The Romance of Elaine | Page 5

with the oxygen helmet.
Along this interurban trolley the cars made only half-hourly trips at this
time of night. Long Sin hurried down the road until he came to a trolley
pole, then looked hastily at his watch. It was twenty minutes at least
before the next car would pass.
Quickly, almost monkey-like, he climbed up the pole, carrying with
him the end of a wire which he had taken from the bag.
Having thrown this over the feed wire, he slid quickly to the ground
again. Then, carrying the other end of the wire in his rubber-gloved
hands, he made his way through the underbrush, in and out, almost like

the serpent he was, until he came to a passageway in the rough and
uncleared hillside--a small opening formed by the rocks.
It was dark inside, but he did not hesitate to enter, carrying the wire and
the bag with him.
. . . . . . .
It was nightfall before we arrived with Elaine at Aunt Tabby's. We
entered the living-room and Elaine introduced us both to Aunt Tabby
and her husband.
It was difficult to tell whether Elaine's old nurse was more glad to see
her than the faithful Rusty who almost overwhelmed her even after so
short an absence.
In the midst of the greetings, I took occasion to look over the
living-room. It was a very cozy room, simply and tastefully furnished,
and I fancied that I could see in the neatness of Aunt Tabby a touch of
Elaine's hand, for she had furnished it for her faithful old friend.
I followed Kennedy's eyes, and saw that he was looking at the fireplace.
Sure enough, it was the same in design as the fireplace which the heat
had so unexpectedly brought out in sympathetic ink on the blank sheet
of paper.
Kennedy lost no time in examining it, and we crowded around him as
he went over it inch by inch, following the directions on the drawing.
At one point in the drawing a peculiar protuberance was marked.
Kennedy was evidently hunting for that. He found it at last and pressed
the sort of lever in several ways. Nothing seemed to happen. But finally,
almost by chance, he seemed to discover the secret.
A small section at the side of the fireplace opened up, disclosing an
iron ladder, leading down into one of those characteristic hiding-places
in which the Clutching Hand used to delight.

Kennedy looked at the mysterious opening some time, as if trying to
fathom the mystery.
"Let's go down and explore it," I suggested, taking a step toward the
ladder.
Kennedy reached out and pulled me back. Then without a word he
pressed the little lever and the door closed.
"I think we'd better wait a while, Walter," he decided. "I would rather
hear Aunt Tabby's haunts myself."
He carefully went over not only the rest of the house but the grounds
about it, without discovering anything.
Aunt Tabby, with true country hospitality, seemed unable to receive
guests without feeding them, and, although we had had a big dinner at a
famous road-house on the way out, still none of us could find it in our
hearts to refuse her hospitality. Even that diversion, however, did not
prevent us from talking of nothing else but the strange noises, and I
think, as we waited, we all got into the frame of mind which would
have manufactured them even if there had been none.
We were sitting about the room when suddenly the most weird and
uncanny rappings began. Rusty was on his feet in a moment, barking
like mad. We looked from one to another.
It was impossible to tell where the noises came from, or even to
describe them. They were certainly not ghostly rappings. In fact, they
sounded more like some twentieth century piece of machinery.
We listened a moment, then Kennedy walked over to the fireplace.
"You can explore it with me now, Walter," he said quietly, touching the
lever and opening the panel which disclosed the ladder.
He started down the ladder and I followed closely. Elaine was about to
join us, when Kennedy paused on the topmost round and looked up at
her.

"No, no, young lady," he said with mock severity, "you have been
through enough already--you stay where you are."
Elaine argued and begged but Kennedy was obdurate. It was only when
Aunt Tabby and Joshua added their entreaties that she consented
reluctantly to remain.
Together, Craig and I descended into the darkness about eight or ten
feet. There we found a passageway, excavated through the earth and
rock, along which we crept. It was crooked and uneven, and we
stumbled, but kept going slowly ahead.
Kennedy, who was a few feet in front of me, stopped