"A Miss Mary Carson," she lisped in soft English.
"Let the lady enter," waved Long Sin, with a smile of subtle satisfaction.
The girl bowed again and silently left the room, returning with a handsome, very well dressed white woman.
It would be difficult to analyze just what the fascination was that
Long Sin exercised over Mary Carson. But as the servant left the room,
Mary bowed almost as deferentially as the little Chinese girl. Long
merely nodded in reply.
After a moment, he slowly rose and took from a drawer a newspaper clipping. Without a word, he handed it to Mary. She looked at it with interest, as one woman always does at the picture of another pretty woman. It was a newspaper cut of Elaine, under which was:
ELAINE DODGE, THE HEIRESS, WHOSE BATTLE WITH THE CLUTCHING HAND IS CREATING WORLD WIDE INTEREST.
"Now," he began, at last, breaking the silence, "I'll show you just what I want you to do."
He went over to the wall and took down a curious long Chinese knife from a scabbard which hung there conspicuously.
"See that?" he added, holding it up.
Before she could say a word, he had plunged the knife, apparently, into his own breast.