The Daily Transcript (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 100, Ed. 1 Monday, October 25, 1915 Page: 2 of 4
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TRANSCRIPT
NORMAN
The Exploits of Elaine
A Detective
Novel and a Motion Picture
Drama
By ARTHUR B. REEVE
The Well-Knoicn Novelist and the
Creator of the "Craig Kennedy" Stories
+4*
Presented in Collaboration With the Pathe Players and the Eclectic Film Company
Copyright, 1014, by the Star Company. All Foreign Rights Reserved.
SYNOPSIS.
The New York police nre mystified by a
•erles of murders < f prominent men. The
principal clue to the murderer is the warn-
ing letter which 1h sent the victims, signed
with a "clutching hand." The latest vic-
tim of the mysterious assassin Is Taylor
Dodge, the Insurance president. His
daughter, Elaine, employs Craig Kennedy,
the famous scientific detective, to try to
unravel the mystery. What Kennedy nc-
rompllshes Is told by his friend, Jameson,
* newspaper man.
THIRD EPISODE
The Vanishing Jewels.
Ranging away at my typewriter the
next day, In Kennedy's laboratory, I
■was startled by the sudden, Insistent
ringing of the telephone near me.
"HeWV I answered, for Craig was
at work at his table, trying ■ti" to ex'
tract some clue from the slender evi-
dence thus far elicited In the Dodge
mystery.
"Oh, Mr. Kennedy," 1 heard an ex-
cited voice over the wire reply, "my
friend, Susie Martin, Is here. Her fa
ther has Just received a message from
that Clutching Hand and—"
"Just a moment, Miss Dodge," 1 In-
terrupted. "This is Mr. Jameson."
"Oh!" came back the voice, breath-
less and disappointed. "Let me have
Mr. Kennedy—quick."
I had already passed the telephone
to Craig and was watching liim keen-
ly as he listened over it.
He motioned to me for a pad and
pencil that lay near me.
"Please read the letter again, slow-
er, Miss Dodge," he asked, adding,
"them isn't time for me to see it—
Just yet. Hut I want it exactly. You
say It Is made up of separate words
and type cut from newspapers and
pasted on note paper?"
I handed him paper and pencil.
"All right, now, Miss Dodge, go
ahead."
As he wrote he Indicated to mo by
his eyes that he wanted me to read.
I did bo:
fiturtevant Martin. Jeweler,
No. 739H Flflli Avenue, New York City.
Fir—As you have fniled to deliver the
110.000. I shall rob your main diamond
cae« at exactly noon today.
"Thank you, Miss Dodge," continued
Kennedy, laying down the pencil.
"Yes, 1 understand perfectly—signed
by that same Clutching Hand. Let
me see," he pondered, looking at his
watch. "It is now half-past eleven
Very well 1 shall meet you and Miss
A Remarkable Scene Greeted Us.
Jlawin at Mr. Martin's store directly."
1* lacked five minutes of nooli when
Kennedy and I dashed up before Mar-
tin'* and dismissed our taxicab.
A remarkable scene greeted us as
we entered the famous jewelry shop.
Involuntarily 1 drew back. Squarely
In front of us a man had suddenly
raised a revolver and leveled it at us
"Don't!" cried a familiar voice.
"That in Mr. Kennedy!"
Just then, from a little knot of peo-
ple, Elaine Dodge sprang forward
with a cry and seized the gun.
Kennedy turned to her, apparently
not half so much concerned about the
automatic that yawned at him as
about the anxiety of the pretty girl
who had Intervened. The too eager
plain-clothes man lowered the gun
sheepishly.
Sturtevant Martin was a typical so-
ciety business man, quietly but richly
dressed.
In the excitement I glanced about
hurriedly.
Directly in front of me was a slcn
taqlted up on a pillar, which read'
"This store will be closed at noon to-
day. Martin & Co."
All the customers werr ' -•
Martin himself was evidently very
nervous and very much alarmed. In-
deed, no one could blame him for
that. Merely to have been singled out
by this amazing master criminal was
enough to cause panic. Already he
had engaged detectives, prepared for
whatever might happen, and they hai
advised him to leave the diamonds in
the counter, clear the store and let
the crooks try anything, if they dared.
Just back of us, and around the cor-
ner. as we came In, we had noticed a
limousine which had driven up. Three
faultlessly attired dandles had entered
a doorway down the street, as we
learned afterward, apparently going to
a fashionable tailor's which occupied
the second floor of the old-fashioned
building, the first floor having been
renovated and made ready for renting
Had we been there a moment sooner
we might have seen, I suppose, that
one of them nodded to a taxicab driv-
er, who was standing at a public hack
stand a few feet up the block. The
driver nodded unostentatiously back
at the man.
In spile of the excitement, Kennedy
quietly examined the showcase, which
was, Indeed, a veritable treasure store
of brilliants.
Slowly the hands of the clock carao
nearer together at noon.
We all gathered about the showcase,
with its glittering hoard of wealth,
forming a circle at a respectable dis
tance.
In deep-lunged tones the clock
played the chords written, I believe,
by Handel. Then It began striking.
Nothing had happened.
We all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, It Is still there!" exclaimed
Martin, pointing at the showcase with
a forced laugh.
Suddenly came a rending and crash-
ing sound. It seemed as If the very
floor on which we stood was giving
way.
The showcase, with all Its priceless
contents, went smashing Into the eel
lar below.
The flooring beneath the case had
been cut through!
All crowded forward, gazing at the
black, yawning cavern.
Down below, three men, covered
with smocks nnd their faces hidden
by masks, had knocked the props
away from the ceiling of the cellar,
which they had sawed almost through
at their leisure, and the showcase had
landed eight or ten feet below, shiv-
ered into a thousand bits.
A volley of Bhots whizzed past us,
and another. While one crook was
hastily stuffing the untold wealth of
jewels into a burlap bag the others
had drawn revolvers and wero firing
up through the hole in the floor des
perately.
"Look out!" cried someone behind
us before we could recover from our
first surprise and return the fire.
One of the desperadoes had taken a
bomb from under his smock, lighted It
and thrown it up through the hole in
the floor.
It sailed up over our heads and land-
I ed near our little group, on the floor,
the fuse sputtering ominously.
I heard an exclamation of fear from
Elaine.
Kennedy had pushed his way past
us and picked up the deadly infernal
machine in his bare hands.
I watched him, fascinated. As near
as he dared, he approached the hole in
the floor, still holding the thing off at
crn's length. Would he never throw
|ur
He was coolly holding it, allowing
the fuse to burn down closer to the
| explosion point.
It was now within less than an inch
of sure death.
Suddenly he raised It and hurled the
I | deadly thing down through the hole.
We could hear tho imprecations of
the crooks as it struck the cellar floor,
near them.
"Leave the store—quick!" rang out
Kennedy's voice.
Down below the crooks were beat-
ing a hasty retreat through ; secret
entrance which they had effected.
"The bag! The bag!" we could
hear one of them bellow.
"The bomb—run!" cried another
voice gruffly.
The explosion that followed lifted
us fairly off our feet.
As the smoke from the explosion
cleared away, Kennedy could b' seen,
the first to run forward.
Meanwhile Martin's detectives had
rushed down a flight of back 6tairs
that led into a coal cellar. With coal
shovels and bars, anything they could
lay hands on, they attacked the door
that opened forward from the coal cel-
lar into the front basement where
the robbers had been.
A moment Kennedy and Dennett
paused on the brink of rhe abyss
which the bomb had made, waiting for
the smoke to decrease. Then they
began to climb down cautiourly over
the piled-up wreckage.
The explosion had set the basement
afire, but the fire had not gained much
headway by the time they reached the
basement. Quickly Kennedy ran to
tho door into the coal cellar and
vened It.
r ri iv the other side Martin, fol-
lowed by the police and the detec-
tives, burst In.
"Fire!" cried one of the policemen,
leaping back to turn In an alarm from
the special apparatus upstairs.
All except Martin began beating out
the flames, u^ing such weapons as
they already held in their hands to
butter down the door
To Martin there was one thing para-
mount—the Jewels.
In the midst of the confusion, Elaine,
closely followed by her friend, Susie,
made her way fearlessly Into the stifle
of smoke down the stalri.
"There are your jewels, Mr. Martin,"
cried Kennedy, kicking the precious
burlap bag with his foot as If it had
been so much ordinary merchandise,
and turning toward what was In his
mind the most important thing at
stake—the direction taken by the
agents of the Clutching Hand.
'Thank heaven!" ejaculated Martin,
fairly pouncing on the bag and tearing
It open. "They didn't get away with
them—after all!" he exclaimed, exam-
ining the contents with satisfaction.
• ••••••
Events were moving rapidly
The limousine had been standing In-
nocently enough at the curb near the
corner, with the taxicab close be-
hind it.
Less than ten minutes after they
had entered, three well-dressed men
came out of the vacant shop, appar-
ently from the tailor's above, and
climbed leisurely into their car.
As the last one entered, he half
turned to the taxicab driver, hiding
from passers-by the sign of the Clutch-
ing Hand, which the taxicab ("river re-
turned In the same manner Then the
big car whirled up the avenue.
All this we learned later from a
street sweeper who was at work near
by.
in* ,-<<werlill iliooasli.e un uptown
they went, the only thing preventing
the limousine from escaping being the
fear of pursuit by traffic police if the
driver let out speed. They were con-
tent to manage to keep just far enough
ahead to be out of danger of having
Kennedy overhaul them. As for us,
we followed as best we could, on up-
town, past the city line, and out into
the country.
Thero Kennedy lost sight alto-
gether of the car he was trailing.
Worse than that, we lost sight of
Kennedy. Still we kept on blindly,
trusting to luck and common sense in
picking the road.
1 was peering ahead ever the
driver's shoulder, the window down,
trying to direct him, when we ap-
proached a fork In the road. Here
was a dilemma which must be decided
at once, rightly or wrongly.
As we neared the crossroad I gave
an involuntary exclamation. Beside
the road, almost on It, lay the figure
of a man. Our driver pulled up with a
jerk and I was out of the car In an In-
stant.
There lay Kennedy! Someone had
blackjacked him. He was groaning
and just beginning to show signs of
consciousness as I bent over.
"What's the matter, old man?" I
asked, helping him to his feel.
He looked about dazed a moment,
then seeing me and comprehending, he
pointed excitedly, but vaguely.
"Elaine!" ho cried. "They've kid-
naped Elaine!"
• •«••••
What had really happened, as we
learned later from Elaine and others,
was that when the crossroads was
reached the three crooks in the limou-
sine had stopped long enough to speak
to an accomplice stationed there, ac-
cording to their plan for a getaway.
He was a tough-looking individual who
might have been hoboing it to the city.
When, a, few minutes later, Ken-
nedy and Elaine had approached the
fork, their driver had Blowed up. as if
Down below, while the police and
detectives were putting out the fire,
Kennedy was examining the wall of
the cellar, looking for the spot where
the crooks had escaped.
"A secret door!" he exclaimed, as
he paused after tapping alont; the wall
to determine Its character. "You ca.i
see how the force of the explosion has
loosened it."
Sure enough, when he pointed it out
to us, it was plainly visible. One of
the detectives picked, up a crowbar and
others, still with the hastily selected
implements they had seized to tight
the fire, Btarted in to pry It open.
As It yielded Kennedy rushed his
way through; Elaine, always utterly
fearless, followed. Then the rest of
us went through.
There seemed to bo nothing, how-
ever, that would help us in the cellar
next door, and Kennedy mounted the
steps of a stairway in the rear. .
The stairway led to a sort of store-
room, full of barrels and boxes, but
otherwise chnracterless. When I ar-
rived Kennedy was gingerly holding
up tho smocks which the crooks had
worn.
"We're on the right trail," comment-
ed Elaire as he showed them to her,
"but where do you suppose the own-
ers are?"
Craig shrugged his shoulders and
gave a quick look about. "Evidently
they came In from and went away by
the street," he observed, hurrying to
the door, followed by Elaine.
On the Bidewalk he gazed up the
avenue, then catching sight of the
street cleaner, called to him.
"Yes, sor," replied the man, stolidly,
looking up from his work. "I see three
gtntlemen come out and get into an
automobile."
"Which way did they go?" asked
Kennedy.
For answer the man jerked bis
thumb over his shoulder in the seneral
direction uptown.
With keen glance, Kennedy strained doubt which way to go. Craig had
his eyes. Far up the avenue he could stuck hiB head out ot the window, as
descry the car threading its way in : 1 ha(1 donp. an(1> 6eelnS tl,e crossroads,
and oil', among the others, Just about j llad to'd ,,,e cllauffeur to stop. There
f.'lnine, equal to anylD/ng, did bo, and
Craig bent down and cranked the en-
gine. It started on the first spin.
"See;" he exclaimed. "There wasn't
anything, after all."
He took a step toward the taxicab
"Mr. Kennedy—fook out!" cried
Elaine.
Craig turned. BuT It was too late.
The rough-looking fellow had awak
ened to life. Suddenly he stepped up
behind Kennedy witn a blackjack. As
the heavy weight descended Craig
crumpled up on the ground uncon-
scious.
With a scream, Elaine turned and
started to run. But the chauffeur
seized her arm.
"Say, bo," he asked of the rough fel-
low, "what does Clutching Hand want
with her? Quick! There's another
cab likely to be along In a moment
with that fellow Jameson in it."
The rough fellow, with an oath,
seized her and dragged her Into the
taxicab. "Go ahead!" he growled, in-
dicating the road.
And away they sped, leaving Ken-
nedy unconscious on the side of the
road, where we found him.
"What are we to do?" I asked help-
lessly of Kennedy, when we had at
last got him on his feet.
His head still ringing from the force
of the blow of the blackjack, Craig
stooped down, then knelt in the dust
of the road, then ran ahead a bit,
where it was somewhat muddy.
"Which way—which way?" he mut-
tered to himself.
I thought perhaps the blow had af-
fected him and leaned over to see
what he was doing. Instead, he was
studying the marks made by the tire
of the Clutching Hand cab.
More slowly now and carefully, we
proceeded, for a mistake meant losing
the trail of Elaine.
We came to another crossroads and
the driver glanced at Craig. "Stop!"
he ordered.
In another instant he was down in
Kennedy Quietly Examined the Showcase.
disappearing.
A moment later Craig caught sight
of the vacant taxicab and cooked his
finger at the driver, who answered
proiiptly by cranking his engine.
"You saw that limousine standing
here?" asked Craig.
"Yes," nodded the chauffeur, with a
show of alertness.
"Well, follow It," ordered Kennedy,
jumping Into the cab.
"Yes, sir."
stood the hobo.
"Did a car pass here, Just now—a
big car?" called Craig.
The man put his hand to his ear, as
if only half comprehending.
"Which way did the big car go 7" re-
peated Kennedy.
The hobo approached the taxicab
sullenly, as if he had a grudge against
cars in general.
One question after another elicited
little that could be construed as intel-
the dirt, examining the road for marks.
"That way!" he Indicated, leaping
back to the running board
We piled back into the car and pro-
ceeded under Kennedy's direction, as
fast as he would permit. So it con-
tinued, perhaps for a couple of hours.
At last Kennedy stopped the cab
and slowly directed the driver to veer
into an open space that looked partic-
ularly lonesome. Near it stood a one-
story brick factory building, closed,
but not abandoned.
As I looked about at the unattrac-
tive scene, Kennedy already was down
on his knees in the dirt again, study
Craig was just about to close the "sence. If Craig had only been able fng the tlre traci<g. They were all
i ii u. « it.a . i to see. he would have found out that,
door when a slight figure Hashed past ' . ... ,,
, . . r , , ,u with his back toward the taxicab
lis and a dainty foot was placed on the i , , , , ,, . , . . . .
driver, the hobo held one hand behind
StP1';, .. . „ . , , him and made the sign of the Clutch-
Please, Mr. Kennedy, pleaded | j])g Hand g]anclng 6urr0pUUous,y at
Elaine, "let me go. They may lead to
my father's slayer."
She said it so earnestly that Craig
could scarcely have resisted if he had
wanted to do so.
Just as Elaine and Kennedy were
moving off I came out of the vacant
store, with Bennett and the detectives.
"Craig!" I cried. "Where are you
going?"
Kennedy stuck his head out of the
window, and I am quite sure that he
was not altogether displeased that I
was not with him.
"Chasing that limousine," he shout-
ed back. "Follow us in another car."
A moment later he and Elaine were
gone.
Bennett and 1 looked about.
"There are a couple of cabs—down
there." I pointed out at the other end
of the block. "I'll take one, you take
the other."
Who, besides Bennett, went In the
other car 1 don't know, but it made no
difference, for we soon lost them. Our
driver, however, was a really clever
fellow. Far ahead now we could see
the limousine drive around a corner,
making a dangerous swerve. Ken-
nedy's cab followed, skidding danger-
ously near a pole.
But the taxicab was no match for
the driver to catch the answering sign,
while Craig gazed earnestly up the
two roads.
At last Craig gave him up as hope-
less. "Well—go ahead—that way," he
Indicated, picking the most likely road.
As the chauffeur was ubdut to start
he stalled his engine.
"Hurry!" urged Craig, exasperated
at the delays.
The driver got out and tried to crank
the engine. Again and again he turned
It over, but somehow it refused to
start. Then he lifted the hood and be-
gan to tinker.
"What's the matter?" asked Craig,
Impatiently jumping out and bending
over the engine, too.
The driver shrugged his shoulders.
"Must be something wrong with the
ignition, I guess," he replied.
Kennedy looked the car over hastily.
"I can't seo anything wrong," he
frowned.
"Well, there Is," growled the driver.
Precious minutes were speeding
away as they argued. Finally with his
characteristic energy, Kennedy put the
taxicab driver aside.
"Let me try It," he said. "Miss
Dodge, will you arrange that spark
and throttle?"
confused, showing that the taxicab
we were following had evidently
backed in and turned several times
before going on.
"Crossed by another set of tire
ticks!" he exclaimed excitedly,
studying closer. "That must have
been the limousine, waiting."
Laboriously he was following the
course of the cars in the open space,
when one word escaped him, "Foot-
prints!"
He was up and off In a moment, be-
fore we could Imagine what he was
after. We had got out of the cab,
and followed him as, down to tin
very shore of a sort of cove or bay,
he went. There lay a rusty, discard-
ed boiler on the beach, half sub
merged in the rising tide. At this
tank the footprints seemed to go
right down the sand and Into the
waves, which were slowly obliterating
them. Kennedy gazed out as if to
make out a possible boat on the hori-
zon where the cove widened out
"Look!" I cried.
Further down the shore, a few feet.
I had discovered the same prints, go-
ing In the opposite direction, back to-
ward the place from which he had
Just come. I started to follow them
but soon found myself alone. Ken-
nedy had paused beside the old boiler
What Is It?" 1 asked, retracing my
steps
He did not answer, hut seemed to be
listening. We listened also. fher
certainly was a most peculiar noise
inside that tank.
Was it a muffled scream?
Kennedy reached dowu and picked
up a rock, hitting the tank with a re-
sounding blow As the echo died
down, he listened again.
Yes, there was a sound—a scream,
perhaps—a woman's voice, faint, but
unmistakable.
I looked at Mb face inquiringly.
Without a word I read In it the con-
firmation* of the thought that bad
flashed into my mind.
Elaine Dodge was inside!
• ••••••
First had come the limousine, with
its three bandits, to the spot fixed on
as a rendezvous. Later had como the
taxicab. As it hove Into sight, the
three well-dressed crooks had drawn
revolvem, thinking perhaps the plan
for gating rid of Kennedy might pos-
sibly have miscarried. But the taxi-
cab driver and the rough-faced fellow
had reassured them with the sign or
the Clutching Hand, and the revolvers
were lowered.
As they parleyed hastily, the
roughneck and the fako chauffeur
lifted Elaine out of the taxi. Sbe was
bound and gagged.
"Well, now we've got her, what shall
wo do with her?" asked one.
It's got to be quick. There's an-
other cab," put In the driver.
'The deuce with that."
"The deuce with nothing," he re-
turned. "That fellow Kennedy's a
clever one. He may come to. If ho
doeB, he won't miss us. Quick, now!"
"See," cried the third. "See that old
boiler down there at the edge of the
water? Why not put her in there?
No one'll ever think to look in such
a place."
With a hasty expression of approval,
the roughneck picked Elaine up bodily,
still struggling vainly, and together
they carried her, bound and gagged,
to the tank. The opening, which was
toward the water, was small, but they
managed, roughly, to thrust hor In.
A moment later and they had rolled
up a huge bowlder against the small
entrance, bracing it so that It would
bo Impossible for her to get out from
the inside. Then they drove oft hast-
ily.
Frantically Elaine managed to
loosen the gag. She screamed. Her
voice seemed to be bound around by
the iron walls as she was herself She
shuddered. The water was rising—
had reached her chest, and was still
rising, slowly, inexorably.
What was that? Silence? Or wa
someone outside?
Coolly, in spite of the emergency,
Kennedy took in the perilous situa-
tion.
The lower end of the boiler, which,
was on a slant on the rapidly shelving
beach, was now completely under wa-
ter and impossible to get at. Besides,
tho opening was small, too small
Kennedy gazed about frantically
and his eye caught the sign on th
factory:
* OXYACETYLENE WELDING CO. *
"Come, Walter," he cried, running
up the shore.
A moment later, breathless, we-
reached the doorway. It was, of
course, locked. Kennedy whipped out
his revolver and several well-directed
shots through the keyhole smashed
the lock. We put our shoulders to It
and swung the door open, entering
the factory.
Beside a work bench stood two long
cylinders studded with bolts.
"That's what I'm looking for," ex-
claimed Craig. "Here, Walter, tak
one. I'll take the other—and the
tubes—and—"
We ran, for there was no time to
lose. Ab nearly as I could estimate It,
the water must now be slowly closintf
over Elaine.
"What is it?" I asked, as he Joined
up the tubes from the tankB to the
peculiar hooklike apparatus he car-
ried.
"An oxyacetylene blowpipe," he mut-
tered back feverishly. "Used for weld-
ing and cutting, too," he added.
With a light he touched the nozzle,
instantly a hissing, blinding flame-
needle made the steel under it incan-
descent. The terrific heat from one
nozzle made the Bteel glow. Tho
stream of oxygen from the second
completely consumed the hot metal.
Kennedy was actually cutting out a
huge hole In the still exposed surface
of the tank—all around, except for a,
few Inches, to prevent the heavy
piece from falling inward.
As Kennedy carefully bent outward
the Bection of the tank which he had
cut, he quickly reached down and
lifted Elaine, unconscious, out of the
water.
Gently he laid her on the sand. It
was the work of only a moment to cut
the cords that bound her hands.
There she lay, pale and sti'l. Was
she dead?
Kennedy worked frantically to re-
vive her..
At last, slowly, the color seemed to
return to her pale lips. Her eyelids
flut'ered. Then her great, deep eyea
opened.
As she looked up and caught sight
of Craig bending anxiously o er her,
she seemed to comprehend. For a mo-
ment both were silent. Then Elaine
reached up and took his hand.
"Craig," she whispered, "you—
you've saved my life!"
Her tone was eloquent.
"Elain *," he whispered, still ga-.lng
down Into her wonderful eyes, "the
Clutching Hand shall pay for this! It
Is a fight to a finish between us!"
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
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Burke, J. J. The Daily Transcript (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 100, Ed. 1 Monday, October 25, 1915, newspaper, October 25, 1915; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc113076/m1/2/?q=craig: accessed June 12, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.