CHAPTER I

THE SERPENT SIGN


Rescued by Kennedy at last from the terrible incubus of Bennett's
persecution in his double life of lawyer and master criminal,
Elaine had, for the first time in many weeks, a feeling of
security.

Now that the strain was off, however, she felt that she needed
rest and a chance to recover herself and it occurred to her that a
few quiet days with "Aunt" Tabitha, who had been her nurse when
she was a little girl, would do her a world of good.

She sent for Aunt Tabby, yet the fascination of the experiences
through which she had just gone still hung over her. She could not
resist thinking and reading about them, as she sat, one morning,
with the faithful Rusty in the conservatory of the Dodge house.

I had told the story at length in the Star, and the heading over
it caught her eye.

It read:

THE CLUTCHING HAND DEAD

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