Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1915-05-28
EIGHTH EPISODE
The Hidden Voice.


The strain of the Dodge case was
beginning to tell on me, for it was
keeping us at work at all kinds of
hours to circumvent the Clutching
Hand, by far the cleverest criminal
with whom Kennedy had ever had
anything to do.
I leaped out of bed, still in my pa
jamas, and stood for a moment staring
about. Then / ran into the living
room. | looked about, rubbing my
eyes, startled. No one was there.
"Hey-Jameson-w up!"
It was spooky.
"Where-the deuce-are your" de-
manded.
Suddenly I heard the voice again
no doubt about it, either.
Here I am-over on the couch!"
scratched my head, puzzled. There
was certainly no one on that couch.
A laugh greeted me. Plainly, though,
1t came from the couch. | went over
to it and, ridiculous as it seemed, be-
gan to throw aside the pillows.
There lay nothing but little OBJ
long oaken box, perhaps eight or ten
inches square at the ends. In the face
were two peculiar square holes, and
from the top projected a black disk
about the size of a watch, fastened on
swinging metal arm In the face of
the disk we're several perforated holes
| picked up the strange looking
thing in wonder, and from that magic
oak box actually came burst of
laughter.
Come over to the laboratory, right
away pealed forth merry voice.
''1've something to show you
Well" l gasped, what do you
know about that?"
= Very early that morning Craig had
got up, leaving me snoring. Cases
never wearied him. He thrived on ex-
citement.
He had gone over to the laboratory
and set to work in a corner over an
other of those peculiar boxes, exactly
like that which he had already left in
our rooms.
Half an hour afterward l walked
into the laboratory, feeling a little
sheepish over the practical joke, but
none the less curious to find out all
about 1t.
What is it," l asked, indicating the
apparatus.
"a vocaphone,' he replied, still
laughing, the loud speaking telephone,
the little box that hears and talks.
It talks right out in meeting,
too-no transmitter to hold to
the mouth, no receiver to hold to
the ear You see, this trans
mitter is so sensitive that it picks up
even a whisper, and the receiver is
placed back of those two megaphone-
like pyramids"
He was standing at table, careful
~ packing up one of the vocaphones
and lot of wire.
81 believe the Clutching Hand has
been shadowing the Dodge house." he
continued thoughtfully. "As long as
we watch the place, too, he will dc
nothing. But if we should seem, os
tentatiously, not to be watching, per
haps he may try something, and we
may be able to get a clue to his iden
tity over this vocaphone See?"
| nodded We've got to run him
down somehow" I agreed.
Yes" he said, taking his coat and
hat. II am going to connect up one
of these things in Miss Dodge's libra
ry and arrange with the telephone
company for clear wire so that we
can listen in here, where that fellow
will never suspect"
At about the same time that Crais
and ! sailed forth on this new mis-
sion, Elaine was arranging some flow
ers on stand near the corner of the
Dodge library where the secret pane
was in which her father had bidder
the papers for the possession of which
the Clutching Hand had murdered
him.
She had moved away from the table
but, as she did so. her dress caugh
in something in the woodwork. Sh'
tried to loosen it and in so doinj
touched the little metallic spring oil
which her dress had, caught.
Instantly, to her utter surprise, tn
panel moved 1t slid open, disclosing
strong box.
Elaine took it, amused, looked at |
a moment, then carried 1t to a tabl
and opened it.
Inside we're some papers, sealed Il
an envelope and marked "Limpy Re-
Correspondence"
They must be the Clutching Han
papers!" she exclaimed to herself
hesitating a moment, in doubt what t
do.