utomaton.

At this very instant Locke and Zita burst into the room and rushed
toward Eva.

The hypnotist slipped around them both and in a moment had caught Zita
in his arms. She struggled to escape, beating him with her little fists
in a fury of rage and fear. But he held her, and an emissary, bringing
ropes, with his help bound her securely.

As for Locke, he made a frantic attempt to reach Eva, but his way was
blocked by a score of emissaries and the Automaton himself. Desperately
Locke dashed at the iron monster, only to be hurled to the floor as
though he were a tiny child.

In another moment the emissaries had bound him and carried him to the
alcove in which hung the noosed rope.

The hypnotist now pulled a lever and the method of the death intended
for Locke was revealed. Directly under the suspended rope was a
trap-door, which opened. Locke gazed down into blackness, nothingness.
An emissary threw some small, heavy object into the yawning hole. For a
long time nothing was heard. Then finally, far, far below there came to
their ears the sound of a distant splash.

The fiendish plan was simple--to hang him and then to cut the rope. His
body would go hurtling down to the subterranean river below and be
carried out to sea.

The hypnotist reversed the lever. The trap-door closed. Locke was
dragged beneath the rope and it was adjusted around his neck.

Even in this awful moment his sole thought was of Eva. Would they throw
her, unconscious, down the same yawning trap?

Powerless, he stood bound, fascinated, as he saw three emissaries seize
her. But instead of dragging her to the trap, they dragged her toward
one of the panels in the wall.

What nameless torture was in store for her?

He struggled furiously to get free to rush to her, but the noose only
tightened on his neck.

The hypnotist stepped to the lever that operated the trap under Locke's
feet and began to pull the lever down.

CHAPTER XXIII

With a crash the hypnotist dropped unconscious to the floor as the
hypnotic machine started to revolve rapidly. The emissaries turned from
Locke and were dazzled by the blinding flashes from the whirling
mirrors.

It was Zita who caused all the commotion. Unnoticed by the thugs, who
were intent on sending Locke to his death and dragging Eva through the
panel, Zita had managed to free herself from her bonds and, true to her
promise to Locke that she would help him, she had risked all for his
sake