Omaha daily bee., 1915-04-25

! gloat over his clever scheme. Instead.
he saw us making good our escape.
| With a gesture of intense fury he turned
There vas 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 started.
See. Walter" he exclaimed, pointing
to square indentation in the soft soil.
mo white man ever made a footprint
like that"
bent over. The prints had the square
ness OF those paper-lsyered soles of
Chinaman.
Long SIM" car1e the name involun-
tarily to my lips. for 1 knew that WI
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 desperate endsavor either
to overtake Long Sin, or at least to find
the final direction In which he would go.
At the entrance to the passaReway
which led TO the little underground cham
Der in which We had sought the treasure
hidden by the Clutching Hand. WI Fang
was seated on rock waiting impatiently,
though now and then INDUCING a sinister
smile at the subtle trick by which he
had recovered the ring.
The sound OF approaching footsteps dis
turbed 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, how
ever, that he needed to allay his suspi-
cions. 1t was Long sin. breathless.
WI stepped out beside him go quietly
that even the acute Long Sin did not
hear. 'Well?" he said in a cultural tone.
Long Sin drew back in fear. IT have
failed, oh master" he replied in an i'm
ploring tone. Even now they follow
my tracks"
1t was bad enough to confess defeat
without the fear Of capture.
WI frowned. I'VE must work quickly.
then" he muttered
He picked up dark lantern nearby. IN.
dicating another to Long Sin. They en-
tered the cave. flashing the lights ahead
Of them.
BE careful" ordered WI. proceeding
gingerly from one stepping stone to an
other. I'VE shall be followed no farther
than this"
He paused moment and pointed his
finger at the earth. Everywhere. except
mere and there where a stone protected.
was sticky Shiny substance. Il was
an old trick of primitive races.
Bird lime" Kissed WI, pointing at the
viscid substance of the juice of the holly
bark. extracted by boiling, and mixed
with third part OF nut oil and grease.
They passed on from stone to stone
until they came to the subterranean
chamber itself. without a moments
hesitation, WI 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 word. WI dropped II IN the
slot. 1t tinkled down the runway a
protubsrance hit a trigger and pushed II
a hairs breadth.
A noise behind them caused the two TO
turn startled. Even WI had not ex-
pected 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 WI did not forget
the precious ring, but as the rock turned.
reached down quickly and recovered II
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 IL moved, they could see
disclosed huge piles of gold and silver
coins and bars and ornaments, a chest
literally filled with brilliants, set ana
unset, ruhies, emeralds. precious stones
OF every conceivable variety, a cave that
would have staggered even Aladdin-the
rich reward Of the countless maraudinR
operations OF Benefits other personality,
For a moment they could merely stand
in avaricious exultatuion.
Painfully and slowly we managed 10
trail Long Sins footprints. until we cana
to road where they were lost IN tn.
hard macadam. There was no time 70