The Ely miner., 1915-08-06
SEVENTEENTH EPISODE
The WATCHING EYE,

NOI cue AaQ Deen iett Dy the klQ-
papers when they had so mysterious.
ly spirited Elaine away from the
apartment CT WI Fang. She had dis
appeared as completely as if she had
vanished into thin air.
Kennedy was frantic WI and Long
Sin themselves seemed to have van
tshed, too. Where they held her, what
had happened to her, was sealed
Book And yet no move of ours was
made, no matter how secret, that it
did not seem to be known to them. 1t
was as though weird, uncanny eye
glared at us, watching everything.
Craig neglected no possibility in
his eager search. He even visited the
little house in the country which
Elaine had given to Aunt Tabby, and
spent several hours examining the
collapsed subterranean chamber in
the vain hope that it might yield a
clue. But it had not.
Unescapably, he was forced to the
conclusion that not only Elaines
amazing disappearance, but the tragic
succession of events which had pre-
ceded it had been caused, in some
way, by the curiously engraved ring
which Aunt Josephine had taken from
her.
Craig had taken possession of the
mystic ring himself, and now, forced
back on this sole clue it had occurred
to him that if the ring were so valu-
aff te
doubt, be made to get possession of it,
L came into the laboratory, one aft
ernoon, TO find Kennedy surrounded
by jewelers. TOOLS, hard at work max
ing an exact copy of the ring.
What do you think of it, Walter?"
he asked, holding up the replica.
Perfect" ] replied, admiringly.
What are you going to do with it?"
Il can't say-yet," answered Ken
nedy, forlornly, "but if / understand
these Chinese criminals at all, | know
that the only way we can ever track
them is through some trick. Perhaps
the replica will suggest something to
us later"
Lets see if Aunt Josephine has re-
ceived any word" he remarked abb
ruptly, putting on his hat and coat,
and nodding to me to follow.
Kennedy and l were not the only
visitors to the subterranean chamber
where it had seemed that the clue
to the Clutching Hands millions
might be found.
1t was as though that hidden, watch
Ing eye followed us. The night after
our own unsuccessful search, WI
Fang, accompanied by Long Sin, made
has way into the cavern.
Wu examined the safe which had
been broken into,
Long Sin was now going over the
walls OF the cavern minutely, his close
set, beady black eyes examining every
square inch of it.
A sudden low cultural exclamation
caused WI to turn to him quickly.
Long Sin had discovered, back of the
debris. long oblong slot, cut into the
rock. Above it were some peculiar
marks.
WI hurried over to his henchman.
and together they tried to decipher
what had been scratched on the rock.
AS Long Sins slender and sinister
forefinger traced over the inscription
Wu suddenly caught him by the ell
bow.
"The ringi" he cried, as at last he in
terpreted the meaning of the cryptic
characters.
But what about the ring? For mo-
ment WI looked at the slot in deep
thought. Then he reached down and
withdrew a ring from his own finger
and dropped it through the slot.
They listened moment They could
hear the ring tinkle as though it were
running down some sort of tracklike
declivity inside the rock. Then, faint.
ly. they could hear it drop. 1t had
fallen into a little cup of a compart-
nent below at their feet.
Nothing happened. WI recovered
his ring. 3ut he had hit at last upon
the Clutching Hands secret!
Bennett had devised a ring lock
which would open the treasure vault!
No other ring except the one which
he had so carefully hidden was of the
size or weight that would move the
lever which would set the machinery
working to open the treasure house.
Again Wu tried another Of his own
rings. and third time; Long Sin