The Dickinson press., 1915-06-19
Thirteenth EPISODE
THE DEVIL WoRsHIPERs.

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THE DEVIL WoRsHIPERs.
Elaine was seated in the drawing
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 tcle.
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 I
would give up Kennedy and put my
trust in you, I would find the Clutch
ing Hand. I don't know what to think
Of it."
Bennett, who had been listening in
tently, moved eve nearer to Elaine
and bent over her.
Elaine" he said in a low tone, his
remarkable eyes locking straight into
her own, "you must know that I love
you. Then give me the right to pro-
tect you. 1t was your fathers dearest
wish, l believe, that we should marry.
Let me share your dangers and I
swear that sooner or later there will
be an end to the Clutching Hand.
Give nj your answer, Elaine" he
urged, "and make me the happiest
man in all the world"
Elaine listened, and not unsyfapa-
thetically, as Bennett continued to
plead for her answer.
"Wait a little ~while-until tomor.
row." she replied finally.
LET 1t be as you wish, then;~
agreed Bennett quietly.
He took her hand and kissed it pas
0ionately.
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
er all, which she had missed? What
should she do? T.
She solved the problem by taking
up the telephone and asking for Ken
uedy's number.
I was chatting with Craig in his
laboratory, and, at the same time.
was watching him in his experimental
work. Just as a call came on the tele'
phone, he Vas pouring some nitro
h%ydrochloric acid into a test tube to
complete a reaction. ,
I The telephone tinkled and he laid
down the bottle Of acid on his desk,
while he moved q few steps to answer
the call.
{ Whoever the speaker was, Craig
seemed deeply interested, and, not
knowing who was talking IN the wire,
/ was eager to learn whether 1t was
anyone connected with the case Of
the Clutehing Hand. ~
Eyes, this is Mr.. Kennedy" ! heard
Craig say.
I moved over toward him and whis-
pered eagerly, us there anything
new" .
A little impatient at being interrupt
ed, Kennedy waved me off. It &C.
CURED to me that he might need a
pad and pencil to make a note of
some information, and I reached over
the desk for them.
AS I did so my arm inadvertently
struck the bottle of acid, knocking it
over on the top Of the desk. Its con-
tents streamed out saturating the tele-
phone wires before I could prevent 1t.
In trying to right the bottle my hand
came In contact with the acid which
burned like liquid fire, and I cried out
I'm 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 a neutraliz.
ing liquid.
he He bound up the wounds caused by
the acid, which proved to be slight
after all, and then returned to the tele-
phone.
10 his evident annoyance, he dis
covered that the acid had burned
through the wires and cut off all con-
nection.
= ~ . . . - o" .
At the other end OF the line, Elaine
was listening impatiently for a re-
Spouse to her first eager words of in
curry. She was astonished to find,