The Romance of Elaine | Page 6

suddenly and I
almost fell over him.
"What is it?" I whispered.
. . . . . . .
Long Sin had made his way from the opening of the cave to the point
on the plan which was marked by a cross, and there he had set up his
electric drill which was connected to the trolley wire. He was working
furiously to take advantage of the fifteen minutes or so before the next
car would pass.
The tunnel had been widened out at this point into a small subterranean
chamber. It was dug out of the earth and the roof was roughly propped
up, most of the weight being borne by one main wooden prop which, in
the dampness, had now become old and rotten.
On one side it was evident that Long Sin had already been at work,
digging and drilling through the earth and rock. He had gone so far now
that he had disclosed what looked like the face of a small safe set
directly into the rock.
As he worked he would stop from time to time and consult the map.
Then he would take up drilling again.

He had now come to the point on which Bennett had written his
warning. Quickly he opened the bag and took out the oxygen helmet,
which he adjusted carefully over his head. Then he set to work with
redoubled energy.
It was that drill as well as his pounding on the rock which had so
alarmed Elaine and Aunt Tabby the night before and which now had
been the signal for Kennedy's excursion of discovery.
. . . . . . .
Our man, whoever he was, must have heard us approaching down the
tunnel, for he paused in his work and the noise of the drill ceased.
He looked about a moment, then went over to the prop and examined it,
looking up at the roof of the chamber above him. Evidently he feared
that it was not particularly strong.
From our vantage point around the bend in the passageway we could
see this strange and uncouth figure.
"Who is it, do you think?" I whispered, crouching back against the wall
for fear that he might look even around a corner or through the earth
and discover us.
As I spoke, my hand loosened a piece of rock that jutted out and before
I knew it there was a crash.
"Confound it, Walter," exclaimed Kennedy.
Down the passageway the figure was now thoroughly on the alert,
staring with his goggle-like eyes into the blackness in our direction. It
was not the roof above him that was unsafe. He was watched, and he
did not hesitate a minute to act.
He seized the bag and picked his way quickly through the passage as if
thoroughly familiar with every turn of the walls and roughness of the
floor.

We were discovered and if we were to accomplish anything, it was now
or never.
Kennedy dashed forward and I followed close after him.
We were making much better time than our strange visitor and were
gaining on him rapidly. Nearer and nearer we came to him, for, in spite
of his familiarity with the cavern he was hampered by the outlandish
head-gear that he wore.
It was only another instant, when Kennedy would have laid his hands
on him.
Suddenly he half turned, raised his arm and dashed something to the
earth much as a child explodes a toy torpedo. I fully expected that it
was a bomb; but, as a moment later, I found that Kennedy and I were
still unharmed, I knew that it must be some other product of this
devilish genius.
The thickest and most impenetrable smoke seemed to pervade the
narrow cavern!
"A Chinese smoke bomb!" sputtered and coughed Kennedy, as he
retreated a minute, then with renewed vigor endeavored to penetrate the
dense and opaque fumes.
We managed to go ahead still, but the intruder had exploded one after
another of his peculiar bombs, always keeping ahead of the smoke
which he created, and we found that under its cover he had made good
his escape, probably reaching the entrance of the cave in the
underbrush.
At the other end of the passageway, up in the living-room of the cottage,
the draught had carried large quantities of the smoke. Elaine, Aunt
Tabby and Joshua coughing and choking, saw it, and opened a window,
which seemed to cause a current of air to sweep through the whole
length of the passageway and helped to clear away the fumes rapidly.

Long Sin, meanwhile, had started to work his way through the bushes
to reach the waiting car, with Wu, then paused and listened. Hearing no
sound, he replaced the helmet which he had taken off.
Pursuit was