The Elbert County tribune., 1915-05-14
THIRTEENTH EPISODE
THE DEVIL WoesHIPERs.

.>>..-- ----a.i- 49,. Icsn9hine 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 | dreamed that father
came to me and told me that IL I
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 a 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 little while--until tomor-
row." she replied finally.
Let 1t be as you wish. them
agreed Bennett quietly.
He took ber hand and kissed II 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 1t, aft
er 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.
/ 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
down the bottle OF acid on his desk,
while he moved few steps to answer
the call.
Whoever the speaker was, Craig
seemed deeply interested, and, not
knowing who was talking on the wire,
/ was eager to learn whether it was
anyone connected with the case of
the Clutching Hand.
Yes, this is Mr.. Kennedy" 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. 1t oc'
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 l did SO my arm Inadvertently
struck the bottle of acid. knocking ii
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 ! 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 a 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
severed that the ncid had burned
through the wires and cut Off all con
nection.
At the other end of the line, Elaine
was listening impatiently for re
sponse to hsr first eager words OF In
arirY. She was astonished to find