Kennedy had even dug away some of the earth and rock, in the hope
of discovering some trace of the strange visitor whom we had
surprised at work. But here, also, he had found nothing.

It was maddening. What might at any moment be happening to Elaine-
-and he powerless to help her?

Unescapably, he was forced to the conclusion that not only
Elaine's amazing disappearance, but the tragic succession of
events which had preceded it, had been caused, in some way, by the
curiously engraved ring which Aunt Josephine had taken from
Elaine.

Craig had taken possession of the mystic ring himself, and now,
forced back on this sole clue, it had occurred to him that if the
ring were so valuable, other attempts would, without doubt, be
made to get possession of it.

I came into the laboratory, one afternoon, to find Kennedy
surrounded by jeweler's tools, hard at work making an exact copy
of the ring.

"What do you think of it, Walter?" he asked, holding up the
replica.

"Perfect," I replied, admiringly. "What are you going to do with
it?"

"I can't say--yet," answered Kennedy, forlornly, "but if I