest
man in all the world"
Elaine listened, and not unsympa-
thetically, as Bennett continued to
plead for her answer
wait a little while-until tomor-
row." she replied finally.
Let it be as you wish, then"
agreed Bennett quietly.
He took her hand and kissed it pas
sionately.
An instant later Aunt Josephine re-
turned. Elaine, unstrung by what
had happened, excused herself and
went into the library.
Involuntarily, her mind travelled
back over the rapid succession of
events of the past few weeks and
the part that she had thought, at
least, Kennedy had come to play in
her life.
Then she thought of their recent
misunderstanding. Might there not
be some simple explanation of it, aft
err all, which she had missed? What
should she do?
She solved the problem by taking
up the telephone and asking for Ken
nedy's number.
l was chatting with Craig in his
laboratory, and, at the same time,
was watching him in his experimental
work. Just as call came on the tele-
phone, he was pouring some nitro
hydrochloric acid into a test tube to
complete reaction.
The telephone tinkled and he laid
while he moved a few steps to answer
the call.
Whoever the speaker was, Craig
seemed deeply interested, and, not
knowing who was talking on the wire,
l was eager to learn whether it was
anyone connected with the case of
the Clutching Hand.
YES, this is Mr.. Kennedy" l heard
Craig say.
moved over toward him and whis-
pered eagerly, rs there anything
new?"
A little impatient at being interrupt
ed, Kennedy waved me OF. It &C.
Cured to me that he might need a
pad and pencil to make a note OF
some information, and reached over
the desk for them.
AS | did so my arm inadvertently
struck the bottle of acid, knocking 1t
over on the top Of the desk. Its con-
tents streamed out saturating the tele-
phone wires before could prevent it.
In trying to right the bottle my hand
came in contact with the acid which
burned like liquid fire, and l cried out
In pain.
Craig hastily laid down the re.
ceiver, seized me and rushed me to
the back of the laboratory, where he
drenched my hand with neutraliz
Ing liquid.
He pound up the wounds caused by
the acid, which proved to be slight
after all, and then returned to the tele-
phone.
To his evident annoyance, he dis
covered that the acid had burned
through the wires and cut off all con
nection.
At the other end of the line, Elaine
was listening impatiently for a re
Spouse to her first eager words of in
uuiry. She was astonished to find