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THE EXPLOITS OF ELAINE A MOTION PICTURE DETECTIVE DRAMA PRE SENTED BY THE HEARST SUNDAY NEWSPAPERS IN COLLABORATION WITH MISS PEARL WHITE AND THE OTHER FAMOUS PATHE PLAYERS Written by Arthur B. Reeve Creator of the “CRAIG KENNEDY" Stories in Collaboration with CHARLES W. GODDARD Author of “The Peril® of Pauline.'* Everything you read here to-day you can see in fascinating Pathe Motion Pictures this week. The Opium Smugglers. ■ t Copyright, mis, by the Star Company. All Foreign Rights Reserved. G EORGE, the Dodge chauffeur, had Just returned to the garage in the rear of the house with the car and was work ing over It. He was so intent on locating a Strange noise in the engine that he did not see the serpentine eyes of Wu as he peered into the garage through a small window. Wu was not alone. As always, he had been able to secure an assistant in the devilish scheme he bad in mind, not a sinUter, evil faced fellow, but a neat, quiet, apparently hon est-looking young mechanician. George was bending closely over the engine as ha speeded it up to see what was the cause of the rattle, when the door of the garage opened quietly. On tiptoe Wu and the young mechanician, a man named Johnson, slipped In, Johnson carrying an automobile robe. The next moment the two had leaped upon the defenseless George. Johnson threw the robe over his head, while Wu wound him about with a rope. He was completely and Instantly put out. Just then, working as if by the clock, for such was the precision of Wu’s plans, a closed car, muffled down, slipped up to the garage door. They hustled the unresisting George in to the car, Johnson taking the place at the wheel and Wu sitting on guard in back with ‘George, bound and almost suffocated. George was loyal, if anything. Threats and bribes had no effect on him, even after he had come too in Wu's secret den. "■ ‘There Is paper, pen and Ink," threatened Wu. “Write what I tell you." ‘ George remained motionless, defiant. - “You will not?’ shrugged Wu, masking his impatience behind an assumed nonchalance. t» Slowly he picked up a murderous dirk, which lay on the table before him, and felt the point thoughtfully. A deep, guttural order hissed from the Serpent's lips. Instantly two of the 'iervams seized George, while the third bent his head back. As Wu raised the knife, it was more than even the iron nerves of George rouId stand. He broke down. “Take the pen,” directed Wu, adding, as George took it mechanically. “Write.” Both Elaine and Aunt Josephine were much surprised at the non-appearance of George in the morning. It was explained, apparently, when Jennings, the butler, ushered In the neat and quiet young man who politely told a story of an accident to his dear friend, George, as he handed a note to Elaine. “I think you’ll do,” nodded Elaine. “Jen nings. will you show Johnson how to get to the garage ?” For a long time Kennedy had been perfect ing a miniature wireless telephone of his own invenlion, and the activities of Wu Fang now caused him to hasten his work. It was the next morning after the capture of Long Sin that Craig got the instrument working to his satisfaction. I was delighted, for I had been much interested in following his work on it. “You see, Walter," Kennedy explained, set ting a little black box on the laboratory table, “I’ve got this thing down to an irreducible min imum. It's the most compact affair imagin able. See. I open the face of the box. 1 lift up these miniature aerials of the inverted L type. Here is the transmitting apparatus, there the receiving, all tuned. I preas this lever." He paused At the other end of the table stood an exact duplicate of the first instru ment. As he pressed the lever the buxzer in the other telephone sounded. “I'm going to ask you, Walter,” he went on folding down the little aerlala and shutting up the box," “to take this other Instrument over to Elaine." He placed the wireless telephone In a bag and a few minutes later I left the laboratory. “Good morning. Mr. Jameson," Elaine greeted, adding, as she caught sight of the bag, “Not going to leave us, are you?” '* “No." 1 replied. “I've brought you a present from Craig—a wireless telephone You see, he sayB that if you will keep this with you when ever you go, you can always communicate with Tilm" “How .interesting!” she exclaimed. 8 “Yes,” I agreed, relating the Joke which Craig had played on me as. briefly as I could, I explained the working of the telephone to both Elaine'and Aunt Josephine. * Out In the Atlantic, tossing over the choppy seas, a dingy old schooner was tacking her way toward New York harbor. The captain. Jake Gregor, was a disreputable looking man, as were both his craft and his crew of mixed whites and Chinese. • Gregor had come out on deck and stood there off at where the land ought to be He had just finished scrawling a note on a piece of paper resting on the after cabin roof when ' one of the men reached down and from a amall wooden cage took a atruggling white carrier pigeon. They fastened the note, rolled up In a ■sort of quill, to the blrd’a leg and let the bird loose. It circled up. then, straight as an arrow, darted off landward. - “They'll be glad to know we're safe and so t ear,” nodded Gregor. “And confound any revenue men that stand between us!" arranged so that It fell almost at a touch, working a little signal flag on the back of the box toward the room In which the Chinamen were seated. Now and then, as they talked, they would glance at this box. Suddenly there was a flutter of wings out side. A pure white pigeon Beemed to glide into the box and, as the homing bird did so, the door automatically shut. It was a cage such as Is used for carrier pigeons. The little flag In the room moved, and the Chinamen crowded about the box as Wu opened It, reached In and caught the bird. Carefully he took the message from the bird’s foot. As one of them placed the bird In another box and reset the frap, Wu unrolled the paper and read: 10 A. M. Twenty-six miles southeast of 8andy Hook. Will drop anchor off Staten Island to-night. “You will let me know if any later message comes.” directed Wu to one of his men as, a moment later, the Chinese master criminal left the tenement. Cautiously he made his way to the secret entrance to his own apartment. He had scarce ly entered when a Chinaman who had evidently been waiting for him rose and bowed. It was Hop Ling, the proprietor of the opium den “Is there any news yet. master?" he asked. "Yes, Gregor is landing your opium to-night I’ll have a girl for him to take back to Shanghai with him, where she can be sold." The opium dealer bowed. "Be ready at dark to-night,” added Wu as the man left. Kennedy had begun to get closer on the trail of Wu and, having dispatched me to Elaine with the wireless telephone, It occurred to him that he might spend a few hours profitably sleuthing about Chinatown searching for clues to the Serpent. He donned the roughest of his old suits and turned Ills coat collar up, while an old slouch hat was pulled over his eyes. But It was not so far over as to dim his sight. He paused once by an electric light pole to watch a gangster saunter past. Twice the fel low had walked up and down the street, and Kennedy, after eyeing him narrowly, had fan cied that there was something familiar about him, though he could not place him. As the gangster slouched by, he lurched over to the electric light pole, and Kennedy felt his hand touched by that of the gangster. He was more than surprised to feel something like a piece of cardboard surreptitiously shoved Into his hand, and he clutched it. The gangster passed, and, as he did so, Kennedy looked after him, then bent, over and read: Captain John Brainard, U. S. Secret Service. Written unusiseath the engraved name was “Follow.” For a moment Craig hesitated, then he re membered. Brainard's disguise had been good, but neither had been able to completely hide their Identity, for they had worked once shoul der to shoulder on a big counterfeiting case. Slowly Craig followed. Brainard entered a saloon by a side door and seated himself in a back room. A moment later Kennedy slouched in and sat down at the same table Brainard nodded and Craig extended his hand quietly. He looked about. They were alone. "What brings you down here?” asked Ken nedy in a low tone. "A big shipment of opium is going to be landed to-night and I’m trying to locate the .Chinese gang back of it. Think you can help me?” “Anything to do with that hop Joint up the street?” Brainard nodded. Would it prove a clue pos sibly to Wu Fang? ‘Til help you," agreed Kennedy. For several minutes they talked, laying out a plan. Finally they paid the check and rose to go out. As they reached the side door a Chinaman passed. Kennedy drew Brainard hack. "What's the matter?" whispered the Secret Service man. "Did you see that Chinaman?” returned Ken nedy. “That’s Hop Ling. He runs the opium Joint. I think he is worth shadowing." Keeping discreetly in the rear of the China man, Kennedy and Brainard followed until Hop paused before a ramshackle tenement. No sooner had he disappeared inside than Craig and Brainard advanced, careful that they In turn were not followed. They entered and went upstairs At last they came to a door outside which they paused to listen. At least two, perhaps more, China men were talking Inside. "Can you make out what they are saying?" asked Brainard “Something about birds," returned Craig. "We’ve got them. There are only two. Let’s rush the door." Together they catapulted themselves at the door and it flew open. Instantly, before the Chinamen could recover from their surprise at the sudden attack, Craig and Brainard were on them. One rushed for a window, smashing it with a chair and trying to get out. Craig seized him and helped corner the other, who turned out to be Hop Ling. It was the work !r. a room In a tenement Wu Fang and sev eral Chinamen were sqated talking and smok ing It was not Wu’s headquarters, but a 'poorly furnished place. Outside a nearby window was a large box which had a small sliding door on the outside, ft You Can See “Elaine in fascinating motion pictures at leading theatres everywhere. If “The Exploits of Elaine” is not shown regularly in your neigh borhood, send the name and ad dress of the theatre you attend to this newspaper. of only a moment to snap tne bracelets on the two and cover them with a gun. “What's that?” demanded Brainard, looking at the box In the window, as Kennedy moved over toward It. “A pigeon trap, I suspect,” Craig replied. "Let’s wait.” They sat there for several minutes. Evident ly the Chinese had been waiting for something. Craig felt that waiting might pay. At last he was rewarded by the sound of a flutter outside. A click followed as the little door shut, trapping the pigeon. The signal flag In the room moved. Kennedy looked at it a moment, then care fully opened the door In the back of the trap and seized the bird. From the quill on Its leg he took a tightly rolled note and read: 5 P. M. Will be off Van Dort Jetty In two hours. GREGOR. What did It mean? Threats, imprecations, nothing could extract a word from the two im passive prisoners. “Come,” ordered Kennedy sharply of Hop Ling, not for a moment letting his vexation show In his face. “Walk ahead of me.” Two of the gang had been captured, but Wu seemed as far away as ever. He marched Hop along sullenly, while Brainard kicked the other Chinaman to his feet and followed. They did not have far to go Scarcely a block away stood a policeman, and Craig waved to him. Quickly Craig produced cards of identifica tion and they left their handcuffed prisoners with the understanding that they were to be held until full charges could be made against them. At the first telephone pay station Craig turned in and called up the laboratory to which I had returned. “I think I’ve got the best clue yet, Walter,” he called. “You remember Brainard? Well, 1 want you to meet me at the Battery, where a revenue cutter will be waiting. Bring along that wireless telephone, too. Don’t forget.” I hung up the receiver excitedly and tucked the little black box under my arm as I hurried out. Elaine had decided to motor down to the country home of one of her friends who lived on the shore of New Jersey, and accordingly, late in the afternoon, called the garage and ordered Johnson to have the car ready. As Elaine was whirled downtown and over the ferry from New York she was deeply en grossed in her own thoughts How far they had gone she did not pay much attention, but she knew the roads well. They bad come to a fork, and Johnson veered off to the left. Instinctively Elaine knew that the right-hand road was the more direct, and she touched a little signal that summoned the driver. "You're taking the wrong road,” she called. “Go to the right.” “I think you’ll find the roads better this way, Miss Dodge.” persisted Johnson. It was, however, merely a ruse on his part to gain time and give some of Wu’s men an opportunity. For, as the car approached the fork, two roughnecks, hidden behind a rock in the shrubbery, had been straining their eyes down the road and at the approach of the car had drawn back closer under cover. Johnson stopped some hundred feet or so down the wrong road past the rock in answer to Elaine’s signal. It was the chance the roughnecks wanted. They leaped out from their shelter. Not another car or vehicle was In sight Quickly they slunk down the road. As Elaine was becoming vexed at Johnson's first show of stubbornness, she suddenly felt strong arms circling her, while a huge, very dirty hand pressed with irresistible force over her mouth. She struggled, but it was of no use. They pinned her down to the floor of the car. Johnson drew the curtains and leaped into his seat, from which he had descended, leaving the engine running. “To the Van Dort jetty,’’ growled one rough neck. "They’ll be there soon.” Quickly Johnson shot the car along to the lower bay side of the island, instead of the New Jersey ferry. It was very late in the afternoon. I did my best to get down to the Battery with the wire less telephone to meet Kennedy and Brainard, but it was dark before I got there. As I hurried down to the dock, I saw that they had already boarded the revenue cutter and were waiting impatiently. It was a fairly sizable craft. They hauled me aboard and we cast off. The wind blew in keenly from the bay and we spun down the harbor, keeping a sharp lookout for any suspicious craft. Already Wu Fang ajid a couple of his lieu tenants had gone down to the Van Dort jetty. No message had been received from Gregor, but they felt sure that he would be there with the schooner. Finally Wu directed one of his men to set off a signal, a flashlight on the end of the jetty, while he strained his eyes through the dark ness for some answering signal. He had not reckoned wrong. Far out over the water came an answering signal from the schooner. “Good!” exclaimed Wu with satisfaction, as he turned and picked his way back up the dock. On he went alone until he came to one of the deserted mansions of a generation or two ago which lined the shore at that point. There, in a yard beside it, stood Elaine's car. "Where is the white girl?” asked Wu, calling Johnson. "In the house, master,” replied the me- chantcan subservently. “Wait for me here, then,” nodded Wu. Down in a musty room in the basement of the deserted house was Elaine. She was neither bound nor gagged. In fact, there was no neces sity for it. No one could hear her cries, nor could she escape, for the two roughnecks who had seized her were guarding her, besides a couple of Chinamen. Wu Fang came in silently and moved over close to her. He said not a word, but an evil smile spread over his sinister face as she shrank from him. Meanwhile a yawl had put out from the schooner loaded with cans of the precious con traband drug, and had pulled up at the old stone jetty and dock. Chinamen hastily un loaded It and started up to the house laden with the heavy tins. As Wu stood before Elaine, the Chinamen carrying the dope tins entered and began piling them up in an old closet in the room. At last they finished putting it away. This Is from the Moving “All is done, master,” bowed one who seemed to be leader. Wu nodded, then turned to Elaine. “Go!” he hissed, raising his finger and pointing to the door. Trembling, she obeyed, and Wu Fang and the two toughs followed, one of the Chinamen pick ing up her suitcase. Across the almost un travelled road they forced her and down on the stone dock, every footstep dogged by Wu and his emissaries. Get into the boat,” Wu ordered. Site climbed down into the dirty yawl, and the Chinamen tossed her suitcase after her. If you see that for any reason she is about to escape,” added Wu savagely, “do away with her.” tt,I 1< r'v!ri iShed y 1 , 1 ,* 1 a fhreatening gesture as mamen . fo Mowed Elaine into the boat, then he turned on his heel and walked rapidly *° th< ; des ? r , ted house, There he climbed wlr* h t' aWith the two t0U S h s and all mechanician y V6n aWay by tbe faithless swlnt tossed U P/"d down on the rough swells that came in from the ocean, as the through th a e ri M °if thR SaiI ° rS pulied her 001 through the blackness to the schooner. There Elaine was lifted over the rail and ,,y tros ® the deck down into the murky ill-smelling hold. It made no difference to band°or W a «Mt r he , Carried a < ' argo of «>ntra- beHnwoH white slave, in his gruff voice he orders for getting under way, while a th cra ( mneri man ha ' f led ’ ha!t P UBhed Elaine into a cramped room amidships. He set down the suitcase and, with a grunt and a scowl left, locking the door and shuffling along the passageway to a steep flight of steps to the deck. K Elaine paced up and down her narrow prison distracted. Suddenly she paused a moment as her eye fe 1 on the suitcase. There flashed through her mind the message I had given her from Kennedy. She seized the suitcase and tore it open with nervous- fingers. “Oh, will it work—will it work?” she breathed in prayer to herself as she lifted out tenderly the little wireless telephone. She opened it, pulled up the little aerials, and pressed the lever. ‘‘Hello—hello—Craig—hello!” It was her last chance. Would It work? By this time we had come in the revenue cutter to the old dock that was known as the Van Dort jetty. As we swung around to it, with Kennedy and Brainard 1 leaped out. We gazed about, hunting for signs of the opium smugglers. All was as still as a grave, except for the ominous .applng of the waves. 1 happened to look down at the ground There in the light of a lantern I saw one of those square-toed footprints which we had come t° know so well—the print of a Chinese shoe. the footprints led up from the dock to an old, deserted, dilapidated house. We paused a moment before it. Just then a door opened and a Chinaman appeared. With a cry he darted back, but we were at him. There were others inside, too, but they were easily overpowered. Prodding the reticent Celestials, we retraced our steps to the jetty, Brainard’s men carrying' the opium. At the dock we loaded our prison ers and the contraband on the cutter. It was plain that although we had captured the dope, the ship which had brought it had escaped, and, worst of all, Wu had again slipped through our fingers. Brainard gave the order and we left the wharf. As we stood gazing from the captured opium to the prisoners, Brainard was visibly elated. “Shake,” he said laconically to Craig. Whether it was that he was disappointed at the failure to land Wu or whether he merely had a premonition that all was not well, some how Kennedy did not share the elation. He extended his hand mechanically. Just then a buzz as if a bell had rung startled us. It was so unexpected that I ex claimed, although the next minute I realized that it was from the wireless telephone which Craig had asked me to bring from the laboratory. Kennedy seized the box, opened it hastily and clapped the little receiver to his ear. “Hello—hello—yes, this is Craig. Where are you—what?” Of course we could hear only one side of the conversation, but from the look of intense horror that passed over Kennedy’s face I knew that something terrible must have hap pened to Elaine. “Leave Me!” Elaine Pleaded. Picture Film of “The Exploits of Elaine” by the But at Craig’s next words I myself gasped. "If you can get a light,” he almost shouted, “thrust it out of the porthole to guide us. But we’ll find you any way. Keep up your nerve.” We crowded about him. "Brainard—a pair of glasses—quick,” he cried, dashing to the bow of the cutter, “and full speed down the bay.” Briefly, as he swept the horizon ahead, he re peated the tale of Elaine’s kidnapping. We strained our eyes. "That's it—Brainard—more speed!” cried Craig at last. Far off, almost out on the ocean, we could see a tiny twinkle of light slowly waving back and forth. In her prison Elaine had talked to Craig, afraid to raise her voice too high. As she heard Kennedy’s instructions, she re placed the receiver and rose quickly to her feet from beside the suitcase. She looked about. There was a dingy oil lamp suspended from a beam of the deck above. She seized It and ran to the porthole. Back and forth she waved it as far as her arms would permit- As the schooner now slipped along, Gregor, who had left the man at the wheel, was gazing off, not particularly happy at the prospect of not touching a port for a long time again. Sud denly he became aware of a peculiar, though slight, gleam on the water. He leaned over the rail further. Below and a bit forward of him he could catch a glimpse of a light moving along the side of the boat “Confound that wench!” he muttered in a sudden fury, turning and seizing up a boathook lying on deck. Raising it, he leaned far over the rail. Then he brought the boathook down suddenly on the lamp, smashing it into a thousand bits as they hissed into the water. Elaine drew back in horror. In her hand was merely the handle of the lamp. It seemed as if her last hope had been blasted. “Cap’n—look over the stern—to port!” cried one of the men on watch. He pointed, and Gregor raised his glass as the rest, including the Chinaman to whom Wu had entrusted Elaine, crowded about. There was a searchlight sweeping the water, as if a fast boat were hunting for something and were rapidly overhauling them. “It’s a revenue cutter,” growled Gregor, low ering his glass after a quick scrutiny of the mysterious craft. “Crowd on more sail—start the auxiliary motor.” He volleyed forth his orders hoarsely. In stantly the deck was in an uproar. For the moment, in their anxiety to escape, they seemed to have forgotten Elaine—all except the Chinaman who had been set to guard her. Silently he drew from his blouse a knife and slipped down the companion way. Elaine, her ears now sharpened by fear at the mysterious smashing of the light, had heard the commotion on deck She seized a chair and propped it against the door. She had acted not a minute too soon. Down the passageway, already, she could hear some one creeping stealthily It was the Chinaman with his murderous knife. She heard him pause at the door as he looked again at his knife. Then the lock turned. The door creaked. But she had propped the chair well, and It held. Just then she heard a loud report outside, and an instant later another. Then followed the crash of something heavy on the deck above accompanied by a volley of vile oaths and quick footsteps, as Gregor gave hasty or ders to his crew. The Chinaman at the door redoubled his ef forts. He seized a fire axe hanging nearby and attacked the door with that, hacking furiously. One after another, the table, a chest, every thing movable, Elaine piled up against the door as It splintered. But it was of no use. She moved over fearfully as far away as she Get the “Elaine” Song {(T^LAINE, My Moving Picture Queen,” is the title of a rollicking new one- MHOA M3N ‘Ohfl xog o d 'ANVdWOO b VJLS oi sdiuejs iuao-oMi xie Buipuss Aq piedieod paneiu aq him Xdoo e jo ‘sjoi* 0|«niu Aub ie »| sseqojnd Aem no* '»JO|0O ui qdejB -ojoqd paqdejBojne jaq sjeaq pue ajiq/w |jE9d **!W °» paieojpap si ;| -Xjiunoo aq; J9A0 ||e Buna Bu|aq si ieq» Buos dajs Famous Pathe Player*. could to the porthole and looked at the black water, as she leaned far out, then up at the deck only a few feet above her. The door crashed In. With frantic strength bom of fear the heroic girl wriggled out of the porthole, as the schooner heeled over and managed Just to catch the scuppers of the deck. Fear lent her strength. She succeeded In pulling herself up to the rail and then over on the deck Jus,t as the plled-up' furniture tumbled over after the door gave way. The Chinaman, infuriated, caught just a glimpse of her through the porthole, turned and rushed for the stairway. In the commotion Elaine had actually come over the rail unobserved. But she knew that she could not be that way long. There was just a chance that a white man might heed her appeal. Forbidding though he was even in the moonlight, Elaine started toward Gregor. Just then the maddened face of the China man appeared at the hatch, a moment later his lithe body wormed itself out on deck. As he came nearer, Elaine retreated further toward Gregor. “Oh, sir,” she pleaded, “save me! I have done nothing!” Gregor, one eye on the approaching revenue cutter, the other on his ship and crew, had not seen her till then. “Get out of the way,” he growled roughly, pushing her aside. “Save yourself.” The Chinaman came a step nearer, knife up raised. She fled along the deck. There in the shrouds was a ladder. In desperation she seized a rung, swung herself around, and started up. Her relentless pursuer followed, hand over hand, clenching the knife in his teeth. In her terror she tore off a piece of spar that had been loosened by a shot from the cutter and threw it full In his face. Still, on he came. She drew herself up. There was no escape. A moment she trembled aloft. Then, from a crosstree, she jumped, diving far out into the water. The Chinaman followed. Hand over hand he churned the waves after her. We were now nearing a low, rakish craft. Though we signalled it, they paid no attention. Instead, we could hear the chug-chug of an auxiliary gas engine. Brainard sent a shot across the schooner’s bow. Still she did not stop. Instead, the top sails broke out In spite of the gale and she headed away faster. Another shot flashed ont from our gun. This time a spar was carried away, as the search light playing on the schoner clearly showed. We were rapidly gaining now. “Brainard—-stop firing—for heaven’s sake,” shouted Craig from the bow. “Look!” We followed his finger as he peered forward tensely. There in the rigging, hanging perilously, was Elaine. She was clinging there holding a Chinaman at hay. Suddenly we saw her draw herself up and deliberately dive into the water. The China man dived also. Hand over hand he went after her. We watched, speechless. Kennedy turned and seized the rapid fire gun, whirling It around and aiming carefully. The Chinaman was a powerful swimmer and was rapidly gaining on Elaine. We could even see the gleam of the knife in the searchlight. Carefully Craig sighted the gun. The mis take of a hair’s breadth meant life or death. He fired. Not a minute too soon the shot ricochetted over the waves. The Chinaman's arms went up in mute surrender. His head sank below the surface of the water. Instantly, Craig and r were leaning far over the side of the cutter as, with power off, she slipped along, close to that figure swimming In the cold, black water. Neither of us paid any attention to Gregor’s frantic signals of surren der as Brainard covered the schooner. As we passed, Craig reached over and caught Elaine, lifting her bodily into our boat. “Oh, Craig!” she gasped, as Kennedy, wrap ped his great coat about her. "Brainard—some hot drinks—quick,” he ordered as he carried her, half fainting, to the cabin. “Thank heaven for the wireless telephone.” he muttered as he worked frantically to bring her around. "No—it was the inventor—that did it,” she murmured, looking up at him, safe. . .A i (Continued Next Sunday.)