by Unknown
As his eye fell on Dr. Bird, Frink turned momentarily pale andstaggered back, the revolver wavering as he did so. Dr. Bird made alightning-like grab for his own weapon, but before he could draw itFrink had recovered and the revolver was again steady.
"Dr. Bird!" gasped Slavatsky. "Impossible!"
"Get his gun, Harris," said Frink.
* * * * *
One of the men stepped forward and dextrously removed the doctor'sautomatic and frisked him expertly to insure himself that he had noother weapon concealed.
"Bring him to the cave," directed Slavatsky, who, though obviouslystill shaken, had just as obviously recovered enough to be a verydangerous man. Two of the men grasped the doctor and led him alongtoward the entrance to the laboratory cave which stood wide open inthe gathering daylight. Frink paused long enough to shut the side ofthe hill and conceal the ship, and then followed the doctor. In thecave the door was shut and the doctor placed against the wall underthe window through which he had peered earlier in the night. Slavatskytook his seat at the table, his malignant black eyes boring into theDoctor. Carson and Willis sat on the edge of the operating table,evidently still partially under the effects of the anesthetic that hadbeen administered to them.
"How did you get back here?" demanded Slavatsky.
"Find out!" snapped Dr. Bird.
The dwarf rose threateningly.
"Speak respectfully to me; I am the Master of the World!" he roared inan angry voice. "Answer my questions when I speak, or means will befound to make you answer. How did you get back here?"
Dr. Bird maintained a stubborn silence, his fierce eyes answering thedwarf's, look for look, and his prominent chin jutting out a littlemore squarely. Carson suddenly broke the silence.
"That's not the Bird we had here earlier," he cried as he staggered tohis feet.
"What do you mean?" demanded Slavatsky whirling on him.
"Look at his hands!" replied Carson pointing.
* * * * *
Slavatsky looked at Dr. Bird's long mobile fingers and an evil leercame over his countenance.
"So, Dr. Bird," he said slowly, "you thought to match wits with IvanSlavatsky, the greatest mind of all the ages. For a time you fooled mewhen your double was operated on here, but not for long. I presume youthought that we had no way of detecting the substitution? You havediscovered differently. Where is your friend, Mr. Carnes?"
"Didn't your men leave him in the cabin when you kidnapped me?"
Slavatsky looked at Frink inquiringly.
"He stayed in the cabin if he was in it when we got there," the leaderof the kidnapping gang replied. "He got a full shot of lethane andhe's due to be asleep yet. I don't know how this man recovered. I lefthim there myself."
"Fool!" shrieked Slavatsky. "You brought me a double, a dummy whom Iwasted my time in operating on. Was the other a dummy, too?"
"I didn't enter the cabin."
Slavatsky shrugged his shoulders.
"If that is all the good the menthium I have injected has done you, Imight as well have saved it. It doesn't matter, however: we have theone we wanted. Dr. Bird, it was very thoughtful of you to come hereand offer your marvelous brain to strengthen mine. I have no doubtthat you will yield even more menthium than Professor Williams didthis evening especially as I will extract your entire supply andreduce you to permanent idiocy. I will have no mercy on you as I haveon the others I have operated on."
Dr. Bird blanched in spite of himself at the ominous words.
"You have the whip-hand for the moment, Slavatsky, but my time maycome--and if it does, I will remember your kindness. I saw youroperation on Professor Williams this evening and know your power. Ialso know that you stole the idea and the method from Sweigert ofVienna. I saw you inject the fluid you drew into Willis' brain. ShallI tell what else I saw?"
It was the dwarf's turn to blanch, but he recovered himself quickly.
"Into the chair with him!" he roared.
* * * * *
Three of the men grasped the doctor and forced him into the chair andSlavatsky started the generator. The violet light bathed Dr. Bird's headand he felt a stiffness and contraction of his neck muscles, and as hetried to shout out his knowledge of Slavatsky's treachery, he found thathis vocal chords were paralyzed. Through a gathering haze he could seeCarson approaching with an anesthesia cone and the sweet smell of lethaneassailed his nostrils. He fought with all his force, but strong hands heldhim, and he felt himself slipping--slipping--slipping--and then fallinginto an immense void. His head slumped forward on his chest and Slavatskyshut off the generator.
"On the table," he said briefly.
Four men picked up the herculean frame of the unconscious doctor andhoisted him up on the table. Carson seized his head and bent itforward and the dwarf took from a case a syringe with a five-inchneedle. He touched the point of it to the base of the doctor's brain.
"Slavatsky! Look!" cried Frink.
With an exclamation of impatience the dwarf turned and stared at adisc set on the wall of the cave. It was glowing brightly. With anoath he dropped the syringe and snapped a switch, plunging the caveinto darkness. A tiny panel in the door opened to his touch and hestared out into the light.
"Soldiers!" he gasped. "Quick, the back way!"
As he spoke there came a sound as of a heavy body falling at the backof the cave. Slavatsky turned the switch and flooded the cave withlight. At the back of the cave stood Operative Carnes, an automaticpistol in his hand.
"Open the main door!" Carnes snapped.
* * * * *
Slavatsky made a move toward the light, and Carnes' gun roareddeafeningly in the confined space. The heavy bullet smashed into thewall an inch from the dwarf's hand and he started back.
"Open the main door!" ordered Carnes again.
The men stared at one another for a moment and the dwarf's eyes fell.
"Open the door, Frink," he said.
Frink moved over to a lever. He glanced at Slavatsky and a momentarygleam of intelligence passed between them. Frink raised his handtoward the lever and Carnes gun roared again and Frink's arm fell limpfrom a smashed shoulder.
"Slavatsky," said Carnes sternly, "come here!"
Slowly the dwarf approached.
"Turn around!" said Carnes.
He turned and felt the cold muzzle of Carnes' gun against the back ofhis neck.
"Now tell one of your men to open the door," said the detective. "Ifhe promptly obeys your order, you are safe. If he doesn't, you die."
Slavatsky hesitated for a moment, but the cold muzzle of the automaticbored into the back of his neck and when he spoke it was in aquavering whine.
"Open the door, Carson," he whimpered.
There was moment of pause.
"If that door isn't open by the time I count three," said Carnes,"--as far as Slavatsky is concerned, it's just too bad. I'll have fourshots left--and I'm a dead shot at this range. One! Two!"
His lips framed the word "three" and his fingers were tightening onthe trigger when Carson jumped forward with an oath. He pulled a leveron the wall and the door swung open. Carnes shouted and through theopened door came a half dozen marines followed by an officer.
"Tie these men up!" snapped Carnes.
* * * * *
In a trice the six men were securely bound and Frink's bleedingshoulder was being skilfully treated by two of the marines. Carnesturned his attention to the unconscious doctor.
He rolled him over on his back and began to chafe his hands. Anofficer in a naval uniform came through the door and with a swiftglance around, bent over Dr. Bird. He raised one of the doctor'seyelids and peered closely at his eye and then sniffed at his breath.
"It's some anesthetic I don't know," he said. "I'll try a stimulant."
He reached in his pocket for a hypodermic, but Carnes interrupted him.
"Earlier in the evening Dr. Bird said they were using lethane," hesaid.
"Oh, that new gas the Chemical Warfare Service has discovered," saidthe surgeon
. "In that case I guess it'll just have to wear off. I knowof nothing that will neutralize it."
Without replying, Carnes began to feverishly search the pockets of theunconscious scientist. With an exclamation of triumph he drew out abottle and uncorked it. A strong smell as of garlic penetrated theroom and he held the opened bottle under Dr. Bird's nose. The doctorlay for a moment without movement, and then he coughed and sat up halfstrangled with tears running down his face.
"Take that confounded bottle away, Carnes!" he said. "Do you want tostrangle me?"
He sat up and looked around.
"What happened?" he demanded. "Oh, yes, I remember now. That brute wasabout to operate on me. How did you get here?"
"Never mind that, Doctor. Are you all right?"
"Right as a trivet, old dear. How did you get here so opportunely?"
"I was a little slow in locating Lieutenant Maynard and the marines.When we got here I was afraid that we couldn't find the door, so Itook Maynard and a detail around to the back and I went up to the topand slid down our cord and looked in the window. You were unconsciousand Slavatsky was bending over you with a needle in his hand. I wasabout to try a shot at him when something called their attention tothe men in front and I squeezed through the window and dropped in onthem. They didn't seem any too glad to see me, but I overlooked thatand insisted on inviting the rest of my friends in to share in theparty. That's all."
"Carnes," said the Doctor, "you're probably lying like a trooper whenyou make out that you did nothing, but I'll pry the truth out of yousooner or later. Now I've got to get to work. Send for LieutenantMaynard."
* * * * *
One of the marines went out to get the flyer, and Dr. Bird stepped tothe cabinet from which Slavatsky had taken his record book earlier inthe evening and took out the leather-bound volume. He opened it andhad started to read when Lieutenant Maynard entered the cave.
"Hello, Maynard," said the Doctor, looking up. "Are the rest of theparty on their way?"
"They will be here in less than two hours, Doctor."
"Good enough! Have some one sent to guide them here. In the meanwhile,I'm going to study these records. Keep the prisoners quiet. If theymake a noise, gag them. I want to concentrate."
For an hour and a half silence reigned in the cave. A stir was heardoutside and Admiral Clay, the President's personal physician, enteredleading a stout gray-haired man. Dr. Bird whistled when he saw themand leaped to his feet as another figure followed the admiral.
"The President!" gasped Carnes as the officers came to a salute andthe marines presented arms.
The President nodded to his ex-guard, acknowledged the salute of therest and turned to Dr. Bird.
"Have you met with success, Doctor?" he asked.
"I have, Mr. President; or, rather, I hope that I have. At the sametime, I would rather experiment on some other victim of their deviltrythan the one you have brought me."
"My decision that the one I have brought shall be the first to beexperimented on, as you term it, is unalterable."
* * * * *
Dr. Bird bowed and turned to the dwarf who had been a sullen witnessof what had gone on.
"Slavatsky," he said slowly, "your game is up. I have witnessed one ofyour brain transfusions and I know the method. I gather from yournotes that the menthium you have hidden in that cabinet is still aspotent as when it was first extracted from a living brain, but in thiscase I am going to draw it fresh from one of your gang. Some of thedetails of the operation are a little hazy to me, but those you willteach me. I am going to restore this man to the condition he was inbefore you did your devil's work on him and you will direct mymovements. Just what is the first step in removing the menthium from abrain?"
The dwarf maintained a stubborn silence.
"You refuse to answer?" asked the Doctor in feigned surprise. "Ithought that you would rather instruct me and have me try theoperation first on other men. Since you prefer that I operate on youfirst, I will be glad to do so."
He stepped to the opposite wall and in a few moments had opened thedwarf's hiding place and taken out the flask of menthium.
"Carson," he said, "after you had watched Slavatsky inject menthiuminto Willis, you took lethane and expected him to inject menthium intoyour brain. Instead of doing so he withdrew a portion from your brainand put it in this flask. I have reason to believe from his secretrecords which I found in the cabinet with this flask that he has doneso regularly. Are you willing to instruct me while I remove thementhium from him?"
"The dirty swine!" shouted Carson. "I'll do anything to get even withhim, but I have never performed the operation. Only Slavatsky andWillis have operated."
"Will you help me, Willis? asked Dr. Bird.
"I'll be glad to, Doctor. I am sick of this business anyway. At first,Slavatsky just planned to give us abnormally keen brains, but latelyhe has been talking of setting himself up as Emperor of the World, andI am sick of it. I think I would have broken with him and told all Iknow, soon, anyway."
"Throw him in that chair," said Dr. Bird.
* * * * *
Despite the howlings and strugglings of the dwarf, three of themarines strapped him in the chair beneath the tube. The dwarf howledand frothed at the mouth and directed a final appeal for mercy to thePresident.
"Spare me, Your Excellency," he howled. "I will put my brains at yourservice and make you the greatest mentality of all time. Together wecan conquer and rule the world. I will show you how to build hundredsof ships like mine--"
The President turned his back on the dwarf and spoke curtly.
"Proceed with your experiments, Dr. Bird," he said.
Slavatsky directed his appeals to the doctor, who peremptorilysilenced him.
"I told you a few hours ago, Slavatsky, that the time might come whenI would remember your threats against me. I will show you the samemercy now as you promised me then. Carnes, put a cone over his face."
Despite the howls of the dwarf, the operative forced an anesthesiacone over his face and Dr. Bird turned to the valve of the lethanecylinder. With Willis directing his movements, he turned on the rayfor three minutes and removed the unconscious dwarf to the operatingtable. He took the long-needled syringe from a case and sterilized itand then turned to the President.
"I am about to operate," he said, "but before I do so, I wish toexplain to all just what I have learned and what I am about to do.With that data, the decision of whether I shall proceed will rest withyou and Admiral Clay. Have I your permission to do so?"
* * * * *
The President nodded.
"When I first read of these amnesia cases, I took them forcoincidences--until you consulted me and gave me an opportunity toexamine one of the victims. I found a small puncture at the base ofthe brain which I could not explain, and I began to dig into oldrecords. I knew, of course, of Sweigert of Vienna, and the extravagantclaims he had put forward in 1911. He was far ahead of his time, buthe mixed up some profound scientific discoveries with mysticism andoccultism until he was discredited. Nevertheless, he continued hisexperiments with the aid of his principal assistant, a man namedSlavatsky.
"Sweigert's theory was that intellectuality, brain power,intelligence, call it what you will, was the result of the presence ofa fluid which he called 'menthium' in the brain. He thought that itcould be transferred from one person to another, and with the aid ofSlavatsky, he experimented on himself. He removed the menthium from anunfortunate victim, who was reduced to a state of imbecility, andSlavatsky injected the substance into Sweigert's brain. The experimentresulted fatally and Slavatsky was tried for murder. He was acquittedof intentional murder but was imprisoned for a time for manslaughter.He was released when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up, andfor a time I lost track of him.
"I found translations of both the records of the trials and ofSweigert's original reports, and the thing that attracted my attentionwas that the puncture I found in the victim corresponded exactly withthe puncture described by Sweig
ert as the one he made in extractingthe menthium. I asked the immigration authorities to check over theirrecords and they found that a man named Slavatsky whose descriptioncorresponded with the ill-fated Sweigert's assistant had entered theUnited States under Austria's quota about a year ago. The chain ofevidence seemed complete to me, and it only remained to find the manwho was systematically robbing brains.
"If such a thing was really going on, I felt that my reputation wouldmake me an attractive bait and I secured a double, as you know, andplaced him in a position where his kidnapping would be an easy matter.I was sure that the victims were being taken away by air and thatlethane was being used to reduce the neighborhood to a state ofprofound somnolence, so I hid myself near my double with a gasdetector which would find even minute traces of lethane in the air.
"My fish rose to the lure and came after the bait last night. When hisship arrived, I found a strange gas in the air, and followed the shipby the trail of the substance which it left behind it. Carnes was withme, and we got here in time to witness the extraction of the menthiumfrom my friend, Professor Williams of Yale, and to see it injectedinto one of Slavatsky's gang. I sent Carnes for help and messed arounduntil I was captured myself--and help arrived just in time. That'sabout all there is to tell. I am now about to reverse the process andtry to remove the stolen brains from the criminals and restore them totheir rightful owners. I have never operated and the result may befatal. Shall I proceed?"
The President and Admiral Clay consulted for a moment in undertones.
"Go on with your experiments, Dr. Bird," said the President, "and wewill hold you blameless for a failure. You have worked so manymiracles in the past that we have every confidence in you."
Dr. Bird bowed acknowledgment to the compliment and bent over theunconscious dwarf. With Willis directing every move, he inserted theneedle and drew back slowly on the plunger. Twenty-three and one-halfcubic centimeters of amber fluid flowed into the syringe before aspeck of blood appeared.
"Enough!" cried Willis. Dr. Bird withdrew the syringe and motioned toAdmiral Clay. The man the Admiral had brought in was placed in thechair and lethane administered. He was laid on the table, and, with asilent prayer, Dr. Bird inserted the needle and pressed the plunger.When five and one-quarter centimeters had flowed into the man'sbrains, he withdrew the needle and held the bottle which Carnes hadused to revive him under the man's nose. The patient coughed a momentand sat up.