Adventure, December 1914 — page 53: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Stolen War Secret make it in Sinclair’s car. We can’t wait until morning.” Mrs. Hawley insisted on accompanying us, and a few minutes later Kennedy, Sin- clair, Burke, Mrs. Hawley and myself were threading our way along the roads leading to New York, making pretty good time in spite of the difficult driving at night. It was far past midnight when we arrived over the uptown bridge in New York, and arriving there, the question was where to O. : “Why not the cabaret?” suggested Mrs. Hawley. ‘That was their headquarters. Thev would not stay there, I suppose, but they might stop there.” “Good,” agreed Kennedy. least a chance.” “There is at Ps vw oe r-a-T-) GQhuuae yr” THE streets were deserted, and it was only a matter of minutes before we pulled up as quietly as we could before the place which, of course, to all outward appearance was closed. A tap on the door brought no response from the lookout, although that was to be expected. Craig and Burke did not wait longer than to tap, but with the aid of a le- ver from the car succeeded in forcing the door and entering cautiously, prepared for a surprise. The place was as still as if it had been deserted. If there had been any one there when we arrived they must have made their escape, perhaps over the roofs. Upstairs we followed Kennedy and Burke. As we entered the private dining-room in which we had once attended the strange mescal party, Kennedy turned the switch and flooded the place with light. Craig uttered a low exclamation. There lay the beautiful Sefiora Ruiz, tall, almost imperial in her beautiful gown. He bent over and tried to lift her up. As he did so, a gold bracelet, unclasped, clat- tered to the floor. He picked it up and glanced hurriedly at it. It was hollow. But in that part where it unclasped could be seen a minute hypo- dermic needle and traces of a brownish liquid. ‘“‘A poison-bracelet,” he muttered to him- self, looking from it to a long scratch on the fair arm of the Sefiora. ‘‘One in which poison could be hidden so that in an emer- gency death could cheat the law.” She was still breathing, but her convulsed 51 face showed that even Kennedy’s hasty re- storatives had no effect. ‘The others!’’ exclaimed Burke who stood behind us, looking from the deadly bracelet to the insensible beauty, and slowly com- prehending what it all might mean. “The others—she alone knows where and who they are!”’ Mrs. Hawley had taken the head of her former friend in her lap and was smoothing it gently, as she looked mutely at Kennedy. What was to be done? Were the real criminals to escape because we had caught only an accomplice, and she had either chosen or been forced to choose the easiest way of escape? CHAPTER XIV THE ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY “CALL up Dr. Leslie right away, Walter,” cried Kennedy making a quick de- cision, “‘then hurry down to the car. I am going to the laboratory.” Sefiora Ruiz had been lifted to a couch and the rest remained at the Mexican cab- aret while Craig and I made a quick dash to the laboratory. Not a moment was wasted. He jumped from the car almost before it had stopped and went directly to a cupboard in which was locked a large ob- long case. We were back again, almost before they fairly expected us. Sefiora Ruiz was still alive though breathing with difficulty. Without an instant’s delay he had his coat off and was opening the case. We watched helplessly as he took from it a pe- culiar arrangement and laid it carefully on the table. It seemed to consist of innumer- able little tubes, each about sixteen inches long, with S-turns that made it look like a miniature glass radiator. ‘“‘There is just one chance,” he said, work- ing feverishly. ‘I wish Leslie would come —TI need him.” Altogether the apparatus could not have been much over a cubic foot in size, and it was enclosed in a glass cylinder through which we could see a hundred feet or more of the tubes, a perfectly closed tubular system. “TI have kept this absolutely sterile in a germicidal solution,’”’ he went on, scrubbing away at his hands and nails now with an antiseptic solution. ‘Inside those tubes MICLOOOLK C©@