When Caverns Yawned
_By Captain S. P. Meek_
From the bump on the side of the submarine came a flashof red light.]
[Sidenote: Only Dr. Bird's super-scientific sleuthing stands in theway of Ivan Saranoff's latest attempt at wholesale destruction.]
Bells jangled discordantly. A whistle split the air with a piercingnote. A band blared away on the platform. With a growing rumble ofsound, the Presidential special slowly gathered headway. The Presidentwaved a final farewell to the crowds at the platform and sat down. Hechatted cheerily with his companions until the train was clear ofCharleston, then rose, and with a word to the others stepped into thecar. Operative Carnes of the United States Service slumped back inhis chair with a sigh of relief.
"Thank Goodness, that's over," he said. "I was never so glad to gethim safely away from a place in my life."
Haggerty of the secret service nodded in agreement. Colonel Holmes,the military aide, looked up inquiringly.
"Why so? Do you think Charleston an especially dangerous place for himto be?"
"Not ordinarily. Charleston is a very patriotic and loyal city, but Ihave been worried. There have been vague rumors going around. Nothingdefinite that we could pin down, but enough to make me pretty uneasy."
"I think you've worried needlessly. I have been in constant touch withthe Military Intelligence Division and they have reported nothingalarming."
Haggerty chuckled at the look of disgust that spread over Carnes'face. Colonel Holmes bridled visibly.
"Now look here, Carnes," he began.
"Oh, horse-feathers!" interrupted Carnes. "The M.I.D. is all right inits place--Good Lord! What's that?"
* * * * *
The train gave a sudden sickening lurch. Colonel Holmes sprawled in anundignified heap in one corner of the observation platform. Carnes andHaggerty kept their feet by hanging on to the rails. From the interiorof the car came cries of alarm. The train righted itself for a momentand then lurched worse than before. There was a scream of brakes asthe engineer strove to halt the forward progress. The train swayed andlurched like a ship in a storm. Carnes sprang for the telephoneconnected with the engine cab and rang excitedly.
"Hello, Bemis," he cried when an answer came: "take off the brakes!Keep moving at full speed, no matter what happens. What? Use your gunon him, man! Keep moving even if the train tips over!"
The train swayed and rocked worse than ever as it began to gathermomentum. Carnes looked back along the track and gasped. For threehundred yards behind them, the track was sinking out of sight. Thetrain forged ahead, but it was evident that it also was sinking intothe ground. The track behind them suddenly gave. With a roar like ahundred buildings collapsing, it sank out of sight in a cloud of dust.The rear car of the train hung partially over the yawning cavern inthe earth for an instant before the laboring engine dragged it tosolid ground. The swaying and lurching grew less. For a mile itpersisted to a slight degree. With a face the color of a sheet, Carnesmade his way into the train. The President met him at the door.
"What's the trouble, Carnes?" he demanded.
"I am not sure, Mr. President. It felt like an earthquake. A greatcavern opened in the earth behind us. Our train was almost trapped init."
"An earthquake! We must stop the train at once and take charge of thesituation. An emergency of that sort demands immediate attention."
"I beg you to do nothing of the sort, sir. Your presence would addlittle to the rescue work and your life is too precious to risk."
"But my duty to the people--"
"Is to keep yourself alive, sir! Mr. President, this may well be anattempt on your life. There are persons who would give anything to doaway with you, especially at present. You have not endeared yourselfto a certain class in calling for a conference of the powers to curbRussia's anti-religious tactics."
* * * * *
The President hesitated. He knew Carnes well enough to know that heusually spoke from accurate knowledge and with good judgment.
"Mr. President," went on the operative earnestly, "I am responsible tothe American people for your safety. I beg you to follow my advice."
"Very well, Carnes," replied the President, "I'll put myself in yourhands for the present. What is your program?"
"Your route is well known. Other attempts may be planned since thisone failed. Let me have you transferred incognito to another train andhurried through to Washington secretly. I am going to drop off and goback. That earthquake needs to be looked into."
Again the President hesitated.
"My desertion of the stricken area will not be favorably regarded. IfI sneak away secretly as though in fear, it will be bad for the publicmorale."
"We'll let the special go through. No one need know that you have leftit."
"Well--I guess you're right. What are you going to do about it?"
"My first move will be to summon Dr. Bird from Washington."
"That's a good move. You'd better have him bring Dr. Lassen with him.Lassen is a great volcano and earthquake specialist, you know."
"I will, sir. If you will get ready to drop off at the next connectingpoint, I'll send Haggerty and Bemis with you. The rest of the partycan remain on the special."
"All right, Carnes, if you insist."
* * * * *
Carnes went forward to the operator of the train's radio set. In halfan hour the special came to a stop at a junction point and four mengot off. Ten minutes later three of them climbed aboard another trainwhich stopped for them. Carnes, the fourth man, hurried to atelephone. Fifteen minutes later he was talking to Dr. Bird at thelatter's private laboratory in the Bureau of Standards.
"An earthquake, Carnes?" exclaimed the doctor as the operativedescribed the happenings. "Wait a few minutes, will you?"
In five minutes he was back on the telephone.
"It was no earthquake, old dear, whatever it may have been. I haveexamined the records of all three of the Bureau's seismographs. Noneof them record even a tremor. What are you going to do?"
"Whatever you say, Doctor. I'm out of my depth already."
"Let me think a moment. All right, listen. Go back to Charleston asquickly as you can and get in touch with the commanding officer atFort Moultrie. I'll have the Secretary of War telephone him and givehim orders. Get troops and go to the scene of the catastrophe. Allowno one near it. Proclaim martial law if necessary. Stop all road andrail traffic within a radius of two miles. Arrest anyone trying topass your guard lines. I'll get a plane from Langley Field and comedown on the run. Is that all clear?"
"Perfectly, Doctor. By the way, the President suggested that you bringDr. Lassen with you."
"Since it wasn't an earthquake, he wouldn't be of much value. However,I'll bring him if I can get hold of him. Now start things moving downthere. I'll get some apparatus together and join you in five hours;six at the outside. Have a car waiting for me at the Charlestonairport."
* * * * *
Carnes commandeered a passing car and drove back to Charleston. Hemade a wide sweep to avoid the disturbed area and went direct to FortMoultrie. Dr. Bird had been good at his word. The troops wereassembled in heavy marching order when the detective arrived. A fewwords to the commanding officer was sufficient to set the trucksloaded with soldiers in motion. Carnes, accompanied by the colonel andhis staff, went direct to the scene of the catastrophe.
He found a hole in the ground, a hundred feet wide and a quarter of amile long, sunk to a depth of fifty feet. He shuddered as he thoughtof what would have happened had the Presidential train been in thecenter of the devastated area instead of at the edge. The edges of thehole were ragged and sloping as though the earth had caved in to filla huge cavern underground.
State and local authorities were already on the ground, striving tohold back sightseers. They were very glad to deliver theirresponsibility to the representative of the f
ederal government. Carnesadded their force to that of the military. In an hour a cordon ofguards were stationed about the cavern while every road was picketedtwo miles away. Fortunately there had been no loss of life and norescue work was needed. The earth-shaking had been purely a localmatter, centered along the line of the railroad track.
There was nothing to do but wait, Carnes thought furiously. He hadworked with Dr. Bird long enough to have a fair idea of thescientist's usual lines of investigation.
"The first thing he'll want to do is to explore that hole," he mused."Probably, that'll mean some excavating. I'd better get a wreckingtrain with a crane on it and a steam shovel here. A gang of men withpicks and shovels might be useful, too."
He hurried to the railroad officials. The sight of his gold badge hadthe desired result. Telegraph keys began to click and telephones toring. Carnes was sorely tempted to explore the hole himself, but heresisted the temptation. Dr. Bird was not always pleasant when hiscolleagues departed from the orders he had given.
* * * * *
The morning passed, and the first part of the afternoon. Two wreckingtrains stood with steam up at the edge of the hole. Grouped by thetrains were a hundred negroes with shovels and picks. Carnes sat atthe edge of the hole and stared down into it. He was roused from hisreverie by the sound of a motor.
From the north came an airplane. High over the hole it passed, andthen swerved and descended. On the under side of the wings could beseen the insignia of the Air Corps. Carnes jumped to his feet andwaved his hat. Lower came the plane until it roared across the cavernless than a hundred feet above the ground. Two figures leaned out andexamined the terrain carefully. Carnes waved again. One of the figureswaved a hand in reply. The plane rose in the air and straightened outtoward Charleston.
"We'll have the doctor here in a few minutes now," said Carnes to theColonel. "It might be a good plan to send a motorcycle out along theCharleston road to bring him in. We don't want the guards to delayhim."
The colonel gave an order and a motorcycle shot off down the road. Inhalf an hour it came sputtering back with a huge Cadillac roaring inits wake. The car drew up and stopped. From it descended two men. Thefirst was a small, wizened figure with heavy glasses. What hair agehad left to him was as white as snow. The second figure, which toweredover the first, was one to merit attention anywhere.
* * * * *
Dr. Bird was as light on his feet and as quick and graceful as a cat,but there was nothing feline about his appearance. He stood well oversix feet in his stockings and tipped the beam close to the twohundred mark. Not one ounce of fat was on his huge frame. So fine washe drawn that unless one looked closely he would never suspect theweight of bone and muscle that his unobtrusive tweed suit covered.Piercing black eyes looked out from under shaggy brows. His face waslean and browned, and it took a second glance to realize thetremendous height and breadth of his forehead. A craggy jutting chinspoke of stubbornness and the relentless following up of a line ofaction determined on. His head was topped with an unruly shock ofblack hair which he tossed back with a hand that commanded instantattention.
His hands were the most noteworthy thing about the famous Bureauscientist. Long slender hands, they were, with slim taperingfingers--the hands of an artist and a dreamer. The acid stains thatmarred them could not hide their slim beauty, yet Carnes knew thatthose hands had muscles like steel wire and that the doctor boasted agrip that could crush the hand of a professional wrestler. He had seenhim tear a deck of playing cards in half and, after doubling, again inhalf, with as little effort as the ordinary man would use in tearing abare dozen of the cards. As he climbed out of the car his keen blackeyes swept around in a comprehensive glance. Carnes, trained observerthat he was, knew that in that one glance every essential detail whichit had taken him an hour to place had been accurately noted and storedaway in the doctor's mind. He came forward to the detective.
"Has anything happened since you telephoned me?" was his firstquestion.
"Nothing, Doctor. I followed your instructions and also assembled acrew of men with excavating tools."
"You're improving, Carnes. This is Dr. Lassen. This is a little outof your line. Doctor, but you may see something familiar. What doesit look like to you?"
"Not like an earthquake, Bird, at all events. Offhand I would say thata huge cavern had been washed in the earth and the ground had cavedin."
"It looks that way. If you are right, we should find running water ifwe dig deep enough. Have you been down in the hole, Carnes?"
"No, Doctor."
"Then that's the first thing to do. You have ropes, of course?"
* * * * *
Carnes called to the waiting gang of negroes and a dozen of thesehurried up with ropes. Dr. Bird slung a rope around his body under hisarms and was lowered into the hole. The rope slackened as he reachedbottom. Carnes lay on his stomach and looked over the edge. Dr. Birdwas gingerly picking his way across the ground. He turned and calledup.
"Carnes, you and Lassen can come down if you care to."
In a few minutes the detective and the volcanologist joined him in thecavern. The top surface of the ground was rolled up into waves likethe sea. The sides of the hole were almost sheer. The naked rock wasexposed for thirty feet. Above the rock could be seen the subsoil, andthen the layer of top soil and vegetation. Dr. Bird was carefullyexamining the rock wall.
"What do you make of these, Lassen?" he asked, pointing to a row ofhorizontal striations in the rock. The volcanologist studied them.
"They might be water marks but if so they are different from any thatI have seen before," he said doubtfully. "It looks as though someforce had cut the rock away in one sharp stroke."
"Exactly. Notice this yellow powder on the ridges. Water would havewashed it away."
Dr. Bird stepped forward to the wall and idly attempted to pick up apinch of the yellow powder he had referred to in his fingers. He gavean exclamation of surprise as he did so. The powder was evidently fastto the wall. He drew his knife from his pocket and pried at the stuff.It fell readily. He scraped again and caught a speck of the fallingpowder in his hand. He gave a cry of surprise, for his hand sank asthough borne down by a heavy weight. With an effort he lifted his handand examined the substance.
"Come here, Carnes," he said. "Hold your hand up to catch some of thispowder as I scrape it off."
* * * * *
The detective held up his hand. Dr. Bird pried with his knife and ashower of dull yellow particles fell. Carnes' hand sank as though thebits of dust had been a lead bar. He placed his other hand under itand with an effort lifted both hands up a few inches.
"What on earth is this stuff, Doctor?" he cried. "It's as heavy aslead."
"It's a great deal heavier than lead, Carnesy, old dear. I don't knowwhat it is. I am inclined to think you did a wise thing when you sentfor me. Lassen, take a look at this stuff. Did you ever run intoanything like it?"
The aged volcanologist shook his head. The yellow powder was somethingbeyond his ken.
"I have been poking around volcanos all my life," he said, "and I haveseen some queer things come out of the ground--but nothing like that."
Dr. Bird poked tentatively at the substance for a moment, his browfurrowed in lines of thought. He suddenly threw back his shoulders ina gesture of decision.
"Send a gang of excavators down here," he cried. "Never mind the powershovel at present."
* * * * *
Down the ropes swarmed the gang of negroes. Dr. Bird indicated an areaat one end of the cavern and directed them to dig. The blacks flew towork with a will. The top soil and subsoil were rapidly tossed intobuckets and hauled to the surface. When bare rock lay before them, thenegroes ceased their efforts.
"What next, Doctuh, suh?" asked the foreman.
"Get dynamite!" cried the doctor. "If I'm right, this undergroundcaver
n is entered by a tunnel. We'll blast away this caved-in rockuntil we locate it."
Then occurred a strange thing.
"There is no need to go to that trouble, Dr. Bird," spoke a metallicvoice, from nowhere, it seemed. The negroes looked at one another.Picks and shovels fell from nerveless hands.
"Your guess about a tunnel is correct, Doctor," went on the Voice."There is a tunnel leading away from the spot where you are, but tofind the end would be useless to you. I have prepared for that."
From the blacks came a low moan of fear.
"Ha'nts!" cried one of them. The cry was taken up and spread into arolling chorus of fear. With one accord they dropped their tools andstampeded in a mad rush toward the dangling ropes. Carnes sprangforward to stop them.
"Let them go, Carnes!" cried the doctor. "Their work is done for thepresent. Let's locate that radio receiver."
"That also will be a useless search. Doctor," spoke up the Voiceagain. "I have perfected a transmitter which will send my voicethrough space and make it audible without the aid of the clumsyapparatus you depend on. I am also able to see you through the milesof intervening rock without the aid of any instruments at your end."
* * * * *
"I presume that you can hear me as well?"
"Certainly, Doctor. To save you trouble--and I dislike to see youwaste the efforts of your really good brain on minor problems--I willtell you that your surmise is correct. A tunnel does lead both to andfrom the place where you stand. It twists and turns so that even youwould be puzzled to plot a general direction. You would have to followit inch by inch. If you tried that, naturally I would cause it tocollapse before you, or on top of you, if you got too close. Becontent with what you have seen and seek a better way to trace me."
"Who are you, anyway?" blurted out Carnes.
"Is it possible that you do not know? Such is fame. I thought that atleast my friend Mr. Carnes would suspect that Ivan Saranoff had donethis."
"But you're dead!" protested the detective. "We killed you when wedestroyed your helicopter."
"You killed merely an assistant who had disobeyed my orders. Had I notdecreed his death, he would be alive to-day. I could kill you as youstand there; resolve you into nothingness; but I do not choose to do so--yet.Other attempts I have made you have frustrated, but this time I shallsucceed. I will institute a reign of terror which will bring yourrich, foolish country to its knees. Listen, while I give you a tasteof my power. The city of Charleston is about to be destroyed."
A thunderous roaring filled the air. Crash followed crash in rapidsuccession. It sounded as though all the noise of the universe hadbeen concentrated in the cavern. The earth shook and rocked like arestless sea. From above came cries of terror.
The three men in the cavern were thrown to the ground. Shaken by thefall and deafened by the tumult, they hung onto irregularities of therock on which they lay. Gradually the tumult and the shaking subsided.The cries from above became more apparent. Silence finally reigned inthe cavern and the metallic Voice spoke again.
"Go back now and look at Charleston and you will see what to expect.The rest of your cities will soon share the same fate. Beware oftrying to trace my movements, for your lives are in the hollow of myhand."
* * * * *
The voice died away in silence. From the edge of the hole came a cry.A Fort Moultrie officer was peering down at them.
"Are you all right down there?" he hailed.
"Right as hops," called Dr. Bird cheerfully. "What happened up above?"
"I don't know, Doctor. There seems to be a lot of smoke and fire overin the direction of the city. I expect the quake shook them up alittle this time. What shall we do now?"
"We're ready to come up. First I'm going to send up a wheelbarrow fullof yellow powder. Rig a crane to lift it, for it's too heavy to try tohoist with ropes."
With the aid of Carnes and Dr. Lassen, Dr. Bird collected a few cubicinches of the yellow powder from the ridges in the rock. He made thewheelbarrow containing it fast to the wire cables of the crane andgave the signal. Slowly it was raised to the surface. When it hadsafely reached there he turned to his companions.
"Grab a rope and let's go," he said.
In a few moments they were on the upper level. With the efforts ofhalf a dozen men, the body of the wheelbarrow was lifted into the car.With a few final words of instruction to the colonel, Dr. Bird and hiscompanions entered the car and were whisked away to the city.
A spectacle of destruction and ruin awaited them. Fully one-fourth ofthe city had sunk thirty feet into the ground. The sinking was noteven nor uniform. The sunken ground was rolled into huge waves whilebuildings which had collapsed lay in confused heaps on all sides. Froma dozen places in the area, columns of fire rose in the air.
* * * * *
Dr. Bird wasted little time on the scene before him. His car skirtedthe edge of the huge hole and took the road toward the Charlestonairport, which was in a section which had suffered little. In half anhour the army transport roared into the air carrying Dr. Bird'sprecious load of yellow powder. Four hours later they dropped to alanding at Langley Field.
"Now, Carnes," said the doctor as they debarked from the plane, "thereis work ahead. It may be too late to do much to-night, but we have notime to waste. Get Bolton on the wire and tell him that we havepositive evidence that Saranoff is still alive and still up to hisdevil's tricks. Start every man of the secret service and everyDepartment of Justice agent that can be spared on the trail. He can'tlive underground all the time, and you ought to get on his trackssomehow. I'm going up to the laboratory and see what I can do withthis stuff. Report to me there to-morrow morning."
Carnes hurried away. Bolton, the chief of the United States SecretService, had long ago recovered from any professional jealousy he hadever felt of Dr. Bird. The doctor's message that Ivan Saranoff, thearch-enemy of society, the head of the Young Labor party, theunofficial chief of the secret Soviet forces in the United States, wasalive and again in the field against law and order was enough to setin motion every force that he controlled. Waving aside precedent andcrashing his way past secretaries, he set in motion not only theagents of the Department of Justice but also the post-office forcesand the specialized but highly efficient Military and NavalIntelligence Divisions. The telephone and telegraph wires fromWashington were kept busy all night carrying orders and bringing inreports. But despite all this activity, it was with a disappointedface that Operative Carnes sought the doctor in the morning.
* * * * *
Dr. Bird was in his private laboratory on the third floor of theBureau of Standards. When Carnes entered he was seated in a chair athis desk. His black eyes shone out from a chalky face like two burnedholes in a blanket. Carnes started at the appearance of utterweariness presented by the famous scientist. Dr. Bird straightened upand squared his shoulders as the detective entered.
"Any luck, Carnes?" he asked eagerly.
"None at all, Doctor. We haven't been able to get a single trace ofhis corporeal existence since that submarine was destroyed off theMassachusetts coast. All we have is Karuska's word that he is stillalive."
"We heard his voice yesterday."
"His or another's."
"True. Have you set in motion every agency that the government has?"
"Every one. Either Bolton or I have talked to the Chief of Police inevery large city in the United States and Canada. Every known memberof the Young Labor party who is above the mere rank and file is underclose surveillance."
"Good enough. Keep at it and you'll trace him eventually. As soon as Iget a few quarts of black coffee into my system, I'll start anotherline of search going."
"What did you find out last night?"
"I found that our seismograph recorded the Charleston disaster. It wasmerely a faint jog, about what should be caused by a severe landslide.The disaster did not affect the earth's cru
st, but was purely local.That gives me a clue to his method."
"I described the affair to Bolton and he suggested that it might becaused by a disintegrating ray."
* * * * *
Dr. Bird snorted. "When will people learn that there is not, and inthe nature of things never can be, a disintegrating ray?" heexclaimed. "Of course a ray can be made which will tear things down totheir constituent elements, but matter is indestructible, and the ideaof wiping matter out of existence is absurd."
"But I have heard you say that matter and energy wereinterchangeable."
"That is a different proposition. I believe they are. In fact, if youremember, Carmichael proved it, although the proof was lost at hisdeath. Nothing of the sort was done at Charleston, however. Do youknow how much energy is contained in matter? Well, a cubic inch ofcopper would drive the largest ship afloat around the world twice, andacross the Atlantic to boot. The energy contained in the cubic yardsof rock that were removed under Charleston would have blown the worldto fragments."
"Then what did happen?"
"Matter, as you know, is composed of atoms. These atoms are as farfrom one another, compared to their size, as the stars and planets ofthe universe. Each atom in turn is composed of electrons, negativeparticles of electrical energy, held in position about a fixed centralnucleus of positive electricity known as a proton. I speak now of thesimplest element. Most of them have many protons and electrons intheir make-up. The space between these particles compared with theirsize is such that the universe would be crowded in comparison."
"What does that lead to?"
"I have described the composition of lead, the densest known element,over thirteen times as heavy as water, bulk for bulk. Conceive what itwould mean if some force could compress together these widelyseparated particles until they touched. The resulting substance wouldbe an element of almost inconceivable density. Such a condition isapproached in the stars, some of which are as high as four thousandtimes as dense as the earth. What Saranoff has done is to find someway of compressing together the atoms into that yellow powder which wefound in the cavern. He has not gone to the limit, for the stuff isonly a little over four thousand times as dense as water. A cubic inchof it weighs one hundred and thirty-two pounds. With its densityincreased to that extent, the volume is reduced accordingly. That waswhat accounted for those caverns into which the earth tumbled."
"I'll believe you, Doctor," replied the detective; "but I'd believeyou just as quickly if you swore that the moon was made of creamcheese made from the milk taken from the milky way. One would be justas understandable to me as the other."
* * * * *
They were interrupted by the entrance of a waiter who bore a huge potof steaming coffee. Dr. Bird's eyes lighted up as a cup was poured.Carnes knew enough not to interrupt while the doctor poured and drankeight cups of the strong black fluid. As he drank, the lines offatigue disappeared from the scientist's face. He sat up as fresh asthough he had not been working at high pressure the entire night.
"Dr. Fisher tells me that the amount of caffeine I drink would kill ahorse," he said with a chuckle; "but sometimes it is needed. I feelbetter now. Let's get to work."
"What shall we do?"
"Despite Saranoff's words, it must be possible to trace him. He isundoubtedly releasing his energy from some form of subterranean borer,and such a thing can be located. The energy he uses must set upelectrical disturbances which instruments will detect. I have had workstarted on a number of ultra-sensitive wave detectors which willrecord any wave-length from zero to five millimeters. We'll send themto various points along the seacoast. They ought to pick up the straywaves from the energy he is using to blast a path through the earth.I'm not going to bother with the waves from his motor; they may be ofany wave-length, and there would be constant false alarms. I haveanother idea."
"What is it?"
"I am judging Saranoff from his previous actions. You remember that heused a submarine in that alien-smuggling scheme the Coast Guard brokeup, and also when he loosed that sea monster on the Atlantic shipping?He seems to be rather fond of submarines."
"Well?"
* * * * *
"The amount of energy he uses must be almost inconceivable," Dr. Birdwent on. "He can hardly carry an amount of fuel which will enable himto bore underground for very many miles, Charleston is on the coast. Ihave an idea that he uses a submarine to transport his borer frompoint to point. After using the borer he must return to the submarinefor recharging and transportation to the point where he plans tostrike next. I already have two hundred planes scouring the sealooking for such a craft."
"Where do you expect him to strike next?"
"I have no idea. New York and Washington will undoubtedly be targetseventually, but neither of them may be next. Meanwhile, would you liketo do a little more flying?"
"Surely."
"A plane is waiting for us at Langley Field. I want to look over thecoast in the vicinity of Charleston Harbor and some of the sounds nearthere. If he is using a sub, he must have a base somewhere."
* * * * *
With a competent pilot at the stick, Carnes and the Doctor spent theday in exploring. The day yielded no results, and with the coming ofdusk they landed at Savannah for the night. Carnes talked with Boltonover the telephone, but the secret service chief could report nofavorable progress. Tired and disgusted, they retired early, but theywere not destined to enjoy a night of uninterrupted sleep. At oneo'clock a telegram was brought to their room. Dr. Bird tore it openand glanced sleepily at it.
"Get up, Carnes," he cried sharply. "Read this!"
The yawning detective glanced at the telegram. It contained only twowords and a signature. It was signed "Ivan," and read simply, "WatchWilmington."
"What the dickens?" he exclaimed as he studied the yellow slip. Dr.Bird was hurriedly pulling on his clothes.
"Saranoff has slipped a cog this time," said the doctor. "He sent thatas a night message, but it was delivered as a straight message througherror. He has got further north than I expected. We will turn out ourpilot and take off. We should make Wilmington by daybreak. I'lltelephone Washington and have a couple of destroyers started upDelaware Bay at once. We ought to give him a first class surpriseparty. I suppose that Philadelphia was meant to be his next stop."
In an hour the army plane took off into the night. At seven o'clockthey were circling over Wilmington. The city had not been disturbed.For an hour they flew back and forth before they landed. Startlingnews awaited them. At six that morning an earthquake had struckWilmington, North Carolina. Half the town had sunk into the earth. Dr.Bird struck his brow with his clenched fist.
"Score one for the enemy," he said grimly. "We were too sure ofourselves, Carnes. We should have realized that he would hardly be sofar north yet. Well, I've got to use the telephone while we'rerefueling."
* * * * *
Within an hour after landing they were again in the air One o'clockfound them over the stricken city. Dr. Bird wasted no time onWilmington but headed north along the coast. For a hundred miles heskirted the shore, two miles out. With an exclamation ofdisappointment he ordered the pilot to turn the plane and retrace hisroute southward, keeping ten miles from the shore. Fifty miles southhe ordered the plane further out and again turned north. From time totime they passed a ship of the air patrol which was steadily skirtingthe coast, but none of them had seen a submarine. Off Cape Hatterasthe pilot asked for orders.
"The gas is running low. Doctor," he said. "I think we had better putin somewhere and refuel. If we are going to keep the air much longer,you had better get a relief pilot. I have been flying for thirty hoursout of the last thirty-six and I'm about done."
"Head back for Washington," said the doctor with a sigh. "I seem tohave gone off on a false scent."
At Cape Charles the pilot swung east over Chesapeake Bay.
Hardly hadhe turned than Dr. Bird gave a cry. Excitedly he pointed toward thewater. Carnes grasped a pair of binoculars and looked in thedirection Dr. Bird was indicating. Sliding along under the water wasa long cigar-shaped shadow.
"It's a submarine!" exclaimed Carnes. "Is it a navy ship or the onewe're after?"
"It's no navy sub," said the doctor positively. "It's not the rightshape. Look at that bump on the side!"
The symmetry of the craft was marred by a huge projection on one sidethat could not be explained by the pattern of any known type ofunder-water craft.
"He's towing the borer!" cried the doctor in exultation. He took upthe speaking tube. "Turn back to sea!" he cried. "We passed fourdestroyers less than ten miles out. We want to get in touch withthem."
The plane roared out to sea while Dr. Bird feverishly sounded the"Alnav" call on the radio sending set. In a few minutes an answercame. From their point of vantage they could see flags break out atthe peak of the destroyer leader. The four ships turned into columnformation and stormed at full speed into the bay. The plane racedahead to guide them.
"We've got him this time, Doctor!" cried Carnes in exultation. Hepointed to the bay below where the submarine was still making its wayslowly forward. Dr. Bird shook his head.
"I hope so," he said, "but I have my doubts. Saranoff is no fool. Hewouldn't walk into a trap like this unless he had some means ofescape. Here comes the first destroyer. We'll soon know the truth."
* * * * *
With the radio set he directed the oncoming boat. The destroyerreduced to half speed and changed direction slightly. From side toside she maneuvered until she was less than half a mile behind thesubmarine and headed straight for it. Dr. Bird tapped a few words onhis key. With a belch of smoke, the destroyer lurched forward. Shecut the waters with her sharp bow, throwing up a wave higher than herdecks. Dr. Bird watched anxiously.
The destroyer was almost over the submarine and Dr. Bird's fingerstrembled on the key. One word from him would send a half dozen depthcharges into the water. On came the destroyer until it was directlyover the underseas craft. Dr. Bird pounded his key rapidly.
"Good Lord!" cried Carnes.
From the bump on the side of the submarine came a flash of red light.The destroyer staggered for a moment, and the entire central sectionof the ill-fated ship disappeared. The bow and stern came togetherwith a rush and went down in a swirling maelstrom of water. The planelurched in the air as a thundering crash rose from the sea.
The second destroyer, in no way daunted by the fate of her colleague,rushed to the attack. Dr. Bird pounded his key frantically in anattempt to turn her back. His message was too late or wasmisunderstood. Straight over the submarine went the second ship. Againcame the red flash. The forward half of the destroyer disappeared andthe stern slid down into a huge hole which had opened in the water.
"He's invulnerable!" cried the doctor. He pounded his key withfeverish rapidity. The two remaining destroyers slackened speed andveered off. Slowly, as though loath to turn their backs on the enemy,they headed out for the broad Atlantic and comparative safety.
The submarine went slowly on her way. She did not turn west at themouth of the Potomac but continued on up the bay. As long as there waslight enough, the doctor's plane kept above her but the fading lightsoon made it impossible to see her. When she had disappeared fromview, the doctor reluctantly gave the word to return to Washington.
* * * * *
"Where do you suppose he will attack next, Doctor?" asked Carnes whenthey sat again in the doctor's private laboratory.
"Washington, of course," said Dr. Bird absently as he looked up from apile of telegrams he was running through.
"Why Washington?"
"Use your head. Representatives of every civilized power are inWashington now at the President's invitation to consider means ofhalting the anti-religious activities of the Soviets. The destructionof the city and the killing of these men would be a telling blow forRussia to strike."
"But, Doctor, you don't think--"
"Excuse me, Carnes; that will keep. Let me read these telegrams."
For half an hour silence reigned in the laboratory. Dr. Bird laid downthe last message with a sigh.
"Carnes," he said, "I'm check-mated. I sent out a hundredultra-sensitive short wave receivers yesterday. Four of them werelocated within fifty miles of Wilmington, North Carolina. One of thesefour was destroyed, but none of the others detected a sign of a waveduring the attack. One of them was within a hundred feet of the edgeof the hole. If he isn't using a ray of some sort, what on earth is heusing?"
"It looked like a flash of red light when it came from the submarine."
"Yes, but it couldn't be light. Let me think."
The doctor sat for a few minutes with corrugated brows. Suddenly hesprang to his feet.
"I deserve to be beaten," he cried. "Why didn't I think of thatpossibility before?"
* * * * *
He hurried into his laboratory and brought out a small box with aglass front. From the top projected a spike topped with a ball.Through the glass, Carnes could see a thin sheet of metal hangingpendant from the spike.
"An electroscope," explained the doctor. "That sheet of metal isreally two sheets of gold-leaf, at present stuck together. If I rub apiece of hard rubber with a woolen cloth, the rod will become chargedwith static electricity. If I then touch the ball with it, the chargeis transferred to the electroscope and causes the two sheets ofgold-leaf to stand apart at an angle. Watch me."
He took a hard rubber rod and rubbed it briskly on his coat sleeve. Ashe touched the ball of the electroscope the sheets of gold-leafseparated and stood apart at a right angle.
"As long as the air remains non-conducting, the two bits of gold-leafwill hold that position. The air, however, is not a perfect insulatorand the charge will gradually leak off. If I bring a bit ofradioactive substance, for instance, pitchblende, near theelectroscope, the charge will leak rapidly. Do you understand?"
"Yes, but how is that going to help us?"
"Saranoff is accomplishing his result by artificially compressing theatoms. It is inevitable that he will do it imperfectly, and someelectrons will be loosened and escape. These electrons, traveling upthrough the earth will make the air conducting. To-morrow we will havea means of locating the borer under ground."
"Once you locate it, how will you fight it?"
"That is the problem I must work out to-night."
"Could we bury a charge of explosive and blow it up?"
* * * * *
"Ordinary explosives would be useless," the doctor answered. "Theywould react in the same manner as other substances, and would berendered harmless. Radite might do the work if it could be placed inthe path, but it couldn't be. We may locate the position and depth ofthe borer, but long before we could dig and blast a hole deep enoughto place a charge of radite before it, it would have passed on orchanged direction. No, Carnes, old dear, the only solution that I cansee is to turn his own guns on him. If I can, before morning,duplicate his device, we can train it on the spot where he is andreduce him and his machine to a pinch of yellow powder."
"Can you do it, Doctor?"
"What one man's brain can device, another man's brain can duplicate.The only question is that of time. I am confident that Saranoff willattack Washington to-morrow. If I can do the job to-night, we may savethe city. If not--At any rate, Carnes, your job will be to see thatthe President and all of the heads of the government are out of thecity by morning. The President may refuse to leave. Knowing him as Ido, I rather expect he will."
"In that case, the issue is in the hands of the gods. Now get out ofhere. I want to work. Report back at daybreak with a car."
Dr. Bird turned back to his laboratory.
"He must be using a ray of some sort, possibly a radium emanation," hemuttered to himself. "That would have no wave motion an
d mightaccomplish the result, although I would expect the exact opposite fromit. The first thing to do is to examine that powder with aspectroscope and see if I can get a clue to the electronicarrangement."
* * * * *
When Carnes arrived at the Bureau of Standards at dawn be rubbed hiseyes in astonishment. The buildings were lighted up and the groundsswarmed with workmen. Before the buildings were lined up a dozentrucks and twice that many touring cars. A cordon of police held backthe curious. Carnes' gold badge won him an entrance and he hurried upthe stairs to Dr. Bird's laboratory. The doctor's face was drawn andhaggard, but his eyes glowed with a feverish light. Workmen werecarrying down huge boxes.
"What's up, Doctor?" demanded the detective.
"Oh, you got here at last, did you? You're just in time. If you'd beenfifteen minutes later, you would have found us gone."
"Gone where?"
"Out into Maryland in an attempt to stop Saranoff in his progresstoward Washington."
"Have you found your means of combating him?"
"I hope so, although it is not what I started out to get. Did youbring a car as I told you?"
"It's waiting below."
"Good enough. I'll go in it. Williams, are those projectors allloaded?"
"Yes, Dr. Bird. The magnet will be ready to go in five minutes. Theelectroscopes and the other light stuff are all loaded and ready tomove."
"You have done well. I'll let you bring the trucks and heavy equipmentwhile I go ahead with the instruments. Take the road out toward UpperMarlboro. If I don't meet you before, stop there for orders."
"Very well, Doctor."
"Come on, Carnes, let's go."
* * * * *
He raced down the stairs with the detective at his heels. He wentalong the line of touring cars and spoke briefly to the drivers. Heclimbed into the car which Carnes had brought. As it started the othercars fell in behind it. At a speed of forty miles an hour, with adetachment of motorcycle police leading the van, the cavalcade rolledout through the deserted streets of Washington. Once clear of thecity, the speed was increased.
"Did you persuade the President to leave?" asked the doctor.
"There wasn't a chance. The papers panned him so much for following myadvice at Charleston that he has turned stubborn. He says that if allthe forces of the government can't protect him against one man, he iswilling to die."
"We've got to save him," said Dr. Bird grimly. "Hello, there's theChesapeake ahead."
The doctor studied the country.
"We are about opposite the place where we left that sub last night. Ifancy that Saranoff will operate from there, for it didn't move duringthe last half hour we watched it. We'll go back inland a mile or twoand spread out. I have no idea how far his radiations will affect theelectroscopes, but we'll try four hundred-yard intervals to start.That will enable us to cover a line twelve miles long."
He picked up a megaphone and spoke to the line of cars behind him.
"Take up four hundred yard intervals when we spread out," he said."Every man keep his headphone on and listen for orders. Follow my caruntil it stops, then turn north and south and drop your men atintervals."
He reentered the car and led the way back for two miles. He halted hiscar at a crossroad. The cars following him turned and went to thenorth and south. Besides Carnes and the doctor, the car held two menfrom the Bureau. As they climbed out, Carnes saw that one of themcarried a portable radio sending set, while the other bore anelectroscope and a rubber rod. The radio operator set up his device,while the other man rubbed his coat sleeve briskly with the hardrubber and then touched the ball of the electroscope with it. The twobits of gold-leaf spread out.
"While we're waiting, I'll explain something of this to you, Carnes,"said the doctor. "At four hundred-yard intervals are men withelectroscopes like this one. My attempt to locate Saranoff by means ofwave detectors was a failure. That proved that the ray he was using isnot of the wave type. The other common ray is the cathode ray typewhich does not consist of vibrations but of a stream of electrons,negative particles of electricity, traveling in straight lines of highvelocity. He must be knocking loose some of the electrons when hecollapses the atoms. The rate of discharge of these electroscopes willgive us a clue to the nearness of his device."
* * * * *
"Once you locate him, how do you propose to attack him?"
"The obvious method, that of using his own ray against him, fell down.However, in attempting to produce it, I stumbled on another weaponwhich may be equally effective. I am going to try to use an exactopposite of his ray. The cathode ray, when properly used, will bombardthe atoms and knock electrons loose. I perfected last night a deviceon which I have been working for months. It is a super-cathode ray. Itested it on the yellow powder and find that I can successfullyreverse Saranoff's process. He can contract matter together until itoccupies less than one one-thousandth of its original volume. My raywill destroy this effect and restore matter to something like itsoriginal condition."
"And the effect will be?"
"Use your imagination. He blasts out a hole by condensing the rock toa pinch of yellow powder. He moves forward into the hole he has made.I come along and reverse his process. The yellow powder expands to itsoriginal volume and the hole he has made ceases to exist. What musthappen to the foreign body which had been introduced into the holethat is no longer a hole?"
Carnes whistled.
"At any rate, I hope that I am never in a hole when that happens."
"And I devoutly hope that Saranoff is. I met with one difficulty. Myray will not penetrate the depth of solid rock which separates hisborer from the surface."
"Then how will you reach him to crush him? You don't expect to drilldown ahead of him?"
"That is my stroke of genius, Carnes. I am going to make him bore thehole down which my ray will travel to accomplish his destruction. Thecathode ray and rays of that type--"
* * * * *
"Pardon me, Doctor," interrupted the radio operator. "I have justreceived a message from the squadron leader of the planes patrollingthe bay. He states that every inch of the Chesapeake Bay and thePotomac River have been examined and no submarine is visible."
"I expected that. He will have opened a cavern under the earth, inwhich his craft is safe from aerial observation. Once the borer hasleft it, it is invulnerable no longer."
"What reply shall I make?"
"Tell him to keep up a constant patrol. Three navy subs withradite-charged torpedos are on their way up the bay, together withhalf a dozen destroyers. The subs will scout for such a hole as I havedescribed and will attack his sub if they find it. The destroyers willstand by and support them."
The operator turned to his instrument. The electroscope observerclaimed the doctor's attention.
"There is a steady leak here, Doctor," he said. "I get a discharge ineleven minutes."
"Probably a result of his work in opening the hiding place for hissubmarine last night. Keep it charged, Jones."
"What did you say about the cathode ray, Doctor?" asked Carnes.
"The cathode ray? Oh, yes. I said that rays of that type wereattracted by--Hello, look there!"
From a point a mile to the north a ball of red fire streaked up intothe air. A moment later similar signals rose from other watchers inthe line.
"It works, Carnes!" cried the doctor as he rushed for the car. "We'vegot him this time!"
* * * * *
The car raced along the road. At the first man who had signalled, itslackened speed. The doctor leaned out.
"What is your discharge rate?" he called.
"Eight minutes. Doctor."
The car rolled on. Dr. Bird repeated the question at the next post andwas told that the electroscope there was losing its charge in sevenminutes. The next man reported four minutes and the next man, oneminute. The followin
g station reported three minutes.
"It's right along here somewhere!" cried the doctor. "Summon everyoneto this point and take up twenty-yard intervals."
From the north and south the cars came racing in. The instruments werespread out along a new line twenty yards apart. As the borer waslocated the intervals were decreased to fifteen feet. Dr. Bird thrusta long white rod into the ground.
"His path lies under here," he said. "Into the cars and go back a mileand test again."
The borer was making slow progress, and it was half an hour before Dr.Bird drove the second stake in the ground. With a transit he took thebearing of the path and laid it out on a large scale map.
"We'll stop him between Marr and Ritchie," he announced. "Jones, I amgoing back and set up my apparatus. Keep track of his movements. Ifhe changes direction, let me know at once."
* * * * *
The doctor's car tore off to the west. Near Upper Marlboro, he met theconvoy of trucks and led them to the selected spot. The trucks wereunloaded and the apparatus laid out. Attached to a huge transformerwere a dozen strange-looking projectors. What puzzled Carnes most wasa huge built-up steel bar wound about with heavy cable. Dr. Bird hadthis bar erected on a truck and located it with great exactness. Theprojectors were set up in a battery just east of the bar.
"How about power?" asked the doctor.
"We'll have it in five minutes," replied one of the men. "A powertransmission line carrying twenty-two thousand passes within twohundred yards of here. We are phoning now to have the power cut off.As soon as the line is dead we'll cut it and bring the ends here."
The electrician was good at his word. In five minutes the power linehad been cut and cables spliced to the ends. The cables were broughtto the doctor's apparatus and the main lines were rigged to the endsof the cable wound around the bar. In parallel on taps, the projectorswere connected. Huge oil-switches were placed in both lines.
"All ready, Doctor," reported the electrician.
"Good work, Avent. He'll be here soon, I fancy."
A car whirled up and a man leaped out with a surveyor's rod. He set itup on the ground while a companion watched through binoculars. Hemoved it a hundred yards to the north and then back twenty. When hewas satisfied he turned to Dr. Bird.
"The direction of movement has not changed," he said. "The path willpass under this stake."
Under the doctor's supervision, the truck carrying the bar movedforward until it stood over the surveyor's stake. The battery ofprojectors moved to a new location a few feet east of the rod. Othercars came racing up.
"He's less than half a mile away, Doctor!" cried Jones.
"Get your electroscopes out and spot him a hundred yards from thistruck."
"Very well, Doctor."
* * * * *
The men with the instruments spread out along the path of the borer.Briskly they rubbed their sleeves with the rubber rods and chargedtheir instruments. Almost as fast as they charged them, the tiny bitsof gold-leaf collapsed together. Presently the man on the end of theline shouted.
"Maximum discharge!" he cried.
Dr. Bird looked around. Every man stood ready at his post. The nextman signalled that the borer was under him. Carnes felt himselftrembling. He did not know what the doctor was about to do, but hefelt that the fate of America hung in the balance. Whether it remainedfree or became the slave of Soviet Russia would quickly be decided.
Slowly the borer made its way forward. With a pale face, Jonessignalled the news that it had reached the point the doctor hadindicated. Dr. Bird raised his hand.
"Power!" he cried.
The electrician closed a switch and power surged through the cablesaround the bar. The earth rocked and quivered. A hundred yards east ofthe bar a flash of intolerable red light sprang from the ground with aroar like that of Niagara. Toward the bar it moved with gatheringmomentum.
"Back, everyone!" roared Dr. Bird.
* * * * *
The men sprang back. The searing ray approached the bar. It touchedit, and bar and truck disappeared into thin air. A splutter of sparkscame from the severed ends of the wire. The ray disappeared. Carnesrubbed his eyes. Where the truck had rested on solid ground was now agaping wound in the earth.
"Projector forward!" cried the doctor. "Hurry, men!"
The trucks bearing the battery of projectors moved forward until theywere at the edge of the hole. Portable cranes swung the lamps out, andmen swarmed over them. The projectors were pointed down the hole.Carnes joined the doctor in peering down. A hundred yards below themthe terrible ray was blazing. As they watched, its end came in sight.The ray was being projected forward from the end of a blackcigar-shaped machine which was slowly moving forward.
"That's your target, men!" cried the doctor. "Align on it and signalwhen you are ready!"
One by one the projector operators raised their hands in the signal of"ready." Still the doctor waited. Suddenly the forward movement of theblack body ceased. The ray was stationary for a moment and then movedslowly upward. A terrific roaring came from the cavern.
"Projector switch!" roared the doctor, his heavy voice sounding overthe tumult.
"Ready, sir!" a shrill voice answered.
"Power!"
* * * * *
From each of the projectors a dazzling green ray leaped forth as theswitch was closed. There was a crash like all the thunder of theuniverse. Before the astonished eyes of the detective, the holeclosed. Not only did it close but the earth piled up until the truckswere overturned and the green rays blazed in all directions.
"Power off!" roared the doctor.
The switch was opened and the ray died out. Before them was a hugemound where a moment before had been a hole.
"You see, Carnes," said Dr. Bird with a wan smile. "I made him borehis own hole, as I promised."
"I saw it, but I don't understand. How did you do it?"
"Magnetism. Rays of the cathode type are deflected from their courseby a magnet. His ray proved unusually susceptible, and I drew ittoward a huge electro-magnet which I improvised. When the magnet wasdestroyed, the ray dropped back ... to its original ... direction.That's the end ... of Saranoff. That is ... I hope ... it is."
Dr. Bird's voice had grown slower and less distinct as he talked. Ashe said the last words, he slumped gently to the ground. Carnes sprangforward with a cry of alarm and bent over him.
"What's the matter, Doctor?" he demanded anxiously, shaking thescientist. Dr. Bird rallied for a moment.
"Sleep, old dear," he murmured. "Four days--no sleep. Go 'way, I'm ...going ... to ... sleep...."
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