BELL ON EARTH— A Novelette of Satao In a Tuxedo— By ROBERT BIOCN

ANEW
LOVECRAFT
^
SERIES . . .

Htivbert West: Reanimator

THE KAT MASTER

Greye La Spina

FRANK OWEN MALCOLM JAMESON

 —

In clinical tests over a 10-year period,
Listerine users had fewer colds and
milder colds than non-users.
Often the prompt and frequent use of
Listerine Antiseptic helps old Mother
Nature to combat a cold before it becomes
serious.
Regular twice-a-day users of Listerine actu-
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colds than thosewho did not gargle with it.
So, when you feel a cold coming on, gargle
with full strength Listerine Antiseptic
quick and often. You may save yourself a
long siege of trouble. Lambert Pharmacal Co.

Here’s one reason why, we believe. NOTE HOW

li.sterine Antiseptic reaches way back on LISTERINE GARGLE
throjit surfaces to kill millions of the “sec-
REDUCED GERMS
ondary invaders” which, many noted laryn-
gologists say, are responsible for so many 'the two drawings illustrate height
of a cold’s miserable symptoms. of range in germ reductions on
mouth and throat surfaces in test
We feel that Listerine’s quick germ kill- cases before and after gargling
ing action explains its amazing record Listerine Antl'^-eptic. Fifteen min-

against colds during a period of 10 years. utes after gargling, germ reduc-
tions up to 96.7% were noted; aiul
Remember that in clinical tests made even one hour after, germs were
during these 10 years; RFTtR still reduced as much as .
 *
"^iitf**®**
^
"Si'es”
J. e. SMITH
President
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Establiehed 25 Yean

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 MARCH, 1942 Cover by Hannes Bok

NOVELETTES
HELL ON EARTH Robert Bloch 6
Would You Go to Hell for Ten Thousand Dollars? Watch Out for
Scarlet Temptations in This Suspense-Charged Drama!

TIBETAN VENGEANCE Stafford Aylmer 95

Weird and Terrible Are the Ways in Which the East Gets Back Its Own

SHORT STORIES
THE SUPERFLUOUS PHANTOM Malcolm Jameson 38
W You H^ere a Spook How Would — YOU Peel if They
Took Away Your Haunting License?
THE MARCH OF THE TREES Frank Owen 48
An Oriental Garden Gives Incredible Help to Its Gardener . . .

CHILD’S PLAY Alice Mary Schnirring 53

The Game Was the Boy’s Own Invention, And a Very Special
and Horrible Little Game It Was . . .

THE RAT MASTER . Greye La Spina 62

The Rodent Regiments Recognized One Lord — and One Lord Alone
THE TREASURE OF RED ASH DESERT . Stanton A. Coblentz 75
Hop Aboard That Time Machine — and Come with Us Into the Fabulous Future!
HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR H. P. Lovecraft 84
Can the Dead Be Brought Back to Life? Read This Tale and See

DEATH OF THE KRAKEN David H. Keffer 89

In the Sargasso Sea Are Many Monsters . . . Human Ones!

HERE, DAEMOS! August W. Derleth 112

However Valuable They May Be, Some Dead and Buried
Things Are Much Better Left That Way!

VERSE
GARDEN AT LU Gerald Chan Sieg 47
WOOD WIFE Leah Bodine Drake 59
HUNGER Page Cooper 88

SUPERSTITIONS AND TABOOS Irwin J. Weill 60

THE EYRIE AND WEIRD TALES CLUB 118
Except for personal experiences the contents of this magazine is fiction. Any use
of the name of any living person or reference to actual events is purely coincidental.

Published bi-monthly by Wdid Teles, 9 Koekefeller Plaza, New York. N. Y. Reentered as second-class matter
January 26, 1940, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y, under the act of March 3, 1879. Single copies, 15 cents.
Subscription rates: One year in the United States and possessions, 90c. Foreign and Canadian postage extra.
English Office: Charles Lavell, Limited, 4 Clements Inn, Strand, London, W.C.2. England. The publishers are not
responsible for the loss of unsolicited manuscripts although every care will be taken of such material while in their
possession. Copyright. 1942, by Weird Talea. Copyrighted in Great Britain. 173
Title registered In U. S. Patent Office.
PRINTED IN THE D. B. A. Vol. 36, No. 4

D. McIL WRAITH, Editor, HENRY AVELINE PERKINS. Associate Editor,

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DO THE DEAD RETURN ?
A strange man in Los Angeles, knovra
as “The Voice of Two .Worlds,” tells of
astonishing experiences in far-off and
mysterious Tibet, often called the land of
miracles by the few travelers permitted to
visit it. Here he lived among the lamas,
mystic priests of the temple. “In your pre-
vious lifetime,” a very old lama told him,
“you lived here, a lama in this temple.
You and I were boys together. I lived on,
but you died in youth, and were reborn in
England. I have been expecting your
return.”

The young Englishman was amazed as

I’.e looked around the temple where he was and atlases of the Far East, used through-
believed to have lived and died. It seemed out the world.
uncannily familiar, he appeared to know
every nook and comer of it, yet— ^at least “There is in all men a sleeping giant of
in this lifetime —he had never been there mindpower,” he says. “When awakened,
before. And mysterious was the set of it can make man capable of surprising
circumstances that had brought him. feats, from the prolonging of youth to
Could it be a case of reincarnation, that success in many other worthy endeavors.”
strange belief of the East that souls re- The system is said by many to promote
turn to earth again and again, living many improvement in health; others tell of in-
lifetimes? creased bodily strength, courage and
poise.
Because of their belief that he had
formerly been a lama in the temple, the “The time has come for this long-
lamas welcomed the young man with open hidden system to be disclosed to the
arms and taught him rare mysteries and Western world,” declares the autlior, and
long-hidden practices, closely guarded for offers to send his amazing 9000 word
three thousand years by the sages, which treatise —
which reveals many startling re-
have enabled many to perform amazing sults — to sincere readers of this publica-
feats. He says that the system often leads tion, free of cost or obligation. For your
to almost unbelievable improvement in free copy, address the Institute of Mental-
power of mind, can be used to achieve jAysics, 213 South Hobart Blvd., Dept.
brilliant business and professional success 91L, Los Angeles, Calif. Readers are
as well as great happiness. The young man urged to write promptly, as only a limited
himself later became a noted explorer and number of the free treatises have been
geographer, a successful publisher of maps printed.

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 Modem day Fausts raise hell among
the skyscrapers of Manhattan and —
conjure up daemons in the heart of
downtown New York!

1. Devil’s Brew
'¥’ ET me ask you a question,” said
iC
I my visitor. "Would you go
^ to hell for ten thousand dol-
lars?”
"Brother, just show me the money and
tell me when the next train leaves,” I told
**She stood surrounded by the
him. bobbing, weaving shapes ...”
6
 HIGH VOLTAGE NOVELETTE OF
On Earth SATAN IN TUXEDO—
BY ROBERT BLOCH

I
||b

. . and behind her was caged the figure of Satan!”

"I’m serious.” "Wait a minute,” I said. "You haven’t

I sat back and did my goldfish imitation
— staring with my mouth open. I’m pretty
good at it.
But Professor Keith was pretty good at
looking serious. Too good. After a min-
ute I closed my mouth and just stared.
got a cloven hoof. You didn’t appear out
of a cloud of smoke. You’re not crazy, and
you don’t take drugs. You’re Professor
Phillips Keith, Associate Director of Rock-
lynn Institute. And you’re offering me ten
thousand dollars to go to hell.”
7
8 WEIRD TALES
The pudgy little man with the graying The eyes behind the spectacles were pen-
hair adjusted his spectacles and smiled. etrating in their gray intensity. “I’ve never
He looked for all the world like a kindly been more serious about anything in my
bishop as he answered, “I’d rather see you life,” declared Keith.
go to hell for me than anyone else.” "It was I who badgered 'Thomas Con-
"That’s very flattering of you, I’m sure. sidine into donating that money.For years
But, Professor — ^perhaps you could explain ithas been my ambition to conduct experi-
yourself a little more fully before I decide. ments along this line. Too bad the papers
A man
day.”
doesn’t get an offer like this every got hold of the story but from now on —
there will be no publicity. No one must
Plump fingers held out a newspaper clip- know Rocklynn Institute is attempting
that
ping. "Read this.” to raise the dead and conjure up daemons
in the heart of downtown New York.”
SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE TO BECOME Now if there is one thing I have learned
WITCHCRAFT DEN in this Vale of Tears, it’s this you don’t —
tell a man he’s crazy when he has fifty
'The world-famous Rocklynn Institute will thousand dollars to spend. Particularly if
be transformed into a rendezvous for goblins he has just offered you ten thousand of that
and demons, according to the plans of Thomas fifty.
M. Considine, wealthy philanthropist. So all I said was, "That’s fine. But
Considine has authorized a donation of where do I fit into this picture?”
$50,000 to be used in what he describes as a Keith smiled, as he swung the car to-
"scientific study of sorcery and Black Magic.” wards a parking lot.
Professor Phillips Keith today announced "Simple. Your name was given to me
that Rocklynn Institute is "seriously contem- as a writer of so-called horror-fiction. As
plating” the possibilities of the project. Scien- such I expect you to be more or less con-
tific basis for ancient magic is by no means versant with demonology and witchcraft
improbable, Keith declared, and such a study lore.”
may yield valuable results. "Right. But I certainly don’t believe such
Vendors of black cats, dried toads, and bunk.”
love-philtres might find it worth their while "Exactly! That’s my point — ^while you
to apply at the Rocklynn Institute in the ne^ are in a position to understand what we’re
future. attempting, you still don’t believe. In
other words, you are an average, skeptical
"Lousy piece of writing,” I commented, representative of John Public. 'That’s why
handing the clipping back to Keith. "Now, you were chosen to act as official eye-wit-
what’s the real story?” ness and historian of our endeavors. You
Keith rose. know what’s going on, but you don’t be-
"Why not come along with me and find lieve in it. You will be shown. In other
out for yourself?” he asked. words, you’re being hired as a witness.”
"Don’t mind if I do.” I grabbed my "You mean ten thousand dollars for
hat and followed Keith down to the wait- standing around and watching you play
ing car. We
weaved into traffic before I witch? Ten grand to see you ride a broom-
broke the silence again. stick?”
“So no gag, then,” I mused. "Not
it’s Keith laughed. "You’re almost too
You’re really going
just a publicity stunt. skeptical. Come on. I think you need an
through with something like this?” immediate example.”
 ”

HELL ON EARTH 9

We entered the skyscraper, purred up- witches, once grasped by the bony, trem-
wards in the private elevator, stepped bling talons of long-dead necromancers.
briskly across the business-like outer lobby For just an instant I stood at Professor

of Rocklynn Institute’s spacious quarters Keith’s side, as the iron door closed be-
on the penthouse floor. Keith led me along hind us. For just an instant my eyes ran
the hall to a door marked Private. their spidery pattern across the red glare
He pushed it open, beckoned. and black shadow of that room.
Usually I hate such doors. I hate the And then something rose out of the far-
smugness of their curt warning. Private! ther gloom, something wheeled and scut-
But if ever a door deserved such a mark- tled from the darkness, something moved
ing, this one did. For it barred nudness. in shroud-white silence across the floor.
I jumped two feet.
"DLACK madness, in a velvet draped "Meet Doctor Ross,” said Keith.
room. Red madness, in the flickering "Ulp!” I commented.
braziers winking demonic eyes from shad- Doctor Ross’s oval face moved toward
owy niches. me. A slim hand darted out. "Charmed,”
We stood in a dark chamber, hidden in said Doctor Ross.
the topmost recesses of a modern sky- "Ulp!” I declared again.
scraper —a dark chamber, reeking of blood, "Can’t you say anything but 'Ulp’?” in-
musk, hashish, and the tomb. quired Doctor Ross, with some curiosity.
It was a room torn from the Fifteenth "Well, you’d 'Ulp’ too if you were
Century, a room torn from ancient dreams. dragged into a chamber of horrors and had
a zombie come at you and the zombie
True, the tables and shelvings were mod-
ern, but they groaned with the impedi- turned out to be a pretty girl with
—
menta of forgotten nightmares. I looked I stopped. But it had slipped out, and
down at the first ledge beside me, and a I wasn’t too sorry. Because Doctor Ross
casual glance convinced. was a remarkably attractive young lady.
A rack of test-tubes reared from the sur- Her blond hair was not marred by any
face. Modern Pyrex, but labeled with in- medical severity of coiffure, and her
scriptions old as wizardry. "Bat’s blood.’’ piquant features were very adequately
“Mandrake root.” "Deadly nightshade.” rouged and decorated. Even the white sur-
"Mummy dust.” "Corpse fat.” And gicalgown did not wholly conceal features
worse. Much worse. which would make Will Hays foam at the
'There were shiny new refrigerators in mouth if he saw her in a sweater.
one corner, but they bulged with unnam- "Thank you,” said Doctor Ross, without
ablc carcasses. There were qucerly bub- embarrassment. "And welcome to Rock-
bling vats near a small open fire. One lynn Institute. I presume you are inter-

long shelf held alchemic instruments.

of herbs stood amidst vials of powdered
Jars ested in witchcraft?”
"If all witches are like you
— ” I began,
bones. The floor was crisscrossed with but Keith cut me off.

pentagons and zodiacal designs drawn in "Lily Ross isn’t Circe, you know,” he
blue chalk, phosphorescent paint, and remarked, but his eyes twinkled. "And
some substance that yielded a dull, rusty you aren’t being hired to pass out compli-
red. ments. 'There’s work to do. We’ve got
One wall held books —books I didn’t a demon to raise this afternoon.”
like. 'The light gleamed on musty tomes Right then and there it stopped being
once hugged to the withered bosoms of funny.
10 WEIRD TALES
Here I was, yanked into a weird chamber them into the darkness of the curtained
atop a skyscraper, in the hands of two room.
whose avowed purpose was to ex-
lunatics
periment in Black Magic, and ordered to 2. Up Pops —
stand by and watch them evoke a demon.
It was confusing, to say the least. In my «OILVER bullets in here,” explained
agitation I stepped back a foot and bumped Professor Keith. "Very good against
into something that clicked. I turned vampires, werewolves, vrykolas, or ghouls.
around, stared into the grinning visage of Don’t know how efliective they are against
a dangling skeleton, and uttered my fa- a dracombus, though.”
miliar "Ulp!” "What?”
I got my voice back at once. "Now look "A draconibus. Flying cacodemon of
here — ^are you really sericms about all the night. If Abbot
Sort of an incubus.
this?" Richalmus is We’re using his spell
correct.
Keith took a sheaf of papers from his from "Liber Revelationum de Insidia et
pocket and placed them on a table near an Versutiis Daemonum Adversus Homines"
inverted crucifix bearing the impaled body He says the things are black and scaly,
of a dried bat, hanging head downwards. quite human in appearance except for the
He produced a fountain pen, waved me wings and fangs, but on a low order of in-
over. telligence. Something like the elementals.
"Sign," he ordered. If the bullets don’t work, there’s always the
"Sign what?” Pentagram. You know what it is; a five-
"The contract. Calling for your services pointed star, two angles ascendant and one
as eye-witness for three months. Ten thou- pointed down. It represents Satan, Goat
sand dollars. Five now, five at the con- of the Sabbath.”
clusion of our experiments. Serious enough "Are you craay?” I had to say it.

for you?” "See here.” Keith’s face was stem in

"Very.” My fingers trembled as I scrib- the red glare. "We might as well under-
bled a signature on both sets of contracts. stand each other once and for all. I don’t
They fairly shook with palsy as Professor mind your skepticism in the least, but
Keith extended his check. Five thousand please don’t cast doubts on my sanity or
dollars right now! It was quite serious, sincerity.”
no doubt about that. "But it all seems too absurd —mingling
"Well, then.” Keith pocketed the science and sorcery.”
papers. "Are we all ready to proceed, "Why?” Keith snapped. "Yesterday’s
Lily?” magic is today’s scientific fact. Voodoo
"Everything is in order, Professor,” said witch doctors and medieval savants tried to
the girl. castout demons. Today psychiatrists at-
"Then draw the Pentagram," purred tempt to cure insanity by hypnosis, sugges-
Keith. "You’ll find the blood in the re- tion,and shock treatments, in almost the
frigerator still fresh enough. Recite the same way.
chant and light the fires, my dear. And don’t "Once alchemists attempted to transmute
worry — I’ll keep you covered with the re- base metals into gold. 'Today that effort
volvers. If anything goes wrong I’ll shoot constitutes the basis of scientific research
to kill.” along identical lines.

With a bland smile, Phillips Keith drew "Are not scientists attempting to find the
two guns from his vest holster and leveled Youth in their laboratories, using
Elixir of
 — —

HELL ON EARTH 11

animal and human blood in their experi- "Blood,” whispered Keith. "Type B
ments like the mages of old? blood.”
"Don’t scientists concern themselves "Type B?”
with the vital problems of Life and Death "Naturally. Didn’t I tell you we were
— and keep chicken hearts and dog heads using modern scientific methods in witch-
alive when severed from the dead bodies? craft?
"Men died for that at the stake in ages "Let’s get down to cases. Sorcery in the
past. They died for dealing with the very Middle Ages was almost a racket. The
mysteries we scientists now openly attempt average goetist was a charlatan. Some
to probe. Science is sorcery, I tell you wizards hung around the courts of small
except that in some cases, the ancient nobles or petty princes, dabbling in astrol-
wizards might have been more successful.” ogy and palmistry, and fawning on their
"You mean you believe thaumaturg-
that patrons like courtjesters. They were ar-
ists once actually did revive the dead and rant fakes.
call upon elementals?” "Others were like modern confidence
"I mean they tried to do and may well
it men, forever asking money to perfect wild
have succeeded. I mean there was nothing plans of transmuting lead to gold, complet-
wrong with their theories, but their meth- ing an Elizir of Youth, or finding the Phi-
ods were at fault. And I mean that modern losopher’s stone. Just grafters.
science can take those same theories, apply "A third class were quack doctors —boys
the proper methods, and meet with com- who took little shops in the side streets
plete success. Tl^at’s what we’re going to and sold phony love philtres, promised to
do.’’ put curses on enemies for a small fee, and
"But—’’ attempted to cure everything from epilepsy
"Watch.” to the French disease.
I watched. The slim figure of Lily Ross "Mixed in with these impostors were
weaved a wliite pattern across the far side the psycopathic cases. Demonomaniacs
of the black chamber. Flame blossomed and diaboleptics who pranced naked on the
in her fingers as she bent over the braziers hilltops during Walpurgis Eve, claimed to
in the niches and re-kindled their dying ride broomsticks to the moon, or converse
fires. From a pouch at her waist she scat- with the dead, and have infernal lovers.
tered fine dust upon the embers. Inverted religious mania.
The fires flared —
upward not red now, "But always there were serious students
but green and blue and purple. A kaleido- of the mantic arts. From their records
scope of diabolic luminance flooded the their spells and incantations —we are work-
vast room. ing here.”
Red tongues rose from candle tips and Keith pointed toward the bookshelves.
lapped at the darkness. Thick, bloated can- "It took me years to gather this collection.
dles, like the puffy fingers of a gigantically Manuscripts, parchments, fragments from
—
swollen corpse thick, bloated candles, fed treatises, secret documents from every coun-
by a slim white priestess. try and every age. Much of it is locked
White witch! away in those files. In cunabula. Cost a
small fortune, but worth it.”

HE stooped over and drew a silvery de- "But aren’t they filled with the same fake
S sign upon the floor, and its five lumi- gibberish as all the rest?” I objected. "I’ve
nous points were bathed with a crimson read some of that stuff, and it’s usually
fluid poured from a canister. pretty silly."
n WEIRD TALES
"True. But there are kernels of truth.
It’s easy to discern. Some of the spells
are known frauds; others are genuine.”
"You mean if you read a spell aloud
that it might conjure up a ghoul or a
baboon’s blood, they might have had to use
the blood of a rhesus monkey, for example.
It spoiled the mixture, by simple chemistry.
We’re experimenting, when we use human
blood, with all blood types —because it

ghost?” might well be that a works with

spell only

"If you read it correctly,” answered a specific compound. That’s

chemical
Keith. "There’s the whole point. 'That’s something the ancients didn’t know.
where science steps in. "Similarly, they often were taken in by
"In many cases the spell has not been frauds. Perhaps they attempted brewing
set down completely, due to fear. In a philtre calling for 'powdered unicorn’s
other instances, the incantation has certain horn.’ Naturally, when we see such a
word changes, due to imperfect transla- recipe, we know it’s a fake and throw it

tions, or incorrect interpretation of the out. They weren’t so fortunate, and again
medieval Latin or Greek. 'The Church they failed.
burned as much of the genuine stuff as "So there you are. It may look like

could be found over centuries of time. hocus-pocus to you, but it’s the result of
We’ve had to spend months of prepara- applied scientific reasoning. We’ve sifted
tion —weeding the genuine from the spuri- our spells, we’ve checked our formulae,
ous, piecing together fragments, studying we’ve gathered together only the most au-
contemporary sources. It’s been a lengthy thentic ingredients, we’re working by trial
job for Doctor Ross and myself, but we’re and error and modern logic.
now assured of one thing we have on — "Under such conditions we cannot fail,
hand nearly one hundred actual, authentic if there is any truth in the supernatural lore

incantations for the evocation of supernatu- which has dominated all nations and all
ral forces. If spoken correctly, the proper religion since the dawn of Time.
vibrations will be set up as in ordinary
prayer, and responses will be made. <<Q<URELY there is a basis of truth under-
"Also, some of these incantations re- ^lying this tremendous mass of legend
quire ceremonies, such as this one. We’ve and theory that is older than any other
spent a goodly sum acquiring the necessary form of worship. Science has recognized
instruments and materials for our experi- today the pathological existence of the vam-
ments. hard to buy a Hand of Glory,
It’s pire and werewolf and ghoul in mental
or baboon’s blood; hard to secure enough cases. Science has recognized today many
cadavers. Grisly, too —but important.” practises which were once called witchcraft.
I shrugged. "But Class B blood?” Now we shall take the further step and dis-
"Merely an illustration of our thorough- cover whether the ancients were wiser than
ness. We’re going to attack the super- we knew. We shall reconstruct — correctly
natural with modern aid. Consider the — the enchantments of the magicians and
reasons for the failure of ancient sorcerers. evocators.
"For one thing, as I pointed out, many "Today, using Class B blood, we are
were admitted fakes. And serious students performing the Richalmus rune to evoke a
often got hold of the wrong translations, draconibus. Doctor Ross has drawn the
as I have demonstrated. Naturally, they Pentagram. She has placed the five candles
didn’t succeed. at the points, and fed the fires with the
"Again, they were balked by lack of Three Colors.
proper materials. If the spell called for "Now she will read the invocation in
 HELL ON EARTH 13

the original Latin. If the conditions are thirty seconds. So if anything appears,
reproduced correctly, we shall soon see the just you pull that lever.”
daemon of the night which
veritable flying So there it was. I stood in the dark
the good Abbot describes so graphically. chamber as the white witch wove her spell,
Mayhap we shall capture it and offer our and heard the wizard instruct me on the
living proof to the world.” fine art of demon-catching. If it hadn’t
"You’ll capture it?” I murmured. been for that five thousand dollar check in
Keith smiled. "Why not? That’s the my pocket. I’d have quit there.
kind of evidence we need to confound the Not because it was silly.

smug skeptics, the pompous who

figures Because it was serious. Too serious.
delight in shaming poor old women at Keith had spoken wildly, but he had
seances and ridiculing sincere students of spoken with conviction. He was Professor
the occult. Why, when Tom Considine Phillips Keith, associate director of a recog-
put up the money for all this, he laughed nized scientific institute. He was a known
at me! I wonder what he’d say if I sent scholar and savant, not a crackpot eccen-
a draconibus into the ofl&ce in a packing- tric.

case.” Lily Ross was nobody’s fool, I felt and —

Keith chuckled as he pointed at the ceil- she wasn’t giggling behind her hand,
ing. either. She was going about her prepara-
"Of course, if the thing does appear, tions like a trained scientific assistant. Or
and is dangerous. I’ve got the silver bullets a witch.
to stop it. But I’d much prefer to take my Witchcraft! The Black Arts of legend,
apparitions alive. 'There’s the scientific the hideous whisperings creeping through-
means.” out history and leering madly through all

I followed his directing finger. Sus- barriers of reasons. Satanism, the Black
pended by chains in the shadowy heights Mass, trafficking with the dead and the
above was a square sheet of transparent masters of the dead.
glass. Here in this room, the reek of the grave.
It hung directly over the spot where 'The corpse-fat candles,and the flames that
the Pentagram gleamed upon the floor. burned with a blue light, a green lividity,
"Notice the lever at the door,” Keith a purple pallor. Blood trickling across an
said. "Turn that, and the glass cage drops ancient symbol on the floor. Silence and
down. Fits over whatever appears in the darkness, and now a rustling, a Lily Ross
circle, fits like a cage.” took the yellow parchment in her hand
"But your demon would surely break and stepped toward the light of the blue
out of it at once,” I said, half-ashamed at brazier.
even using the word. She stood there, poised and statuesque,
"Not from that,” Keith assured me. a blond handmaiden of Evil. Her oval
"There are repelling crosses ground into face was dedicated to darkness as her red
the glass itself—including the crux an- lips shaped the first syllables that broke the
santor. Tubes of holy water in the panel- utter silence.
ing along the sides. Besides, it’s the modem Keith’s face was pudgy and prosaic in the
^unbreakable’ glass, for added precaution, glare, but his eyes shone with the fanatic
and there’s a little tubing at the top which zeal of a Puritan warlock.
extends inside. It admits air and it can — Sweat beaded my forehead.
also admit enough monoxide to turn that "Would you go to hell for ten thousand
glass cage into a lethal chamber within dollars?"
 ”

14 WEIRD TALES
Here, in this skyscraper tower, I was prayer, and the word used in black sum-
nearer to hell than I would be in the mons.
bowels of the earth. The drone blended with the blackness.
Here stood the magic circle, the witch, The blackness mingled oddly with the
the wizard. Here was the source, the green, the violet, the blue fires.
linkage betweenMan and Mystery. The Pentagram became a wriggling,
Lily Ross spoke the first sentences of the phosphorescent serpent, swaying amidst
incantation. green, purple, and blue words of flame.
I thought that her mouth was a scarlet The shadows droned. 'The girl burned and
flower, emanating corruption. I thought flickered.
that her lips were heaven, but her voice was Suddenly the pulsing began.
hell. I saw a beautiful young girl, and I It shook the walls. It rose with the
heard the withered croaking of a crone. words the girl recited, blended with them,
It can’t There was noth-
be explained. then emerged stronger, triumphant. Smoke
ing wrong with her tone. It was what she spiralled up in a sudden jet from the
said. braziers, as a great wind filled the chamber.
The words were Latin, but they didn’t I shook before the icy blast that was not

seem to be words as much as sounds, and air — shook as though a dental drill buzzed
not so much sounds as vibrations. through my nerves.
Not college Latin. Not words with I looked through water at a shimmer-
meaning in themselves. Not words spoken ing, slim figure, a slithering silver line on
as sentences. Just sounds, constructed for the floor, a wiggling spiral of colored fires.
a purpose. An evil purpose. And then the light came up, the roar came
knew that. I knew it
I as strongly as I up, the voice came up to a single, sus-
knew my own existence. tained note.
Lily Ross was reciting an incantation, "Wake up!”
and for the first time I realized what an "Somebody was shaking me. It was
incantation meant. Keith. Slowly the roaring died away.
It was a call to a demon. "You’re out on your feet, man!”
It was the use of human tongue in a I looked around. Tliere was no shim-
peculiar way, to set up certain vibrations, mering. No wind. No noise. Lily Ross
certain forces that touched, or impinged — a girl, not a witch —stood silent and de-
upon, other worlds. Sound-waves, reach- jected.

ing across planes and angles of existence, Keith scowled me. "We’ve
commanding and guiding. Sound-waves "But I felt
at
something —
something
—
failed.”

shatter glasses in modern laboratories. "Pure self-hypnosis. It didn’t work.”

Sound-waves shatter buildings, if properly
pitched in volume and intensity. And
sound-waves, over and above radio fre-
quency vibrations, can pluck the harps that
sound in hell. Can knock upon the gates
of the Pit and call forth Presences.
Her voice was but an instrument.
meaningless drone was rising, almost un-
controllably.
Now I knew what truth there was in the
power of the word. The word used in
Lily Ross stepped over.
"Let me see this copy of the incantation,”
Keith demanded, wearily. He took the
paper from her hand.
"Damnation!”
Lily’s eyes widened to a deeper blue.
The "What’s the matter?”
"Matter? Here’s a perfect example of
what I was trying to explain. You’ve made
a mistake here. This isn’t the proper in-
vocation at all. This isn’t the Richalmus
 ” —

HELL ON EARTH nr

ritual. It’s that other one almost like it tousled head with the stumps of goat-
Gorgioso’s Invocation of the Devil!” horns, the fiendishly familiar visage, the
"How did that happen?” asked the
— girl. cloaked body — I saw them all, merging
"I could have sworn into a sharper focus of actuality.
do the swearing,” snapped Keith.
"I’ll The Presence gathered itself as I gazed,
"You’ve recited the Invocation of the Devil as though revelling in the actuality of its
by mistake. No wonder nothing hap- new physical existence. Like a child being
pened!” born and realizing it.
He turned to me, but didn’t say any- But this was no child. There was noth-
thing. There was no chance to speak. ing youthful in the ancient smirk of relish
For the roaring started again, and this on that ageless face. The fires in those
time there was no question of self-hypnosis burned long before the gases
slitted eyes
involved. which created Earth.
The rumbling shook the room as though It was a tableau born in a daemonic
the building was clawed by an earthquake. dream. And like a dream, it dissolved into
Lily and Professor Keith stood swaying sudden, terrible action.
beside me as the wind rose, the flame flared, The goat-body moved, black arms ex-
the thunderous crescendo swept through tended. Claws, talons, call them what you
our bodies, tore at our brains. will, emerged swiftly from the cloak. They
Gleaming with lambent fire, the Penta- reached across the Pentagram.
gram writhed at our feet. Within it a One foot moved out. Black, misshapen.
black shadow —
a black shadow, coalescing, Hooflike. Cloven!
blurring into an outline —an outline in the My own moved
feet then. Moved in
Pentagram of Satan, Black Goat of the desperate swiftness. As the Presence lum-
Sabbath! bered forward I raced for the doorway.
Out of the corner of my
saw Lily eye I My outstretched arms tugged frantically
Ross’s trembling hands move
saw the out, at the lever Keith had shown me. I

crumpled scrap of paper fall from her wrenched it down.

fingers. It was the parchment from which From the ceiling the iron chains grated.
she had read the incantation the wrong — There was a thunderous crash, and then
incantation. The one that summoned up the great glass cage dropped down squarely
the Devil. over the black body of Satan, Prince of
And now — a figure stood in the Penta- Darkness. '

gram! The creature in the cage beat black claws

against the glass and suddenly recoiled.
3. Speaks of the Devil "Good Lord!” These, the first words
spoken, were Keith’s contribution. They

W E STARED,
gave a tiny gasp,
all of us.

numb.
crackling of the braziers. Keith was
lost
Lily Ross
amidst the
sounded most appropriate.
I began to laugh. I couldn’t help it.

“What’s that for?” Lily Ross whispered.

I found myself trembling, unable to lift "I was just thinking,” I gasped weakly.
my hands and shield my eyes from a vision "I’ve—I’ve matched wits against Satan
that seared and burned with a flame from himself, the Arch-Enemy. And won!”
the Pit. Lily calmly reached out with one slim
The Presence crouched there in the hand and slapped my face. Hard.
Pentagram, its black goat-face gleaming I sobered. "Thanks,” I whispered. "I
in the glare of the fires. The shaggy, couldn’t control it.”
16 WEIRD TALES
“No hysteria,” she said. “If you’d kept “No tail at all,” I retorted. "You two
that up one minute more, I’d have started aren’t seeing straight.”

to scream myself. It’s too much — we’ve Keith stepped back.

got Satan locked up in a skyscraper!” “Wait a minute,” he protested. "Let’s

"Are you still skeptical?” Keith asked. consider this.” He cocked his head my
"Skeptics don’t sweat,” I answered, dab- way. “You claim you see a sort of black
bing my forehead. “But if I’m not skepti- goat, with human features, wearing a

cal, I’m practical. What do we do now?” cloak?”

“Turn on the lights, for one thing.”
Keith pressed the rheostat. The room T NODDED.
blazed up into prosaic outline. Fluorescence “And you, Lily?”
turned the darkness to daylight, and we "A scaly creature with a forked tail.

stood in the draped chamber ordinary — fig- More like a gray lizard.”
ures once more, in an ordinary room. “And I see a red fiend in evening dress,”
Except for that glass cage, and the hor- Keith announced. “Well, we’re all cor-

ror it held. rect.”

was bad enough in the firelight, but

It “I don’t get it.”

now the nightmare quality of our captive “Don’t you understand? No one really

was accentuated ten-fold. knows what the Devil looks like. Each
The black figure stood proudly in the of us has his own mental picture, drawn
center of the glass enclosure —stood proud from imaginative illustrations in books.
as Lucifer. Unbidden, the three of us Throughout known history, Satan has been
drew closer. pictured in several ways by his worshipers
Under the lights I saw every detail. Too and enemies. To some he appeared as the
much detail. The monster was shaggy, a Goat of the Sabbath, the primitive fiend of
goat-headed Aegypan figure with human the oriental nomads, the Father of Lies
eyes and mouth. 'The skin was jet-black, known to the Bible.
but dull. I stared intently at one gnarled “To others he is essentially the incarna-
talon — horrified at its microscopic detail tion of theTempter, the Serpent. To mod-
and the total absence of visible pores in the erns, hethe red gentleman. We three
is

skin. each visualize him in our own way, and

Lily’s blue eyes, Keith’s gray ones, fol- the focal thought of millions throughout
lowed mine. the ages materializes him in whichever
“It’s incredible,” muttered the pudgy aspect seems most natural to the beholder.
professor. “Just like the mental image I’d “We’re all looking at the same figure.
formed. “The beard, the mustache, the We all see different concepts. What he
monocle. And the red skin.” really looks like, we cannot say. He may
"Red skin?” I snapped. “It’s black!” be gas, or light, or simply a flame. But
“Scaly!” insisted Lily. our thoughts give him the material body.”
“No scales,” I said. "What are ydu “You may be right,” Lily hazarded.
talking about? And what do you mean, “Why not? I don’t want to blaspheme,
monocle? Why, he’s like a black goat.” but does anyone know what Christ really
"Are you crazy?” Keith said. “Why looked like? No —
all we have to go by

anyone can see that he’s a man in evening is the standard concept, which was invented
dress with a red face and a monocle.” by medieval painters. And yet. He is al-

"What about that forked tail?” asked ways pictured in one way, and we have
Lily. “That’s the worst.” come to think of Him in that way. We
 ” ” ” ” —

HELL ON EARTH 17

couldn’t see Him in any other form. So the skin, we’ll isolate cells under the micro-
it is with the Enemy.” scope, we’ll use X-ray, we’ll
—
"That’s all very interesting,” I inter- I turned away. It was madness. I
rupted.
for the papers?”
"But what do we do now — phone sought sanity in Lily Ross’s blue eyes. But
she was babbling too. The scientific
"Are you joking? Do you know what spirit.
would happen if the world learned that "Maybe the creature can speak. What
—
we had him captive in this room? Can’t about an intelligencetest? We’ll get our
you see the panic, the madness that would dope from the staff. Take pictures.”
be loosed on earth? "You’d think it was some new sort of
"Besides, we must experiment. Yes, guinea-pig. But I didn’t. Not when I
this is our opportunity. Povidence must saw the black body crouching there, hud-
have guided us when we made that mis- dled up away from the cross-etched glass,
”
take! but with flaming evil in its eyes. They had
"Are you sure it was Providence?” asked the Devil in a cage, and they wanted his
Lily, quietly. "This gift did not come fingerprints!
from Heaven.” "Success!” Keith trumpeted. "Success
"Don’t quibble. My girl, just realize beyond the wildest dreams of man. We’ll
what we have here in our midst! Why, conduct a scientific study of all evil —of
it’s

since
—
the greatest thing that’s happened incarnate evil.
evil. The evil
'The nature and principle of
men have known of, feared
"The capture of Gargantua, the gorilla,” throughout the ages since Creation. It’s
I finished for him. But I didn’t smile there. We all see it differently through
when I said it. "Keith, this is dangerous. our own eyes. All men do, but it exists.
I don’t like it. We’ve apparently got our Like electricity. A force.”
up under He
visitor bottled
ever gets loose
— glass, but if he stood beside the glass enclosure, ges-
turing like a circus barker.
"He won’t get loose,” Keith barked. "Behold the Great God Pan! Yes,
"Are you a coward, man? Can’t you see and behold the Serpent, the Tempter, the
that here, in this very room, we hold a Fallen Angel! Behold Satan, Lucifer,
proof of witchcraft, a proof of the exist- Beelzebub, Azriel, Asmodeus, Sammael,
ence of the supernatural, of evil?” Zamiel, Prince of Darkness and Father of
"I agree with you about evil,” I an- Lies! Gaze on the Black Goat of the Sab-
swered. "And I’m afraid. He who sups bath, gaze on fabled Ahriman, on Set,
with the devil must have a long spoon.”
"You talk like
— Typhon, Malik Tawis, Abaddon, Yama,
Primal Nodens, the archetype of evil,
"A priest,” I finished again. "And per- known to all men by all names!”
haps they are wiser than you scientists Once again I felt the urge of hysterical
think. They have been fighting this crea- laughter. This was too much. Only the
ture here for long centuries, and their wis- girl saved me.
dom should be heeded.” "Let’s get out of here,” she suggested.
"Why, you said yourself that you "At once. We’ve had a shock. Tomor-
matched wits with the Devil and beat rov/ we can down and reason this thing
sit
him,” Keith protested. "We, with the out clearly, if we’re not crazy already.
weapons of scientific research at our com- We can make plans sensibly then. Let’s
mand, are going to study our guest. Why, rest.”
we’ll give him a blood test, we’ll examine "You’re right. I’m sure that — ^he
 ” ”

18 WEIRD TALES
will be safe behind the glass. And this "Take a squint at that table near the

room is locked, sealed. No one must sus- orcliestra,” I grinned. "If Keith got in a
pect.” taxihe wasn’t going home.”
Keith moved toward the door and we and then her eyes
Lily took her squint,
followed. He snapped out the light as the went wide. "Why, he’s here and he s —
door opened, plunged the room into Styg- with a woman!”
ian night. "That’s putting it mildly,” I told her.

We went out. I looked back once. "He’s got a woman and a half there. It s
There was nothing but blackness, and two Eve Vernon, the singer in On the Beam.
red coals burning. Eyes. Eyes in the Never thought he was such a man-about-
darkness. The eyes of Satan. The eyes town.”
that saw Faust. "He isn’t!” Lily gasped. "Why, he
never goes anywhere at all. I’ve never
Hell Breaks Loose woman. And
‘ 4. heard of him
that’s
escorting a
champagne on his table, too. Why
—
«QO THAT’S my story,” I concluded. "Live and learn,” I said. "He s just
"Now, what’s yours?” relaxing, that’s all. Shall we join him?

Lily Ross raised her glass, tinkling the "Certainly not. It might embarrass him.
rhythm to the music from the orches- Besides, there’s something strange about
ice in
tra. this
—
"Just a little astro-physics and bio-chem- I shrugged, but subsequent events bore
istry,” she smiled. "A job at Rocklynn as me out. Keith was relaxing to a point
Keith’s assistant.” where it was necessary to bear him out.
"Don’t kid me. You’re a blonde in a He danced. He drank two quarts of cham-
green evening dress, the prettiest come-on pagne, solo. He laughed. He reddened.
girl in this supper club. And you’re going He tried to dance with the girls in the

to dance with me, because you never heard floor show. When Lily and I slipped out
of chemistry or physics, but you can La he was singing drunkenly at the top of his
Conga all night.” lungs, to the delight of the surrounding
She could, too. One whirl aroimd the tables.
floor convinced me. Clinched me, in fact. "Disgusting,” Lily commented.
That noise like a ton of bricks was me "Forget it,” I advised.

falling. But I didn’t care. I had the I forgot it in her good-night kiss. I

Devil by the tail and Lily Ross in my arms, forgot everything. All I knew was that
and I was sitting on top of the world to- tomorrow, at ten o’clock, she would be
night. waiting down at Rocklynn.
But when we got back to our table, Lily She was. I entered the outer lobby and
sobered for a moment. took her arm.
"I say,” she said. "I’m worried about "Where’s the Professor?” I asked,
Professor Keitli. 'That excitement today, "He didn’t show up.”
our experiment, unnerved him. Hope he’s "He must have a hangover, then! Did
going to be all right tomorrow. He went you call him?”
home in a taxi and went to bed.” "Certainly. His housekeeper says he
"Calm yourself, Lily,” I said. "If he hasn’t been in all night.”
isn’t all tomorrow, he’ll merely be
right "Strange. What shall we do?”
suffering from a hangover.” "Let’s go into the laboratory and wait.
"What do you mean?” We must inspect our —specimen.”
 ” ”

HELL ON EARTH 19

Lily led the way down the hall, to the "He isn’t the only one who isn’t well,”

barred doorway. She fumbled with a key. I said softly. "Look into the glass.”

"Why — it’s open!” Lily turned and we surveyed the cage

We entered. together.

'The room was dark, and only a single Satan squatted, half-slumping, on the
brazier burned. A single brazier, and the floor. 'The red eyes flickered, but they
red eyes in the glass cage. were suddenly fainter in their fire.
A figure huddled before the cage. "Sick?” Lily murmured.
"Keith!” —
"No air or no food. Wliat does His
Ishook him. He struggled to his feet. Majesty eat?” I began. But something
—
"Oh I must have dozed off. Been about the aspect of the creature cut me
Watching to see short.
here almost all night.

what he would do
— "I wish Keith were here,” said Lily.

Keith’s face was haggard, his clothing "We ought to do something.”

rumpled. He spoke thickly, as though We peered into the glass.
half-asleep. Suddenly Satan opened his eyes. He
"Better get home and get some rest,” sat up and stared back. All at once he
Lily suggested. "We’ll stay here. If you rose to his feet, stepped forward. His
feel up to it this afternoon, we can make upraised claws almost touched the glass,
our plans then.” but not quite. 'Tlie gesture was one of
appeal. And in those eyes I read not
UDDENLY the Professor drew himself hate, but — recognition!
S up. He seemed to visibly shake off his Lips curled, disclosing yellowed fangs.
fatigue. They moved silently behind the glass.

"Nonsense! I’m all right. Feel splen- "He’s trjing to talk to us!” Lily gasped.
did, perfectly splendid.But no time for a "I’m sure of it!”
conference, my dear. I’ve got to find Con- "Watch!”
sidine. Need more money from him, at 'The black fiend was gesturing wildly. Its
once. eyes rested first on Lily’s face and then my

"Got a great idea, a great idea. Tell own.

you all about it. Must find Considine, "If w’e could only find out
—
though. You stay here, keep your eyes "No use.”
open. See you tonight at the 'Test Tube Evidently was true. His Unholiness
it

Ball. I’ll arrange to meet Considine there, suddenly slumped to rest once again on
and some of his friends.” the floor, head buried in the long black
He was gone. Lily’s mouth was a red arms.
oval of astonishment. We stared at one another for a long
"Test Tube Ball?” I repeated. moment.
"Yes. Society masquerade. Patrons of Once more there was activity within the
Rocklynn Institute hold it every year. Col- cage. 'The creature had bent down on its
lect funds there, you know. But what does knees over the floor. One claw held a
Keith want at such a gathering? He never tiny sliver. With a start, I recognized it.

dances or goes in for social affairs.” It —

was chalk the phosphorescent stuff
"You forget last night.” used to draw the Pentagram with. And
"That’s just the point — I can’t for- the Devil was writing!
get last night. That Professor isn’t well, From time to time eyes rested on out
I’m sure of it. Something has happened.” faces in a strange appeal. The bony fingers
 — —

20 WEIRD TALES
continued to move: slowly, painfully. His Hellishness should walk suddenly into
Letters traced upon the floor. Words. this very ballroom?
Sentences. And then it was done. I imagined the screaming, the dismay,
"Turn out the flame of the brazier,” the horror. They’d dance to a different
Lily whispered. "Then we can read it.” tune if that happened!
I clicked it off, plunged the room into But — it did.
utter darkness. I advanced through that Lily and I stood by the door waiting.
darkness to her side, stared into the dim We’d been there for ten minutes, ever
glow on the floor. A glow that bright- since our arrival, eyes scanning the dancers
ened. for a glimpse of Keith. He was on his
Letters. Letters of fire. Silver fire on way, the housekeeper had said, when our
the floor. I read the words. frantic call had come through. He should
be here now, any minute. So we stood
"Quickly! Stop him before it’s too late.
there, and Satan walked in.
He got into me this morning and I know
It was Keith, of course, in a Mephis-
what he means to do.”
toclcs disguise. Red suit, false beard and
'That’s when I gasped. mustache. But he’d added a grisly touch.
I gasped again at the sight of the two Red chalk on face and hands. His con-
words beneath the message. They were a cept of Satan.
signature.
'^Phillips Keith,” I read. Letters of sil- HAD never realized he was so tall.

ver fire in my brain. I Tall and slender. He looked the part,

Lily was shaking at my side. I pulled looked it too well.
‘

her to her feet. We weren’t the only ones to notice it.

"Come on,” I said. The had just finished a number,

orchestra
"Where?” and the crowded hall was a perfect setting
"After the Professor, of course. We’re for his entrance. He came down three
going to the Test Tube Ball.” stairs, and all at once the conversation

seemed to die away. Women stopped talk-

5. The Devil Dances ing in mid-screech, and the fat paws of
business men tightened about their cigars in

The Lone Ranger never had a mission

like mine. Nor a costume like mine,
astonishment as Phillips Keith walked into
the room.
either. Lily’s hunting outfit was more ap- My mind shuttled back in memory to a
propriate. We were out to get our man similar scene. Red Death! That was it
if man he was. Lon Chaney as Red Death in The Phantom
'Therewas no dancing in mind for us to- of the Opera! It terrified me as a child, and
night if what we suspected were
Not now my spine tingled anew. Phillips
true. might have been cunning on the
It Keith as Satan, Master of Evil.
thin g’s part —
^the cunning of a fiend. But "What a disguise!”
anything was possible in a world gone "Perfect!”
mad. We had the Devil in a cage. Who "Even the club foot!”
in this room would believe that? Yet it I could have choked the thin matron

was true. And these dancing, babbling who said that. She would have to call that
digits of the Four Hundred hadn’t the to my attention. 'Ihe tingling in my spine
faintest suspicion. became a pulsation of dread.
I smiled grimly at the thought. Suppose For Phillips Keith limped.
 ” — —

HELL ON EARTH 21

"Dropped something on his

— foot,” Lily the red cloak of Satan — this wasn’t New
whispered. "He must have York, but ancient Prague.
Club foot. Or cloven hoof? 'Then, climbing the dark tower of the
The red figure of Mephistocles stalked skyscraper, up toward the hidden chamber
through the parted lane. Proudly he — this wasn’t the twentieth century, but a
walked, despite the limp. Proud as Lu- scene set in medieval nightmare.
cifer. As we paused before the door marked
I saw him beckon to a stout man in Private, we heard a voice. It too was fil-
pirate costume. tered through a black dream. Keith’s voice
"Considine,” said Lily, dully. "That’s — partly.
'Thomas Considine.” I don’t like to admit that
it was only

Keith said a few words. Considine ap- what else can one
partly Keith’s voice, but
peared to be laughing, commenting on the say? It was
coming from his throat,
a voice
disguise. He walked at the Professor’s using his larynx, but there was a deep,
side, then beckoned to a companion. 'The burring overtone that was altogether un-
party moved toward a side door. natural in any human throat.
At that moment the orchestra struck up. It mi^t have been imagination. As we
Dancing started once more, conversation stood before that door, I hoped it was
rose suddenly, and the red-clad Mephisto imagination.
and his two companions disappeared from Maybe Keith had a cold. That’s why
the floor. he sounded that way. But cold or no cold,
I grabbed Lily’s wrist and jostled Icouldn’t help hearing what he said. That
through the crowd. was by far the worst of all.
"Hurry,” I commanded. "Something’s Whispering huskily from that black
room
"So now you
see what I have accom-
E REACHED the door just as the plished, gentlemen. You, Considine, and
red cloak whisked into the elevator. you, Mr. Wintergreen, can no longer doubt
The door closed, the car moved down. the evidence of your own senses.”
"Stairs!” "But it’s monstrous!” Considine boomed.
Three flights down in nothing, flat. "The Devil in a cage!”
'The red cloak flicked tantalizingly out of "Monstrous, you say? Glorious! Don’t
the lobby. you see the possibilities here?”
We reached the street just as the black "I suppose it’s all very interesting scien-
car rolled away. tifically, but what do you intend to do

Heaven sent a taxi around the corner. exhibit this creature to the public or some-
I pushed Lily inside, to nurse her black thing of the sort?”
and blue wrist. Keith laughed. Or rather, that voice
—
"Follow that car ” I began. 'Then, laughed.
"To blazes with that! Just take us to Rock- "Considine, you talk like a fool. Can’t
lynn Foundation. I know where they’re you realize we have something here that
going.” can become the most powerful force on
Lily knew, too. We didn’t say any- earth?”
thing, just stared at each other, and Fm "Powerful?” interrupted the nasal tones
afraid my eyes were as frightened as hers. of Wintergreen.
Hurtling down the black, gaping mouths "Yes, all-powerful. Consider, gentle-
of midnight streets, riding the wind behind men, for a moment, what our captive can
22 WEIRD TALES
mean to us. Have you ever heard of the now that you be given the opportunity to
Black Mass, of the worship of Satan? profit thereby.”
"For centuries men have gathered to pay The droning voice held cunning. Devil-
homage to the Devil. Believing that the ish cunning. Lily grasped my wrist, but
Kingdom of Heaven is ruled by God, they I shrugged her into silence again as we
claim that earth is ruled by Satan, and crouched, listening.
choose to worship him. If he grants them "We have here the opportunity for
happiness here on earth, they are willing to power. For undreamt of wealth. We, and
forsake celestial joys.” we alone, are the masters of Satan. Let me
"What utter rot!” tell you my plan.
"I shallbecome the High Priest of the

The voice droned on, contemptuous of

the interruption. "They meet in hid-
Satanists. You, Considine, and you, Win-
tergreen, shall go out among your friends
den places — the cellars of ancient houses and proselyte. Bring the rich old women,
or ruined churches —on Walpurgis Eve and the eccentric old rrien into the fold. Bring
other unhallowed nights. Candles, fash- them to the Black Mass, spread the word
ioned from the corpse-fat of unbaptiaed in- that a new day is at hand for those who
fants, light their devotions to the Prince of would pay the price to the Powers of Dark-
Darkness. An unfrocked priest presides ness. Tell them that there are ways to ob-

over the altar; the altar which is tihe naked, tain eternal youth, ways to obtain more
living flesh of a woman. All boast of their wealth, ways to wreak revenge.
sins, and confess penitently their good "Can’t you see? We’ll build an empire
deeds. out of what was once only an old wive’s
"Then, as the Lord’s Prayer is recited tale! We can control nations, master the
”
in reverse, a parody of the Mass is held. earth!

'The Mass of St. Secaire, the unholy ritual "Have you gone crazy, Keith?” Consi-
of Gilles de Retz and the Marquis de dine’s deep voice trembled. "Are you ut-
Sade. A sacrifice is given to Satan, and terly First you show up in a Mephisto
mad?
celebrants drink of a red wine which is costume, then you bring us to look at this
truly human blood. All do homage to the freak, this animal hybrid of yours, and
Father of Evil, who grants them then their now you babble insanities.”
dark desires.” "Yes,” Wintergreen amended, weakly.
"Don’t talk like that,” Wintergreen "I’m getting out of here.”
begged, in nervous protest. "We’re not "No you don’t. You know the secret,
children, to be frightened by bogey-men.” and it’s too much. Neither of you leaves
"Neither are the thousands of secret this rcxjm until you’ve agreed.”
Satanists who carry on these rites. They I don’t know what I intended to do. I

believe. Many of them are the victims of only realized that there would never be a
charlatans, frauds who prey on the neurotic better cue for my entrance.
rich. I flung the door open and marched in,
"And I’m not offering you a bogey-man. Lily Ross at my side.
I’m offering you the actual physical entity Considine and Wintergreen stared with
of the Fallen Angel, the Master of the open mouths. In the glass cage beyond,
Great Black Lodge. the black figure gestured frantically in the
'"rhat’s why I brought you here and red glow of the braziers.
showed you our captive. Your money en- I ignored them all. I had eyes only for
abled me to summon him. It is only fitting Keith — for the man in the red cloak, the
 HELL ON EARTH 13

man with the red face and the spade beard. free, I spattered more of the fluid on the
As he turned to face me, I read his eyes, head and shoulders. Rocking on its feet

read the blazing message there. His hands a mcanent, the creature staggered, fell to
swooped up, claw-like, as I charged. - its knees. A hideous stench arose. Smoke
Sheer instinct drove me on; the same seemed pour from the redskin.
to
instinct that guides a man to crush a wrig- As fell, I was upon it.
the thing I tore

gling serpent, even though he knows it is the hands from the ravaged face, for there
about to strike. was no strength in those red talons now.
Lily screamed as my hands closed about I jammed the flask up against the pain-con-

Keith’s scarlet throat, rose to rake his face. torted mouth, tilted it. The liquid gushed
I almost screamed as I felt that face. forth, gurgled down the crimson maw.
I was tearing at his disguise, at his false In a moment it was over. I rose and
beard. Tearing and tearing — and it faced the three at my side. Lily sobbed.
wouldn’t come off. 'T — I thought it would kill you,” she
For Professor Phillips Keith was not gasped. "Until you threw the acid in its

disguised at all. He was Satan in red face.”

flesh! "Acid?” I echoed. "Acid, h&W—that
The dragging club-foot, the cloven hoof was holy water!’’
moved up, butting my thighs. The claws
razored my chest. The deep growling 6 Getting Behind Satan
',

from the creature’s throat welled horribly.

Ipunched out at the fiendish visage, and my the holy water did the trick.” It

hands hammered against iron. -L was Professor Phillips Keith who

Considine and Wintergreen, Lily and the spoke —spoke weakly, through ashen lips
creature in the cage whirled crazily by. —but spoke, and in a voice unmistakably
Red arms encircled me, and began to his own. Considine and Wintergreen knelt
crush. at his side,propping up his gray head.
To crush and break. Pudgy little arms It had taken ten minutes to bring him
bent me
back until I felt my spine bend- around. At first we had thought the red
ing like a white-hot wire of pain. Pudgy thing dead —
and it was Lily who noticed
little arms —but they held strength. The the change, and pointed it out with a mur-
strength of a demon. mur of astonishment.
Demon arms crushing. Demon breath The redness of the skin faded out,
searing my face. Demon face glaring into slowly. The contours of the bodv altered
my own. My senses ebbed, and a chuck- subtly, almost before our eyes. It was like
ling rose from the grinning thing that the Jekyll-Hyde transformation accom-
crushed me like a rag-doll, crushed me plished by a movie camera, but the reality
down into darkness and a swirling mist of was ghastly.
pain. When we saw Professor Phillips Keith
I tore my left hand free, somehow; got lying on the floor in an incongruous red
it up to my pocket. I wrenched the flask cloak, when we saw his eyelids flutter
out, ripped the cork with frantic fingers. weakly, some measure of composure re-
'The creature grabbed for my arm, twisted turned. By "What
the time the familiar,
it, but the flask was open. I jerked it up. happened?” came faintly from his lips, we
A white stream spurted against the red were prepared to answer. I told him the
face. With a howl of agony, the thing’s story.
arms flew up to shield its head. Breaking "Yes, it was the holy water, all right,”
 ” ”

24 WEIRD TALES
he repeated. "Pure inspiration on your worlds of evil. Two distant worlds that
part to think of it.” came closer, merged and blended with our
"Pure desperation,” I corrected. own world, blended with my own brain.
"I must have been pretty bad.” You and Lily found me asleep beside the
"You —
were evil,” Lily interjected cage this morning. The change had oc-
slowly. "Utterly evil.” curred.
"But what does it all mean?” Considine "I don’tremember much of today. It
asked. must have worked very fast. I have only
"It means that I was possessed of the two distinct memories — one, of looking
devil.” and see-
"Do you really believe — into a mirror late this afternoon
ing my assume a reddish tint, as
skin
"You saw me,” Keith continued. "It though I had been deeply sunburned. 'The
was a clear case of what the ancients called other memory is vaguer still. It concerns
demoniac possession. From Bible times writing something with a piece of chalk in
down, literature and history is filled with a dream.”
recorded instances of men and women who I told Keith about our experience with

were ’possessed.’ Such a condition over- the strangely cowed creature in the cage.
took me. "Part of me must have entered into it
"I don’t know how it started. When we when it tookmy body,” he said gravely.
evoked that thing in the cage, I suppose. His face clouded again in recollection.
The rfiock of our success weakened my "My body! By nightfall it wasn’t my body
mental resistance. The barriers went down any more, "rhe leg dragged. I seemed to
in a wave of enthusiasm. You remember know what was happening, but I didn’t
my harangue before the glass, don’t you?” care. I had this ecstasy, this force, driving
Keith turned to me. me. I went to the ball, and you know the
I nodded. rest.”

"That night I came back. I wanted an- 'There was silence. Somehow Consi-
other look at our captive. I got it
—guess dine’s
mawkish and
muttered "Incredible!” sounded
I got too much. The creature hypnotized inappropriate.
me. I didn’t know. I looked at it and I "Professor, you should get some rest,”
became elated. I felt exhilarated, half- said Lily. '"The shock — I think it would be

What you spent a few days

intoxicated.
scribe, and what the old
religious maniacs de-
priests of Pan
best if
until
— in the hospital

used to c3.\\—ecstaij. A white hand waved.

"'Tliatwas it. You and Lily saw the "I can’t, my dear. I can’t. Don’t you
effect it had on me. I went out that night, see? We have him to deal with.”
can’t even remember how. Another will The hand leveled toward the glass cage.
than my own seemed to command me, Our eyes followed.
drive me. Working through my senses,
the creature broke
knows the flesh.
down my volition. Satan
The slumping figure behind the glass
was gone. In its place once more was
"After that night I came back. I came Satan, Lord of the Sabbath. Black, erect,
back at dawn, under a compulsion born of and menacing, with the yellow, rotted
intoxication and the inner urge upon me. fangs sneering in malignant fury. 'There
I came back to stare at the creature in the was no mistaking the hate, the thwarted
cage, stare at the red eyes in the darkness desire in those burning eyes. Considine and
which glistened like two distant whirling Wintergreen saw it for the first time. 'They
 ”

HELL ON EARTH 25

breathed through their mouths hoarsely. itcame from, use any method you want,
Yes, Satan was back. Satan waited again, and charge the bill to me.”
waited to spring. "You’ll keep silence?” I reiterated.
"We thought we had him trapped, but "We will.” Considine walked heavily
you see —we Keith whispered.
haven’t,” toward the door. Suddenly the big man
"He has found the way to get out. He can turned. His beefy face worked with un-
take possession of the human body and wonted emotion. "And may God help
walk the earth as a man. For a day or so, you in the task,” he said softly.
anyway. Then the human body changes The two went out. I faced Lily.
and the man becomes outwardly, as well as "There’s a job to do,” I said grimly.
inwardly, the image of Evil. We must get "Are you game?”
rid of him once and for all. We must!” "You know I am.”
"Take it easy,” I said. "We under- "After what happened to Keith, I’m al-
stand.” most afraid to let you help,” I murmured.
"But you don’t understand, you can’t. "You’ll have to. I’m the only one who
Not until you’ve been through what I’ve knows the formulae.”
been through. God!” Keith shuddered. "We’ll be playing with fire,” I persisted.
"I’ll never rest until we’ve found a way to "Hell fire,” added the girl. "But we
send him back to Hell.” won’t be burned.”
"You’ll rest. Lily and I will get to
work, I promise you.” The girl nodded 7. Devil May Care
agreement.
"Send him back,” Keith whispered. << A NY luck?” I asked dully.
"You can’t kill him, there is no way. Send "No,” sighed the girl. She rose
him back before
— from the desk, one slim hand brushing
The gray head slumped. back the golden cascade of her hair. "I’m
"He’s passed out,” Wintergreen said. afraid it’s no use. There are no formulae
"Good! Phone for an ambulance. here to get rid of him.”
We’ll carry him out to the lobby. Say it’s "But there has to be one,” I insisted.
collapse from overwork or something. Our "There must be a way to send him back.”
word is good. He needs hospital atten- "Not by incantation.” Her hopeless
tion.” glance met mine, melted. For a moment
We carried Keith out, carried the plan —
we stood together then turned, by com-
out. mon impulse, to the glass cage in the center
Lily and I faced the two industrialists. of the room.
"Not a word of this now, to anyone,” I Black, brooding, baleful, the Goat of the
cautioned. "We alone share the secret, and Sabbath crouched on the floor. 'The leer-
we alone must solve it. Keith was right. ing, beady eyes rested scornfully on our
We must find a way to send this creature own. Yellowed fangs menaced in a de-
back.” risive grin.
"I still can’t believe it,” Wintergreen Lily shivered. "Can he hear us?” she
said. Considine scowled in perplexity. asked.
"Neither do I, but I can feel it, all "It doesn’t matter. He knows. He’s
tight. I don’t pretend to understand all waiting, too.”
you’ve told me, but I know that you’re "That’s what I’m afraid of. Darling,
right. It’s a mistake to pry into these we can’t go on like this forever. It’s been
things. Send that thing back to wherever two days already. We can’t j^eep on hid-
 —

26 WEIRD TALES
ing it always —and if anyone should sus- wait a minute. ’The smoke is clearing.”
pect—” "Clearing? There’s nowhere for it to
"There must be a way out!” I scowled, go!”
my eyes restlessly searching the room. "But it is!”

"Wait a minute. I’ve got it!” And it was. Even as we watched, the
"What?” white vapor thinned into spirals, shreds,
"Didn’t Professor Keith say something cumulae.
about tubing in the glass cage? Some- Behind it crouched the black, goatish
thing about lethal gas?” body.
"You’re right!” Lily’s smile became ani- Crouched, not slumped.
mated. "That tank over there under the Satan was alive! And yet the gases
table — it’s got the tubing attached. We cleared — because he was inhaling them!
just plug into the panel at the side, and "Good Lord, he’s absorbing the stuff
the gas is released. Hand-pump. Come into his system! He breathes poison!” I

on, I’ll show you.” murmured.

We did the job. It wasn’t easy to brave Malignant, triumphant, the black goat
the ghoulish stare of the creature in the pranced. Its eyes shone with evil merri-
cage as my hands fumbled with the nozzle ment, with a sort of added animation.
of the hose and screwed it into place. "He thrives on the stuff,” Lily sighed.
It was easier to feel the reassuring firm- "Now what?”
ness of the efficient hand-pump handle, "Water,” I said.
once things were in readiness. The details don’t matter. We used the
"I hope it works,” Lily whispered. same tubing, and a new pump. Filled the
"It must work. We have to kill this glass enclosure to the brim. Enough water
thing somehow,” I answered. "Here goes.” to drown anything inside.
I pumped. Fle absorbed it, of course.
There was a hissing, the inflated tube I was afraid to try an arc-welder.
writhed like a serpent. I watched the "You can’t kill tlie Devil with fire,” Lily
nozzle in the panel. told me.
A cloudy vapor poured into the glass 'That was that. Bombs were out — any-
enclosure. thing was out which entailed the risk of
I pumped harder, as the black figure van- releasing His Satanic Majesty.
ished suddenly in a whirl of poisonous We were back to where we started.
fog. "Give me another day,” Lily said. "I’ll
"It’s working!” exclaimed the girl. find an incantation. There must be some-
"Keep it up —nothing can survive this thing here. Some variant on a spell for
stuff.” casting out demons, perhaps. Just put a
Billows of whitish smoke writhed in twist on it. We must get one.”
miniature Inferno behind the glass. In- "I must get some sleep,” I added. And
ferno for a demon. meant it. Devil-killing is hard work.
The pump sighed emptily. "Go home,” commanded the girl.
Together we advanced toward the "And leave you here alone with that?
clouded glass pane. Not on your life! Remember what hap-
"See anything?” I asked. pened to Keith.”
"No. Not yet.” Lily pressed her "Well, go into the private office down
forehead against the glass of the cage, the hall and take a nap. There’s a couch
wrinkled it^in straining sautiny. "No there. I’ll keep on working.”
 ”

HELL ON EARTH 27

"I don’t know,” I said, slowly. "You . look as though you had some
"I’ll be all right. I won’t even look at luck. Find anything?” I asked.
our friend here. Besides, you know what "Well —yes and no. There’s a chant
Keith said. He was almost out on his in the Prinn Saracenic Rituals relating to
feet, his mental barriers were down. I’m djin and
efreet that could be used, I think.
no pushover. Go ahead now, run along But the German translation is bad. I’m
and get your rest. I’ll promise to get out going to check it against the Latin.”
of here in an hour or so.” "Now?”
"Promise me that?” "No, silly. Tomorrow. Now I’m going
"Of course, darling." to relax. And you’re going to relax with
"And you won’t look at him?” me. Let’s go out and take in the town to-
"Not when I can look at you.” She night; forget about this crazy business.”
stood very close. I put my arms around "But what about
all
—
her, held her. Over my shoulder the fiend "Quit scowling, dear. It’s all right. We
grinned. But her smile warmed. need a vacation. The strain is too much,
"All right. But I’m coming back within sometimes, when you think about what
an hour. And if I catch you flirting with we’re doing, what’s in that room.”
Old Nick here, you’ll be sorry.” "Don’t you think you’d be better off if
Abruptly I sobered. "You really think you went home and rested, Lily?”
there’s a chance of finding a way?” "No.” Her eyes met mine. "It’s dark,
"I do. We must. Now, off with you.” and I don’t like the dark. It makes me
I room. Lily Ross sat down,
left the think too much. It makes me dream about

ran her hands through her golden hair, and — him. Don’t you see? I want light, peo-
opened the black book on the desk. In the ple, something to make me forget.”
dancing light of the braziers she looked as She was shaking underneath her smile.
she had when I first saw her — like a white Hysteria, nearly.
witch. "All right. Did you —lock up?”
She was a white witch in my dreams. "Certainly. Stop fretting. The room
is barred.”
8. Hell Hath No Fury — I rose to my feet.

"We’d better stop in at the hospital and

HE was only a girl when she awakened see how Professor Keith is resting,” I sug-
S me. gested.
I grinned sheepishly through a shroud "Please —not now. I’m all on edge.
of sleep. "Sorry. Guess I broke my prom- I just want to forget everything connected
ise and overslept. Didn’t know I was so with this, for tonight. Let’s not think
tired.” about anything except us.”
"You were tired, darling. Know how The suggestion was pleasant. Alluring.
long you’ve been sleeping?” Alluring, as Lily was. She did sparkle.
"No.” Her golden of her lips,
hair, the scarlet
"'Three hours.” the turquoise of her eyes —
all seemed ac-

"Really?” centuated by inner fire. She slipped one

"Uh huh. Feel better now?” arm in mine, possessively. I felt a tingling
"Certainly. I’m ready for anything. as her bare flesh met my wrist. We swept
What about you?” into the outer lobby of Rocklynn. I al-
"Still bright.” She looked it, too. Her most laughed.
eyes sparkled with gaiety. Here was a crowd of bustling, officious
28 WEIRD TALES
clerks and directors. White-coatcd chem- But the term in sorcery. Glamour. Sym-
ists stepped briskly in and out of the long pathetic magic. The ability to conform
series of offices along the further corridors. with surroundings. The attribute of a
Well-dressed visitors and patrons —whogig- sorceress.
gling stenographers —bearded doctors Circe had that power.
might have advertised laxatives in the pop- But Lily Ross?
ular magazines —
a typical Kildare atmos- Here she was, laughing away, affection-
phere about the place. ate and alluring. And I was picturing
They what was going on
didn’t suspect her as an enchantress. Ridiculous.
in the private chamber down the hall. They Well, it was best forgot. I did forget
didn’t suspect that the golden girl on my as we entered the supper club. But when
arm was a white witch. we sat down under the red drapes I saw
Again that white witch thought had her titian locks flame forth in evil glory,
crossed my mind. White witch. Why did saw her tawny skin glow, saw the crimson
I think of Lily that way? Was it because depths of her eyes.
here in the afternoon sunlight she positively Red witch, now!
glittered? Her
was so golden, her
hair I had a drink. Several drinks. In be-
skin had such a milky texture. Ah, she tween I blinked. She talked, but I hardly
—
was a pretty girl ^nothing more. listened.
"Supper?” I said. She nodded. "Let’s dance.”
We glided down to the lobby, stepped I held the red witch in my arms, held a
into a cab. She snuggled close. I liked it. living flame close. Held her closer than I
But when I looked at her again, the had ever held her, and felt her respond.
semi-darkness of the cab’s interior had Her response was flame. Fire kindling,
wrought another change. feeding.
She wasn’t a white witch any more. Her That fire engulfed me. I was tired of
hair seemed darker. The golden tint was thinking, tired of toying with the incredi-
gone. Tlie locks were almost brunette; ble. wine helped, and her beauty
'Hie
brown with darker tones. The scarlet of was a greater intoxication. I went down
her lips had turned to rose. A trick of into the warmth —
the warmth of her glow-
late afternoon light. ing hair, the warmth of her eyes, the red
"What are you staring at?” she gig- glow of her mouth.
gled. Why deny it? When she suggested her
I got personal for a while. A good apartment I didn’t hesitate. This wasn’t
while, as we were tied up in traffic. By the Lily Ross knew, but the realization
I

the time we neared the chosen destination no longer bothered me.

it was almost twilight. She clung to me in the cab, on the stairs.
"We’ve been working too hard, darling,”
T WAS twilight in the taxi. she whispered, over and over again, as
And
Lily’s hair was gray. Not gray, though it were a formula. Her words no
exactly, and not platinum. There was a longer mattered. I was consumed by the
bluish tint. Her lips were purple. flame of her nearness. The red, swift flame,
Her lips were purple or I was crazy. — coursing through my blood and being.
Seeing things. A girl who changed in She opened the door. I stepped in. We
light and shadow. What was that? White embraced in the darkness for a long mo-
witch —black witch —blue witch. What ment.
did they call it? Adaptation. Chamelon. Then, "I’ve waited for this,” she mur-
 — ” — — ” ” —

HELL ON EARTH 29

mured. "You and I, together. We’re I knew, and as I shuddered, she knew.
going to do wonderful things, aren’t we?” Her arms pressed closer, her body moulded
"You mean down at Rocklynn?” I asked to mine, her warmth sought to drown my
lazily. dread, and I felt her mouth seek mine,
"Oh that!” she laughed. "Of course seek mine with a promise of ecstasy.
not, silly! That’s child’s play. Don’t you I pushed her back. She sensed it, but
think so? It has no real meaning at all.” suddenly embraced me. Again her mouth
"Well—” neared. I felt it graze my lips and then
"You and I were meant for greater des- Lily Ross bent in the darkness, and with the
tinies.” Her voice, vibrant in velvet dark- fury of a tigress, locked her teeth in my
ness, had a new quality of its own. A dark throat!
quality. Peculiarly, I wondered what she
looked like here. What color was her 9. Devil’s Bargain
hair? And those lips, that now burned
mine? A S THE tiny, pointed fangs met, I shook
Lips that burned away my questions and her free.
left only a desire. A feline growl rose in her throat. Her
"Greater destinies,” she whispered. panting breath rasped as her hands raked
"You’ve the brains. I have the beauty. my face.
"You know, I’ve never felt this way be- "You fool!”
fore. Today I saw the futility of it Again her mouth sought my neck. I

cooped up in a stuffy little laboratory when lifted one arm and let go. I had to do it.

we might be playing for bigger stakes.” Just a short uppercut to the chin and
Did you ever have a woman make love she slumped to the floor. I stepped over,
to you with lips and arms while she talked switched on the lights, and carried her
like a bank director? It’s an unnerving ex- limp body to the sofa.
perience. She lay there, eyes closed, a golden witch
"Yes, we’ll go a long way together. under lamplight. From her bruised mouth
Keith’s out of it, of course. We have the ran a tiny crimson trickle.
power now. The power to learn. 'The The sleeping sorceress
power to command. With those spells I got cold water, a towel, brandy.
It took
and incantations there are no heights we three minutes before her eyes fluttered
cannot achieve.
"I could be a queen
— open. By that time I’d been in her bed-
room and found what I was seeking. So
Well, it was enough. Lips or no lips, when her eyes did open, they focussed
I knew. The shudder that ran through me directly on the bronze crucifix held before
could not. be repressed. 'The voice was them.
Lily’s but the thoughts were Keith’s. Not A look of pain seared her face. She
Keith’s —but Keith’s when he was pos- writhed.
—
sessed of the Devil. "No — away please
take it
—
I knew what I held in my arms now. I held her twisting body taut.

The girl that had worked alone in the "Look!” I commanded.

black chamber, under the glowing eyes of — —
"No fool let me go I can’t — —
the monster in the cage. The girl that The crucifix pressed closer. I placed the
changed in light and darkness. The girl cool metal against her forehead.
who desired power, who lured like the She screamed.
priestess of a Mystery. I drew it off and stared at the livid welt
 ”

30 WEIRD TALES
—the imprint of the cross burned into her rage. The expressions seen on the faces of
white flesh. the schizophrenic, the demented. The faces
beaded my brow, but I
Perspiration of madness —and
what was madness in
didn’t desist. I knew what had to be done. olden days but demoniac possession?
Exorcism. The casting out of demons. They came now, grinning their defiance.
First Keith, and now Lily. She had to And the voice and the cross fought them,
be freed. fought them down, fought them from her
Her meanings ceased. I waved the cru- being.
cifix before her and whispered. At the end she slept, and I slumped be-
"Lily, darling. Look at the cross. Look side her. The crucifix rested against her
at it. I know it you must look.
hurts, but bare arm, but no longer burned. I had
it

You must. Just gaze from under your
eyelids. I won’t burn you with it. Just
look. Look and sleep. Try to sleep, Lily.
You’re tired, so very tired. So tired. Sleep.
And look at the cross. Sleep.”
Scienceand witchcraft, eh? Well, let’s
see what a modern hypnotism will do.
little
Psychic trauma or possession by a fiend,
call it what you will. I waved the crucifix
and commanded her to sleep. The light
glittered on the weaving outline. Her eyes
followed it, her ears heard my murmurs.
Lily slept.
won. She had won. I knew that Satan
had returned to his body in the glass cage.
In the morning’s awakening we made
our decision. I told her what she didn’t
—
know and she told me what I had
guessed; about the “dizzy spells” she had
experienced while working alone in the
chamber.
“I’m going back there,” I insisted. “You
need rest. I’ll carry on alone, and I’m
forewarned as w'ell as forearmed by what
you and Keith have gone through. I won’t
succumb, I promise you not until I’ve —
found a way to get rid of His Satanic Ma-

My
I
shirt was wet
was trembling.
clear through.
But she
kept whispering. “Lily, come back! Lily
slept. And
I jesty once and for all.”
“Be
I
careful, darling
smiled grimly.
—
“You’re telling me?
fight it. Come back. Lily, come back.” But it has to be done. 'That menace must
The tremors came then. Convulsions. I be removed, quickly. If you or Keith had
saw her writhe in agony and still I didn’t been allowed to continue it might spread
stop. Didn’t dare stop. like a plague. There’s no choice in the
She moaned, and it wasn’t her voice. matter. Either we get rid of Satan or he
Her hands darted like talons to her tem- gets rid of us. That’s the bargain.”
ples, as though to tear away the scar. Her “You’ll call me regularly?”
face was the worst —
changing from pallor “Of course. And in a day or two both
todeep flush. you and Keith can come down again to
But my voice was winning. I felt that. help. But now —
I’m going back to hell.”
Her whimpers grew weaker. She slept un- Lily smiled. “May God be with you,”
der the cross, accepted the vision. she whispered.
The force within her waned, then blazed
in a final access of fury. That’s when my 10. Powers of Darkness
hand trembled so that I nearly dropped
When hat night we worked alone,
the crucifix.
look like other faces.
her face began to
T and 1.
the Devil

They bubbled up from beneath her flesh, The Devil and I, in that black tower.
those malignant expressions of hate and The red braziers burned as a beacon, but
 —

HELL ON EARTH 31

— —
the red glare from his eyes bla2ed a still thropomancy prophecy by use of human
stronger warning. entrails no, again.
All alone in the dark room, behind Arithomancy, Astragalomancy. Both
locked doors. A crouching fiend in a cage. mathematical tricks, long since discredited.
A crouching man at a table. Axinomancy and Belomancy were relics of

From time to time the ebon monstrosity the old "trial by ordeal” of Saxon days.
reared ponderously to pad back and forth Capnomancy? Divination by smoke-
behind the barrier. From time to time I wreaths from a drug-sprinkled fire? Hash-
rose and paced the floor with equal rest- ish visions. A fake.
lessness. Cephalonomancy, Dactyliomancy, Gas-
Frequently a malignant scowl convulsed tromancy, Geomancy, Gyromancy. I had
the black and bony face. Often, I too, no donkey’s head to sprinkle with live
scowled. coals, no finger ring, no gift at ventrilo-
I turned the yellowed pages of a dozen quism, nor was I a sand-diviner. I might
bulky books. I scanned the notes written try Gyromancy as a last resort —
walking in
in Lily’s precise handwriting. But learn- a circle until I grew dizzy and fell. The
ing the mantic arts is a grim business. No direction of the fall had significance.
wonder wizards grew gray! Oh, sure. Sorcery is so fascinating, un-
Here was White Magic — the nine steps til you analyze it.

in the evocation of angels. The command Hippomancy, the Celtic trick with white
of the Seven Stewards of Heaven; Arathron, horses. Out.
Bethor, Phaleg, Och, Hazith, Ophiel, and Hydromancy, Ichthyomancy, Lampodo-
Phul. White Magic, and a jumble of theo- mancy, Lithomancy, Margaritomancy,
sophical arcanum which would be of no Myomancy, Onomancy, Onychomancy,
use here. Wrong lead. Oomancy, Parthenomancy.
Black Magic — of and dried
ashes hosts Fine stuff! All superstitious nonsense,
toads —unguents of and blood of
grease —
though the last divination by employing
corpses heated overhuman bones —burning a virgin —
might prove entertaining.
crucifixes— ^gibberish. Well, Pyromancy, Rhabdomancy, Scia-
Red Magic? The highest esoteric art was mancy.
never written or told. Nothing here. Sciamancy. Evocation of the dead. Was
Try divination. there a proven formulae here in Lily’s
I tried divination for hours. Long hours list? There was singularly
wasn’t. I

in the black room. grateful. To command the dead sorcer-

Long hours under hell-spawned eyes. ously —dangerous ground.
Eyes that watched me as I studied. Eyes Spondonomancy, Sycomancy, Theo-
that seemed to pierce the glass cage, to mancy.
peer over my shoulder as I read, peer and That was the end of divination.
mock. And still Satan stared. I was becoming
The file on divination was huge. Could more and more conscious of that stare.
I evoke an omen, a clue? Divination Satan grinned. The grin burned through
There was aeromancy, alectryomancy, me. I’d find a way! I had to.
aleuromancy, alphitomancy but I had — There was no sleep for me that day,
neither wind nor rooster, flour nor hard and it was almost midnight when I blun-
dough. dered back into the notebooks and hit the
Amniomancy? Use the caul of a new- section on ElemenUls.
born child? No. And the horrid an- Elementals. The primitive spirits.
32 WEIRD TALES
gnomes inherent in earth own the
Tlie I was light-headed. Light-headed
kingdom of the North, and they exert the enough to try.

melancholic influence over the tempera- After all, Ihad to experiment, didn’t
ment of man. Their sign is the Bull, and I? Find a way to evoke, familiarize my-
they are commanded by the Magic Sword. self with rituals? Why shouldn’t I take
Their sovereign is Gob. this perfectly absurd routine about the
gnomes, for instance, and see what hap-
ONSENSE! pened?
The sylphs are of the air, their king- Lily’s marginal notes said, "Sword in
dom is the East, and their influence bilious. cupboard, lower shelf. Important — use
Under the sign of the Eagle, they are con- no other. Steel sword. Steel alone guards
trolled by the holy pentacles, as is their and commands gnomes.”
sovereign, Paralda. I had the silly-looking old blade in my

Well? hand before I knew what I was doing. I

Salamanders are spirits of fire, and their had the blue chalk, too, as directed, and
kingdom lies South. Sanguine in their in- I was kneeling down facing North. 'The
fluence,under the sign of the Lion, and the gnome kingdom.
command of the trident, their sovereign is Grimm’s fairy tales? Why not find out?
—
Djin yes, the prototype of all djinn. Draw the mathematical design, as di-
And the undines of the West, those who rected. Draw the sign of the bull — the
evoke the phlegmatic aspect of men, are peculiarly Egyptian sign, so indicative of
governed under the sign of Aquarius, com- ancient stylization. The bull of Apis, of
manded by the cup of libations, and under astrology, of ancient days. A blue bull.
the sovereignty of Necksa. Make it big. 'The gnome materializes on
Gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, undines. that sign and cannot leave it until you com-
Earth, air, fire and water. Astrology and mand. Draw it big and play safe.
oriental legend, and mysticism. Play safe? With this nonsense?
Except that — there were spells. But there was a black bulk in a glass
Spells for the evocation of elementals. cage grinning out at me and this wasn’t
Elementals, known to our theology as nonsense.
fiends. Fiends of the Pit. I waved the sword. I realized what a
Spells to command them, written in Lily ridiculous figure I cut in that dark room,
Ross’s handwriting. from the
Taken waving a "magic sword” before a lot of
tomes. Precise directions for mixing in- chalk drawings scribbled schoolboy-fash-
cense, and drawing figures, and reciting ijOn on the floor. But there was nolx)dy to
commands. —
watch me except the glaring eyes of Satan
"There are nearly a hundred proven in his prison.
spells and incantations. Genuine.” That’s Slowly I mumbled the incantation. Lily
what Keith had said. had accented it and phoneticized carefully.
Genuine spells. Recipes to raise dae- No mistakes. Now to recite it aloud. The
mons. "A pinch of salt and a tablespoon- sword pointed north —thus. My feet
full of butter. Bake well under low flame.” touched the tip of the outer blue circle.
Not exactly. These recipes might affect At the syllable breaks I must point the
the stomach, but only with a nausea of sword at the horns of the Bull. Sychro-
dread. "A pinch of ground bone, and a
cup of blood. Place under the fires of
nize.
"Oh Gob
So.
— ” I began.
Hen.” It sounded foolish. Self-conscious.
 —

HELL ON EARTH 33

Grimm’s fairy tales. But I persisted. It send it on errands of death. It was my

didn’t take long, after all. servant, my familiar now. I could have it
No. It didn’t take long before I felt and its fellows. Yes, thousands of them.
the cold wind strike my face. Felt the Merely by command. Command with the
sword tingle in my hand as I pointed, felt steel of the sword.
an electric surge sweep up my arm. Heard The thought burned. Burned like

the syllables blaze out, saw the flame of the Satan’s eyes. Burned like fire.
braziers bend before the words. Fire.
And then, in the Sign of the Bull, the The salamander!
tiny, crouching figure. It coiled into shape, I won’t describe the next hour. The
into substance. The little swarthy creature wave of elation that swept over me is too
with the mouse-like face, the rodent body, much a part of hysteria. I drew the Lion,
and the beady, glittering eyes. Standing kindled the flame, waved the trident. The
there, bowing. The gnome. yellow blaze revealed the lizard figure that
Grim fairy tales! grew out of flame, absorbed it. Fiend, imp,
Tlie gnome. The little man who tvns archetype of hell’s legions, the salamander
there. Thelittle man that hid in the woods. of evil. And the hissing inflection in the
The dwarf man who tempted maidens
little word, "Master?”
in tlie forest. The little man who guarded Here were spells that worked. Here
the mines and the gold of earth, the little were orisons arid litanies that brought re-
man who haunted the dark mountaintops sults. I couldn’t send Satan back, but I

of the north countries and dug the burrows could conjure up his hosts.
beneath the hills. , Conjure up his hosts! Why not? Im-
One of the ancient Pictish, Celtic little agine this tower room filled with waiting
people. "The tiny race of trogJydites that monstrosities from myth. Imagine rooms
lived on earth before men came, retreated filled with them. A horde, a vast and limit-
to thedark depths like the serpent. The less horde, all calling me "Master!”
—
figureknown to all legends and all times. Master of demons. Master of evil. Lord
The dwarf. The troll. The kobold. The of a power greater than any knov.-n.
Brownie. The leprechaiui. For the first time I began to realize the
“Master?” feeling inherent in that word. Power.
Oh, that piping little voice! That shock- Power to rule. Power over wind and water
ing, detestable little voice, so hateful in its and fire and air. Over earth. Power to
reality! rule earth.
And it Tvas real. Now I knew how Keith must have felt.
I dropped the sword. He’d dreamed of something like this. Men
Then I picked it up. This was the sword laughed at evil, did they? All the better,
of command. Of command. The thought they would not burn him at the stake for
hit me then. I could —command. sorcery but permithim to evoke evil un-
molested. He’d been a fool, Keith had.
T COULD command this creature out of Trying to interest millionaires. Why did
myth, command it to do anything I de- he need any allies? One man to rule tliem
sired. Anything. —
To kill. To burrow all, that was the way.

under a building and send it toppling to And Lily. Silly child! Personal vanity
ruins, as he and his fellows toiled like rats. was her downfall. She wanted to be a
Tire way they used to burrow under castles, Cleopatra, did Sheer melodrama.
she?
in ancient legend. Like a warlock, I could Juvenile. She might have been a cjueen
 — — —

34 WEIRD TALES
greater than a Circe. Queen of evil. But Was this — this thing — the fabled Luci-
I’d stopped that. Her mistake was to rely fer? listless bag of
This mangy, decrepit,
on me for help. bones with the and whining
sick eyes
I wouldn’t make that mistake. I’d rely sneer? Was whimpering mongrel
this
on no one. I and I alone would evoke really the Arch-Enemy?
and rule. I had the power, didn’t I? I I felt stronger than he did. I teas

had Satan in a cage. He was no longer stronger than he. I had stripped him of

Prince of Darkness. I could take his place. his power and taken it for my own.
The King is dead. Long live the King! I was the Master of Satan!

Why not.? Plans, plans, plans. Dreams swirling

A week anyone had foretold my
ago, if in the blackness. The salamander staring,
future I should have scoffed. Like every- the gnome crouching in the chalk-dust.
one else, I suppose. But now it was real, Yes, and I, standing in darkness, chanting
I had this opportunity. The goal of witch out invocations. Chanting for endless
and wizard through the ages. The powers hours, gripped by an inner elation and com-
of darkness mine to command. Why hes- pulsion.
itate? The room, surging with power. Pulsing
Why not evoke? Use the rituals, use all with vibrations. And filled with shapes.
of them. Fill theroom with a legion of Until I stood there, amidst a crov/ded
nightmare shapes. Revenants. Ghouls and maze of circles and designs, each filled

ejrits, Vrykolas, hippocampi, amphisbanae, with a figure. A bowing figure that croaked,
striges. An
army, a black army. An army "Master!”
to conquer the world. I stood there and made a Hell on earth.
Keep them ringed in the magic figures,
until the word of rcleaise was given. Keep 11. Hell on Earth
them ringed, and then
But what about Satan? What about the LOWLY now — it’s a surprise.”
spell to send him back? Back to where ^I guided Lily and Keith toward the
to hell? But we could have hell here on door marked Private. Keith leaned feebly
earth! on my arms, but he pressed forward
And why not? eagerly.
An earth filled with man-made war and "Surprise?” gurgled Lily. "You mean
misery. An earth filled with grasping, you’ve sent him back?”
cheating, lying, stealing, raping, murder- I smiled. "You’ll see,” I told her.
ing, crazy humans. Filled with pestilence, She and Keith gave me a long look. I
disease, idiocy. Let the Lord of Evil come didn’t likeit. 'They seemed too conspira-
into his own! torial. Eying me. I’d open their eyes for
Sweep away humanity. Sweep away the them in a minute.
earth. Black gifts the creatures might I pushed open the door. "Come into
grant you for the power. Eternal life, my parlor,” I said.
eternal ecstasy. Lips might whisper Keith kept staring So did Lily.
at me.
secrets. Primal forces to invoke and con- "Ladies first,” I said. Lily suddenly
trol. shrugged and stepped in. Keith followed
Why send Satan bfck at all? her. I went in and shut the door. Locked
I glanced at the listless black figure in it.

the cage. Glanced and smiled. Smiled Then I faced them.

and laughed suddenly. They faced the room.
 ”

HELL ON EARTH 35

They didn’t say a word. Tliey couldn’t. "Wliat do you mean —remember? Do
It was too overpowering. you think I’m a child? Of course I re-
swept the room
I’d taken the drapes off, member that foolishness. But it’s no good.
and cupboards. Needed more
clear of tables Think of the power I possess. Think of
space. 'The place reeked with mingled in- what we could do with these creatures.”
cense odors, but even the braziers were "Creatures!” Lily quavered the wqrd.
gone to provide more floor area. She stood like a golden goddess, sur-
Floor area for visitors. rounded by the bobbing, weaving, crouch-
They stoodthere and gazed at Hell. My ing shapes of darkness. The tiny men with
Hell. 'The Hell I had created by incanta- the malignant faces, the snake-like figures
tion,by invocation. Around the glass cage that shimmered in air, the canine visages of
housing Satan the legions swarmed. One ghouls, the monstrous bulk of squatting in-
of each. A Noah’s Ark, in a way, of hor- cubae, the leprous-white crawlers. An
rors. aquarium, a menagerie, a gallery of fiends.
Hell’s sample-display showroom. Take They filled the room, each in his tiny island
your pick. Plenty more where these, came of chalk. Behind was the cage with the
from. figure of Satanslumped on the floor. Had
The thoughts made me laugh. I did he no interest in this gathering? Where
laugh, too. The noise grated against the was his burning desire to escape? No mat-
silence, and there was a vast answering re- ter.

sponse. "Master!” "Creatures,” Lily quavered, and her

"What have you done?” Keith’s eyes glance rested on me in strange appeal.
blazed anger. —
"Darling for my sake send them back.—
“Merely played sorcerer’s apprentice,” I You’re not well, you’ve overworked, you
told him. "How do you like it?” can’t think what you’re doing
—
—
"These monsters,” Keith spluttered. "Enough.” I stepped closer to her. "I’m
"Do you realize what would happen if you not crazy, if that’s what you mean. Three
lost control?” days in this room hasn’t made a wreck out
"Certainly.” I smiled. of me. I’ve learned more about the essence
"It’s insane,” he muttered. and nature of evil than you both know.
"It’s science,” I answered. "Isn’t this And I’m going to use that knowledge and
your dream come true? Your dream of that power.”
proving the validity of sorcery?” "The Devil is through, in other words,”
"It’s a nightmare. I want no part of Keith commented, dryly. "You’re taking
this. Send these creatures back there’s — over.”
directions for that. Send them back at For a moment the bald statement seemed
once.” to paralyze me. As if through a fog I

"Change of heart, eh? Well, recognize caught his meaning. Then I chuckled.
another change at the same time. You’re "That’s just about the size of it. From
not giving me orders any more, Keith. now on. I’m in command. 'These creatures
I’m in charge here.” are my minions. At the signal they will be
Keith paled. He faced me with an in- released.”
tent stare. I lowered my voice.
Lily stepped between us. "I’ve got a plan. It’s all thought out.
"You must send them back,” she whis- I’ve done a lot of thinking here these past
pered. “You were going to get rid of days. I know just what to do —^how to
Satan, remember?” use these things. Rule, I tell you! And
 — ” — ” — —

36 WEIRD TALES
you two will share the power with me, if face.Nobody was waving any crucifixes.
you like.” Nobody was shooting any
"Send them back,” Lily begged. "You I saw it out of the corner of my eye.
don’t know what’s happening to you.” Keith’s holster, with the tv/o guns, lying
"Happening to me? I’m waking up, on the little table near the door. Saw it as
that’s all. I feel more alive at this moment he saw it and made a dasli. I got there
than I ever have. I’m strong, and he’s first.

weak. I’m going to do what no man has I pulled the guns out and pointed them
ever dared. I’ll open the gates! Lucifer very carefully. Keith stopped in his tracks.
will again rule eardi. Why shouldn’t he "No you don’t,” I chuckled. "No one
I mean I —he — I is shooting me, if you please. Lily the —
door is locked. Very tightly.” She’d
HEN I reali 2 ed. made a dash, too. "We are all alone now.
Realized what I was saying. —
With our servitors.” I chuckled again.
thought, "Satan,” and I said,
"1.” It was beginning to feel very pleasant.
I

1. Satan. "Stand still, both of you,” I directed.

I looked at Keith and the girl. Tlieir "Madman,” Keith shouted. "Put down
eyes w’ere fixed in fascination on my face. those revolvers!”
My face! "Please—” Lily whispered.
Lily’s hand was holding something out. I slipped one weapon into my pocket,
A mirror. held the other high in my right hand. My
I took it. blackening right hand. I could jeel it

Took the silver glass and stared at my change. I pulsed. Every nerve tingling,
face in the mirror. Stared at the black, as the change completed.
goatish countenance, at the growing beard One claw held the revolver. The other
on the chin, stared — transfixed — at the rose.
darkened temples from which the two "Now, you two. When I lower my left

horns were beginning to protrude! hand, our little playmates will be released.
What had happened to Keith and Lily I don’t need my right hand for anything
had happened to me. Three days in a but keeping you covered. So remember.
room with the black man, three days in a Stand and watch.”
room while his will gnawed at my soul "Satan!” Keith mumbled. "Satan in-
in darkness, burrowed in. carnate!”
change had taken place. was "Please, darling,” Lily whispered. "Oh,
'Tlie

Satan!
I
please, darling
—
'The m.irror fell and shattered. I stood I laughed. The grinning throng waited
there, looking at the dark skin on the back behind me. Waited, and ravened. I could
of my hands. The dark skin on the back feel their pulsations mingling with my
of my — claws. own. How they lusted to be free! To
Turning, turning; body and mind and walk the earth once more; to walk and
soul. Cloud of darkness pouring out of creep and crawl and lope and fly and
the cage and into my brain. kill! 'They waited and they crouched for
was Satan and I had evoked demons
I my command. My command would free
and I would rule earth. them. From the black tower they’d swarm
Madness! out over the world of night and the shriek
But tvhy not? of earth in torment would mock the walls
Nobody was dashing holy water in my of heaven.
 — — ” ”

HELL ON EARTH 37

The strength welling in me. . . . I shook my head as Keitli continued.

I lifted my left hand high. One gesture “Evil preys on inner weakness. In my
now case, Satan focussed his forces on my domi-
Then Lily moved. nant quality of ambition. That ambition,
"Back or I’ll shoot!” I screamed. directed sanely, caused me to embark on
She came forward. Her eyes held no scientific research. Perverted just a little,

hate and no fear, only a pleading that Satan made my ambition become a lust for
burned and burned. I had to get rid of power at any price.
that burning. Kill her, kill her and release "In Lily’s possession, her natural femi-
them. Free the hordes of Hell! nine vanity was accentuated to the point
My hand swooped.
left My right hand where she desired utter adoration. Again
moved out. The hand of Satan. I flicked the psycliology of evil came into play. And
my wrist, pressed the trigger —and sent a when the Devil invaded you, he worked
bullet crashing into my brain. through your love of learning, turning your
scholarly inclinations into the field of
12. Fall of Lucifer sorcery.”
“It’s hard to believe now,” I said. "May-
“piASY,” "Easy.” was all a mass hallucination. Those
J—^ '

"Must
I said.

probe,” grunted Keith.

be it

old wive’s tales

—
"Get it out. Silver bullet or no, there Keith chuclded.
might be infection.” "Perhaps what we saw and called Satan
"Easy,” I repeated. Then, "Are you sure wasn’t physically real. each saw a We
it’s gone?” and Con-
different figure in the glass cage,
Lily smiled down at me. sidine and Wintergreen might have had
"Of course, darling. They’re all gone. their own concepts. Even these creatures
And is empty.
the cage The instant you you materialized might be merely focal
fired thegun they disappeared. Not in a imaginative visions.
cloud of brimstone, either. They just “But this I know. Whether we choose
weren’t there.” to personify it as Satan, or the Devil, or
I smiled. It wasn’t so hard, because the Powers of Darkness — evil exists as a
Keith had the little silver pellet out. force in this world of ours. Describe it in
"Lucky shot,” he commented. "Just terms of witchcraft or psychiatry as you
missed grazing the parietal lobe.” will — evil is real.”
"I still can’t understand it,” I said. Lily laid her head on my shoulder.
"Can’t understand what made me shoot "Let’s forget it all now,” she suggested.
myself and why Satan disappeared.” “Suits me. Got any methods to sug-
"’The oldest story in the world,” an-
swered Keith. "Virtue triumphant. It
gest?”
"Well, if you’re not too sick
—
fought the evil in you and won, even "Too sick? I feel swell.”

though you weren’t conscious of it. When “Well, if you’re not too sick, I suggest
Lily came toward you the battle was re- we celebrate.”
solved. You and the Devil fought it out "Fine idea,” I responded.
in your own soul, and you won. "Sure,” said Keith. "Let’s go out and
“And that was the secret of getting rid raise hell! Why—what’s the matter?”
of Satan. The human soul pitted itself "Nothing at aU,” I replied; and
naked against his will and denied him.” promptly fainted.
We
G/uperfluous Phantom
By MALCOLM JAMESON
Believe me, he tvas one of the slickest haunters in the business —with a
class A diploma from the Spooks Preparatory School . . . but
the League fust wouldn’t let him practice!

T he

the platform
"Okay,
lights in the stalled subway
train

—
men
blinked and went out. A
foreman leaned over the edge of
and waved a lantern.
the current’s off. Grab
heaved and swung.
and slid
lay motionless.
The limp form
onto the station platform, then
'The morbid,
hungry crowd that gathers as if by magic
at every disaster, however trivial, reluc-
rose

sensation-

him and get him up outa there. That’s tantly backed away a little, leaving a cleat
swell! Now—up here with him.’’ spot in the center of which lay the inert
The two guards down on the tracks figure in its dirt-smeared, mussed brown
 a

THE SUPERFLUOUS PHANTOM 39

suit. Only one man pushed forward — The sergeant wheeled and called out to
smallish middle-aged man with a moth- the men behind him.
eaten looking goatee and carrying a dilapi- "A shock case, fellows. Jump up to the
dated black satchel. wagon and bring down the pulmotor. Then
"I’m a doctor,’’ he told the guard who go to work on him and don’t let up until
tried to stop him. He dropped to his I give the word. I’ve seen these third-
knees and put a hand on the prostrate railers pull through before.”
man’s chest. In a moment he stood up, 'The Emergency Squad went into action
shaking his head with an air of solemn and while they were administering arti-
finality. "He’s gone. No pulse no res- — respiration other cops clear^ the
ficial

piration. There is nothing to be done.’’ jammed station. One by one the onlook-
Some in the crowd thought they saw a ers gave ground.
sudden tremor sweep the corpse, one man "Sucli a nice looking young man,” com-
claimed afterward that he saw an eyelid miserated one woman. "It’s a pity. Too
flicker, but at the moment no one said bad they didn’t catch the man that pushed
anything. They simply stood, as metro- him.” But nobody paid attention. As they
polian crowds usually do under the cir- shuffled out a cameraman came dashing in,

cumstances, popeyed, gaping and moronic demanding, "Where’s the stiff?” and the
— looking on for the sheer lust of seeing. outgoing sheep sighed. But they consoled
Tlie doctor did not wait, but bustled themselves with the thought that in the
away as if in a great hurry to keep an ap- very next editions they would be reading
pointment. The crowd closed its ranks something like this:
behind him and continued to stare. There "During the early rush hour today, a
would be other things to see, soon. 'The young man tentatively identified as John
police would come, and reporters and Wicks, 24, address unknown, jumped or
stretcher bearers. And best of all, photog- fell in front of an uptown local. Train-
raphers. Every super-moron there was man Horatio Z. Evans managed to stop
dumbly hoping that somehow he might get the train before the wheels passed over
included in the picture so as to have some- the body, butwhen Wicks was extricated
thing to boast of to his friends tomorrow. from beneath the first car it was found be
’Then, above in the street a gong clanged had been electrocuted. Police rendered
and a siren shrieked its wailing song. The first aid, but their efforts proved unavail-
climax was at hand! ing. Service was resumed after a short
"All right, all right —outa the way, you delay.”
—get going!’’ That is, that is what they expected to
Husky policemen shouldered their way read. But, as a matter of fact, they did
through the mass of thrill seekers in a re- nothing of the For the first aid ef-
sort.

sistless phalanx. "The sergeant’s eye caught forts did avail. After a few hours of maul-
the picture of the train stalled halfway ing Johnny Wiclcs opened his eyes and saw
down the platform and thought he knew the cops bending over him.
the answer —another suicide. But when he "Aw, lay off, won’t you,” he begged,
broke through to the inner circle and saw wanna sleep.”
"I
the prone figure on the concrete he saw that Whereupon he tried to roll over and
there was no blood on it. ’The guard call it a day. They didn’t let him do that,
shrugged and jerked a thumb toward the of course, but that is neither here not
track. "Third rail,’’ was all he said. "The there. 'The big thing —the main point to
guy’s dead.’’ be remembered about the little episode is
40 WEIRD TALES
this: Johnny Wicks did not die! Not for Itwas then he saw It.
an instant. "What’s the big idea?’’ he demanded
—maybe an
We-ell or
for instant, for a angrily of the seven-foot smoky apparition
couple of —but hardly longer than
instants standing at the foot of his bed. The thing
that. After a he signed a lot of pa-
little was vague and whitish, and as he chal-
pers, then walked home, more sore about lenged it it raised two elongated skinny
ruining his new brown suit than anything. arms and spread two sets of wispy, talon-
He would have to throw it away, now. like fingers.
The only other immediate consequence of "Who-o-o-o-osh! Ye-e-e-a-ow! Screee-e
his mishap was that for a few days he had —— e -e
’’
was what the thing said back
to take a lot of kidding from his friends. to him, the last of its unearthly wails taper-
After that the memory of it simply faded ing off into a strangled silence.
into the past. He hardly ever thought of "Oh, a ghost, huh?” commented Johnny,
it any more. sitting upright in bed, wide awake by then.
"Well, ghosty, run along and peddle your

The winter,
summer turned
and
into fall, fall into
it was
in the course of time
apples somewhere else. 1 haven’t mur-
dered anybody and nobody was ever mur-
summer again. was on a hot August
It dered in this room that I know of. Any-
night that Johnny went to bed early so as how, I don’t believe in ghosts, so you’re
to be up early the next day. He was about wasting time. Scram!”
to go on his vacation and did not mean Johnny Wicks slid down into the bed
to lose an hour of it. He was considerably again and adjusted his pillow. But he kept
atmoyed, therefore, when shortly after he a wary eye on the amorphous cloud hover-
fell asleep he woke up again. It was with ing over the foot of his bed. It was wav-
a sudden, scared start that puzzled him, eringly condensing into something shaped
and to add to his mystification an unseason- much more like a man, but except for its
ally icy gust of wind swept the room. initial screeches had uttered no other
Somehow there was a hint of the uncanny sound. Presently the apparition completed
in it and his skin goose-pimpled and its reorganization. ’Then it stretched forth
crawled in spite of him, for he thought its ghostly arm and pointed an accusatory
he detected in the chill air the mouldy odor finger at the young fellow in the bed.
of the grave —an observation which itself "You didn’t kill me, no,” admitted the
stmek him as odd the moment he made it, ghost, croaking the words in a deep sepul-
for not once in his whole life had he chral voice, "but you’re doing something
smelled a grave. worse and I can’t stand it.” It suddenly
He glanced at the clock and saw by its struck Johnny that the voice sounded a
luminous face thatit was exactly midnight. own that is, what his
great deal like his —
At the same instant he unaccountably re- own might sound like if he had a bad cold
membered that it was just a year to the day and shouted down a cistern. "You’re ruin-
since he had had that ridiculous experience ing my career, that’s what you’re doing,”
subway when the jostling of a hood-
in the reproached the spectral visitor, "and for
lum had caused him to be pronounced no reason except your own damn selfish-
dead. But thatwas water over the dam, ness.”
Wicks told himself and reached down for Johnny Wicks was flabbergasted. He
the cover. He was not going to stay awake hadn’t the slightest idea what the phantom
and suffer, even if it was a cold night in was talking about.
Aueust. "I’m not taking it lying down, either,”
 —

THE SUPERFLUOUS PHANTOM 41

continued the ghost, threateningly, his lime stained brown suit of the night of
voice getting stronger and more distinct the subway near-tragedy. It was amazing,
and more and more like Johnny’s own. for that suit had long since been burned.
"I’m going to haunt you until you make "Start the rough stuflf any time,” chal-
it right, that is what I’m going to do. lenged the ghost, insolently, "only I’d ad-
You’ve gotta make things right I can’t — vise you to take it easy. You can sock me
go on this way.’’ all right, but watch out you don’t knock
The agitation of the spectre was pain- yourself out when you do. I’m not as solid
fully obvious. He swayed and twisted like as I look.”
a tornado cloud and his surfaces were Johnny was already swinging when the
wrinkled into little waves by the turbulence ghost said that, but he hastily pulled his
of the ethereal stuff of which he was com- punch. The warning had the ring of sound
posed. It made Johnny Wicks think of a advice. Yet he had promised to throw his
dense cloud of cigar smoke over a poker unwanted visitor out and he had to make
table, stirred into erratic movement by the good. Otherwise he might find himself
exhalations of the players. permanently haunted, and that was one
"Me, Mac?’’Johnny asked. "What Jhing that Johnny Wicks felt was unneeded
have I got to do with you?” Then, realiz- to round out his life.

ing how ridiculous it was to be sitting up
in bed at that time of night arguing with
a strange ghost, he added, very firmly:
"Listen, you bunch of fog, whoever you
are. I don’t know you and I don’t want
to know you. I don’t get your racket and
I don’t care a hang what it is. I’m not in-
terested. I’ve got a lot of important sleep-
ing to do between now and morning and
I’m going to get on with it. So pull your-
self together and get the hell outa here
before I throw you out.”
"Yeah!” sneered the ghost, immediately
belligerent. "Well, try it.”
He swelled up to double his size,
ing very fearsome, and uttered another of
his long-drawn "Whooshes.”
"Bosh!” said Johnny, and reached for
the light switch.
He considered the cloudy, nebulous na-
ture of his guestand decided upon another
maneuver. On his table stood an anti-
quated electric fan which he rarely used
for the reason that it was so noisy. But
now he plugged it in and flicked the
switch. He trained it on the phantom, lis-
tened and watched as the wheezy motor
buzzed up to speed, but little happened.
His unsubstantial caller merely wavered
ripplingly, but did not budge from where
he stood. Nor did he alter the supercilious
I-told-you-so sneer that was on his face.
That infuriated Johnny particularly, for he
look- knew just what the thing was thinking
or thought he must —
because it looked so
exactly like himself.
"Live people,” remarked the ghost with
exasperating smugness, "often make that
error. Because we look like smoke, they

The illumination
ghost, however.
did
He
not dispel
was still here.
the
At
think
periment
we are smoke. But go ahead. Ex-
all you want — I’ve got all eter-
first he appeared to be a shapeless blue- nity. Then when you’ve made up your
green cloud, but he shrank rapidly until mind you’re stuck with me, we can get
he seemed to be almost as solid as the down I came here to get
to brass tacks.
livingJohnny Wicks himself. And, to and by the Elder Shades, I’m go-
justice,

Johnny’s further bewilderment, his own, ing to get it, even if I have to haunt you

exact double. Except that, instead of wear- night and day. And pal, believe me you.
ing pink pajamas, he wore the grease and I’m one of the slickest haunters in the
42 WEIRD TALES
business. I’m only a young guy, but I’ve shouldn’t I report you to your own L. P.
got a class A diploma from the S. P. S. A. G. and let them handle it? I hate to
and a cum laude to make it more binding.” be a squealer, Mac, but that’s the way I

Johnny Wicks gritted his teeth. 'The feel about it.”

conceit and impudence of the fellow was
unbearable. It was all the more so because AHEAD and report,” defied the
of the fellow’s close resemblance to him. ghost. "Nothing would suit me bet-
"And what the hell, if I may ask,” put ter. To get to the big shot you have to
he frigidly, "is the S. P. S.?’’ die and serve your apprenticeship. And
"Why, you poor dope— the Spooks that’s all I want you to do. Then you'll
Preparatory School,” replied the phantom meet the fellow in charge of assignments
with some condescension. "You go there for the League for the Protection of Au-
first —
the minute you kick off. I was a thentic Ghosts. He’s the guy who says who
natural for them. I got high marks in can haunt and who can’t, and dishes out
—
everything chain clanking, body drag- the locations. If you’re good —
and on the
ging, eerie yowling, materializations and level —he might slip you something choice,
dematerialization, stair-creaking, raising, like the scene of a juicy triple murder.
mouldy odors, and all the rest of it. Gee! F’rinstance, I know a guy —
^but, oh hell,

My prof was proud of me!” what’s the use? I can’t get anywhere as
'The ghost paused to gloat a moment long as you’re alive.”
over the memory of his own prowess. Then He stopped again and gave vent to an-
his face suddenly clouded with the gloom other of his hollow sighs — a soul-wring-
he had displayed earlier. He sighed a dis- ing, swishy expiration calculated to send
—
mal sigh truly a ghastly sigh. "And to chills racing up and down the spine of
think,” he went on bitterly, "that after any luckless listener. Those sighs were
that I am not allowed to practice. And like gusts of stagnant air fanned from a
all on account of you, leading your selfish, long forgotten tomb.
heedless life. Five times I’ve been, hat in "It’s a lousy system,” murmured the
hand, to the head office of the L. P. A. G., ghost disconsolately. "Why couldn’t they
and five times they’ve chucked me out. have told me
was a phoney before I put
I

They won’t give me a haunting license.” in all that time and hard work at school?”
Johnny thought the apparition was go- "I’m sure I don’t know,” answered
ing to break down and weep, he looked Johnny Wicks, mildly. "I never considered
so dejected. He wasn’t at all sure he knew' that angle. But now that you bring it up,
what the ghost was talking about, but since I thought that all ghosts were phoney.

there appeared to be no way of getting rid What makes you any different?”
of him, Johnny figured there could be no "I’m illegitimate, that’s what,” replied
harm done in getting a little information. the spectre sullenly. "You double-crossed
He was beginning to acquire an interest me— ^you didn’t stay dead like you oughta
in the life and customs of the shades. had. 'That leaves me in atough spot.”
"If you were so darned good at the 'The meaning of this strange interview
S. P. S.,” he asked, "why is it that the was beginning to dawn on Johnny’s mind.
L. P. A. G., whoever they are, won’t let Could it be that during the brief time he
you practice? And when you bust in here was unconscious that night that he had
and pester me this way, aren’t you prac- generated a ghost —
a premature one, so to
ticing? And when it comes to that, if you speak? But the ghost was continuing to
are unlicensed and I want to sleep, why pour out his woes.
 — —

THE SUPERFLUOUS PHANTOM 43

"You see, I can’t prove that I . . . that intended to be a terrifying look. "You
is, you ... I mean we Oh, skip it, you — haven’t seen anything yet.”
know what I mean that one or the other
. . . But Johnny Wicks was not going to be
of us was killedwhen you fell on the third intimidated by any counterfeit ghost.
rail. I admit I was wrong — I shoulda "Get this, spook,” he said very deter-
waited. But when that doctor guy stepped minedly, "you can go plumb to wherever
right up and said you were dead, that was it is that no-good ghosts go to. Or go
enough for me. I took right off. The next haunt the bozo that pushed me er, us —
thing I knew I was in the primary class off the platform. Or try your luck on the
at the S. P. S. It was only last night when Interboro; they were the people that fur-
I took the final tests
found out you didn’t die at all. They put
for a license that I nished the juice that killed me you
damn it, you’ve got me doing it now! Or
—
me on cemetery patrol, but there wasn’t a take a crack at that
gyp doctor that started
grave there I could call my own. The ex- the trouble. But lay off me.”
aminer got suspicious and wanted to sec With that he turned off the light, pulled
my death certificate. Of course, you know, the blanket over his head and paid no
every ghost don’t have to have a grave further attention to the saeeches and howls
like the ones of fellows eaten by tigers that made the night hideous for awhile.
and things like that —but they do have to Presently he fell asleep, and the phantom,
be dead. discouraged by the indifferent snoring of
"So they looked up my pedigree. Now his intended victim, faded slowly back into
I’m sunk. They say that as long as you’re nothingness.
alive, I don’t even exist. Can you tie
that?’’ TOHNNY WICKS
had a very pleasant
"It’s tough,” conceded Johnny Wicks, ^ vacation, unmarred by another visit
"but I don’t see what can do about it.”
I from his spectral double.
But the very first
"You bet it’s tough,” replied the ghost night he was back in town, the phantom
fiercely, "and there’s plenty you can do appeared once more, making his entrance
about it. You gotta make it right. You as before.
gotta kick off for keeps. Hang yourself, "Now what?” Johnny wanted to know,
jump out the window or take a slug of glowering at the intruder. Then he no-
cyanide — it’s all the same to me. But make ticed his ghost appeared a good deal the
it snappy so we can get back to headquar- worse for wear. One of his eyes had been
ters in time to qualify.” blackened and his nose pushed out of
"Never mind the 'we,’
’’
said Johnny, a place. He carried one arm in a sling and
little angrily. "You leave me out of this. the hand of the other one was bandaged.
If you were dizzy enough to go off half- He looked as if he had been the chief
cocked on account of what some stranger loser in a free-for-all.
said, that’s your hard luck. Why, you silly "I tried all you said to do,” complained
nitwit,you didn’t even know whether the the phantom reproachfully. "It won’t
fellow was a regular doctor or not. Any- work. So you’ve got to bump yourself off
how, ifyou think I’m going to kill myself after all. That’s what I came to tell you.”
just to get you out of a jam, you’re plain "Yeah?”
nuts.” "Yeah. was this way. I looked up
It
"You’ll be sorry,” threatened the ghost, the coot who pushed us off the platform.
puffing himself up to three times his for- What a souse! That fellow don’t ever go
mer dimensions and taking on what was to sleep — ^he just passes out. He’s haunt-
44 WEIRD TALES
proof. Then I tried the subway. I couldn’t constant chatter began to wear him down.
work there, either. In the first place that He had to listen, for the ghost, being an
station has four or five real ghosts on the own
offspring of his self, knew all his
job — suicides and lushes — that specialize inmost secrets — the things that Johnny had
in platform work. What I didn’t count on half-forgotten and was willing to keep for-
was all the dead groundhogs and blasters. gotten. He was prodded and taunted for
Around midnight the tunnels are crawling every mistake he had ever made, and for
with ’em. Some roughneck wanted to every evil thought. That went on, night
know who I was and wanted to see my after night, for months, until Johnny
card. Then a Floating Delegate came by, Wicks was near the breaking point. He
checking up, and he told ’em I was a by the pound, his hair grayed,
lost flesh
phoney. So they ganged up on me. A and he took on the haggard, frenzied ap-
mortal can’t hurt a ghost, but another ghost pearance of a man on the verge of madness.
can.” "You look like a ghost,” his boss said
The phantom exhibited his injuries. to him one day, and Johnny jumped as if
"What aboutthe quack doctor?” asked jabbed with a bayonet. word
'Hie very
Johnny, getting interested. was almost
ghost, in his jittery condition,
"Oh, him? 'That was worse. All doc- more than he could stand. He wondered
tors, even the good ones, are bad haunt dumbly how much longer he could hold
prospects because too many people die out. He had rebelled from the first on the
under their hands for one reason or an- suggestion of suicide, but lately began to it

other. But that guy is in a class all to have an appeal. But, as is common
in most
himself. The amount of malpractice he people, the tendency to cling to life was
musta done would burn you up. I went up strong, so he cast about for some means
there one night, but couldn’t get near the of eliminating his pestiferous double self.
place, the ghosts were so thick. 'They asked He read books dealing with phantasms.
me what I had against the bird and I told Though he found that there were approved
’em. You shoulda heard ’em laugh. 'Then methods of exorcism as regards many,
they ran me off the place.” there was nothing that was helpful against
"Well?” ghosts. Silver bullets could dispose of
"I’m just telling you. I tried to get by were-wolves, a stake through the heart
without your help, but it’s no go. Now would stop a vampire, garlic, crucifixes
you’ve got to do the Dutch. It’s the only and other things were effective against cer-
way out.” tain classes of witches and demons. But
"Go chase yourself,” said Johnny, pull- man was helpless against ghostly persecu-
ing up the covers. tion.
"Tomorrow night I get tough,” warned He complained to the police but the
the phantom, then vanished. most helpful hint they gave him was that
The ghost did get tough. He tried all a short stay in Bellevue’s psycopathic ward
the tricks of his trade, but none of the would do him no harm. Ghosts were out
ordinary ones worked. So he settled down to of their line. 'They couldn’t be appre-
a campaign of incessant, interminable talk. hended, or confined; bullets and blackjacks
He showed up every night promptly at the did not do them injury. Consequently,
hour of twelve and gabbled until morning. the police rule was to let them strictly

Where howling and chain-clanking or be- alone. But they did recommend a lawyer
ing smothered under filmy shrouds had who they said had had some success in
failed to disturb Johnny in the least, the such matters.
 THE SUPERFLUOUS PHANTOM
Johnny Wicks took the address and
looked him up. The lawyer was not an
imposing one. On the contrary he was a
dried-up wisp of a man of great but in-
determinable age.
"Hmm,” he said, when Johnny had
poured out his story. "Quite unusual, this.
Haunted by your own ghost, eh?
”
extraordinary!
He pulled down a calfskin bound
ume and studied its index. Then he shook
his head rather hopelessly.
"During the Middle Ages,” he said,
"there were numerous court decisions re-
lating to ghosts and the like. But in our
time the courts have the tendency to throw
such cases out. The complainant against
spectral annoyance rarely receives assis-
tance.Here, for example. In an action
brought by certain citizens of Calder’s
Falls, Idaho, against the Western Sextons’
Association to abate nocturnal noises in the
town’s cemetery, the court held:
" '
—
the defendant is in no respect liable
for the behavior of ghosts operating upon
his premises. Ghosts have repeatedly been
held to be a species of ferae naturae, or
wild beast, or wild and unaccountable crea-
am sorry, my young friend, but there ap-
pears to be nothing you can do.”
Johnny sighed miserably. He was very
tired and needed sleep badly. He won-
dered if it would not be wise to cut his
throat and be done with it.
"However,” remarked the old lawyer,
Most shrewdly, "it follows that since you have
no rights against the phantom, it also has
vol- none against you. You are perfectly free
to dealwith it as you choose.”
"I know,” said Johnny, hopelessly, "but
how? You can’t sock the thing, you can’t
pin it down, you can’t outtalk it.”
"Everything that ever lived is afraid of
something,” observed the sage old man.
"What is your ghost afraid of?”
"Other ghosts,” said Johnny, after a
moment’s reflection. "But I don’t know
any other ghosts.”
"Think it over, son. There’s your way
out. Five dollars, please.”
Johnny Wicks fumbled for the money,
paid him, and staggered out. It was five
dollars wasted; all he had learned was that
he was trapped. His only release would be
death. But at least he w’ould not have to
listen to the tirades of his nightly visitor.

tures, without ownership and beyond con-

trol. Moreover, the tendency to haunt is a hat afternoon he visited a hockshop
natural instinct with a ghost, and as such, T and bought a revolver. He took it

in the absence of any statute specifically to home with him, loaded it and placed it
”
the contrary, not an offense.’ on the table. Tonight was the night. He
Johnny Wicks blinked. 'That did not undressed, listless and numb, and fell onto
sound helpful. the bed. Nothing mattered any more. He
"That attitude is the common one,” the slept. Then, at midnight, there came the
lawyer went on to say. "Most judges would icy gust and with it his ghastly double.
reject your case on the pretext that it does "Do you remember the time . .
.” be-

not fall within their jurisdiction. I am gan the ghost.

quite certain that should you attempt to "Cut it,” said Johnny, and snapped on
obtain an injunction against your own the light. "You win.”
ghost you would get nowhere. What he is He got up and picked up the pistol,
attempting, of course, is a form of extor- whirled cylinder and verified that it
its

tion, but it has been previously held that was loaded and ready to go. 'Then he faced
a man cannot blackmail himself. By ex- the phantom. That time he w.as defiant,
tension, your own ghost, being a sort of for a dazzlingly new idea had just [xjpped
alter ego, comes under the same rule. I into his mind.
 -
'A6 WEIRD TALES
"You win,” he repeated, "but only the 1 find out what makes you tick. Then I’m

first round. In one minute I am going to going to stop it ticking. Get that?”
blow my brains out. Then I’ll be dead. "You can’t do that to me!” wailed the
That’s what you want, isn’t it?” spectre. "Ye-e-e-ow. Screee-e!”
"Whatta pal!” exclaimed the ghost, "Watch me,” said Johnny Wicks grimly,
beaming, "I knew you’d do the right and put the gun to his temple. But he did
thing.” not pull the trigger. The phantom was in
"Okay. But wait. In a few seconds I’ll a state of intense agitation, its nebulous
be dead. Then I’ll produce a real, honest- substance writhing and twisting horribly.
to-God ghost that won’t look a thing like But it was growing fainter, and in
steadily
you — gray, thin,older. Then I’ll go
and half a minute or so more it became quite
straight to the L. P. A. G. and denounce invisible. Johnny slowly lowered the gun.
you for the you are. After
impostor Then he tossed it into a drawer with a
that .” he paused for an ominous silence. chuckle.
. .

The ghost quailed. "After that I’m com- "What a damn fool I’ve been,” he said
ing back and going to rip that foggy hide to himself. "I |night have known that the
right off your back. I’m going to take you best way to handle a blackmailer is to call
apart, one bunch of smoke at a time, until his bluff.”
Garden at Lu
BY GERALD CHAN SIEG

^INNAMON petals drop upon the air.

The night is still.

There is no sound but footsteps of the wind

Walking softly on a far off hill.

{How dim the night and still.)

All is the same: the ivy cool and dark

Against the moon-washed wall,

The little bamboo bridge, the sycamore

With branches lifted lonely, pale and tall.

{How lonely, pale and tall.)

Upon the pool the lily leaves encircle

A flower newly blown.

The long reeds watdi the watered stars.

A golden fin goes gleaming and is gone.

/
\13
{How quickly it is gone.)

All is the same. But you and I are changed

We who knew light

And sunny laughter in this garden place

Are shadows moving in a shadowy night.

{How dim and long the night.)

Give me your hand O let us softly move,

O softly move and slow.

Two shadows out of time who pause a while

To look on what we cherished long agp.
{How many aeons ago.)
 arch of the Trees
By FRANK OWEN
Trees give fantastic help to a gardener who is their friend ... an Oriental
romance of love and life in a Chinese garden

D
Siang
uring the Sung Ounasty, there
dwelt beside the Yellow River in
China, a poor
who had dreams
man named Loo
of grandeur.
was a famed gardener but all his pos-
He

sessions had been swept away by river

floods. Twice his world had been washed
away in this manner and patiently he had
set about building it anew. Then came the
third flood. This time it broke his spirit.
It swept him away with it. In despair he
journeyed to Soochow despite the fact that
Soochow also had been attacked by the glut-
tonous river. Nevertheless he was drawn
to Soochow because Soochow was noted for
the beauty of its women.
Now with the few bits of gold which he
still possessed, he built a small house. But

when the house was finished, there came a

mighty storm and a bolt of lightning struck
it. In a moment it was in flames.
Loo Siang stood before it and beat his
chest. He pleaded with the Fire Gods to
spare his house. He sang gay songs to
divert their interest. But they were ab-
sorbed in the fire and so heeded him not.
When at last the house was consumed
and only charred ashes remained, Loo Siang
satdown by the ruins and wept.
At that moment, it so happened that the
Mandarin Zok Tsung was passing en route
to the baths and he paused to enjoy the

Lari Kim, one of the thousand slave girls

of the Mandarin, had enslaved him . . .
 THE MARCH OF THE TREES 49

grief of Loo Siang. He called to his car- in all his existence. The meal lasted three
riers to setdown his sedan chair and then hours and consisted of forty-seven courses.
amid a vast amount of puffs and grunts, And as they ate, slender girls danced for
for he was very fat, he climbed from the them, girls as fragile as porcelain. On the
chair and walked over to converse with the air was a warm fragrance. And among
man of misery. He had recognized Loo these girls was Lari Kim, one of the thou-
Siang as the famed gardener who had so sand slave girls of the Mandarin. She
persistently been stalked by adversity. smiled tenderly at Loo Siang and that mo-
Zok Tsung was interested. He owned ment he became as much a slave as she, a
much land surrounding his palace and he slave of the Mandarin, since to remain near
longed to have it made into a garden of her he would be forced to stay under the
rare beauty. But so far he had been unable Mandarin’s rule.
to find a man capable of translating his Zok Tsung smiled as he noticed the
wishes. His workers in the soil were little flames of passion kindle in the eyes of the
more than coolies. They flayed the soil, gardener’s heart. He was not angry, but
rather than attempting to cultivate it with pleased Lari Kim gave him the hold
reverence. And the soil was sullen. It he needed on Loo Siang. She must be
refused to respond. dangled before him like a tasty bit of roast
Now Zok Tsung was a crafty individual pork.
and when he beheld the gardener weeping When was over and the
at last the feast
in the ruins, he licked his lips as though dancing had departed. Loo Siang was
girls
in anticipation of a delectable meal. in a pliable mood.
He sought converse with Loo Siang who, "I need a gardener,” the Mandarin said
in his desolate state, was of a mind to pour slowly, "and I have come* to the conclusion
out his troubles. that you are the gardener I need. Work for
"And now,” he finished brokenly, "the me at good wages until you have accumu-
gods must be laughing for they have lated sufficient money to buy a place of your
crushed me until I lack even a few grain own.”
of rice for my evening meal.” Loo Siang, thinking of Lari Kim, readily
Zok Tsung was voluble in his sympathy agreed to the proposal. Tlianks to the gen-
and he said, "Arise, and come with me. erosity of the Mandarin some day he would
In this world we are all brothers and I again be a landowner, perhaps even wealthy
should not enjoy my food were I to know enough to purchase the exquisite Lari Kim.
thatyou were hungry.”
As in a dream. Loo Siang walked beside O Loo Siang took up his new work and
the sedan chair of the Mandarin. He could S at once a change came over the garden.
not believe so distinguished a person was As he walked down the white marble paths
honoring him. Perhaps the gods were no there was discernible a gentle murmuring
longer laughing so loudly. in the treetops. The trees were voicing
The Madarin’s house was of a splendor their satisfaction over the new master of
to dazzle poor Loo Siang and he walked the flowers. And peace returned to the
as in a dreamas he was led to a magnificent heart ofLoo Siang who no longer mourned
room. His tom clothes were taken from for the loss of his house. From the soil
him. He was bathed and dressed in gar- he drew strength even as do the plants and
ments of fine material. Then he was taken the trees. And now the earth became
to a large banquet hall where food had abundantly fruitful.
been set the like of which he had never seen Occasionally Lari Kim, slender, fragile.
50 WEIRD TALES
walked in the garden. Her eyebrows were even. You owe me nothing; nor I, you.”
arched moon-bridges; her smile so enticing And so Loo Siang was again penniless.
that Loo Siang gazed upon her entranced. Five years’ savings had vanished with the
One night under the silvery sweep of the shattering of a vase. In despair he re-

moon he took her into his arms. It was a turned to the garden. The flowers, aware
night of dreams and love. Unknown to of his grief, glowed more beauteously to
the Mandarin, they slept in the shadow of a distract his attention. The trees held out
willow tree while all the fragrances of the their branches shield him from the
to
garden swirled madly about them. heat of the sun. That day the voices of the
Thereafter, life in that garden was more birds were hushed. But in the night. Lari
beautiful than ever. Lari Kim blossomed Kim came to him and slept in his arms.
like an orchid, fed by the warmth of Loo And all care slipped from him. When they
Siang’s love. And the years rolled on. awakened it was dawn and birds were sing-
Sometimes, reflecting over his lot, Loo ing.
Siang became philosophical. The gods had Time wore on until twenty years had
ceased laughing. He was no longer an piled up like a mountain and always the
object for derision. Mandarin saw to it that Loo Siang re-
So five years passed during which time mained in his debt. But now there were
Loo Siang drew not a copper coin for him- certain orchids developed by Loo Siang
self, letting his money accumulate until that had attained world renown. Mer-
there should be sufficient for him to pur- chants came from far and near to purchase
chase a garden of his own. them and money flowed into the garden in
But Zok Tsung, the Mandarin, was a a golden river. It was then that Loo Siang
conniving individual. He had no intention rebelled. He declared he would produce
of permitting his gardener to leave him no more orchids unless he shared in the
and so he summoned Loo Siang. He profits. Reluctantly the Mandarin bowed
awaited him in the Room of Porcelain and to his wishes.
he had arranged it so that as Loo Siang "Tenli from the city,” he said, "is a

passed into the room he would cause a large tract of land which I will turn over
supposedly expensive porcelain vase to fall to you in lieu of wages. It is worth many
and shatter to pieces. The vase was really times what I owe you, but I feel that you
of trifling value but the Mandarin was should be rewarded for your faithfulness.”
loud in his grief. He bellowed and spat Loo Siang accepted the offer with alacrity
curses at the dazed gardener. and said, “I have one last request to make
Loo Siang was without guile. It grieved of you.”
him that anyone should lose a treasure “Do not hesitate to speak,” said the
through his carelessness, so he offered to Mandarin, "for I am your friend.”
pay for the vase out of his accimmlated "I wish you would make me a present of
earnings. At once the Mandarin ceased the slave. Lari Kim.”
his lamentations. The Mandarin meditated. "After all,

“It is but right that you should,” he why not? She is but a broken flower and
sighed. “Though even that will not re- fast growing old.”
imburse me for my vase, the like of which "She is magnificent,” breathed Loo
does not exist in all the world. It is a Siang.
priceless porcelain, worth many times the The Mandarin eyed him shrewdly. "You
wages that are due to you. Nevertheless, are right,” he said. “She has a lovely
I shall accept your offer. Now we are body. Broadly speaking, age does not ex-
 THE MARCH OF THE TREES
ist except in a bewitched mirror that causes
snow to appear in the hair. Take her, and
welcome, but I feel that I should be reim-
bursed for so great a loss. Would it be too
much to ask you to grant me one day of
your time each week to care for my garden
in exchange for a girl of such perfection?”
hands he dug and pushed the soil away un-
til the spring widened. For years Loo
Siang had spoken to the earth as though it
were his friend. Now as a wedding gift
this spring was given unto him by the soil.
Perhaps the spring had always been there
and it needed but the help of human hands

And Loo Siang said, "Gladly do I to break through. To Loo Siang there was
agree.” nothing supernatural about its appearance.
Early the next morning, Loo Siang and He many gods so it was not odd
prayed to
Lari Kim set out afoot for the garden that one among them should answer his
which was to be their home. They were prayers.
accompanied by a representative of the That night the moon rose in a blaze of
Mandarin to show them the way. It was a glory. It painted the hut with its silvery
distance of twelve li but neither Loo Siang light until it seemed like a palace. And
nor his lady minded that. The sun stilled Loo Siang sat by the door of his house,
its heat so they might not suffer. A gentle holding 'Lari Kim in his arms, chanting
breeze accompanied them and on the breeze love songs to the moon.
floated the breath of flowers. Hours later when the moon had set and
At last they arrived at the site of the blackness once more held the countryside in
new garden, a barren desolate wasteland. its grip, strange thingsbegan happening.
There was not a tree anywhere in sight. It w’as the Black Night of Terror that has
Once more Loo Siang had been tricked. been told about in Chinese legend for a
This parched strip of desolation which thousand years. The earth trembled as
would take a century to cultivate, was his. though it were spewing up poisons which
For this worthless heritage, he had given it had swallowed and could not digest.

the best years of his life. Monstrous forms appeared upon the high-
Lari Kim put her soft arms about his ways near Soochow. Men who beheld
shoulders. these frightful forms uttered shrieks and
"After all,” she murmured, "I am still fled to their homes. All the terrors con-
with you.” ceivable had broken loose that night. Mer-
chants closed their shops and went to hid-

That afternoon they sat alone in the

squalid hut which was the only habita-
tion within miles. They had eaten the
food which the servants of the Mandarin
had packed for them. Until it was night
they wandered over their domains. There
den places to pray to the gods for mercy.
The wine taverns were deserted. Terror
gripped the land. And all night long the
highways were crowded by these silent,
monstrous forms. It was not true as some
believed that they were dragons. It was

was plenty of land, plenty of dead earth. not true that they breathed forth fire. It

It was a graveyard of hope. was not true that they snatched up tiny
"Something might be made of it,” he men and women and devoured them as they
mused, "if only there was a spring of fresh strode along. All these things were partly
running water.” imaginative. For all those dark, grim
Even as he spoke, he noticed a small forms were really trees. That queer night
trickle of water breaking through the hard of terror was caused by the march of the
soil at his feet. With a cry of surprise, trees. They were marching from the gar-
he fell upon his knees. With his bare den of the Mandarin to the barren desola-
52 WEIRD TALES
tion which was the domain of Loo Siang. had gotten there. He was engulfed by fury.
The trees refused to remain any longer in His face was purple. He summoned his
the garden of the Mandarin after their be- carriers and climbed into his sedan chair.
loved gardener had gone. And as they When he reached the garden of Loo
strode along, in their branch arms they Siang, the gardner met him, bowing pro-
carried the flowers — orchids, roses, chrys- fusely. His face bore a bland expression.
anthemums and peonies —which were too "Where are my trees?” cried Zok Tsung.
fragile to make the journey afoot. Loo Siang extended his arms. The trees
In the morning when Loo Siang and were all in the same relative positions that
Lari Kim awakened, they were awed by the they had held in the Mandarin’s garden.
spectacle that met their vision. During the When the march of the trees had ended,
night their slumbers had been undisturbed each tree had dug its feet once more into
because the wind blew all noise away from the soil for a long, long period of rest.

them. The wind guarded their sleep. "I shall have your life for this!” cried
Loo Siang walked along the flower the Mandarin. "In this land my power is

paths. He recognized every tree, every absolute. You shall be destroyed.”

flower that nodded to him as he ap- Loo Siang gazed Man-
at the choleric

proached. He knew that all these flowers darin and smiled. The gods were on his
and trees had come from the garden of the side. His friends were the trees, the flow-
Mandarin, nor was he surprised, for to him ers, and the wind. With
the sun, the soil
every flower, every tree was a vital, living, these as allies in the approaching fight,
breathing friend. what had he to fear? All the Mandarin
And he took Lari Kim in his arms and had was pomp, the power of position, men
said, "The gods have been good to us.” and money. It would be an unequal battle.
But in the palace of the Mandarin utter And Loo Siang said slowly, "For twenty
consternation reigned. All night he had years I was your slave, taking your orders,
lain in terror, surrounded by his women, a victim of your treachery and trickery.
pleading to unknown forces that his life Now things are slightly changed. Here,
might be spared. But now it was morning I am the master. It is now my turn to
and he was still unharmed. His cringing give orders. Get out of my garden!”
courage returned to him. He stalked into The Mandarin was speechless. He was
the garden. fat and flabby. He was not a match for
It was a frightful sight. Not a tree, Loo Siang in personal combat. He regret-
not a bush, not a flower remained. He ted that he had left his four carriers out-
could not believe his eyes. He summoned side on the road.
every one of his thousand women. Not "Remember,” he thundered, "though I
till each of them had corroborated the go now, I shall return.”
fact that the garden was empty was he It was a vain boast for even as he left the

willing to give credence to it. But where garden, a tree fell upon him and he was
had the trees gone? killed.
Then from one of his spies came word Throughout Soochow there was little

that all the trees now flourished in the sorrowing for the Mandarin, Zok Tsung.
desert garden of Loo Siang. The Man- And among all his thousand slave girls, not
darin did not stop to consider how they one wept.
 By ALICE MARY SCHNIRRING

Fantastic, horrifying is this tale of the '^hoy

king” whose empire was his drawing-board!

H
he filled

then, with a
enry bent

pen dipped
lower over the draw-
ing-board as the twilight deep-
ened. With a dark-red crayon,
in the outlines of another city;
in India ink, drew
hastily
He
some ambiguous dwelling
muttered to himself as he worked.
"This’ll

blings.
keep old Charley Anderson in
places.

was the tenor of his mum-

his place, I bet,”
"His barracks only have room for
— rapidly and with remarkable delicacy and about two hundred warriors, and my Royal
skill for a twelve-year-old — a temple, a Guards can clean them up with one hand
palace, and a barracks; and sketched in tied behind their backs. Anyway, the
53
 —

54 WEIRD TALES
Thorvians are a bunch of sissies.” In large was out of the question,
periority his quick

letters,he labeled the city "THORVIA,” mind had found the way out.
and sat back with a little smile on his face,
wiggling his fingers to uncramp them. As Kirwan, ruler of Draco and its sub-
A voice called from somewhere down- Henry held a position of un-
ject states,

stairs. "Hen-reeee. Hen-reeee! Your questioned authorityamong his fellows.

dinner is ready! Why aren’t you ever —
More the game had captured their imagi-
around to help me set the table or any- nations to such an extent that former, and
thing, instead of sulking up in your room possibly healthier, pastimes were neglected.
all the time? Why— ” the voice trailed off Billy Daniels (Fiero, Prince of Maglar);
into peevish, whining incohcrencies. The Donny Clark (Andrus of Ghuria) ;
Joe
boy stood up, scowling; but prepared, lag- Domenico (Horvath of Balcur) and Robin ;

gingly, to go downstairs. He paused, how- Johnson (Duke Shira, of Friya), lived only
ever, for one more look at the map. for the campaigns against the Dog-Men
It was drawn with remarkable precision. of the Outer Mountains, the internecine
It appeared to be a map of a mountainous wars that troubled Draconia with scarcely
country, dominated by one large city, built a let-up, and, of course, the political strife
on the top and upper slopes of the highest that was one of its chief raisons-d’etre. In
of the mountains. This city, marked turn, each one had tried to out-maneuver
"DRACO,” was elaborately and painstak- Henry; but Kirwan, King of Draconia, had
ingly developed with the little India ink maintained his power against each of them,
symbols. A truly magnificent palace was and his ascendancy over their minds at
at its very heart; and around the palace, the same time. "The game,” however,
cunningly enough, were strong barracks, held even more sway over Henry than over
each with a watch-tower. Beyond these, the others. More and more, his life as
again, was a very wide, bare, circular road, Henry Booth seemed the game, and a very
completely surrounding barracks, palace, unpleasant and dull game, at that; while,
gardens and all. Apparently the ruler of as Kirwan, he lived in a dangerously bril-
this kingdom had a healthy distrust of his liant world, of which every corner was
subjects, or else expected, but was prepared twice as familiar to him as the drab sur-
for, an invasion. roundings of his Aunt Martha’s and Uncle
The remainder of the map bore out the Joe’s house.
second theory; for Draco was the heart of Aunt Martha and Uncle Joe were not
a whole system of smaller cities, or states. fond of Henry, to start with. He didn't
Since each city had a palace (though none act nicely at all to their dear little Charley
as impressive as the one in Draco), the (about to become ruler of 'Thorvia); and
effect was that of a feudal overlord, sur- Charley such a bright little fellow —and so
rounded by lesser rulers. So, in fact, was healthy! Imagine — 100 pounds, and only
the case. Henrj’, who dragged out a eleven years old!
drear)’ existence with his aunt and uncle That, of course, was one way of looking
an existence complicated by the limp which at it — the Anderson’s w’ay. Henry’s way
he would always have, as a souvenir of the was, quite simply, that Charley was a big
accident in which his mother and father had overgrown slob of a boy, and a nasty little
—
been killed had found that in order to sneak and bully besides. Henry’s views
make life with the other boys of his age were actually far less biased than those of
bearable, he would have to make himself his auntand uncle. In fact, the only reason
superior to them. Since any physical su- for the creation of "Thorvia” was that
 —

CHILD’S PLAY

Charley had prowled, and sneaked, and Martha thought that she and Mrs. Daniels
opened bureau-drawers, and listened in cor- and Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Domenico
ners to too good effect. Briefly, Charley (though Mrs. Domenico was not really a
knew too much, and, in his inimitable way, lady, to Aunt Martha’s way of thinking,

could break up the game with dreadful though doubtless a good-hearted woman),
ease —but even his calculating, disagree- and Mrs. Johnson ought to get together
able little mind recognized its pull, and a and find out just what was going on. You
Dukedom was the price of his co-opera- didn’t see Aunt Martha’s Charley
tion. Panic, that had been growing in Henry
as this speech rose to its crisis, flowered

A ll this passed vaguely and hastily

through Kirwan’s mind, as he
gered in the doorway, still under the spell
lin-
Into speech.
"It’s

he stammered,
— its’s just a club.
rashly.
Aunt Martha,”

of his own creation. It was Kirwan who "Just a club!” she sniffed. "And what
frowned, standing there, foreseeing trouble kind of a club is it that is too good for my
with his latest vassal-lord; it was Kirwan Charley?”
who suddenly went back to the drawing- Henry’s panic subsided. This emer-
board, took up the India ink again, and gency had already been faced, and dealt
quickly sketched something in the south- with. He even smiled.
eastern corner of Thorvia. But it was "Why, we elected Charley a member at
Henry who dropped pen and ink, nervously the last meeting, Aunt Martha,” he said,
and ran and down the stairs, at
to the door looking at Charley. Charley’s face, which
a repetition of the whining cry, "Hen- had worn a greasy, knowing smile, sud-
reeeeee!”' from downstairs. denly took on a look of surprise, mingled
He sat through an unattractive meal of with disbelief. He stared at Henry.
boiled potatoes, cabbage, and a very poor "Ya did?” Astonishm.ent and —yes,

grade of chopped beef, topped off by a pleasure —even normal, little-boy pleasure,

bread-pudding that was mostly bread. characterized his tone.

What raisins there were, went to Charley; "Yes, Charley. You’re a full-fledged
who had also engulfed the lion’s share of member of — the club, now. Tell you about
the chopped beef. Quantity, not quality, it after dinner.”
was his motto; and glands alone were not Aunt Martha was not going to give up
responsible for the hundred pounds that quite so easily, although it was easy to see

were Charley. that slie was mollified.

The meal was enlivened by Aunt "Well, I want to know more about it be-
Martha’s monologue, mostly based on fore I let Charley join, anyway,” she said
Henry, and never complimentary to him; firmly. But Uncle Joe, for once, stood up
with variations on Charley’s virtues and to her.
—
good, healthy appetite so different from "Now, Martha — boys’ clubs are secret.
Henry, picking at his food, as if he Can’t expect ’em to tell you about what

shouldn’t be grateful to his dear auntie goes on. Leave the kids alone.”
and uncle who provided his food, at what "Well, I can trust Charley,” said Aonl
expense no one knew; and look how Char- Martha, fondly, giving in at last.
ley likes to play —not always
outdoors "I know Mother’s little man wouldn’t be-
frowsting in his room, when he wasn’t in long to any club that wasn’t nice.”
corners with those other boys — and just Charley smiled, as unpleasant a smile as
what was it they did, anyway? Aunt Henry ever remembered seeing, even on
 ” ” —

56 WEIRD TALES
Charley’s face, and replied in a sick-sweet "We trust you, Kirwan,” said dark-eyed
voice, "Yes, Mamma dear.” Horvath,who had not spoken before.
They from the table, and Charley
rose "But we know thisa new Duke is trouble-
grabbed Henry by the arm and pulled him maker. We can control heem in Draconia,
outdoors, into the spring night. yes —but outside?”
"Hurry up!’’ he said, feverishly. "If For a moment, Kirwan hesitated; then
ya didn’t mean it. I’m gonna tell everybody he spoke slowly and hesitantly. "I think
the whole Didja mean thinkI can control him outside, as well.

Have I
thing.
got a kingdom of my own
it, really?
in Dra-
I

I have a plan
—
conia? What’s name? Where The new Duke of Thorvia, Edric by
How big—
its is it?

name, was proving a trouble-maker. And

Henry was Kirwan. "Quiet!” he said. Kirwan’s liege lords, who had expected
"My lords and I m.eet in conference tonight. this, but believed that Kirwan could handle
You will be inducted into our company as it, were becoming mutinous. First, Edric

Duke of Thorvia. As is our custom, you had shown a tendency to ridicule the whole
may choose your own name by which you secret life of Draconia; but after a couple
will henceforth be known to us in Dra- of weeks, he had become as absorbed by
conia. Be ready at midnight.” Shaking it as the rest. Then, however, the greed
his arm loose from the fat, wet grasp of that was the cornerstone of his whole char-
his newest Duke, King Kirwan limped acter, had begun to come to the fore. The
away down the street. marvelously intricate details of the whole
At a quarter to twelve, Kirwan, King of country — the peasant’s huts, the different
Draconia, sat in the palace in the heart of uniforms of the fighting-men in the service
Draco, his principal city, surrounded by of each ruler; their number and character
Ills liege lords, the Prince Fiero of Maglar, — even their names; the strange flowers in
Prince Andrus of Ghuria, Prince Horvath the garden of the palace at Draco; the un-
of Balcur, and Duke Shira of Friya. All pleasant call of a certain bird found only
of them looked troubled; Fiero and Shira in the unexplored woods of Guria; and
downright furious. the revolting characteristics of the pale
"Kirwan,” spoke up Fiero, "I crave fawn-colored mink-like animal that the
leave to speak.” Friyans had tried, unsuccessfully, to exter-
"Speak,” said Kirwan, not looking up. minate; Edric, with a surprising quickness,
"I like not this new dukedom. It bounds had learned them all, and even added to his
Maglar all along my northeastern border, fellow-lords’ knowledge.
and this new Duke is a trouble-maker.”
"And
fervently.
a slimy louse,” said
"As the only other
company, one who has not yet attained
Duke Shira,
Duke of this
his
W HAT puzzled Edric, sometimes (or,
rather, it puzzled Charley Anderson)
was the fact that it did not seem to him
Prince-ship, I respectfully plead, O Kir- that he invented the things. It seemed

wan, that you make him less than a Duke.
I would not be akin to him even in
title.”
Kirwan looked up, finally. It
able that his eyes blazed with excitement,
mingled with a look of uncertainty. "Am
I not your liege lord?” he said, though not
angrily. "And do you not trust me?”
rather as if they had always been there, in
the back of his mind, and had just come
casually to the fore. Even more strange
was notice- and when Charley thought of it, he was un-
easy; although to Edric it was more a sullen
annoyance than a surprise was that Kir- —
wan knew still more than Edric and, once
or twice, had corroborated Edric’s descrip-
 ” —

CHILD’S PLAY T7

tions with certain amendations —which only being near the flowers, why, it’s the
Edric somehow realized were_ correct. other way around. The flowers grow there
There was the night when Horvath had because there’s some quality in the springs
entertained them in his palace at Balcur. that feeds them.”
The Dog-Men had been quiescent for some Edric was almost satisfied with this ex-
weeks, and conversation was idly turning planation. But back in his bed, later that
on the swamp-lands in the southeastern cor- night, Charley Anderson still lay awake,
ner of Thorvia, unfamiliar territory, except and thought, and thought. And his
for such features as Edric’s palace, the bar- thoughts came to fruition a week later.
racks,and the peasants’ huts, to most of the It was in the middle of a discussion at
group. Edric was saying, '"There must be the dinner-table — the usual discussion of
mineral springs underground in the swamp. why Henry wasn’t eating his lambstew, but
—
It it sort of churns around, sometimes; this time flavored with the unusual spice of
but not always in the same place.’’ the fact that Charley was only picking at
Kirwan had a small, secret smile on his his.
face. "Not always the same place, no,” he "It’s that dratted club of yours,” pro-
agreed; "But I think you will find always nounced Aunt Martha. "It’s got to stop.
the same sort of place.” You, Charley, you’ve been mooning
"Whatta you mean, the same sort of around the house now almost as bad as
place?” Edric demanded, puzzled; '"The Henry, for goodness knows how long. Just
whole swamp is the same sort of place. what is this club, anyway?”
And I don’t know why I should have to Charley cast a side-long look at Henry,
have a swamp in Thorvia —nobody else has. who was looking at him with a strange ex-
And this one has a nasty smell, somehow.” pression — a waiting sort of look. Charley
He stopped short, realizing with an unex- squirmed in hb chair, uneasily. "Oh
plained of fear that it did have a
thrill it’s just a club,” he answered, sullenly;
nasty smell.But how could it have? And "Ya can’t tell about it while you’re in it.

— how did he know it, and know that he But they haven’t been treating me right,
wasn’t "making it up”? His mind was so —
and I think I’ll resign afid then. Mamma,
absorbed by this rather frightening prob- I’ll tell you all about it.” As he spoke
lem that he almost missed Kirwan’s an- the last words, he looked straight at Henry,
swer. with a sly, triumphant expression, that said
"It only — —churns around near
er those even more plainly than words, "See? I
dark-purple waterlilies, doesn’t it?” said have you in a cleft stick. Either you knuckle
Kirwan, mildly; yet with a gleam of almost under to me, or
—
uncontrollable excitement in his eyes. Henry looked back at him, with an un-
"What?” said Edric, and thought. "Yes,” readable gleam in his eyes. Or was it
he and then with more conviction,
said, Kirwan who looked back at him? Charley
"Yes. Only by the purple flowers.” — Edric —
found himself unable to decide,
Then, jumping up, and with his voice but something made him say, quickly, "Of
shrill, "Why? What is it? You know course, if they’re nicer to me, I won’t re-
what it is. How do you know?” sign —and then I couldn’t tell.”
Kirwan cast down his eyes to the map, '"There, Henry,” said Aunt Martha. "I
which always he took with him to the meet- knew you were being mean to poor little
ings. "Why, mineral springs, as you sug- Charley. You’re jealous of him, that’s
gested,” he answered. '"That’s what makes what it is; because you’re a cripple and
the swamp smell, probably, too. As for its he’s a big strong, clever boy. Either you
 —

58 WEIRD TALES
treat him right, or I’ll break up that club slowly, "’Tliat I have reason to believe I

of yours —
and I mean it!” will all my fighting men shortly. Why
need
Henry looked at his plate. His nostrils not ask Duke Edric for some of his forces?”
flared, but he said absolutely nothing for a All eyes turned toward Edric, who sat,
minute. ’Then he looked up, his expres- fatly, in his chair, with a smug smile.

sion imitating perfectly that of a twelve- "Sure,” he said, pleasantly, “I’ll let you

year-old boy who, while still sullen, has have half of them. But — I need more
been forced into following a course of ac- land, an’ more influence. In fact, I think
tion repugnant to him. "Oh, all right! he Kirwan ought to take over Thorvia, and
said. "We’ll Charley up so he won’t
fix I’ll take Draco — and, of course, whatever
kick.” And under his breath, he added, goes with it.”

"Ever again.” The only one apparently unmoved in the

That night Kirwan worked late with his middle of the resulting turmoil was Kir-
fine-pointed drawing pen and the India ink. wan. "Quiet!” he said, loudly. And un-
And when he had finished, the false dawn der the influence of his voice, they actually
was just breaking; and showed, as he did quiet down.
switched off his light, the addition he had "I have been expecting tliis,” he said,

made to his map in the southeastern corner unconcernedly. “But I am prepared for
of 'Thorvia. It was beautifully executed; it. Edric
— he turned toward him sud-
”

a sluggish, somehow oily-looking creature. denly. "Have you been down to the
Drawn to the scale of the map, it was very marsh lately?”
large — in fact, almost half the size of the Duke of 'Thorvia stirred un-
'The fat
swamp itself. It had a disgusting appear- easily."What’s that got to do with it?”
ance, and was so clearly limned that one he demanded. "Anyway, it’s your head-
could almost see it move. Henry had a ache —
now Draco has no marsh,” and he
distinct talent. He slept, then, with the giggled. "And either I get Draco, and rule
little smile that had become almost a fix- the whole bunch, or ^you know.” —
ture, on his face. "Know what?” demanded Fiero trucu-
lently. But Kirwan held up his hand.
«T^ING KIRWAN,” said Duke Shira, "He means he’ll destroy Draconia by
"I crave the help of some Draconian well, exposing it to the light,” he said, in-
fighting-men.” differently; almost with amusement at his
Kirwan’s eyebrows shot up. "So? Are —
own joke. “But Edric, have you noticed
not the Friyans content? Surely you do that the dark purple waterlilies have all

not expect trouble with your people?” withered?”

"No,” said "The people are con-
Shira. A peculiar look came over Edric’s face.
tent, except for one thing the woods are — "What of it?” he asked, shrilly; "What’s
becoming increasingly full of khalders, and that got to do with it?”
— you know why we must keep them Kirwan smiled. "Why,
would sug- I
down.” gest that after we disband tonight, you go
Kirwan nodded. Andrus of Ghuria, who —
down to the swamp and maybe you’ll find
had a tendency toward squeamishness, out why churns. It might not be mineral
it

gulped a little, and looked unhappy, since springs, you know; and it would be inter-
the khalders, those pale fawn-colored ani- esting to find out what else it could be
mals that looked something like weasels, wouldn’t it?”
had habits that were better not thought of. Edric’s face looked ghastly. "I won’t!
"The only thing is,” said Kirwan, You can’t make me!” he cried.
 —

CHILD’S PLAY !»9

"I won’t go near it!” listening look, was on his face, making it
'You have to sleep,” suggested Kirwan, strangely unpleasant. His attic room was
sHII smiling. The others looked puzzled directly above Charley’s large, airy bed-
and frightened, but Edric looked dreadful. room; and sounds traveled upwards fairly
"I won’t sleep!” he screamed. "I won’t plainly. An anomalous sound was reach-
sleep!
”
ing his ears now —a wet, squelchy, crawling
When they broke up, he was still mut- sound. Suddenly, he heard a terrible cry.
tering it. As the sound of running feet, crying
voices, and finally a dreadful scream from
At five o’clock in the morning, Kirwan Auntie Martha, reached his ears, Kirwan
sat up in bed. A look of anticipation, a turned over and went to sleep, smiling.

The Wood-Wife By LEAH BODINE DRAKE

TN A hollow oak-tree
I live by the wood,
A bit more than human
And much less than good.

I’ve queer spells, potent spells.

That I went to learn
To the goat-hooved and shaggy ones
Who hide in the fern.

The good-wives, the house-wives.

On a day of falling leaves

They shudder at my sin: I met the young Squire.

I gave him a sidelong look
But much they’d give to learn to weave
Cloth of spiders ’-spin!
That set his face afire.

My pet fox, my The bonny young Squire,

russet fox.
He ravishes their geese:
He dreams in a spell;
But not of golden curlylocks
Yet none dare call out the hounds
If they would know peace!
Of Parson Jones’ Nell
But of red hair, and green eyes
'That have looked on Hell!

Dream, pretty Squire-kin!

It’s small use to bum!
For when the moon is up
The wood-wife will turn

Three times widdershins.

And greet where you stood
Hie shagged-men, the satyr-men
Who creep from the wood!
 f

o o

UPERSTiflONS

POSSESSION OF’
AN EMERALD
WAS ONCE THOUGHT
TOSilMPEN TUB t¥/r^ JOCOi^Bli RiOiBS
AND. INNEN PLACED UNDEP WE TONGUE, TO GIVE
TUB POWER OF PRBDiCJIONi THEY WEftE ALSO
BELIEVED TO NAVE GQEiCT TUERAPELfT/C VAUJE
AND FORMULAS FOQTNE CURB OF POISONING
BY SmiLOlN/NG WE PONDEQ OFTN/S GEM INERB m
mESCPJBED AS LATE AS TNE SEVENTEENTN CENTURY
WATED in which an EMEDALD mad STOOD WAS
SUPPOSED TO CURE INFlAMATION OF THE EYES
AND NEPO /S SA/P 70 NAVE PVA7CNED
GLAPIATOa/AL CONTESTS THRU AN EMERALP
BECAUSE OFiTS RESTFUL NUB Q
O
60
 Believing that afted D^ath
MAS STDUCk,ME CARRIES OFF A
LIST OF FUTURE ^LIVING VICTIMS,
SOME American Indians cmange
TMEIR NAMES SO WAT ON TUE
fiBTUnN OF DEATH NE HfiLL
_^NOTBEABL£70
iDEHTiFY TNEM
UNDER TNEiDNEN
NAMES

A COMMON
PARTS
BELIEF IN
OF Europe is that a
HUMAN SACRIFICE
I
SrAB/L/ZE3 /! BU/LDING
4\ WITCH TAKES EARTH
X
FROM A MAN'S SHADOW AND ,

CASTS IT INTO THE FOUNDATIONS

OF A HALF- BUILT MOUSEoo
THIS IS BELIEVED TO CAUSE
THE MAN TO Die, S/NOE
AA/ANSSHAOOH /S <

CON3/DEDED AN
TNTEGRAL PAQTOE
H/M
 ”

at Master
By GREYE LA SPINA

What could they mean, those soft rustlings and pattering that had nothing to
do with the leaves —nor with the rain, though rain was falling?

T he night was pitchy dark; the

sky indigo.
flitted across
Black vaporous racks
the moon
be glimpsed only occasionally through
that could

in the interlacing branches of the crowd-

rifts
based
Once
I

flashlight;

but to lighten
myself did
in a while
not exactly
I used the electric
oddly enough, not to make surer
our panting way along the hardly-used
my
know.

furtive glances into the

trail,

ing trees. The rutty roadway had become creeping shadows that lurked about us,
a rude cattle trail, along which I urged not only galloping fast upon our heels, but
Carry with ever-increasing anxiety, al- pressing closer on either hand while giv-
though upon what my apprehension was ing way with suspicious readiness ahead.

"The
ture
horridly
danced in ugly glee—
unveiled crea-

62
 Carrjr, good little sport, leaned more and muscles to repeat, time and time again, the
more heavily upon my supporting arm. same expansions and contractions that re-
Her high-heeled pumps (chosen for motor- sulted in our slow forward movement, were
ing, not for that scrambling, hasty flight facing the fact that night had come on
over rough, rugged trails) continually apace under cover of those thunderous and
tripped her; she turned her slender ankles gloomy canopies of darkness which an ap-
more than once, with faint ejaculations of proaching storm was hanging across the
impatient dismay. That she was at the lowering sky.
point of exhaustion I intuitively sensed, but Goback we could not if we would, for
I dared not let her realize my awareness by now I knew that I could not have found
of her condition; instead, I managed to jerk my way back to where we had abandoned
out occasional words of encouragement the car, when it refused to travel farther.
that would lead her to believe I thought Yet I would have been glad to have felt
her capable of far greater effort than yet it possible to return; with plate glass win-
remained in her fragile body. dows properly fastened up, we would have
That we must continue on our arduous, had the semblance of a refuge about us,
struggling way. Carry realized as well as I. whereas now we knew not how long we
Night in that thick, unfriendly wood was must stumble forward in the fast-gathering
not to be contemplated save as the ulti-
mate alternative. Yet we two, breathing
in thick panting gasps as we willed our

—
" and silence reigned where had
been utterly frightful sounds!"

63
 —

64 WEIRD TALES
darkness, ignorant of what lay before us, flies, these. Something about them struck
even while we fled from what we instinc- a bizarre note that was highly unpleasant.
tively felt was pursuit closing in with ini- "Jack! The fireflies—?”
mical intent. Carry had observed it also. Her frail
Most of all things terrifying to the body was trembling in my arms with an
human soul is the intangible. It is not agitation not altogether that of physical
that final terrifying apparition that freezes exhaustion. All at once she pulled against
the blood in one’s veins. It is the my encircling arms with unexpected vio-
slow turning of the knob of one’s cham- lence.
ber door in the eerily still hours before "Let us go on. Jack! Oh, we must go
dawn, when one knows that he is alone in on! Fireflies emit a yellow light, and these
the house andno other human being
that are a livid green. They are not fireflies.
can possibly intrude upon his guarded soli- What are they, then?” Her voice sank to
tude. So now those creeping, silent shad- a faint, scared whisper. "Jack — the rain
ows drew ever closer upon Carry and me, it wasn’t rain, Jack.”
while we
clung to each other, slipping and Powers above! She was right. What we
stumbling along the narrow trail, lighted had taken for pattering raindrops had been
scantily now by sparkling fireflies that the delicate drumming of feet, the feet of
flashed more and more thickly as we went an innumerable horde of small animals,
on. so tiny that their eyes, sparkling with
——
"Jack I can’t go — —
farther.
’’
strange green light, were but a few inches
Carry collapsed against me heavily, the above the carpet of dead leaves over which
faint words jerked from her panting lips. they ran. What could they be, that walked
With held her from the ground,
difliculty I when we walked, stood when we stood?
clasping my
arms desperately about her My body twisted in a shudder of invol-
half-fainting body tightly, and trying still untary horror and distaste. My teeth went
to urge her along. My efforts were vain. suddenly on edge. I could feel gooseflesh
"You must try again, dear. You can’t coming out on my skin.
stay out here all night. It is beginning to "Courage, sweetheart! There must be
rain. You’ll be drenched if we stay here. shelter near at hand. Come, lean on me,
There must be a house of some kind near- and try again.”
by, or there wouldn’t be this definite trail,
poor as it is.”
The pattering of heavy raindrops on the CARRY withdrew from
arms and once more addressed herself
my supporting

carpet of dead leaves had been faintly dis- to the arduous efforts her exhaustion had
cernible while we were moving along. but a moment since obliged her to aban-
Now that we stood still we heard them don. Fear whipped her nerves and her
more plainly, although after a moment muscles into momentary action. As she
they ceased entirely. In their stead there stumbled onward with me, she moaned un-
came from the murk about us a soft rus- der her breath.
tling, a faint stirring, llien I observed "Jack — —
I’m dreadfully frightened.” —
what had escaped my mo-
notice until that "Nonsense, dear. Nothing to be afraid
ment. 'The fireflies that had been flashing of,” I lied boldly, but I was listening, ears
on either side of the trail were emitting suddenly keener for every night sound.
their lights only in doublets, as it were, I heard that soft rustling and pattering

and none were flying higher than a few all about us, that was not rain; my eyes
inches above the ground. Strange fire- shrank from the flashing of innumerable
 ?

THE RAT MASTER 65

tiny sparks of green that were not fireflies.

—
"No use —Jack dear. Leave me. Save

A shiver of nausea and distaste caught at ^yourself!”

my I had much ado to

shrinking flesh and (Oh, she would say that to me, my
quiet it might not catch the con-
that Carry heart of gold!)
tagion of that involuntary horror from me. "And what would my life be without
Tliere was something afoot on another you, little love? If you cannot go with me,
plane that had impinged somehow upon I stay here with you.”
ours; this much I knew intuitively. There — — —
"Jack dear you arc truly good. For
was a gathering atx)ut us in those dark — —
your sake I will try again.”
groves of creatures that in some secret I helped her to her tired feet. The
fashion were interested in us; whether soft rustle of her rising was echoed and
their will was potent for good or evil only prolonged all about us. As she staggered
time would show. I felt a sickness within weakly up, I flashed the electric torch
my bade me beware; it told me
soul, that quickly toleft, to right. Shadows. Black
that the interest our strange escort had be- shadows. Thick, dark, ugly shadows.
trayed in the movements of us two night None else visible. Nothing moved but
wanderers boded ill. those portentous blots of night that lurked
I could feel the body of my little sweet- and seemed to leer on every side. Or was
heart sinking more and more heavily. I it not they which moved? Perhaps it was
caught her against me yet tighter, and heard the owners of the eyes —
her faint, despairing whisper. "Don’t try to talk, darling. Spare your
"Dear —Jack— I told you —he would breath for this last effort. We must find
never — let me escape.” shelter of some kind near at hand.”
Her hopeless tone filled me with a fury As if the necessity behind my words had
that momentarily gave me fresh strength. evoked an answer to my inward prayer,
Dwight Harkness should not have her the path took a sudden twist. We rounded
body again, to use in his vile incantations; the curve, and oh! the joy of seeing dim
he should no more suck the lifeblood from lights ahead.
her delicate arteries. "Here is a house, dear. Courage! Only
"He can have nothing to do with any- a few steps more and we shall be under
thing here, dearest. We
have left him shelter.”
miles behind. He can hardly have learned
yet that you have fled. Lean on me, little
love.
"I
I shall be strong enough for two.”

— — —
cannot take another step.” —
W E GAINED
mean
tage, but it was
the hovel.

it had a
shelter of a kind;
It

to be termed a house or a cot-

was too

Carry went into a shapeless heap at my
very feet, and I was obliged to stop
leandown in order to get that slender lit-
tlebody up into the shelter of my arms.
As I stopped, and leaned, the sound of
drumming feet about us died away, and it
seemed as if it began to be quiet close to
us,and then little by little grew quiet afar
off, as if the escort of creatures in the
shadows were indeed an army that stretched
through the woods and into the far distance
all about us.
roof and four walls, two blank and dirty
and windows that seemed to permit a pale light
to filterthrough into the night darkness.
I rapped at the door imperatively. At the
sound of my knock, the rustling about us
ceased and such a silence wrapped us about
that almost I could have desired to hear
once more that drumming and pattering
of unseen thousands of tiny feet, the rus-
tling and stirring of myriads of living
creatures in the night about us.
Then, as if my knock had been a signal,
 — —

''iS6 WEIRD TALES

the door flew open to us, and simultane- late I remembered that I had left my auto-
ously thewindows went blanker and the matic in the door-pocket of the car when
light thathad seemed to emanate from we abandoned it. I stood before Carry
within was gone. Carry dragged at me, and faced the opposite door now; turned
unavailingly. the light upon it, my nerves jumping in an
"No —no—no!” she was crying in terri- ecstasy of horrid anticipation. For I had
fied, choked gasps. "It is a trap. I tell caught the slight creaking of the rusty
you, he will not let me escape. Now hinges. Nov/ I saw the turning of the
he will have us both!” knob, and the inch-by-inch widening of
Her exclamations died away suddenly. the opening that would presently admit
I picked up her slight, unconscious body what?
and stepped across the threshold, at the Behind me Carry cried out and strug-
same time directing the rays of the torch gled to her feet, that she might meet what-
into the interior of the hut, for it was little ever was to come bravely, standing. My
more than a hut. It was entirely empty. game little Carr)'! How my heart yearned
I thrust the door shut with my foot, then over her.
stood holding Carry against my heart while
I listened.
Silence. Heavy silence, thick with The door slipped yet wider with reluc-
tant creakings and then remained mo-
portent. A kind of panic seized upon me. tionless, perhaps four inches open. My
Again I threw the brilliant ray of the torch nerves (none too good after the tramp
about, to find nothing save a door opposite through those haunted woods in the at-
that by which we had entered. Reason told tempt to snatch my little sweetheart from
me could only lead out of the hut again,
it the man who called himself her guardian
for Ihad seen at a glance that it was but a but of whose dealings with the Evil One
rude shack. For the moment, then, I dared she had for long had no doubt) could not
forget the slowly growing murmur with- brook that and ominous waiting.
silent
out, as if millions of tiny animals were "Whoever you are, enter!” I shouted
whistling and chirping and squeaking to- furiously. "Either come in or go out!”
gether in an ever-increasing, evil chorus. The door swung obediently wider. My
I let Carry’s body slip gently to the heart almost missed a beat. Leaning against
rough board floor, ripped off my coat and my left shoulder now stood my little love,
cushioned her dear brown head upon it. breathing in short, quick gasps.
Then, standing the lighted torch upright "'You ask me to come in?” said a voice,
beside her, I set to chafing her cold fingers with incredulous intonation. "I had hardly
between my own warm palms. I had taken expected a welcome.”
the precaution- to kneel in such a position "Either get in or get out!” I snapped.
that the door by which we had entered "And be quick about it.”

could not be pushed open, being blocked "I accept your kind invitation,” said the
by my own body. As to the rear door, I voice, on a curious high pitch, somehow
dared not for the moment take time to see reminding me of the twitter of mice under
if it were secured or not; first I must bring the flooring.
consciousness back to my poor darling who "It’s all wrong, Jack!” breathed Carry’s
lay white and still upon the floor. softwhisper into my ear. "You shouldn’t
It was as her eyelids fluttered open that I have asked h — in. It is evil. I feel
kaped to my feet, seizing the torch from strongly that it is evil. Had it been good,
the floor, for it was my only weapon. Too it would not have waited for an invitation.”
 THE RAT MASTER -67

Hastily the voice repeated, "I accept your "Hush, dear. It would be folly to at-
unsolicited invitation.” tempt going on in the darkness, and with
The owner of that high, squeaking voice that army of creatures outside. Sit your-
appeared so suddenly in the narrow aper- self down, strangers, on your side of the
ture of the doorway that almost I started room. Carry, rest on the floor, on my coat,
back in consternation. A noisome odor dear. I’ll keep watch. This storm will
made itself known
he came in.
as pass, as must the night. And then the
"Shut that door behind you,” I ordered, things outside will surely depart and we
feeling that my own voice was not as even can go on.”
as I would have liked it to be. "There’s Obedient, if reluctant. Carry sank down
something unpleasant abroad tonight, and behind me in the corner.
there’s no sense in asking it inside, too.” The gray mantle of that other wanderer
The only response of that ragged man- seemed to have grown wider and longer,
tled, dwarfish creature was a shrill titter. for when he also sank to the floor against
At the sound of it Carry quailed; one of the opposite wall it was large enough to
her delicate little hands took hold ujxin my envelop him completely, so that to the
arm so tightly that her finger nails pinched casual eye nothing was discernible but a
through my shirt and hurt me so that I heap of dark cloth tumbled together in a
winced involuntarily. raggedy huddle. Not so much as the faint
motion caused by breathing could be dis-
T STARED at that strange visitor, holding tinguished when I turned the electric torch
die bright ray of the electric torch upon that heap of dark garments, and I
steadily upon him. The gray mantle turned it there occasionally during the next
shrouding his crooked, stunted body was dragging hours, although mest of the time
drawn across his face as if to shield his I kept it in my hand, focussed upward so

eyesfrom the too-bright glare of the light; that it would cast its illumination over the
it eflFectually concealed from me what man- entire interior of the hovel.
ner of man he might be. Unprepossessing, Carry slept well, from sheer exhaustion.
beyond doubt, if I were to judge from that I myself felt more wideawake than ever,
wretched, shrill voice of his, so like —Pow- for much might depend upon my wakeful-
ers Above, so like the high, twittering ness. I had looked at my watch and was
squeals of rats in their foul holes. As that just slipping it back into my pocket after
ghastly thought possessed my brain, noting that it was almost four o’clock, when
I turned my eyes cautiously in their sockets a sound without the hut galvanized me into
without moving my head, and met the action, bringing me to my feet with a snap.
frozen stare of Carry, leaning weakly I put the light on the third inmate of the
my shoulder.
against hovel, but the pile of dark garments yielded
"Who and what are you?” I demanded no sign of life. The sound without was
sharpeningmy tone as I once more focussed that of human footsteps that came unevenly
my gaze upon the intruder. as if the walker, were uncertain, in the
"A
poor wanderer, seeking shelter from murky night, of his path.
the storm and night,” squeaked the new- No other sound had broken in upon the
comer. Again that high, irritating titter, silence of the long night, save the soughing
for all the world like mice in the wainscot- of heavy gusts of wind among the treetops
ing- and the occasional swoops of the gale burst-
"Jack! Let’s go on! Anything would be ing down upon our rough refuge. Once,
better,” began Carry, shrinking behind me. indeed, when I had chanced to give a swift
68
and unexpected glance at the huddle of
garments in the corner, I could have taken
my oath that from its midst a keen, bright
eye peered sharply at me with a kind of
WEIRD TALES
was so situate upon a rocky ledge that only
by going through this thick wood could
we eventually regain the highways of civil-
ization.

constant watchfulness that made me grit 'Thus securely had old Harkness hid-
my teeth together involuntarily with the den himself and his vile magical prac-
shock. The intent, sly gaze of that mis- tices from the cognizance of mankind. I

shapen being slumped against the wall held told myself bitterly, as I listened to that

in it more than a suggestion of the unpleas- groping footfall without, that Carry was
antly bizarre and bordered all too closely right; I might have known it had I not

on the furtivencss of some foul denizen of chosen to be blind. That bitter and
another plane which should never have ven- vindictive old man would not permit
tured across its own border into material her to escape. He let her think she w'as
existence. escaping, so that her final recapture into
Again those uneven, wavering footfalls hopeless slavery might destroy in her the
without, sounding distinctly upon my last clinging vestiges of hope that her love
straining ears betw’een the blows the swirl- for me, her faith in me, had so far main-

ing wings of the tempest hurled at the frail tained within her. By trapping me also, he
hut, that rocked and shuddered at each would destroy her finally with devilish
fresh impact. My harried gaze fell once completeness.
more upon the third occupant of out
refuge, and again I saw the glitter of a TN MY mind I cursed the sheer nervous
partially shielded eye, that gleamed like a -* stupidity which had made me take the
wild creature’s green reptilian orb out of a wrong turning, the fatal assumption on my
thick, black night. part that my gas meter registered correctly.
The wanderer who shared the hut with Had I been a bit more careful, we could
Carry and me was alert, in spite of his at least have returned to the crossroads and
huddled and shapeless appearance; his there gained the right turning that led out
readiness held for me a hidden significance of this thickly wooded wilderness onto the
that I strove in vain to penetrate. That it main road that would have taken us out of
carried a concealed threat I knew instinc- this strange and portentous country. We
tively. I felt about it an emanation as of would have had enough gas to have lasted
obscene, silent laughter at the impotence of us to the nearest village. I blamed myself
creatures weaker than he. This stranger only, for Carry had clung to me with im-
who had entered the forest cabin upon my plicit faith in my ability to extricate her
inadvertent invitation was more than he from her terrible position that she had
seemed to be ui^on the surface. Twisted given not a single thought to the details of
and deformed of body as he appeared to her escape.
be, about him I felt the steady purposeful- —
Yet I threw a tender look at her quiel
ness of and
well-aimed knowledgeful form, her dear brown head pillowed on my
power, potent for good or
will.
illas he might coat —she would be better off to die what-
ever death might face us together, rather
Well had Carry’s guardian planned, than to perish in the midst of some vile in-
when he permitted her escape with me. We cantation, soul-victim perhaps as well as
had been obliged to flee in the only possi- body-victim, to that villainous old man who
ble direction, through those haunted had been sucking the life and personal
woods, since his wild country habitation will out of her by his evil magic. As I
 THE RAT MASTER 69

looked down at her she stirred; her eye- posture, although it almost immediately
lids fluttered open. changed to an upright position. ”1110 slate
Her face was
rosy with the flush of
still gray of the ragged mantle still concealed
dreamless sleep. So great was her con- the stranger’s features, but two piercing
fidence in me that she had slipped off into and scintillant eyes glared fixedly upon
heavy slumber without a misgiving. She Carry and me from that carefully main-
met my gaze with a smile, a courageous tained shelter.
smile that wrung my heart, for I knew we "I am to go, eh? And why? You asked
had only begun our struggle with powers me in,didn’t you?”
and forces about which I could as yet make A sickening voice he had; a voice that
only faint surmises. went off into an occasional squeak; a sharp,
"Jack, dear, morning yet?"
is it uncontrolled animal sound.
My away from her, for the
eyes jerked "I rather fancy it is daylight without,” I
torch had reflected a sudden sliding and said irrelevantly, and gave Carry a hand to
metallic beams of light from the huddle of help her to her feet. "These windows are
dark garments across the room, and I knew so soiled with dust and cobwebs that very
that the stranger had moved at the sound little light filters in, but my watch says it is

of her voice. Without taking my eyes from nearly five o’clock. The sun must be coming
the being which shared our refuge, I an- up by now.”
swered her in a cautiously lowered voice. A high tittering laugh filtered from
"Dear, someone is lurking outside. I’ve behind the gray cloak.
been hearing light footfalls in the pauses "You are taking a high hand,” said the
of the gale.” stranger, his shoulders shaking as if in
Carry sat up quickly, and I could imagine silent mirth.
without seeing it the expression of dismay "We were firstcomers here,” I retorted
that was passing over her sweet face. sharply.
"Jack! Oh, dear God, it is hel” "Ho, ho, ho! But you see, this happens
"Nonsense! It is only someone caught to be my house,” explained he, and his
in the storm, or lost, just as we and our sharp little eyes flashed and sparkled dis-
friend over yonder were.” agreeably.
"No —no— I feel that he is near.” I did not reply at once, but listened
Her agitation stirred me. I would get keenly for tliose groping footfalls that had
that stranger outside, at least. affectedme so unpleasantly a few minutes
"Time you wakened and got out of here, ago. Although the wind had died down
my man!” I exclaimed. "The storm is with the closer approach of dawn, I heard
dying away, and I’m not at all sure that we them no longer.
want more of your company.” Carry touched my arm timidly.
The huddle of dark garments stirred into "Let’s go. Jack. I —I’m afraid to stay
motion. 'The being within them got to its here.”
feet with a lithe but abnoxious synchronism Our host laughed and chuckled to him-
of muscles that made my nose wrinkle in self, or perhaps at her naive admission.
distaste, for it was more the easy movement Then, "Outside,” said he abruptly, "are
of a w'ild creature than the balanced grace all my children. They were called here.
of an athletic human body. For a moment, They are waiting now to be fed.”
as he arose,he rested on feet and hands He stared at us, eyes glinting cruelly.
like a beast, and there was something espe- God knows, there was nothing in the
cially sickening to me in that momentary bare words he said to make my flesh
 —

70 WEIRD TALES
shrink, my lips draw back tightly against hovel there are — literally thousands of rats

my teeth in sheer loathing, but Carry’s fin- sitting waiting everywhere I could see.
gers, squeezing into my arm, told me that Ugh!”
she, too, had received the same horrid im- My teeth had gone on edge as my mind
pression. roved among the horrid possibilities of our
"Open the door,you wish, my dear
if situation. And like a fool, like a stupen-
guests. Perhaps then you will choose to dous fool of fate, I had left my automatic
remain inside here.” in the car pocket! Itwould have offered
us an alternative, at least, to whatever hor-
T RUBBED the filthy pane of one win- ror threatened us now. Oh, was ever a
dow vigorously with the sleeve of my would-be knight errant more asinine, more
discarded coat, which I had retrieved for criminal, than I? From the ghastly fate
the purpose, but without helping out the that had threatened my little love under the
situation much, for the glass was scratched roof of her "guardian,” I had snatched her,
and marred as well as vilely dirty, and I only to expose her to as horrid and dis-
could not see clearly through it. There was gusting a death as the mind could conceive
no help for it. In spite of that shrouded and retain sanity.
being’s veiled menace, I must risk opening Across the room the mysterious being
the dcxjr to see what threatened from with- rustled and chuckled and jeered and jerked
out. in ugly, loathsome merriment.
Cautiously I tiptoed to the door of our '"rhey will stay, will my guests. Ah,
last night’s entry, lifted the latch slowly yes, they will stay — for as long as I will let
and carefully, my foot behind the opening them. Ho, ho, ho!”
door that any sudden rush from without "But we shall not be obliged to submit
might not fling it wide. As I opened it a your presence here,” I shouted
to suffering
crack, I applied one eye to that small point suddenly moved to swift action, for it
of vision and stared. Then I jerked the seemed to me that I could no longer breathe
door to, my hands trembling with the icy the same air that this vile creature was
cold of nervous shock, and stood, back polluting.
against it, breathing hard. I sprang across the room, throwing off
"Jack! Jack! What was it?” Carry’s small restraining hand as I leaped,
"Carry, I am afraid I have dragged you and flung myself upo^ the disgusting hud-
into something as horrible as what you dle of noisome rags that shrouded that
thought you were escaping from. My sneering being. I met the impact of my
imagination fails to conceive what it may hands upon his throat only to feel his mus-
be, butyou were right, my poor little love, cles tighten to an iron tautness that told me
about your guardian. He is a potent magi- immediately that my strength was puny
cian indeed, as well as a vampire and a in comparison to that which I had so madly
devil,” I cried out bitterly. defied. The creature made no returning
Carry’s hands clutched at me frantically. gesture of physical violence, but appeared
"But what did you see outside? What rooted to the spot with a steady immovabil-
did you see? Was it he?” ity upon which my own athletic fitness
"No, he is not there. At least, I did broke as a powerful ocean wave breaks and
not see him.” disintegrates upon an implacable cliff of
—
"'Then what what has so shocked and adamant.
changed you. Jack?” Carry’s cry of dismay and despair gave
"Carry darling, outside this wretched the final touch to my mounting apprehen-
 —

THE RAT MASTER 71

sion. I cursed myself for an impotent that you have found useful in your work.”
fool, as I felt my fingers slowly losing their "And if I have?” steadily replied the
grip upon that steel which they had grasped other, holding himself with high dignity.
beneath a dwarf’s rags. My eyes left the "Ho, ho, ho! You omitted to provide
devilish keen contempt of that creature’s food after the calling. My children are
shining orbs to see, the other door opening waiting, and they are hungry; very hun-
with a swift movement, and the entrance gry,” squeaked that voice with soft em-
of a fourth human being into the hut. It phasis.
was old Harkness himself, and as he en-
tered my straining ears caught the milling ^ARRY’S slight body slumped against
from without of those thousands of rats
—
^ my arm. I shook her a bit harshly to
that were waiting ^waiting waiting — bring back active consciousness, poor child,
with such hideously confident patience. for it was no time to lose one’s wits when
At his entrance, the being whose throat our fate was being decided by two as foul
I had grasped gave himself a quick shake, beings as ever drew God’s fresh, sweet air
and I slipped weakly from him, while he into their polluting lungs.
seemed to have expanded in potency so Dwight Harkness threw out one hand
that the power emanating from him made in an impatient yet curiously placating ges-
his very physical semblance more lofty, ture.
straighter. He turned to Harkness, burning "I will send them away again,” he said
eyes that were still shielded by his upheld scornfully. "I need them no longer.”
mantle, disregarding as if we meant noth- "And you really believe you can send
ing in the scheme of things. Carry and my- them away? And you think they will go?”
self. 'The piercing orbs of the dwarfish crea-
"So you have called my children,” he ture lighted suddenly upon my face then,
stated rather than asked, and his squeaking with a kind of devilish mirth a-dance with-
tone held accusation. in them.
Dwight Harkness wasted but a bare "You, young sir, who have brought your
He drew his
scornful look at Carry and me. sweetheart to this sorry pass, shall have a
form to its and he had once
full height, chance to atone for your indiscretion. The
been a man of noble and commanding girl shall live. She shall return to her
mien before he had degraded mind and guardian’s protection. But my children
body by vile magical arts. without must be fed, if they are to let her
"You dare resent my action?” he said, pass free among them.”
scowling until his prominent hooked nose A ghastly silence hung upon the
heavily
almost met the beard that clothed his chin hut’s gray morning murk. The meaning of
luxuriantly in snowy white, giving him the those words was only too clear. Carry
false semblance of a noble patriarch. would be permitted to return in safety to
"Resent?” Our host uttered a high, tit- her guardian’s laboratory, if I would give
tering laugh. "I? Ho, ho, ho! It is not myself to the famished vermin waiting with
‘

1, it is they, who resent the calling. My such devilish patience without. God, could
children are hungry. They wait without. a man contemplate such an alternative and
You called them
— —andownhe purposes
for your
”
not shrink from it?
only, to drive these
indifferently in our
—gestured
—
direction " into
I uttered an involuntary groan, for with
the sacrifice of myself. Carry would be
your power again, that you might once riven of all human friendship, cheated of
more assume possession of a soul and body all hope of human succor. It was this, I
72 WEIRD TALES
swear, which held me in bitter dread and triumph, his eyes under their beetling
resentment at that moment. brows bent upon poor Carry, who had
"Jack! No! Rather let us both go to face lifted her small face heavenward in God

the rats!” knows what agony of desperate invocation.

My brave girl! My lovely sweetheart! He laughed sardonically as he seized upon
I took her outstretched hand firmly in my little love’s frail wrist, and jerked her
mine. We
met together, the eyes of that toward him.
Evil Two- "Let that fool out to feed the children,”
"I cannot go, leaving her to that devil he commanded in brutal merriment. "I

in human form,” I protested, oddly enough cannot go through them carrying this girl,
to the dwarf. "Better that she should be unless they have their —
occupation,” he
food for the rats, than lose her immortal finished ironically.
soul under that man’s vile practices. Open "You have forgotten your spells? Ho,
the door! We are going out there together.” ho, ho, chief master of magicians!”
My flesh shrank sickly, but I knew it There was a something subtle in the
would not take long, for they were many dwarf’s voice that gave me pause even
which waited without. Carry’s eyes sought while my nerveless but determined fingers
mine; upon her white face rested a curi- were lifting the latch that would let me out
ously contented smile that gave peace to to my doom. I turned slowly, met some-
my heart. thing in those piercing eyes that was neither
"It won’t take long, Jack, will it?” came venomous nor vindictive, and hesitated.
her whisper faintly. Dwight Harkness, upon whose left arm
could feel her trembling against me.
I hung the now limp body of my poor little
Inwardly I was groaning at the horrid sweetheart, turned also, with something of
thoughts that assailed me. Her tender dark wonder and amazement on his heavily
flesh at the mercy of those sharp, slashing lined countenance.
teeth; the swarming vermin pulling her "Am I not master?” he demanded
down while she shrieked in involuntary heavily.
agony. And then I could not bear it. "Have you not staked your soul upon
"I will go alone,” I said roughly, twist- the acquisition of your occult secrets?”
ing from her tight grasp upon my arm. countered the dwarf.
"God will not let her soul be raped from "Then send that fool yonder to feed
Him. That, at least. He will save from the the little ones without, so that I can pass
wreckage you would make of her delicate without more loss of time and without be-
body. I am going. Take her into such ing obliged to resort to spells. I brought
safety as you can offer,” I shouted at none for this wench.”
Dwight Harkness, and my hand flew to the I lifted the latch with intentional rattle,
door latch. but without removing my gaze from our
"Unusual. Most unusual,” murmured host’s guarded visage.
the high, penetrating voice of the dwarf "I cannot send him. You should know
from his mantle, almost with approval. His “that. He must go of his own free will,
greenly glittering eyes rested upon me in driven by fear, or hate — or love. He is
keen appraisal. "Butmy children are hun- ready, old master of thread-bare magic.”
gry. They are very hungry. And this An insulting titter.
young man is too athletic to be plump and "You are insolent!” hissed old Harkness,
tasty.” in a rage.
Across the room Harkness pounded in "I? Insolent? I? Ho, ho, ho!”
 I I

THE RAT MASTER 73

With a flash of fiery and resentful hapless and miserable man whose pride in

anger, the old magician turned and struck his magical arts had led him into overt
at the dwarfish figure. Whereupon, as rebellion against a being which must in-
if that act had been sensed, if not actu- evitably have been superior to him in evil

ally witnessed, by the horrid myriads, with- power.

out, a deafening clamor of squeaks and Through the open door poured a living

shrill squeals set up about the hovel, that torrent of squealing, squeaking rats, teeth
was only silenced by the uplifted hand of bared as they fought and tumbled against
the dwarf, who had not stirred when the their prey, piling in, wave upon wave.
other struck at him, but who had somehow "Save me! Spare me! I meant no

evaded that blow without visible effort. harm!” screeched old Harkness, quailing in
needed only this, oh, foolish magi-
"It panic.
cian! You were sworn to serve me loyally I could do nothing, for the beasts had
if I in turn gave you my aid and let you hemmed me into the corner, and I could
call my diildren at your will. But you only strive to maintain my footing,

have forgotten that when they come, they shrouded as Carry and I were in the rat-

like dwarf’s gray mantle, at which

are hungry and expectant. Ho, ho, ho! those

Open the door, young lover, and stand wild, squealing vermin sniffed, only to
aside. Open it wide!” leave us entirely untouched. Incredible,

God knows how I sensed that it meant nevertheless, they surged and battled about
good, not ill but something in his voice, in our corner, leaving it as clear as they left
the sparkle of his shrouded eyes upon me, the space about that dwarfish being who
the glitter of them upon that evil old mage, had ordered me to give them entry.

made me obey. I opened the door with a "I’ve waited, like my children, you fool!

sweeping gesture, and then turned my back I’ve waited,” snarled the horridly unveiled
upon the inevitable rush, for it seemed to creature, and danced and pranced in ugly
me that none of us would be able to sur- glee. "I knew you would over-reach your-
vive the assault of those thousands of self one day, my master of forgotten secrets.
greedy beasts without. At him, my little ones! At him, my chil-
How it came to pass I do not know, but dren! He will not call you again, to send

there was I standing with Carry in my you away unfed. He has forgotten his
arms, and about us was draped the shroud- spells. He cannot hurt you. At him, my
ing mantle of that strange being into whose children, at him!”
domicile we had wandered. He stood off, — —
"But I am master master of the rats!”
a bent and horrid creature, whose uncov- gasped Harkness, the devastating knowl-
ered face showed him to be but a travesty edge of approaching doom settling upon
upon the human form divine. God, it was his agonized features as he brushed down
of such a horror, so bestial, that I thanked first one, then another, of the rats that be-
my Maker Carry was unconscious. gan to spring upon him and climb upon
If ever a human being resembled a beast, him from the tumbling torrent still pouring
itwas that one which leaped and laughed, in at the doorway.
and waved short pudgy arms as it danced "You? Master of the rats! Ho, ho, ho!
itsdance of ghastly death about the shriek- You commanded only because I permitted
ing, fear-possessed magician, shorn now you, thrice-besotted fool! I —— am the
of his former power. An enormous, un- Rat Master!”
shapely rat it seemed, erect upon hind legs, God be thanked. Carry remained limp
wreaking vindictive vengeance upon that against my breast, and I gritted my teeth
*74 ' ^
WEIRD TALES
in the vain effort to control my jumping for those white souvenirs of an evil man’s
and agonized nerves, lest I begin to shriek fitting end. The gray mantle with its

like a futileecho the shrill screams that nauseating wild animal odor had been
were issuing from the reddening lips of stripped from us. Carry hung on my arm,
that doomed magician of evil spells. I against my breast, her eyelids flickering,
closed my eyes, but imagination created and I knew returning consciousness must

such horrid reconstructions of that dread- not find us within that place, where her
ful scene that my quivering nerves gave me eyes would seek and find confirmation of
no relief, even when all ceased as suddenly the dread reality.
as it had begun. Silence reigned, where I strode without the doorway.
but a moment before had been the most ut- The sun had risen. The woods that had
terly horrible sounds. seemed thick about us that previous night
had now shrunken to a sparse growth that

Then,Upon eyes.
only then, did I dare open
the ground lay clean picked
my barely hid the vista of highway, but a few
hundred feet ahead of me. On the edge
bones, white and glistening. Torn scraps of the highway stood a car that I knew. It
of what had once been seemly garments lay had been the property of the late Dwight
scattered over the rough wooden flooring. Harkness, of unlamented memory.
No sign of rats or Rat Master. Nothing Holding my little sweetheart safely to
but w'e, ourselves, just as we had entered my heart, I went down the trail briskly to
that hut. It might have been a dream, but light and freedom and peace.
 Strapped to the shoulders of the v/itigcd man was diaphanous air-gear that flashed back the
sunlight in colored dints end sparkles ... a tale of the far Future!

a Vhe
reasure of Red- Ash Desert

I
By STANTON A. COBLENTZ

skin, the deep auburn hair characteristic of

the People of the Later Dawn. Her head,
A-GLO stood on the third parapet of as was usual among her kindred, was long
the Balcony of the Sun, and and large and was dominated by a gleam-
I looked out over the Amethyst City.
She was a slender young woman, with the
ing spaciousness of brow; her clothes were
simple, and consisted only of a wavy sky-
sparkling black eyes, the coppery-golden colored robe reaching to her bare knees, a
75
76 WEIRD TALES
pair of sandals, and a filmy wisp of a cap learned, indeed, that our remote ancestors
above her thick flowing tresses. were ape-creatures; but between the ape and
As she gazed down from the third para- civilization there is a Missing Link, which

pet, La-Glo saw nothing but the familiar was neither all beast nor all man. That he
array of lavender-tinted towers, with lived for thousands —
even hundreds of
purplish cupolas and spires and colonnades thousands of years —may be taken for
of amethyst, interspersed by trees, and by granted, for his bones have been found em-
gardens where rainbowed fountains bedded in successive geologic strata; and
splashed and rivulets trickled. Far in the evidences of his crude strivings for culture
distance shone the blue Ocean of the West; have been discovered in the shape of bits
while just to the rear rose the barren snow- of broken glass and pottery, and inscrip-
tipped mountains of what, to the unknown tions that no one has ever been able to
aborigines hundreds of centuries before, decipher. Scientific investigation has long
had been southern California. been hampered by old traditions, which tell
For a moment La-Glo bent her gaze on us that the Missing Link was evil, and per-
the men and women who, dressed in green ished in a blast of self-inflicted flame, and
or pink or lilac or light-blue, paced just be- that all who dig among the mins will be
neath her along the Avenue of the Golden contaminated. Yet w'e must have de-
Lilies. "Ah, when will he come? When?” scended from him, half-bmte though he
she murmured to herself; and searched was; hence it is now time to lift the evil
with her keen eyes the sunlit blank of the *over that grim phase of pre-history.”
sky. Then her attention was caught and La-Glo turned from her reading long
held by a series of shifting colored lights enough to cast a searching glance into the
which broke out on a wall across from her. deep flawless blue of the heavens; then
To the child of an earlier civilization, they looked back at the colored lights.
would have meant nothing; but to La-Glo "In the Red-A.sh desert to the south,” the
these moving rays were pregnant with notice continued, "many evidences of the
meaning. Missing Link have been dug up. The
"Sons and daughters of the Amethyst Grand Sholite therefore announces a com-
City, take notice!” she read. "The Grand petition for youth. He who puts forth
Sholite, ruler of our glorious land, an- into the desert, and in the third part of a
nounces a project to interest all enterpris- year returns with the trophies casting most
ing youth. We People of the Later Dawn, light on our beast-forebears, will be person-
after thousands of years, have built a civil- ally honored by the Sholite w’ith the Purple
ization of which we may be proud. We Badge of Merit —than w'hich there is no
have read the secrets of the atom and of greater distinction.”
the galaxies; we have sent our explorers
careering to other planets. We have mas- A GLEAM of desire came into the eyes
tered the mystery of matter, and drive our of La-Glo as she read these words;
motors with energy from the sun; and, most and her thin little lips tightened with sud-
important of all, we have tamed the evil den determination. Then once more her
forces in the heart of man, and have gaze searched the heavens —and this time
learned how to live at harmony with our- she let out a little pleased cry. High in
selves. 'the distance, darting toward her with rocket
"But, for our knowledge, there is one
all speed, a little black dot was visible. With
thing we do not know. We
have not been almost incredible velocity, it drew nearer
able to trace our own descent. We have and lower, appearing first like a bird with
 — ”

THE TREASURE OF RED-ASH DESERT 77

outspread wings, then gradually taking on his arms. "No, Kannu, no!” she protested.
a human semblance. When it had come “You know the law. Before a maiden
within half a mile, it suddenly slackened its may give herself to a man, he must have
speed, remained poised almost stationary proved his worth —must have added some-
like a humming-bird with swiftly vibrat- thing, though ever so little, to the world’s
ing pinions, then slowly and gracefully treasury of knowledge or beauty.”
descended. "But what would you have me do, La-
To La-Glo there was nothing unusual Glo? Only two moons ago I was ordained
in this spectacle of a winged man one — in the Order of Manhood. I have studied
—
with his flying apparatus attached to his the ways of nature, but
shoulders and reaching out on each side like The girl gazed out across the Amethyst
the wings of Icarus. The diaphanous air- City, with its miles of winding lavender-
gear, rapidly pulsating and flashing back tinted walks. There was a softness in her
the sunlight in colored glints and sparkles, tone, yet a firmness as she replied, "Listen,
was ascommonplace to the girl as the Kannu. The Grand Sholite has only now
amethystine pavement on which she made an announcement one to interest—
walked. But what caused her heart to beat such as you.” And she told of the compe-
fiercely was the sight of the tall young fig- tition for the Purple Badge of Merit.
ure who, alighting gracefully as a butter- Even as she spoke, a third figure stepped
fly near the railing before her, checked the out of a little door behind them, moving
sun-motor, stripped off his wings, and so quietly as to be unobserved. He was
advanced with both hands outstretched. little older than Kannu, and was dressed,
"Kannu!” she cried, as she sprang for- like him, in a golden robe. But his fea-
ward and took his hands. "I knew you tures had not the same openness and frank-
would come!” ness; they were less regular, and the
*'La-Glo!” he greeted her, his large dark aquiline nose, bent a trifle awry, gave him
eyes burning softly out of his coppery- a slightly twisted appearance; while his
golden countenance. “The ocean was wide, form was thinner and shorter than Kan-
the trip to my kindred of the South Islands nu’s, and his eyes, smaller and closer to-
a weary one. But I knew you would be gether, gleamed from their narrow black
waiting. It is good to be back. When, depths with a shrewd and shifty light.
now, nuy I claim my reward.^” For a moment he stood silently listening
She averted her ga2e, and much that is
—
on the parapet "True! By the crown of
common language among lovers in all lands the Sholite,” he heard the other man swear,
and centuries passed between them. They "I will go Red- Ash Desert! I will seek
to
made a gracious-looking pair, fit to in- the Purple Badge of Merit! I will bring

habit old Athens in the days of her glory back valuable relics of the Missing Link!
she witli her slender form and free-flowing —
Then, La-Glo then will you consent?”
—
auburn hair above the classic face; he, huge- "Yes, then ” she had started to say,
headed and beardless, with slim but stal- when all at once the intruder stepped up.
wart form, thick reddish-brown hair "Ah, my sister —and my brother!” said
triinmed down to the neck, a lean vigorous he, using the common terms of address.
face glowing with health, and a golden "You will pardon me. I could not help
robe which, like hers, reached only to the overhearing.”
knees. La-Glo and Kannu stared silently at the
But though her face radiated gladness, newcomer; the brows of both men were
she would not permit him to take her into wrinkled in hostility. "What is it you
78 WEIRD TALES
want, Nasire?” Kannu demanded at last. And it was with a smiling confidence that

"Only the right that the law allows,” he fastened on his wings again, waved her
Nasire returned, in silken tones beneath good-by, and went soaring off high above
which a dagger seemed to lurk. "You the domes and minarets of the Amethyst
know the law. When two men court a City.
maiden, she must give herself to him who
has shown most merit in the eyes of the II

world.”
"It is a bad law!” snarled
maiden should mate with him whom her
heart demands.”
Kannu. "A
A QUARTER of a year had passed.
unclouded sun of Red-Ash Desert
down upon dusty plains fringed by
The

glared
"No, Kannu, it is a good law,” Nasire sharp blue rocky mountains. For untold
denied. "It is a law that populates the scores of miles, sagebrush and cactus had
world with the ablest people. For a long the desolation to themselves. Here and
while I have loved La-Glo. But she has there a lizard crawled or a rattlesnake
turned from me. Now I claim my right. twisted; but, except in two minute spots,
If I prove more worthy than you, Kannu there was no sign man had ever in-
that
—then she will be mine!” habited this planet. These spots u'cre
La*Glo had shrunk back. Her eyes were about half a mile apart, toward the western
contracted; her countenance was wrinkled rim of the desert and not far from the base
in a frown. But she said nothing, for she of the mountains: in each of them a tent-
too knew the law. like shed had been installed, and each con-
Kannu stalked close to his rival; and, tained a cot and chair, kegs of preserved
looming above him a full half foot, shrilled food and of refrigerated water, numbers
his challenge, "Let it be so, Nasire! I of charts and maps, and masses of scien-
fear not the creeping spawn of worms such tific apparatus. Not many feet from each
as you. What shall the test be?” of these shanties, an excavation had been,
Nasire’s little black eyes seemed to twist begun; and in each excavation, for many
and dance in his head. "We shall see who hours a day, a man sweated in the intense
is the creeping spawn of worms. Let this heat while driving a mechanical drill
be the test. We are both trained in ex- which, operated by the power of sunlight,
ploring the ancient layers of the earth. was capable of doing the work of a thou-
Let us then go forth into Red-Ash Desert, sand laborers.
and dig for the relics of the Missing Link. Of the two cavities, one was at least
He who, in the third part of a year, shall twice as deep and wide as the other; and,
have made the find of greater value he — working in this depression, was none other
shall be the most worthy in the eyes of the than Kannu, his golden robe exchanged for
law, and to him shall La-Glo fall as a a rude dust-colored garment as his drill
precious prize.” bored through the earth and automatically
"Let it be so!” agreed Kannu. And shoveled out the torn-up rock and soil. In
then, turning to the girl, "Fear not, La-Glo. the smaller excavation, Nasire might have
The test is would not deserve
a fair one. I been observed, his lips drooping, his little

the happiness of winning you if I could not eyes drawn together in his twisted face as
prove worthier than Nasire.” if perpetually dwelling on something
The look that darted to him from the shrewd and dark.
girl’s flashing dark eyes told more plainly Only rarely did the two men meet and
than words, "I have faith in you, Kannu!” exchange a word. "Well, brother, any
 THE TREASURE OF RED-ASH DESERT 79

discoveries?” Nasire would ask, with a Ill

cynical smile, when he strolled toward

Kannu’s headquarters of an evening. And "DUT one evening three weeks later, upon
Kannu would answer, "Not a thing, -LJ adjusting the wireless to La-Glo’s
brother. How goes it with you?” And wave-length, he heard words that struck
Nasire would scowl, and say, "The gods him like a blow. The
was Kannu’s;
voice
have forgotten me." but the tones were so jubilant that he could
Yet, in a little locked chest, Nasire care- hardly recognize the speaker. "Flower of
fully guarded several new-found relics: a my soul, listen! I have made a discovery!
curved fragment of blue glass, the upper Only this afternoon — afternoon my
this
half of a gold tooth, a headless ivory stat- drill hit a hard substance. After while a I

uette, and the broken neck of a clay vase. found that it was a wall —of a gray mineral,
He did not know if any of these were of covering a thick layer of metal. I followed
much value; yet he chuckled secretly when, up and down for many feet, and discovered
at nights, he took up the receiver of his it to be ^Terfcctly regular. Indeed, O rose
wireless telephone and listened for infor- of my being! it turned out to be but one
mation as to Kannu’s progress. This was side of a great chest, as large as a small
—
an easy thing to do as easy as tuning room, which had been preserved from the
in a radio on a specified station; for he days of the Missing Link!”
knew that every night, at a particular time, "May the saviors on high be praised!”
Kannu called a certain wave-length and returned the exultant La-Glo. "Now, O
held a long conversation with La-Glo, who delight of my days, you will be found more
eagerly waited a hundred miles away, in worthy than Nasire! We shall pass our
her home on the Avenue of the Vermilion days forever together! You will be awarded
Roses in Amethyst City. It was, it is true, the Purple Badge of Merit!”
considered a matter of honor not to listen "So I hope, O fragrance of my existence!
in on a neighbor’s conversation; but Nasire But let us not measure the future’s gifts
was not one to be held back by foolish com- so soon. I had not time today to break into
punctions —not when therewas no danger, the great chest and observe its contents.
of being caught. And so he listened, and Tomorrow we shall know our destiny!”
gnashed his teeth when the two lovers ex- With a groan, Nasire tore the wireless
changed endearments; but his eyes twinkled from his ears; and, with eyes that blazed
with enjoyment when night after night like a wild beast’s at bay, began stamping
Kannu reported, "No luck yet, O apple of up and down the length of the rude little

my Again I have toiled hard all

heart. shed.
day, but have dug up nothing but sand and Then, bursting out of doors, he shook
dust. Not so much as a fragment of his fists menacingly toward the desert
masonry, or a scrap of porcelain! The gods stars that burnt in their myraids out of the
smile not upon me.” clear, pitiless skies.
Now that only one moon of the allotted "By the purple towers,” he swore, aloud,
time remained and he was far ahead in the "he shall not have her! He shall not! As
race, Nasire felt his heart begin to leap surely as I am Nasire, the son of Rar” tlie

within him. He could see Kannu slinking temple builder, I shall find a way to pre-
away defeated and humiliated; could see vent!”
himself with the lovely La-Glo in his arms. 'That night Nasire did not sleep; nor
Who could —he
might even
say? be did he work the next day. He could
awarded the Purple Badge of Merit! hardly hold back his impatience until, in
 —

80 WEIRD TALES
the evening, he listened again to Kannu’s There are so many relics that I cannot re-
conversation with La-Glo. But as his rival’s move them all myself. Tomorrow at dawn
words reached him, a glitter came into his I fly back to the Amethyst City, taking with
eyes and he drew his first glad breath in me a relic of the Missing Link. 'Hien I

twenty-four hours. "Alas, O heart of shall feast my eyes on you, O La-Glo, and
nectar,” he heard Kannu reporting, "there find trusty brothers to help me carr)’ away
was little progress today. The chest is thick the treasure. I shall not return to Red-
—
and tough so much so that it baffies me. Ash Desert until Ae sun is low in the
I have toiled hard to penetrate it with the west.”
sun-drill, but have made only little dents There was much more that was said,
in its side. But tomorrow, if the gods but Nasire did not wait to listen. Throw-
favor, I shall succeed.” ing down the wireless receiver, he once
Yet on the morrow the gods did not more ranged the floor of his shed with a
favor —
nor on the next day, nor the next. black scowl on his face and a blazing wild-
A triumphant smile returned to Nasire’s beast light in his eyes. "By the hide of
dark, anxious countenance as he listened to the horned toad!” he swore. "I will foil
the tales of his enemy’s Herculean attempts their sdieme! I will foil it, or I do not de-
to break through the stout covering of the serve to call La-Glo mine!”
vault. Was it possible that, after all, Kan-
nu’s find was but leading down a blind IV
alley? So Nasire half believed; yet with
his hope was still mingled a taste of fore- TAEEP into the night he lay tossing on
boding. And on the fifth evening after the his cot, mumbling to himself and
announcement of the discovery only four — weighing plots and counter-plots. But
days before the competition was to close! there was only one plan that, after deliber-
— he heard a report that caused his fists to ation, seemed at all practicable. When the
clench, and brought a muttering to his lips first faint sparks of sunrise filtered in from

and a look of torment to his face. above the eastern ranges, he was on his
"The gods have blessed me, O precious feet; and, stepping out into the dawn, stood
one! It is opened, opened! Yes, the great watching imtil he saw a winged figure rise
chest is opened! It is filled to the top from above the rival establishment half a
filled with such relics of the Missing Link mile away.
as I cannot begin to describe! 'Things of Straight up and up until it was no
gold and iron, of wood and glass, of cop- more than a dot against the zenith, the
per and marble! All, all has been preserved flier darted almost with a bullet’s speed;
in an airless crypt! It is tlie greatest find, and no sooner had he melted into the
O radiance of my days, that any one has heavens than Nasire, re-entering his shanty,
ever taken out of Red- Ash Desert!” seized a sun-torch, a bar of condensed food
"All glory to the High Ones!” fervently and a container of water, and set out across
came back the voice of La-Glo. "I knew the desert.
you would triumph, O soul of my soul! As he approached Kannu’s shed and ex-
Now surely the Sholite himself will bestow cavation, Nasite absently munched his
on you the Purple Badge of Merit! We breakfast and sipped of the water. "Now,
will walk hand in hand through all our thanks be to the gods, I have all day!” he
days.” reflected. "What a trustful fool is this
"We will walk hand in hand, O divine Kannu, go away and leave
to his treasure
one! But first there is much to be done. unguarded! Does he think I will hold
 THE TREASURE OF RED-ASH DESERT 81

back merely because the law puts a man on Inside the sepulchre-like container, the
his honor not to enter another’s claim! air was stale and musty-smelling, .and

Faugh! who but an empty-head would seemed burdened with some intangible
obey such a law when the stakes are the weight; while, awe-stricken, Nasire blinked
maiden he loves and the Purple Badge of and peered about him like one transported
Merit! Such a half-wit does not deserve to to a strange planet. He w’as within what
win! While Kannu is away, I will be tak- appeared to be a perfect cube, with sides
ing his prizes from him. And how —how about twelve feet long; a cube laden with
in the name of the seven Sages — ^will he most fascinating-looking articles. There
ever get them back again?” were bizarre madiines, with all manner of
Cheered by such thoughts, Nasire bulbs and dials; there were queer-shaped
reached the brink of his rival’s excavations, steel rods, and glass tubes with curious
and let himself down by a rude stairway filaments inside; there were little orna-
into the twenty-foot depths. All about him mented disks of copper, silver and gold,
great red masses of torn earth and rock which, Nasire thought, had probably been
were piled; but to these he scarcely gave a children’s playthings; there were painting-;
glance as he pressed on into a tunnel barely of men and women with frozen expressions
high enough to contain his stooping figure. and preposterous, complicated clothes that
As he entered, he heard something hissing covered them from the neck down; there
at his feet, and shot back just in time to were pictures of what looked like cities,
avoid a pair of darting fangs. "What is only they could not have been cities, they
it? An omen?” he wondered, as he
ill were so ludicrous and ugly with the tall
slew the reptile with a bolt from his sun- walls massed one against the other and the
torch. "Does Kannu engage rattlesnakes towers pointing high into the heavens.
to guard his claim?” Nasire could not help smiling as he
Dismissing this whimsical idea, he glanced at these representations, which he
pressed on a few yards to a wide, partly interpreted as the fancies — the caricatures
exposed wall of asbestos-covered steel. —of humorous artists. And likewise he
Tiirough this barrier, which was about half smiled when he took up tlie little objects
a foot thick, a perforation had been made, all made of many thin white wafers with
barely large enough to permit the passage black markings all over them in regular
of a man’s body. Seen in the yellow rays columns. What, he wondered, could be
of the sun-lamp, the whole looked uncanny the meaning of such hieroglyphics?
—uncanny an old tomb. "By
as the ruins of What, indeed, was the object of this
the black imps of the Under-earth!” Nasire whole queer vault? If it was a tomb,
muttered. "Kannu has come across an where was the casket with the interred
ancient burial place!” royalty? The more Nasire flashed his sun-
Though far from a superstitiousman, he lamp through the gloom, the more puzzled
hesitated an instant before he slipped his he became; for nothing could have been
slim form through the aperture into the further from the conception of a Son of the
steel chest. An odd, creepy sensation had Later Dawn than that the children of an
come over him; something weird and in- earlier age, sealing representative products
visible seemed to place a hand on his shoul- of their civilization in an air-tight crypt,
der, and restrain him, "Hold back! Hold should have sought thus to preserve their
back!” But why hold back? Kannu would secrets for the marveling eyes of the future.
—
not return until evening there was time But whatever the answer to the archeo-
and to spare to accomplish his ends. logical riddle, there was one thing Nasire
 — —

82 WEIRD TALES
could not doubt: that the find was such as a mighty lunge and threw it through the
to entitle the lucky discoverer to the Purple opening
Badge of Merit. And, at that thought, fury Instantly all things seemed to go up in
filled Never, even when listening to
him. smoke and fire. There came a flash of
Kannu’s most enthusiastic reports, had he flame and a detonation as of thunder
realized the extent of the discovery. And and tlie world was blotted from Nasire’s
had he time now, in the mere half day be- gaze —An observer flying miles above on a
fore his rival’s return, to strip the chest trans-country flight, was startled at the sud-
of its chief treasures? At least, he would den eruption of rock and debris, which
try! filled the air as from. a miniature volcano,
Half maddened, as tantalizing visions and then gradually settled back and was
came to him of La-Glo bending to his lost amid the endless red waste.

rival’s embrace, Nasire set about to accom-

plish his end. He did not pause to rest, / V
though the sweat dripped from him and his
E'TURNING
parched tongue hung out like a thirsty
dog’s. R with two helpers just be-
fore sunset, Kannu gasped in amaze-
Time after time, weighed down with ment, and rubbed his eyes unbelievingly.
armfuls of relics, he left the treasure- Had he, by mistake, come to the wrong
vault, climbed to the brink of the excava- spot? No, it was impossible! — for the in-
tion and deposited his stolen wealth in the struments were tested and had never been
sunlight. Later in the day he would go for known to fail. Yet where his shed and ex-
his wings, and a score of rapid trips would cavation had been, there was only a mass
convey all the loot to his excavation! of tumbled ruins, with earth and rock
But though he chuckled as he visualized strewn' chaotically for dozens of yards.
Kannu’s discomfiture and saw himself the Nothing, apparently, remained of the treas-
honored winner of the award and the claim- ure vault, nor of the tunnel leading to it!
ant of La-Glo’s love, Nasire still was Nor was there any sign of the one man who
haunted by a deep uneasiness as he toiled might have been able to offer an explana-
through the burning hours; and each time tion; for Nasire was nowhere to be seen
he returned to the treasure room he did so about his own excavation, nor anywhere
with greater reluctance. At last, in the else on the wide, blank desert, though his
early afternoon, he had taken out every tools and living apparatus were scattered
detachable article — all except one: a curi- about his headquarters as if in anticipation
ous-looking cylindrical steel object about of his early return!
three feet long and half a foot thick, which 'The only clues to the mystery — clues as
reposed in a corner behind a wire netting, imperfect as letters in some unknown
in the midst of a number of little red flags, tongue —were in the shape of fragments of
whicli had been ranged about it as if in powder-blackened metal which, strewn
warning. about the scene of the disaster, proved on
Again some restraining hand seemed to analysis to be of an alloy unknown to the
draw Nasire back; but his heart was set on People of the Later Dawn. Kannu and his
this last prize. Though he tottered beneath companions, as they dolefully surveyed the
its weight, he lifted the steel cylinder from wreck of what had promised to be an un-
the floor; staggered with it to the entrance paralleled discovery, concluded that the
of the vault; and then, since he could not blackened scraps of metal had somehow
climb out with so heavy an object, he gave helped to bring about the catastrophe; but.
 THE TREASURE OF RED-ASH DESERT
being ignorant of the ways of the Missing
Link, they could not have been expected
to guess that the metal had been part of a
high-powered air bomb, which Nasire had
unv.’ittingly exploded.
might have been possible for the in-
It
vestigators,by means of their sun-drills, to
dig among the ruins and shed further light
on what had happened. But a stern order
from the Grand Sholite flashed over the
wireless telephone as soon as he had been
notified of what had occurred. "Come
away, my sons! Come away from Red-Ash
Desert! We shall investigate the Missing
Link no more! I am now convinced that
there is truth in the old tradition that the
Missing Link was evil, and that their ways
and works were evil, and only evil shall
come to him who plunges his spade into the
soil where they lie buried! Let the dust of
the centuries continue to cover them ever
more deeply, for in that, O my sons, lies
our protection!”
Nevertheless, there was one relic which
had been taken out of the mysterious vault,
and which Kannu had brought with him to
the Amethyst City on the day of the dis-
aster. It was one of the objects composed
of many thin sheets, each of them filled
with long rows of inscriptions in that queer
writing of the Missing Link; and the gray-
83
ish white of these leaves, now that they
were exposed to the air after being sealed
up for ages, began in a short while to give
place to a sickly yellow. But the relic was
kept under glass in the Museum of Anti-
quities and was considered its chief treas-
ure; and committees of scientists came from
afar to examine it, and shook their heads
and pondered long and debated concerning
the writing, and composed learned articles
about it. "Doubtless,” they agreed, "it was
some sacred lore of the Missing Link.”
Meanwhile, as a fitting reward for finding
so wondrous an article, Kannu was granted
the Purple Badge of Merit by none other
than the Grand Sholite. Not being able to
read the words on the drab gray cover of
the ancient treasure, the observers did not
know that what it said was, "Los Angeles
Telephone Directory. November, 1939.”
But it mattered little to Kannu what this
writing meant; for as he stood once more
on the third parapet of the Balcony of the
Sun and looked out over the Amethyst
City, he held in his arms the one he most
desired.
"Listen, La-Glo, glory of my existence,”
he declared. "The Missing Links could
not have been wholly evil, after all, for it is
through them that I found the way to
you.”
 erbert West: Reanimator
By H. P. LOVECRAFT

Episode the firsl in the gruesome adventures of Herbert West, a young scientist

consumed with the ambition of bringing back the dead to life!

[first instalment]

I. From the Dark experiments with various animating solu-

tionshe had killed and treated immense

O
treme terror.
F Herbert West,
friend in college and in after
life, I
who was my

can speak only with ex-

This terror is not due alto-
manner of his recent
getlier to the sinister
numbers of rabbits, guinea-pigs, cats, dogs,
and monkeys, till he had become the prime
nuisance of the college.
had
Several times he
actually obtained signs of life in ani-
mals supposedly dead; in many cases vio-
disappearance, but was engendered by the lent signs; but he soon saw that the per-
whole nature of his life-work, and first fection of his process, if indeed possible,
gained its acute form more than seventeen would necessarily involve a lifetime of re-
years ago, when we were in the third year search. It became clear that, since
likewise
of our course at tlie Miskatonic Universi^ the same solution never worked alike on
medical school in Arkham. While he was different organic species, he would require
with me, the wonder and diabolism of his human subjects for further and more
experiments fascinated me utterly, and I specialized progress. It was here that he
was his closest companion. Now that he first came into conflict with the college au-

is gone and the spell is broken, the actual thorities, and was debarred from future ex-
fear is greater. Memories and possibili- periments by no less a dignitary than the
ties are ever more hideous than realities. dean of the medical school himself the —
The first horrible incident of our ac- learned and benevolent Dr. Allan Halsey,
quaintance was the greatest shock I ever whose work in behalf of the stricken is re-
experienced, and it is only with reluctance recalled by every old resident of Arkham.
that I repeat it. As
have said, it happened
I I had always been exceptionally tolerant

when we were in the medical school, where of West’s pursuits, and we frequently dis-
West had already made himself notorious cussed hb theories, whose ramifications and
through his wild theories on the nature of corollaries were almost infinite. Holding
death and the possibility of overcoming it with Haeckel that all life is a chemical and
artificially. His views, which were widely physical process, and that the so-called
ridiculed by the faculty and by his fellow- "soul” is a myth, my friend believed that
students, hinged on the essentially mechan- artificial reanimation of the dead can de-
istic nature of life;and concerned means pend only on the condition of the tissues;
for operating the organic machinery of and that unless actual decomposition has
mankind by calculated chemical action after set in, a corpse fully equipped with organs
the failure of natural processes. In his may with suitable measures be set going
 ”'X'e laid the specimen on an improvised disfectirg table in the old farm honse.
Then we set to work ...”

again in the peculiar fashion known as life. blood immediately after the extinction of
That the psychic or intellectual life might life. It was this circumstance which made
be impaired by the slight deterioration of the professors so carelessly skeptical, for
sensitive brain-cells which even a short they felt that true death had not occurred
period of death would be apt to cause, in any case. They did not stop to view
West fully realized. It had at first been the matter closely and reasoningly.
his hope to find a reagent which w'ould
restore vitality before the actual advent of T WAS not long after the faculty had
death, and only repeated failures on ani- I interdicted his work that West con-
mals had shown him that the natural and fided to me his resolution to get fresh hu-
artificial life-motions were incompatible. man bodies in some manner, and continue
He then sought extreme freshness in his in secret the experiments he could no
specimens, injecting his solutions into the longer perform openly. To hear him dis-
86 WEIRD TALES
cussing ways and means was rather ghastly, ghouls, for our specimens demanded par-
for at the college we had never procured ticular qualities. When we wanted were
anatomical specimens ourselves. When- corpses interred soon after death and witli-
ever the morgue proved inadequate, two out artificial preservation; preferably free
local Negroes attended to this matter, and from malforming disease, and certainly
they were seldom questioned. West was with all organs present. Accident victims
then a small, slender, spectacled youth with were our best hope. Not for many weeks
delicate features, yellow hair, pale blue did we hear of anything suitable; though
eyes, and a soft voice, and it was uncanny we talked with morgue and hospital au-
to hear him dwelling on the relative merits thorities, ostensibly in the college’s interest,
of Christ Church Cemetery and the pot- as often as we could without exciting sus-
ter’s field. We finally decided on the pot- picion. We found that the college had first
ter’s field, because practically everybody in choice in every case, so that it might be
Christ Church was embalmed; a thing of necessary to remain in Arkham during the
course ruinous to West’s researches. summer, when only the limited summer-
I was by time his active and en-
this school classes were held. In the end,
thralled assistant, and helped him make though, luck favored us; for one day we
all his decisions, not only concerning the heard of an almost ideal case in the pot-
source of bodies but concerning a suitable ter’s field; a brawny young workman
place for our loathsome work. It was I drowned only the morning before in Sum-
who thought of the deserted Chapman ner’s Pond, and buried at the town’s ex-
farmhouse beyond Meadow Hill, where we pense without delay or embalming. 'That
fitted up on the ground floor an operat- afternoon we found the new grave, and de-
ing room and a laboratory, each with dark termined to begin work soon after mid-
curtains to conceal our midnight doings. night.
The place was far from any road, and in It was a repulsive task that we under-
sight of no other house, yet precautions took in the black small hours, even though
were none the less necessary; since rumors we lacked at that time the special horror
of strange lights, started by chance noctur- of graveyards which later experiences
nal roamers, would soon bring disaster on brought to us. We carried spades and oil

our enterprise. It was agreed to call the dark lanterns, for although electric torches

whole thing a chemical laboratory if dis- were then manufactured, they were not as
covery should occur. Gradually we satisfactory as the tungsten contrivances of
equipped our haunt of science with
sinister today. 'The process of unearthing was slow
materials either purchased in Boston or and sordid — might have been gruesomely
it

quietly borrowed from the college mate- — poetical if we had been artists of instead
rials carefully made unrecognizable save scientists —and we were glad when our
to expert eyes —and provided spades and spades struck wood. When the pine box
picks for the many burials we should have was fully uncovered West scrambled down
to make in the cellar. At the college we and removed the lid, dragging out and
used an incinerator, but the apparatus was propping up the contents. I reached down
too costly for our unauthorized laboratory. and hauled the contents out of the grave,
Bodies were always a nuisance even the — and then we both toiled hard to restore the
small guinea-pig bodies from the slight spot to its former appearance. The affair
clandestine experiments in West’s room at made us rather nervous, especially the stiff

the boarding-house. form and vacant face of our first trophy,

We followed the local death-notices like butwe managed to remove all traces of our
 a

HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR 87

visit. When we had patted down the last never faltered. Every now and then he
shovelful of earth we put the specimen applied his stethoscope to the specimen,
in a canvas sack and set out for the old and bore the negative results philosoph-
Chapman place beyond Meadow Hill. ically. After about three-quarters of an
hour without the least 'Sign of life he dis-

ON AN Improvised dissecting-table in
the old farmhouse, by the light of a
appointed pronounced the solution inade-
quate, but determined to make the most
powerful acetylene lamp, the specimen was of his opportunity and try one (grange in
not very spectral looking. It had been a the formula before disposing of his ghastly
sturdy and apparently unimaginative youth prize. We had that afternoon dug a grave
of wholesome plebeian type — large- in the cellar, and would have to fill it by
framed, gray-eyed, and brown-haired — —
dawn for although we had fixed a lock
sound animal without psychological subtle- on the house we wished to shun even the
ties, and probably having vital processes remotest risk of a ghoulish discovery. Be-
of the simplest and healthiest sort. Now, sides, thebody would not be even approx-
with the eyes closed, it looked more asleep imately fresh the next night. So taking the
than dead; though the expert tests of my solitary acetylene lamp into the adjacent
friend soon left no doubt on that score. laboratory, weour silent guest on the
left

We had at last what West had always slab in the dark,and bent every energy to
longed for — a real dead man of the ideal the mixing of a new solution; the weighing
kind, ready for the solution as prepared and measuring supervised by West with an
according to the most careful calculations almost fanatical care.
and theories for, human use. The tension The awful event was very sudden, and
on our part became very great. We know wholly unexpected. I was pouring some-
that there was scarcely a chance for any- thing from one test-tube to another, and
thing like complete success, and could not West was busy over the alcohol blast-lamp
avoid hideous fears at possible grotesque which had answer for a Bunsen burner
to
results of partial animation. Especially when from the pitch-
in this gasless edifice,
were we apprehensive concerning the mind black room we had left there burst the most
and impulses of the creature, since in the appalling and demoniac succession of cries
space following death some of the more that either of us had ever heard. Not more
delicate cerebral cells might well have suf- unutterable could have been the chaos of
fered deterioration. I, myself, still held hellish sound if the pit itself had opened
some curious notions about the traditional to release the agony of the damned, for in
"soul” of man, and felt an awe at the se- one inconceivable cacophony was centered
crets that might be told by one returning all the supernal terror and unnatural de-

from the dead. I wondered what sights spair of animate nature. Human it could
this placid youth might have seen in in- not have been — hot it is in man to make
accessible spheres, and what he could re- such sounds —and without a thought of out
late if fully restored to life. But my lateemployment or its possible discovery
wonder was not overwhelming, since for both West and I leaped to the nearest win-
the most part I shared the materialism of dow like stricken animals; overturning
my friend. He was calmer than I as he tubes, lamp, and retorts, and vaulting
forced a large quantity of his fluid into a madly into the starred abyss of the rural
vein of the body’s arm, immediately bind- night. I think we screamed ourselves as

ing the incision securely. we stumbled frantically toward the town,

The waiting was gruesome, but West though as we reached the outskirts we put
88 WEIRD TALES
on a semblance of restraint just enough — ably burned
we
to an amorphous heap of
could understand because
to seem like belated revelers staggering ashes; that
home from a debauch. of the upset lamp. Also, an attempt had
We did not separate, but managed to get been made to disturb a new grave in the
to West’s room, where we whispered with potter’s field, as if by futile and spadeless
the gas up until dawn. By then we had clawing at the earth. That we could not
calmed ourselves a little with rational understand, for we had patted down the
theories and plans for investigation, so that mould very carefully.
wo could sleep through the day — classes And for seventeen years after that West
being disregarded. But that evening two would look frequently over his shouldet,
items in the paper, wholly unrelated, made and complain of fancied footsteps behind
it again impossible for us to sleep. The him.
old deserted Chapman house had inexplic- Now he has disappeared.

Hunger
By PAGE COOPER

T his span.
black, lush night has bloomed its

Foredoomed, it plops into the insatiate maw

of Time the carnivore whose hideous claw
Plucks at our hours. Hot breathed since we
began

To savor living, squeeze its essence, taste

Its sharp intoxication, ghoulish Time
Has snorted at our heels. In luscious prime
He tears our pleasures from us. One we
raced

To save from this life-lusting beast one

night.

One moment only. All our mortal days

Are swallowed. But no finite food allays

This hunger, vast, illimitable, bright.

While blear-eyed mortals vainly clutch their

hours.
With neither slack nor pause, lewd Time
devours.
 “I jumped around and started that damned gun squirting.”

of the Kraken
By DAVID H. KELLER
What jearsome shape reared its horrid head over the doomed boat in the
Sargasso Sea ? —Put this story dotvn before you read the last
page—and see if you can guess the ending!

ii H ROTHER, can you spare a I took him to a chop house. From the
1—^ dime?” the man asked me in way he ate there was no doubt of his
JLJ the low monotone used by hunger. It seemed that he never would be
the chronic panhandler. , satisfied. Finally he finished, emptied his
"No money,” I replied, "but I will give glass of beer and accepted a cigarette. He
you a good meal and something to drink.” looked across the table at me.
39
90 WEIRD TALES
“That is the first meal I have had for could handle a machine-gun or even some-
two days,” he said, "and what do you do thing bigger. That was right in my line.
for a living that makes you want to feed “Yes, sir! When it comes to machine-
a man like me?” guns I know what I am doing. I have used
"I write for a living,” I answered w'ith them dozen wars, from a half-pint
in a

a little twisted smile, “and sometimes I revolution in South America to real fight-

sell what I write and sometimes I fail to. ing ih the World War. Of course I did not
When my brain gets dull I hunt up a man know where he was going to take me and
likeyou and he tells me a story.” the gun, but a job just then looked rather

“So you w'ant a story to pay for the good to me.

meal?” It turned out that it was not a real fight

“If you have one and want to tell it to he w'as financing, but a sea voyage. He was
me. But you do not really owe me any- interested in this Sargasso Sea. Had in
thing. I was amply repaid by your en- idea that everything the old travelers

joyment of the food.” wTote about it w'as not so much imagina-

“Ever hear of the Sargasso Sea?” tion; told me that there must be some
“Sure. For some thousands of years part of their story true, and he was going
every traveler has told about it. Maunde- to find out. Had his ship and crew and
ville described it. Columbus sailed through only lacked a gunner.
it. Oviedo gave it a name from sargaco, ''What do you want a machine-gun
the Portuguese word for seaweed. Drake for?” I asked him.
sailed through it for five days. The scien- "He tried to explain it to me. He said
tist Hiunboldt described it. What do you he had been working on the trip for years
know about it?” and had read everything he could put his
"Not much. But I have been there.” —
hands on all the tales of the old travel-
“No story in that. Thousands have been ers starting in with a Greek called Plato.

there. Used to be a place of mystery, port I happened to remember that name because

of lost ships caught in the weeds and rot-
ting till they sunk. But those old stories
were based on fancy. Simply a lot of weeds
there, mainly the Sargassum bacctferum,
and ocean trash carried by the Gulf Stream.
The old tales of prisoned ships and sea
monsters were just the
frightened seamen whose memory became
more vivid with every drink of rum.”
“Then no matter what I tell you, you
will not believe me?”
“What difference does that make so
long as I listen? Have a drink?”
“Yes, another beer. Now in regard to
the story. was loafing one day in the
I tried his best to
New York,
lobby of a cheap hotel here in
wondering how much longer
I could go
without a man and
food, when up comes
asks if I want a job. We started to talk,
and it seemed that he wanted a man who
he called the old cat on the ship Plato.
Then he went on to say that one part of
the story which was repeated again and
again had to do with sea monsters that
picked the sailors off the ships and ate
them, and if anything like that happened
imagination of to us a machine-gun would come in handy.
"I signed for the trip. Of course I did
not believe his story about those sea mon-
sters; thought he w’as starting a little private
war or something, but the wages were
good and when I saw his ship I knew the
eating was going to be good. That man
Ferguson was certainly a real man, and he
make the crew have a
comfortable time.
“His ship had made several voyages
north and it sure was stoutly built sails —
when there was a wind and an oil-burn-
ing engine to use in the calm. There were
 DEATH OF THE KRAKEN 91

eight of U3 aboard: the captain, four sail- and there a ship silently rotting and al-
ors, the cook, Ferguson and myself. most covered with barnacles and v/eeds. In
three days we visited seven of them, and
^^OECOND day out ofNew York he the night of the third day Ferguson asked
^ explained his plan to us. Once in me to have a talk with him in his cabin.
the Gulf Stream he w'as going to drift. "He asked me if I had noticed anything
If his idea was right the ship would finally peculiar about those seven ships. Of course
find its way right into the middle of this I told him that they were all old, but what
Sargasso Sea, and he claimed that there he wanted me to say was that there were
was no telling what we would find there no bones on any of them. I laughed at
because for so.me hundreds of years all him when he said that. Bones? Of course
the ships had tried their best to keep away not! Those old ships got stuck in the weeds
from this center instead of hunting for it.” and when the crews found out that they
"Have another glass of beer,” I sug- were not going to get out of the weeds any
gested. "You are telling a good story and other way they provisioned boats and tried
another drink will help you make it bet- to get out to open water. Ferguson did
ter.” not see it that way. You see hestill had

"No. I will wait till I finish. We sailed the idea that some kind of animal had
on for about a week and finally get to the eaten those sailors before they had time to
place where the captain thinks we can start either escape or starve to death. Then he
drifting, and that is what we do. On the asked me to have the gun ready because
third day we see some weeds and in a there was just a chance that this animal
week the whole ocean is covered with would come after us.
them. From then on, the ship went slower "Of course he was the boss and I was
and slower. Some days, for several hours there to obey him; so I humored him and
at a time, it hardly seemed to move at all. asked him just what kind of an animal he
"Ferguson was having the time of his thought was going to eat us, because I
life studying the weeds and the little fish wanted to know how to mount the gun and
that lived among them. He would talk to where to shoot at it.”
us every night about the new discoveries "Wait a minute,” I said interrupting
of the day. One night he showed us a fish him. "Let me tell you what Ferguson told
that had legs on it instead of fins, and toes you. I have read a great many of those
on the end of the legs. Every time he found old tales. Ferguson had nothing else to
a new fish he would put it in a glass jar go by except those stories. He put them
with alcohol to pickle it. Happy as a boy all together and from them made a com-
with a new toy. Of course the life was posite animal. It had a body about thirty
slow for the rest of us, but he was the feet long, four legs and a tail. The neck
boss and our pay was good and we sort of was as long as the body, ending in a head
jollied him along.” big as a barrel with large eyes as big as
"And how soon did you meet the first dinner plates. There are whiskers about
wreck?” I asked. three feet long. It could swallow a man
He laughed. "We actually did see with one gulp. How is that? Anything
them. Five in one day when we came into like what Ferguson told you?”
the dead center of the sea. By that time "Just about right. Of course I thought
the weeds made a mat some places
that in he was daffy to even think there could be
was over five feet deep. It almost looked such a creature, but if he was willing to
as though a man could walk on it, and here pretend there was one I was willing to
92 WEIRD TALES
string along with him. We talked it over monster or Kraken or whatever I wanted

and decided that the only way to kill any- to callit, it w'as up to me to kill it and

thing like that was to put a dozen bullets that was why he had brought me along
into the brain through the eyes or the with the crew. I told him I would take a
open mouth. And that would take some chance at killing anything in the daytime,
clever shooting, because that critter was but what chance was there hitting it at
not going to hold its head still when he night when it attacked us so silently that
was charging on the ship. therewas no alarm given by the one sailor
"The next morning I got the gun out who had escaped?’’
and put it together and fired a few prac- "Your story is getting good,” I com-
tise shots. That was sure a sweet gun and mented.
worked as easy as a sewing-machine. If "You bet it is. And now listen to this.
you moved it slowly you could cut a tree The cook was a rather old man, and he was
down with the bullets. Some of the crew just plain jittery. Drunk much of the time
asked me what it was for, but I didn’t and trembled like a leaf v.'hen he had to
tell them about the idea Ferguson had. go on deck even in the daytime. The next
What was the use? I knew there wasn’t night the three of us were in the cabin
any such animal. waiting for supper. Of course we were
'"That next night, the night after I put —
not supposed to eat together not the best
the gun on deck, two of the crew who of discipline on a ship to have the crew
had been on deck duty disappeared. Just eat with the master —
but Ferguson thought
dropped out of the picture. Not a drop it would make things easier for the cook.

of blood, not a sound of pain or fear. So we were waiting and wondering why
On the deck at early dawn, off the deck the cook was late bringing the food. Fer-
at sunrise. Nothing to explain it. guson said he was going to see what was
"Ferguson listened to the captain’s re- the matter, and he left the cabin and when
port and made no comments. He simply he came back he simply said that the cook
went ahead with his study of the little was gone. The three of us hunted all over
fishes. the ship but we never found him. There
"The captain rested all that day, and W'as a tray of spilled food on the deck. He
the next night he stayed on the deck till must have been carrying it to us when he
morning while the two sailors took alter- was caught. At least that was the way
nate watches. Nothing happened, and Ferguson figured it out.”
nothing unusually different for another "That is the only plausible explana-
night. Then on the third night, morning tion,” I said.
came and the captain and one of the sail- "Sure it is. Now that left three of us.
ors were gone. Sounds rather silly to put I made up my mind to trick that monster.
it that v/ay, to simply say they were gone! Told Ferguson about my plan and he
thought it pretty good. We made a dummy
HAT left four of us, the cook, one out of some old and smeared it all
sails

sailor, Ferguson. And
talked it over with the sailor and then I
went and told the boss that the best thing
to do would be to get the engine started
if we could and get out of there while the
getting was good. But he said no! If those
men had been eaten by that animal, sea
myself. I over with lard to make it smell, and then
w'e put that dummy up near the mast with
a lantern near him, and I trained the gun
so it would spray the bullets about four
feet over his head, and I was going to stay
there and when the monster dove for him
I would start shooting. Ferguson and tlic
 DEATH OF THE KRAKEN 93

sailor were going to stay on deck but at I wanted to know how he was going to

the other end of the ship. finish it.

—
"Nothing happened not a thing! To- "Toward dusk I put some bacon on the
ward morning the boss came up and said dummy to make him smell better and then
he was going down and get some sleep. At I started to do some tall thinking. There
sun-up I decided to get something to eat was no moon and not much starlight. That
and try to sleep. Not that I felt sleepy, animal, Kraken or whatever you want to
you understand, because my nerves were call it, was smart. What he would likely
jumpy, but it seemed that if I had to go do was to recognize the fact that the
through another night of watching I just dummy w’as just so much bait, and he
had to sleep. And when I was drinking would sneak up in back of me and take
my coffee it just occurred to me that I me instead of the bait. The thing to do
had not seen the sailor. I hunted for was to turn the machine-gun around the
him, could not find him and then woke other way. Then when he came for me I

Ferguson. All he knew was that the sailor would start firing. I would be standing

had been on deck when he had gone to his looking at the bait but at the least noise
cabin. I would swing around and get the gun
"We it over, and decided that
talked working.
while was watching that dummy the
I "And there in the darkness I waited, and
damned thing had sneaked around the waited, glad that Ferguson was safe in
other side and caught the last sailor and his cabin, and then, just when I felt I

killed him before he had time to yell even simply could not wait any longer, I heard
once. a little swishing sound in back of me. I

"I told Ferguson that as far as I was jumped around and started that damned
concerned I had had just enough. The gun squirting.”
best thing we could do was to get that "And then what happened?” I asked.
engine started ifwe could and get away "I stopped the gun and waited. Not a
from there before we died like the other sound. Everything was as black as it
six. He asked me to stay just one more could be except for the lantern up by the
night and try the dummy bait again. If dummy. I did not have the least idea
nothing happened then, he promised to whether I had hit that monster or only
leave the next morning. I did not like the frightened it. I guess I didn’t care verv’
idea, and told him so, but finally I gave much. Here is the peculiar part: I have
in to him. We worked on the engine that been through alt kinds of hell in my life

day and found it was in perfect condition. and it never phased me, but this time I
He knew a good deal about machinery and was sick; and I wanted to see Ferguson. It
showed me just how to start it and run was not the boss especially, just anyone I
it, in case, he said, anything happened to could talk to. I felt my way down to
him the next night. But he promised to his cabin. He had a light burning but he
say shut in his cabin and not come out till wasn’t there. Gone! And I was feeling
he heard me start the machine-gun. How so low that I just locked the door and
about that beer?” threw myself down on his bunk. Man,
but I felt sick.” .

ORDERED it for him and he drank "I suppose Ferguson decided to go up

I it slowly. Then he continued his on deck during the night and the beast
story. was rather sure by this time
I grabbed him?” I asked.
that the whole thing was a clever lie, but "That was the way I figured it out.
94 WEIRD TALES
Anyway I stayed there till morning, and "What makes you say that?” I asked
then I went on deck. Thought I would sharply. "You say those men disappeared.
have a look around and see if I had hit If it wasn’t a sea monster, what was it?”

that sea thing and then start the engine "Ferguson.”

and get out if I could. All I could think know you are lying now.”
"I
of was to get away as soon as I could. "Knew you would think so. Never told
Can I have another beer?” the story to anyone before, ’cause I knew
"You certainly can. Now, when you no one would believe me. But Ferguson
went on deck with the sun shining, what was a real scientist. He wanted to devote
did you find?” his life to a study of those little animals
He drank the beer slowly, and then even in the floating seaweed. He knew that
more slowly said in a whisper: no one would willingly stay there month
"I found Ferguson, just about cut in aftermonth with him, but he had to have
two by the bullets.” a crew to get him there. He took me and
"You killed him instead of the mon- the gun along to cover up his crime.”
ster!” "How do you know that? You are prac-
"Just tliat. Gotand fired at the
Jitters tically saying that he killed the men!”
first noise in back of me, and I guess he "Am I? Well, I have reason to think
never knew what hit him. It was a mess. so. Why? Because he kept a daily rec-
And now to the end of this story. I man- ord of everything he did and I found that
aged to start the engine, and raise a few book in his cabin. He would sneak up be-
sails, though it took me a long time. But hind- those men, crush their skulls with a
I got out of there, and sailed east, and blackjack, tie some lead and to their feet
when I got in sight of the Azores, I set throw them overboard. He did that to the
the ship afire and went ashore in a boat. cook when he went out to see why he was
Of course there was an investigation, but late with the meal, and he was going to
I just answered questions, and did not tell do it to me, only I outsmarted him. The
tlie whole story; so finally I was allowed man must have been insane.”
to leave and I took the first tramp steamer "Sure of all this?”
back to America.” "Better than sure. He had the black-
"And so you never saw the Kraken?” jack in his hand and his hand up ready to
"No. And I do not think there ever was strike when the bullets hit him. Now
one.” do I get a night’s lodging on that story?”
 was as aJI the pvt! in Hell looked at me from those eyes!”

By STAFFORD AYLMER

Horrible and strange was the doom that stalked Tamy Challoner round the world —
to catch up with him at last, the stolen shrivelled head in his possessionl

HAT do you think of the knows,” the waiter thought, "how much
\/% / matter, Harry? Do you think longer they will remain.”
T there’s anything in it?” Harry Challoner called for another
The which followed this question
silence round of drinks. For several minutes he
was broken at last by the lounge clock, regarded his half -smoked Corona medita-
which solemnly emitted eleven doleful tively. Of them all, he was the least
notes. traveled; but nevertheless, his views were
A sleepy, white-coated waiter, hovering invariably respected.
at the door, wondered how much longer "I don’t quite know what to say,” he
the discussion would last. The seven men, answered at last. "A lot has both been
all friends, who had, between them, said, and written, on the subject of Black
touched most odd corners of the world, had Magic and voodooism. And v/hile I must
already occupied the lounge of the golf confess that I have made no actual inves-
dub for over three hours, "and God tigations into these things, whenever the
95
 —

96 WEIRD TALES
subject brought up
is I always think of see, how about next Thursday? Tliat do?
my brother, Bertram.” Right! show you them then. But
I’ll

"Wasn’t he the one who spent quite a there are two things that none of you ever
lot of his time in Basutoland?” asked a have seen, and never will.
man, with iron-gray hair. "I seem to
tall —
"Bertram or Tamy, as we called him
remember something about his dying rather was, as you all know, a big, strapping fel-
suddenly.” low. Six feet three, and a fighting weight
"Yes. And it’s the matter of his death of just over fourteen stone. That was,
that inclines me to the view that there’s until the last time he came home; then he
something in this Black Magic business was so changed that I hardly knew him.
after all.” Usually he was tanned almost black, but
The others pricked up their ears. All of that time, his face had lost its healthy hue
them had known Bertram Challoner, a wild and was, instead, a dirty ashen-gray. His
harum-scarum if ever there had been one. cheek-bones stuck nearly through the skin,
In the words of one of his closest friends, his body was a mere skeleton of skin and
who had stood shoulder to shoulder with bone. As soon as I saw him, I knew some-
him in more than one tight corner; "He thing was up, but what it was, and how

was frightened of neither man, God nor devilishly it worked, I didn’t learn until
devil, the latter least of all.” just before the end.

Most of Bertram’s adult life had been

spent in the lesser known parts of "Dark- ‘</^N HIS previous visits, he had arrived
est Africa.” Every few years, he would sud- with Nimrod, and almost as much
denly return to England for six or eight luggage as the Shah of Persia. 'Tliis time

months. Then Challoner Towers would Tamy came alone, and had only one small
wake one morning to find him, and his handbag and a big cabin trunk. I asked
black servant Nimrod — huge seven-foot
a him where Nimrod was, but he waved the
—
Nubian ^vanished completely. Nothing question aside and asked for a drink. That
more would be heard of him for perhaps was another thing. He had always been a
four or five years, when he would reappear —
moderate drinker not T. T., but well, —
as suddenly as he had gone. —
you know have one when he felt like it.
Each time he came home he would bring Now all he would do was to sit huddled in
some curio and, but for the ever increas- a chair, with the brandy bottle close at
ing collection, Bertram’s people might hand; starting to his feet every few min-
sometimes have thought that he did not utes. For a day or two he kept to his own
exist. room, refusing practically everything. Most
Harry took a sip of his gin-and-bitters. of his meals came back untouched, and his
"As you all know,” he commenced, continual order was for more and more
"Bertram was always a bit of a mystery to brandy. Benson —you all know him, had

most people, and that included us, too. been butler to our family for the Lord
Many a time I have had him in the library —
knows how long mentioned the matter
when all the rest were in bed, and tried to me.
"
to pump him about his absences. But he 'I don’t like to speak of it, sir,’ he
—
was as close as an oyster that is, until his started in his dry voice, that somehow
last visit. Most of you, I think, have hasn’t changed since was a boy, ’but Mr.
I

seen his collection of curios — ^you, Fant- Bertram is taking rather an unusual quan-
well, arc the only one. who hasn’t; well, tity of brandy. He’s just rung for another
’ '

come round to dinner one evening. Let’s bottle; I thought perhaps you
 TIBETAN VENGEANCE 97
"
'All right, Benson,’ I told him. Til up half the length of the whole thing, and
take the bottle to him. Don’t worry, I the skin, which was a dirty brown, was
think Mr. Bertram has had a bout of fever stretched over the bone as tightly as the
or something. I’ll see to him.’ skin of a dram.
"I went to Tamy’s room and went in, "A wide, flat nose, both nostrils dilated,
without knocking. He was sitting close to and shov'ing red on the inside, and hairs
the fire, and before the dexjr was closed he almost an inch long grov/ing down from
started to rave and swear at Benson, as he each nostril. The mouth stretched nearly
thought. After a while I managed to from ear to ear, and five or six cruel-look-
quiet him, and while we sat talking I ing fangs grew from the top jaw. The
seemed something well, I can’t
to smell — mouth was open in a hideous grin, and
quite describe it. Something er sour. — — there was no tongue! From the mouth, the
—
No that wasn’t it, and still it was. It was face receded back to the throat, there being
a rank sort of smell, partly like dried sweat, no chin worth calling one. There were
and partly like decaying flesh of some two very small ears, pressed close to the
kind.” head. The back of the head bulged out-
"Son^ething like a native hut when a ward and upward, giving it rather the ap-
chief dies?” put in a man named Collins. pearance of a rugger ball. A shock of
"Yes, that’s it! I asked Tamy what it jet-black hair, about a foot long, matted
was, and I shall never forget the look in and indescribably filthy, crowned the thing.
his eyes as he answered me. A terror- "As I looked at it, I could not help but
stricken, appealing glance it was, as though shudder, for it was hideous. I asked "ramy
he had looked into a corner of hell, and what it was. In fact, I had to ask three
lived to tell the tale. or four times before he heard me. When
"
'So you can smell it, too? Then the he realized I was talking to him, he plucd
devils are really here. I can’t stick it much the thing upright on the table, looking to-
longer, the swine are driving me out of my ward us with its blind eyes.
"
mind.’ 'Now, don’t laugh, Harry,’ he said;
"For several minutes he raved incoher- 'what I’m going to tell you will sound far-
ently, and then pulled himself together. fetched and impossible, but every word is
"
'Lock the door,’ he commanded, and true.’
when I had done
he asked me to draw
so, "For perhaps half a minute he was
the heavy, velvet curtains. This I did also, though wondering how to start
silent, as
wondering, you may be sure, what all the his tale;then he turned to me.
"
mystery was about. I was then asked to 'How old do you think that thing,’
bring him his trunk, and after some trouble pointing to the head, 'is?’

— it was no light weight —

I managed to get "I was dumbfounded, and didn’t know
it in front of him. Tamy fished out the what to say.
"
key and unlocked the case, swinging it wide 'In what way?’ I asked. 'In age; or
open. At once the sour smell became over- how long it has been dead?’
"
powering. 'Both.’
"
"With trembling hands, he seardied in 'Well, I don’t know anything about
the bottom of the case and brought out a that tribe —whoever they are,’ I said, 'but I
round object wrapped in a piece of native should guess he was somewhere about fifty
cloth. This he unwound, and disclosed a years old or so. And he’s probably been
human head, but nothing like any skull I dead a month or so.’
had ever seen before. The forehead took "He shook his head at my answer.
^8 WEIRD TALES
" "
’You’re a long way
Harry old boy,
out, 'Because some of those priests are com-
in the second guess, although you may be ing for it, and I can’t stop ’em.’
"
right in the first.’ Tamy suddenly became 'Of course you can,’ I laughed. 'They
serious and looked at me intently. 'That daren’t break in here and steal the thing.’
"
head belongs to a prehistoric race; in fact, 'Harry, you don’t understand! They’re
it’s the head of what science calls the "miss- not coming in the flesh! Their spirit, soul,

ing link,” and it’s been dead, if you can call it what you like, will come. I know
call it dead, for heaven only knows how it, as surely as I know you’re sitting
many thousands of years.’ there.
"
'To get back to our yarn. I managed
COULD hardly restrain a smile, but to find the monastery and get inside —how,
I
"
Tamy went on. doesn’t matter —and saw that,’ indicating
'No, don’t laugh, it’s the truth. I wish the head, 'on an altar, right at one end of
to God it were not! You’re wondering the place. For a long time I watched the
where I got it. I’ll tell you. Since I was priests; some of them were continually
last home, I’ve been hunted nearly all over bowing in front of the thing, and asking
the world by a pack of inhuman devils, un- it questions. I couldn’t understand the
til I hardly know what to do. language, but answered them! No, I
it
"
'It all started in northern India where know what you’re going to say, but there
I was wandering about as usual. One day, was no trick. I know the thing has no
Nimrod and I were instrumental in saving tongue; nevertheless, sounds came out of
the life of an old native, and he told me its mouth.’
"
how I could, if I wished, get into Tibet, I told him.
'Ventriloquism,’
"
and to the monastery, where, he said, the I saw the
'No, Harry, you’re wrong.
monks or whatever they were, had a head jaws and lipsThere was no jiggery-
move.
thousands and thousands of years old. How —
pokery the thing spoke, I tell you. I wish
the old chap knew, I haven’t the foggiest I had time to tell you half of what I saw

idea, but all he told me

proved true later. there — it’d make your hair stand up, but
What they actually did with the head, he I’m afraid there isn’t time. Those devils
didn’t know, but it was rumored to possess are close at hand now, and they’ll strike
the most uncanny powers imaginable. before long.’
There is no need for me to tell you all the "Tamy reached out and picked up the
details, but before he had finished his yarn head. He pushed two fingers into its
I had made up my mind to snaffle the head mouth, and as he did so. I’ll swear by all
if it was the last thing I ever did. I hold holy, the thing’s eyes moved. ^JiTaen
"
'For a long time Nimrod tried to per- Tamy pulled his fingers out, they clasped
suade me not to go, but like a fool, I took the biggest ruby I’ve ever seen. God knows
notice. I wish to God, now, that I had. how much it was worth —a king’s ransom
However, as I was fool enough to stick I’ll bet.

out that I was going, he insisted on coming "Tamy twisted it about in his hands and
too. I really shouldn’t have taken him, he then gave the thing to me. As soon as he
was too big to disguise properly; but I did dropped it into my hand, I had the queerest
and he’s there somewhere now, poor devil. feeling imaginable, as though all the evil
"
'I wanted the head to hand over to a in the world were wrapped up in that
scientist pal —
thought it would create no blood-red stone.

"
—
end of a sensation now he’ll never get it.’
"
'Keep it, Harry, till I’ve gone,’ Tamy
'But why?’ I asked. said, 'my end’s not far off.’
 TIBETAN VENGEANCE 99

"I tried to laugh away his fears, but he fortunate enough to see one or two inci-
was so sure, so certain. dents of their skill. They believe in, and
"
'It’s nearly three years since I got out practise, the projection of their souls into
of 'Iibet with that thing, and sometimes I space, and believe, as I do now, that they
almost believe it to be three hundred. The can will their spirit to any part of the earth,
devilsfound out that it’d gone, an hour while the body remains in the temple.
"
or two after we’d started for India. 'ITiey 'It was night, of course, when this
have followed me half over the world, al- affair I was about to
took place; in fact
ways keeping just out of sight, but all the collar the head and do a bunk, when the
same, I know they’re there. I tell you, sileiKe of the monastery was shattered by
Harry, the thing is driving me out of my the most unearthly row one could imagine.
mind. Night and day it’s the same, always At the same time two priests entered the
waiting for ’em to strike.’ temple, one from either side, each carrying
"For a long time Tamy raved in that a smoking torch. Then a procession ap-
and I, knowing it was useless to try
strain, peared, headed by two fellows, evidently
to stophim, just sat and listened. When the cause of the row, for they each had a
he seemed calmer, I asked him, '

long trumpet affair, which they blew into

"
'What about the ruby?’ continuously, creating the weirdest sounds I
"
'That, too, came out of the temple. ever heard. Behind these trumpeters came
I shouldn’t have thought they’d have about forty more priests, all in long, trail-
missed it. The altar upon which the head ing cloaks, reaching from their necks down
stood was covered with a gold cloth em- to the ground. Their heads were decorated
broidered with hundreds of precious stones, with feathers, carved pieces of wood, and
each worth a fortune. That one I’ve just human bones. Every one had perhaps a
given to you was about the smallest of them dozen skulls strung round his waist, which
all, was th? reason I chose it. Not
that rattled together as they walked.
"
that it’ll do me any good, but you can sell was not so much the bizarre dress
'It

it later on. Meanwhile come on, let’s — that put thewind up me, but the lone, pen-
put it in the safe.’ etrating chant they kept up. It was queer.

"Tamy was insistent, and together we None of them raised his voice above a loud
went to the safe and locked away the ruby. whisper, but the sound penetrated into
I kept the key, which is never taken off this every corner of the temple, and gave me the
chain.” impression that it would, as it was in-
tended, reach the uttermost ends of the

C HALLONERfrom his jx)cket,

pulled a thin, silver chain
on the end of which
earth.
fellows
I am convinced, Harry, that those
were then speaking with some
dangled a single key. spirits, wandering about the earth free
"After a lot more conversation I per- from their bodies.
"
suaded Tamy to promise come away with
to 'Another thing. As each man passed
me. At first he demurred, saying it was the altar, at each side of which stood one
useless, and that the priests would get him of the torch-bearers, he stopped. For ten
IX) matter where he went. seconds or so he stared at the head, chant-
"
'You don’t know what devil’s powers ing his damnable dirge the whole time.
they possess,’ he said. 'They’re adepts at Then he would raise both arms straight

the art of Black Magic, and are continu- above his head and bow twice, and pass on.
"
ally practising their hellish tricks. Listen! 'Tliis was kept up until I thought I

While I was hiding in the temple, I was should have gone stark, staring mad, for
100 WEIRD TALES
the whole time I had been wondering if misty sphere, and found that it, too, had
they knew I was there or not. Suddenly disappeared. All this may sound far-

the trumpeters gave an extra loud blare fetched, but believe me, out there, miles
and stopped. whole company
Instantly the from civili2ation, in the midst of those
ceased their movements and stood perfectly fanatics, and a white moon shining, it was
still, and for a short while you could have real enough. The procession formed again
heard a pin drop. Another priest came into and left the temple. I was out of my

the temple, but, unlike the rest, he was ab- hiding-place in a jiffy, grabbed the head
solutely naked, not having so much as a and that ruby, and left the place as quickly
feather to cover him. Straight to the head as I could. Nimrod was with me and in

he went, raised up his arms as the others our haste, deceived by the moonlight, he
had done, and bowed. misjudged the distance in jumping across
"
'A large rug was spread on the floor, a narrow chasm, and down he went, yelling
before the altar, and the naked priest lay like a madman.
—
on it face upward. Then the doleful
"
'Before I had been alone an hour, I
chanting recommenced, the figures lining knew that those damned priests had dis-
up in two rows, one on eadi side of the rug. covered my theft, and that’s how all this
The horns blew, and for five minutes the .started.’

place resembled a corner of hell.

"
'Suddenly the nude priest, who until ^‘IT^AMY stopped and huddled down into
now had lain perfectly still, gave a convul- chair, trembling from head to
his
sive heave. I could see the sweat glisten- foot. Without being asked, I gave him a
ing on his skin, although was a devilish
it stiff The head was put
bracer of brandy.
cold night. His eyes opened and rolled up away and I suggested that I sleep in his
grotesquely, and from his mouth came a room for a few nights, but he wouldn’t
white foam. Then he started to lash about hear of it. I did, however, get him to
with his arms and legs, until two of the promise he would go away for a holiday
watchers bent down and held his limbs with me.
"
rigid. All at once he gave an unearthly 'Although,’ he said, 'I know very well
shriek, and it happened! As true as I sit itwon’t be any use. For over two years
here, Harry, I am convinced that I saw the I’vebeen on the run; here, there and every-
body; for, suddenly,
priest’s spirit leave his where, and I might just as well have stayed
above him, hovered a thin, white wreath of in Tibet and faced the music. At least it
mist,which curled and writhed, then grad- would have been all over by now.
"
ually rose higherand when about ten feet 'I was a fool; as soon as I knew they

in the air formed itself into a perfectly were after me, I should have dropped both
round ball, from the center of which a hu- the head and the ruby. It’s been hell all
man face stared. the time, and the week I spent getting back
"
'The man on the carpet kept up his to India was not the worst. I had to travel
shrieks until the face appeared, but, as soon by night and hide up all day. Dozens of
as the ball was complete, That
fell silent. times I resolved to throw myself over the
was the signal for the rest to break out into next precipice, but each time something
what I took to be a kind of applause or stronger than my own will-power held me
jubilation. Then the priest moved, rose back. 'They wouldn’t let me die in my
jerkily to his feet, and slowly, almost like own way; they’re keeping me for their own
an automaton, walked out of the temple. hellish end. What it will be I don’t know,
"
'When he had gone, I looked for the but something far more horrible than any-
 TIBETAN VENGEANCE 101

thing I’ve gone through yet. No, I’ve hiseyebrows and looked at me inquiringly.
never seen anything, that’s the devil of it. Well, to cut a long story short, he offered
I can’t see, I can’t hear, all the same I know Tamy about forty thousand for the thing.
they’re there, waiting their time!’ To my surprise the offer was turned down
"Well, gentlemen, there was very little flat. Eventually Sir Joshua realized that
more Tamy’s story. 'The next morning
to Tamy meant what he said, and tried a fresh
we started out on a long motor tour, just tack.
"
the two of us, and after a lot of argument, 'Will you allow me to take it to my
I persuaded him to leave that damned head laboratory for a few days?’ he asked, and
behind. went on to explain that the head was, he
"We were away from the Towers for felt sure, all that had been claimed for it,

nearly four months, and during that time backing up his arguments with a lot of gib-
Tamy became man. He could
a changed berish about the Ice Age, troglodytes and a
eat again, his face lost its drawn look, and lot more scientific jargon, none of which I

altogether he seemed to have shaken off his could understand. Tamy swallowed every
oppression. I was congratulating myself word and as his theories, one after
avidly
on the cure, but before we had been back another, were proved by Beldred, his eyes
home two hours, it started all over again, glowed. All his fears seemed forgotten
and in a couple of days he was as bad as and he talked quite seriously imtil dinner.
ever. For hours I argued with him to give After the meal. Sir Joshua again asked per-
the cursed head to some museum, but he mission to take the head away with him and
refused. I added my arguments to his. The result
" Tve got to keep it for those priests,’’ was that Tamy agreed to the scientist’s tak-
he would insist, 'got to! I’d give anything ing the thing with him, but only for a day
to letit go, but I just can’t. I want to, but — ^no longer.
it’sno use. I daren’t do it.’ "Off went the old boy, next morning,
"However, I took matters into my own the head in his bag, as pleased as punch.
hands, and, unknown to Tamy, asked Sir Before he had been gone an hour Tamy
Joshua Beldred, the authority on prehis- began to curse and rave, and yell for the
toric man, to come down. 'The old boy confounded thing back again. ’This of
came, full of excitement. When Tamy dis- course, was impossible, so I had to do my
covered who he was, there was the devil to best to calm him. It was no use, and at
pay. For the whole of one day, Bertram bedtime I had to stay in his room. Even-
flatly refused to allow Sir Joshua to even tually I got him off to sleep and sat in a
look at the head, but at last changed his chair for forty winks myself.
mind and produced the thing.
"As soon as it was on the table, Beldred A BOUT two o’clock I was roused by
was crouching over it, turning it this way an unearthly yell from the bed and
and that, pulling the mouth wide open and saw Tamy standing up, pressed to the wall.
peering down its throat. Its ears, too, he If ever I pitied anyone, I did him then. He
closely examined, ashe did the teeth. When was terrified and stared glassily at the far
at last he finished and stood up, his eyes wall. and saw nothing, but I
I turned,
were lit up with excitement, and he turned smelled that awful stench that had ema-
to Tamy.
"
nated from the head. Tamy raved the —
'How much will you take for it?’ he same words over and over again 'I haven’t :

asked eagerly, and received a grunt and got it! I haven’t got it!’ and each time his
shake of the head for his answer. He raised voice rose higher, until it became a high-
 —

'^02 WEIRD TALES

pitched scream. His eyes were nearly start- death, he nearly had a seizure, his first
ing out of his head, and he appeared to be thought being for the head. Later in the
fighting for breath. day he had occasion to go to his trunk for
"This state of affairs lasted for just un- something, and believe me or not, gentle-
der half an hour, until Tamy collapsed on men, that head was there in its original
the bed. After I had made him as com- place!
fortable as I could, I searched the room, "To say that was astounded would be
I

every nook and cranny. I didn’t know what putting it mildly. I was flabbergasted!
I was looking for, but anyway
I found noth- Couldn’t make head or tail of the thing.
ing, except a slight dampness in the far Somebody, or something, had murdered
corner, where the stench, which had cleared Sir Joshua and had had possession of that
from the rest of the room, was faintly dis- infernal head. It must have been some of
cernible. those cursed priests, but why —
I asked my-

"There was no apparent reason for the self, bring the damned thing back to us?
dampness, and suddenly I remembered Tamy and I talked the thing over, and his

what Tamy had told me he witnessed in the voice trembled as he said;

temple. I can tell you, I was scared stiff " Tt’s me they want. They know that
then! It had taken me about a quarter of they can get the head any time they wish
an hour to search the room, and it was and the devils have brought it back to tor-
exactly ten minutes to three. I remember ture me a bit longer.’
the time precisely, for I looked at my watch, "Tlie whole affair was getting on my
wondering if was worth while going to
it nerves and I can tell you, gentlemen, that
sleep again. However, I did drop off, and I felt as though I should soon go out of
the next thing I can recall was Benson my mind. How Tamy had stuck it for over
shaking my shoulder. two years, God only knows!
^ "At breakfast I opened my paper and "Suddenly, I thought of Raymond Hart;
got the shock of
dred had been found dead!
my life. Sir Joshua Bel-
From the tigator, he calls himself.
—
you know, the ghost-hunter psychic inves-
I had heard a lot

newspaper report I learned that his valet about him, and thought of asking him to
had been roused at tliree o’clock in the come down. I put the matter to Tamy, who
morning by Sir Joshua screaming and had agreed; so I rang Hart up. He prom-
rushed into his room. 'The place was a ised to come at once and was as good as his
shambles, bed-clothes torn to shreds, pil- word, for in less than three hours, his car
lows all over the floor and the scientist him- rolled up the drive.
self, lying under the bed, dead. "I don’t know whether any of you chaps
"My first thoughts were of Tamy’s head. know him?” Harry Challoner looked round
However, I need have had no fears on that the ring of tense faces. "No? Well this
matter. 'The police, of course, were called was the first time I had ever seen him.
in and made the usual inquiries, but found Talk about a ghost-hunter, he looked like a
nothing upon which they could work. An ghost himself! Well over six feet and as
inquest was held and an open verdict re- thin as a rail, he was as near to a human
turned; the jury could do nothing else. At lamp-post as anyone I’ve seen. To look at
the inquiry, a witness — I forget who him, one would have thought he would
testified that the floor in the center of the scare any ghost. He had a long, saturnine
room was covered with damp, but no ex- face, as white as death, with a high, intel-
planation was offered. lectual forehead crowned by a mop of jet-
"When Tamy learned of Sir Joshua’s black hair. His eyes were deep-set and
 —

TIBETAN VENGEANCE *
lOX

piercing, continually roving around as possessed than I had felt for several hours,

though searching for something. We in- and began to pat myself on the back for
troduced ourselves to him and then I led thinking of tlie man. At last Tamy an-
the way to Tamy’s room. swered his question.
"
"Seated in front of the fire, I offered 'Yes, Mr. Hart; now you ask. I’m ab-
him a drink and a cigar. Hart held up solutely certain that just before the two
his long, bony hand and in his deep voice priests held the man’s arms and legs, he
said: did rise slightly. Mind you, I was a fair
" No, thank you, Mr. Challoner, not way off, and the light was none too good;
justnow. No man appreciates a good cigar nevertheless. I’m sure the body did rise
and a long whiskey more tlian I, but until slightly. Maybe not more than a couple of
I have heard your brother’s story, I do not inches, but it moved.’
know what may be required of me, and I "Tamy picked up his glass containing a
desire to keep myself free from stimulants. few sips of brandy, but before he could put
Tomorrow, when, I hope, everything is it to his lips. Hart stretched out his hand.
~
over and my work finished, I will join you 'No, don’t drink that, Mr. Challoner.
in both with pleasure.’ Please!’
"
"He inclined his head toward Tamy. 'Why?'
" "
'Now, Mr. Challoner, tell me every- 'I’ll tell you in a few minutes. Mean-
thing you can. No, I do not wish to see while, listen to me! I don’t know whether

the head at the moment. That will come
later. Don’t keep anything back; tell me
every detail, no matter how apparently in-
significant; it may be upon some small
thing you tell me, that the success, or
otherwise, of my efforts will rest.’
you, or your brother, know anything on the
subject of Black Magic?’ both shook We
our heads. 'Well, I shall have to enlighten
you a little. Of course, you know what is
meant by the term? Now these Tibetan
monks, or priests, devote their whole rim<»
to the subject, and are considered experts

T amy told
lated to you.
Hart asked.
him
When
all that I have re-
he had finished,
adepts —
in many weird and seemingly in-
credfl>le practises.’
"Some of them are undoubtedly genu-
"
'Now tell me, when the priest lay ine; for aught we know, they all may be.
naked on the rug, the two men holding him Western has progressed
civilization in
down, did they appear to be just holding many ways, but on the subject which we
his limbs from thrashing about, or’
— Hart — are discussing, our scientists are as children
became very deliberate 'were they hold- compared with these people. 'Their knowl-
ing the body itself down? What I mean edge extends bade for a great many gen-
is this. Did the man show any signs of erations, and each age adds more to the
rising up from the floor? Take your time already immense store. Their two greatest
to answer and if you positively cannot re- studies are levitation of the body in other —
member, say so.’ words, the power to raise the body into the
"Tamy looked puzzled, and sat for fully air at will without any outside assistance;

five minutes with his eyes half closed. and the transmission of the soul, or the
While talking to Hart, he ^d calmed down knowledge of how to send their spirits to
to normal. His eyes had lost their wild any place; having the spirit under control
look, and his face had relaxed. Hart ap- the whole time. Many of our Western
peared to have restored Tamy’s reason com- scientists refute the idea, but I know there
pletely. I, too, felt calmer and more self- is a great deal of truth in it.
104 WEIRD TALES
"
’I am convinced, Mr. Qialloner, that and in my own mind put him down there
the monks in the monastery you were so and then as a charlatan. He must have read
foolish — if I may say so — as to enter, are my mind, for he said:
adepts at both phases. The former does
"
'I mean that, Mr. Challoner I really —
not concern us now; it is with the latter that mean it!’

we have There is no doubt, from

to deal. "And by Heaven, he did mean it! Still

what you tell me, that you arc being perse- gripping Tamy’s fingers, he leaned for-
cuted and tormented, deliberately, by one ward, stared tensely into the thing’s eyes
of these released souls, and, unless we can for fully a minute. 'Then he made a quick
successfully combat it, I am positive you motion with his free hand. 'The eyes
will continue to be —^how long, I cannot moved! All this happened in broad day-
say. Maybe they would keep it up until light; nevertheless, I felt my skin creep and

you killed yourself, or maybe they would my blood ran chill. The man was a devil
tire of it themselves and will the spirit to himself!
murder you.’
"Hart must have noticed the incredulous ^*TTART mumbled an incantation in
look on my face, for he smiled faintly, some tongue unknown to me, and
showing the edges of his white teeth. from the fanged, tongueless mouth, a hor-
"
'I see that you are skeptical,’ he said, rible, gurgling sound issued, chilling the
'but what about Sir Joshua Beldred?’ very marrow in my bones! It was awful!
"I could think of no satisfactory answer. I’d seen and heard some queer things in
Hart then asked to see the head, instruct- my time, but never anything like this. Any
ing me to get it, which I did, placing the doubts I had entertained respecting Hart
horrible thing on the table. Tamy reached vanished at thatmoment and, like Tamy,
forward to touch it, but Hart grabbed his I put allmy faith in him. I could hardly
wrist. believe my own ears, but there was no
"
'No. I don’t want you to touch it any doubt about it. Had I not seen the lips
more until I have done all I can.’ move before the sounds came,I should have
"Tamy nodded, but I could see that his suspectedtrickery'. But that, I realized,
fingers were itching to handle it. Even was out of the question. Hart had not
the sight of the damned thing caused Tamy touched the thing.
to shake from head and it was
to foot, "I watched breathlessly. Hart muttered
symptoms were
plain to see that all his old something in a low, penetrating voice. I
returning. Hart put out his hand and held can tell you it was uncanny. A man talk-
Tamy’s fingers in a grip like a vise, and ing to a head, and the damned thing an-
instantly I could see the lad’s face relax, swering him! At last Hart packed the un-
as tiiough some power of resistance was im- earthly conversation up, and asked me to
parted to him. take the head away. I did, and as I re-
"For a long time. Hart sat and stared turned, I heard Tamy say that he could not
intently at the head; then he heaved a long understand what Hart had been saying, but
sigh and sat back, apparently satisfied. He the language sounded very similar to that
opened his lips to speak, and I got the used by the priests.
shock of my life. "When I had resumed ray seat. Hart
"
'I think, Mr. Challoner, that I under- said:
"
stand all about this head, and can get it to 'You both wondered why I asked Ber-
speak.’ tram not to drink his brandy a short time
';i didn’t stare at the man — I
goggled, ago. This is the reason. One thing we

TIBETAN VENGEANCE
have learned about Black Magic is that it
works much more powerfully when the
subject is under the influence, however
slight, of alcohol. A bewitched person,
however temperate his normal habits, often
experiences an unusual craving for stimu-
lants; perhaps you have been conscious of
this?’
"Tamy nodded and Hart continued
ously:
"
'Then, Mr. Challoner, I beg of you to
resist that craving with all your strength
you are being willed to drink, in order that
the work of these devils may be made
easier. In any case, since I shall need the
co-opcration of you both in the task that
lies before me, I must ask you to abstain
altogether until I have come to grips with
this thing and defeated it.’
"He looked at his watch, and then said
that time was getting short.
"
'I presume, Mr. Challoner, that this is
the room in which you sleep?’
"
’Yes.’
"
'Very good. Now I want you both to
listen carefully to what I am going to say.
You, Bertram, will go to bed as usual, and
try to sleep. I want you, Mr. Harry, to
keep watch with me. Perhaps nothing will
happen; I don’t know, but if anything does
occur, you must obey me implicitly. The
least false move on your part might mean
your death!’
"Hart opened a long, bulky case he had
brought with him and took from it a dark
cloak, which he threw over a chair, and
four or five small, ebony boxes. He looked
round, counting the door and windows, and
asked to be supplied with four bowls, one
for each of the two windows; one for the
door, and another for the fireplace.
"From each of his little boxes he took a
pinch of some kind of powder and dropped
one into each of the bowls, stirring it thor-
oughly with the blade of his pen-knife.
Aftenvard, he carefully placed the bowls
m their respective positions. "These prepara-
— —
105
tions and the previous talk had taken up
the whole of the afternoon and it was now
almost dinnertime.
"Hart joined us in the meal, but ate
sparingly, refusing all meat, and drank only
cold water. Tamy and I refrained from
alcohol, ashe had asked us.
"The meal over, we sat and talked on
seri- every-day matters for an hour or so. Hart
showed a knowledge of practically every
subject under the sun, and so interesting
was his conversation that I was surprised
when the clock struck eleven. Hart jumped
up and with a nod to Tamy and myself, led
the way to my brother’s room.
"At the door he stood for a second,
sniffing like a retriever, then apparently
satisfied,walked into the room. The door
was carefully closed, and bolted behind us,
and I noticed that the thoughtful Benson
had filled up the coal scuttle, and placed a
tray of food and drink ready.
"Hart went to his case, which I was be-
ginning to compare to that of a conjuror
one never knew what would come out of it
next. "This time he held a bunch of leaves.
I don’t know what they were, they were
the queerest I’ve ever seen. Each one was
a perfect diamond in shape; all were
threaded on a thin, flexible wire. These
he laid carefully all round Tamy’s bed,
about two feet from the posts; when he had
finished, the bed was standing inside an
oblong formed by the wire.
"Into his bowls containing the mysteri-
ous powder, he poured a few drops of
liquid from a bottle he fished out of his
bag. Immediately, a thin spiral of smoke,
or vapor, rose and, at a height of about
ten feet, vanished entirely. I sniffed at
one of these spirals, but could detect no
smell. All this had taken a great deal
longer to do than it has to tell, and it was
nearly eleven-thirty when Hart finally
ceased moving about in his stealthy, silent
way. He drew the cloak over his clothes,
and stood enveloped completely from his
m WEIRD TALES
neck downward, only his head protruding. "Really, now I think, I don’t know what
By this time I was getting a trifle uneasy, I expected him to do. All he did was to
but Hart reassured me. stand erect and face one wall, and stare
"
want you to sit in your chair,’ he
'I intently. I looked in the same direction,
said, 'and keep in it, unless I ask you to but could see nothing. Tamy yelled again,
move. There’s no need to be nervour, and Isaw Hart’s face set grimly.
you’re in no danger whatever. All this,’ "Slowly, he commenced to walk to the
he waved his hand round the room, 'is, I wall, and examined one particular spot on
think, necessary to the success of my ex- the floor. For several mintites he stared,
periment, but does not concern you in the and then I saw a faint mist rise in front of
least.’ him. 'That was all, but Hart evidently saw
"Somehow, it was not what he said, but more, for his eyes dilated and he drew his
the tone of his voice, that set my mind at eyebrows together. All this time, I noticed
rest, and I did as he asked, settling myself that the man kept between the mist and
down comfortably. Tamy’s bed. Then he commenced to speak.
What he said, I have no idea, for he used
«iyfY BROTHER was already in bed, the same tongue in which he had spoken
snuggling down under the sheets, to the head. For several minutes he kept
more had done for a
peacefully than he up the incantation, then produced from
long time and, at that moment, our troubles some hidden pocket on his cloak a small,
seemed nearly over. I wish to God that triangular piece of wood, beautifully
things had been as they really appeared. carved, whiA he held out at arm’s length
Hart, too, sat in an easy-chair on the op- in front of him.
posite side of the fire, his back to the bed. . "By this time I could see beads of per-
After half an hour, Tamy breathed evenly, spiration on his face, and the hand holding
and Hart rose, silent as a ghost, and turned the talisman was shaking like a leaf in the
off the main light, leaving only a small wind. Again he spoke, in a deep, com-
table lamp burning. manding voice, and then retreated a step
"Two or three hours passed; I could keep or two. It was plain to see that the man
my eyes open no longer, and I dropped off. was exerting all his will-power to force
'"There is no need to prolong the story, something back, and I was afraid he was
gentlemen. Nothing happened that night, losing the duel.
nor the next. It seemed as though Hart’s "This went on for quite a while. Hart
presence had effectively removed all signs gradually retreating toward the bed. It

of the spirit, or whatever it was. But on was uncanny in the extreme, but after Hart
—
the third night ^well, things did happen first spoke, Tamy became quiet, and did

then, and no mistake! not make another sound that night. Evi-
"Shortly before four o’clock, just as I dently, the thing was concentrating its
was beginning to doze, Tamy, who had power on removing Hart before torment-
slept peacefully the last two nights, yelled ing Tamy again. As I watched, half-
as though someone were tearing his vitals choked by the awful smell. Hart went back
out, and started to thrash about on his bed. and back, until he was within four feet of
’The room gradually filled w'ith that awful, the bed. 'Things were getting serious, and
nauseating smell, and I knew that the devils I half rose from my chair, but Hart mo-

were at work
Hart seemed to be
again. tioned me down again. Five minutes he
almost as unconcerned as though nothing stood there resolutely, then stepped for-
had happened. ward a pace. I saw a gleam of relief show
 TIBETAN VENGEANCE
for a moment in his eyes, and the wooden say, I am confident that I have been suc-
talisman dropped from his fingers. Then cessful. However, after I’ve gone, should,
he stretched both arms out in front of him, there be the least sign of anything of the
palms forward as though pushing at sort, ring me up at once. Don’t waste an
something, and in that position he moved instant; because if they do come again, and
across the floor, his eyes staring unblink- I am not here, they’ll finish your brerther
ingly in front of him until he reached the at once. I don t want you to be alarmed,
spot from which he had started. but this matter is something far beyond
“He then intoned another incantation, you, and me too, for that matter. By that,
and, though I couldn’t understand the I mean that the adepts in the temple have a
words, they sent a chill down my spine, greater knowledge of the subject than I.
and terrified me more than any of the pro- Tonight, I don’t know whether you real-
ceedings up to then. They were, I knew, ized it or not, was touch and go. I couldn't
evil and vile, expressing untold wicked- have held out for much longer, but thank
ness, but they appeared to work, for sud- God, I held out long enough.
denly Hart dropped his arms to his sides, You know, Challoner, the forces of
and hung his head, looking at me ap- evil in this world are far greater than
most
pealingly. I jumped from my chair just people realize. 'There are many, many
in time to catch him as he slid to the floor mysteries of which we of the Western
in a faint. world are still in ignorance. And maybe
it is just as well.’
^<TTART soon came round, and looked “There is no need, gentlemen, for me to
-LJ- toward Tamy, who w'as asleep. He re^t all he said; indeed I couldn’t, for
stood up and, walking over to the bed cov- neither of us slept that night, and all the
ered Tamy up, and stood there for some time Hart talked, explaining as nearly as he
seconds, his lips moving silently, as though could to my untutored mind, mysteries and
praying. Then he dropped into his chair, theories of the occult.”
buried his face in his hands, and started Harry Qialloner emptied his glass, and
to shake and tremble. for several seconds sat silent. Round him
"It was reaction after the terrible strain, with tense, eager faces, the others waited
and I poured out a stiff tot of brandy and breathlessly for him to resume. After a
handed it to him, neat. He gulped it further round of drinks had been served,
down, and in a few moments had re- Challoner selected a cigar, carefully cut it,
gained his composure. I looked toward and lit up.
the tray Benson had left, and hd nodded. “There isn’t a great deal more to tell,”
In a quarter of an hour every morsel of he continued. “Hart left the next morn-
food had disappeared. ing, refusing a blank check Tamy and I
"
'How about one of your cigars?’ he on him.
tried to press

asked with a weak smile. He lit up, and
then said:
"
'Well, Challoner, that, I
the end of your brother’s trouble.
think there will be any recurrence.
course, in these matters, one cannot be cer-
tain, as the power of the other party is al-
ways something of an unknown quantity.
But as near as it is possible for any man to
“For a few days, it seemed as though
Tamy’s troubles were over, for he livened
am sure, is up, and in no time was his old self again.
I don’t He went out with several shooting-parties,
Of made one or two visits to town with me,
did the rounds there, and became gradu-
ally the harum-scarum Tamy of the old
days.
“We had once or twice discussed the
108 WEIRD TALES
head and its ultimate fate, but decided on next words were more hopeful. Mr. Hart,
nothing definite. I tried to persuade he said, had left his telephone number in

Tamy to pack the damned thing straight case he was wanted. I rang the number,
off to some museum, but he kept putting and learned that Hart had been staying
it off. The ruby, too, came in for its share there, but had left that afternoon by road,
of attention. Once or tw’ice we had taken for London.
it out of the safe, talked about it, and tried "For the rest of the day I rang up Hart’s
to estimate its value. Neither of us was flat continually; until just after six o’clock
.any judge of precious stones, however, the man told me that Hart would not be
and we decided to let some dealer make home that night, he was sure, as he de-
an offer. One thing I was sure off; that is, tested motoring at night. I had to give it

the thing was worth more than would have up as hopeless, and tell Tamy I couldn’t
kept us in comfort for the rest of our lives. locate Hart. He didn’t seem at all dis-
"But we delayed too long, so it’s no use turbed, just remarked;
grumbling now. It was not to be sold! " T told you so, Harry. It’s no use tr}’-

Fate decreed that it should just lie in the ing to stop ’em, the inhuman devils! All
safe until it was too late. The peaceful I hope is that they get it over quickly.’
state of affairs that prevailed then was too never forget the look the poor kid
"I’ll

good to last, and exactly ten days after gave me. He was even then terrified al-
Hart left, the trouble started again. most out of his mind, and knew that worse
was yet to come, but still lie tried to
«T first noticed Tamy at lunch. One smile. If ever a man met a hellish death
minute he was laughing and joking bravely, Tamy did. God! It makes my
with the rest of us, and" the next, he’ blood boil to sit here and think of those
looked round at the wall, and jumped up swine tormenting and hounding a man to
from the table. I followed him out of the death like that. Maybe I’ll meet ’em in
roo.m; his had that damned,
face again hell, and then there’ll be a reckoning.”
haunted look. had no need to speak.
I Challoner’s voice was low and deadly.
"
'They’re here again, Harry,’ he said, '"rhe evening slowly passed, the last
'and this time my number’s up.’ Tamy was to spend in this world, and as he
away his fears. 'I’ll
"I tried to laugh left the library to go to his room, I could

get on the ’phone to Hart,’ I told him. see tears, not of terror, in his eyes. For
"
'It’s no use, old boy; you’ll not get several seconds he stood in the doorway,
hold of him. Don’t ask me how I know, looking over the familiar room in which
because I can’t tell you. I know it’s true. he had spent so many happy hours. Then,
I’ve got a feeling here,’ he tapped his with a sigh, he tore himself away, and
chest, 'that tomorrow by this time I’ll be walked slowly, like a man going to hi.s
dead.’ doom, along the hall, and up the stairs. In
"I didn’t ask Tamy, but went straight to his room he drew a chair to the fire and sat
the phone. The exchange said they would down. I tried to persuade him to go to
ring nie when an answer was received, and bed, but he refused.
"
for ten minutes I was like a cat on hot 'No. I’ll die with my boots on,’ he
bricks. At last the ring came, and I said, 'and not in bed.’
grabbed the phone. Hart’s man-servant was useless insisting, so I, too, sal
"It
was on the other end, and with a sinking down and waited. Eleven o’clock came
feeling in the pit of my stomach I learned . hv'elve
. . one, and nothing hap-
. . .

that Hart was away from home. The man’s pened. Then — the smell! — faintly at
 —

TIBETAN VENGEANCE 109 '

first, gradually growing stronger, until it COULD not restrain myself, and
filled the whole room, almost choking me. -L threw a tumbler straight at it. The
"Tamy just sat there, growing more ter- glass passed right through and shattered
rified with every passing minute; his eyes itself on the and for a second those
wall,
all the time roving round the room terrible eyes were turned on me. In that
searching, and dreading what he knew he second, my heart stood still, and my blood
would see. froze in terror. It was as though all the
"An hour passed, the smell all the evil in hell looked at me from those eyes.
time getting worse. It was hell, just sitting I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I

there helplessly, waiting for I knew not couldn’t even drag my own eyes away. They
what. were held there fixedly, try as I might to

"Suddenly Tamy yelled, his eyes glued turn them away.

to one corner of the room. It was a soul- "Then the thing looked back at Tamy,
chilling cry of absolute fear, such as a man bringing forth another howl of terror. Sud-
might make who looked into the further- denly, Tamy jumped up and went to his
most corner of Hades. I jumped to my feet trunk. I knew what he was after. The
intending to investigate the corner, but head! from my chair to stop
I tried to rise
Tamy grabbed me and, with a strength him, but my limbs seemed paralyzed, I was
I never believed him capable of, pushed unable to move, and I had to sit there help-
me back into the chair. less, terrified, and just watch.
"
'Don’t move, Harry,’ he said, his teeth "In a few moments he was back with the
chattering; 'the fiends’ll not touch you. It’s cursed head in his two hands, held out in
me they want. Me! Mel’ front of him. He started to rave.
"
"His voice rose to a screech, until I 'It’s there! It’s there!’ he screamed time
thought my ear-drums would split. Then after time. 'Take it, you hellions! Take
I saw the mist beginning to form. Wispy it!’

and thin at first, it gradually became "He stood it on the table, and as God is
thicker until it filled the comer, and with my witness, the undead thing grinned at
it came that cursed smell, stronger than Tamy, its gaping mouth extending nearly
ever. Higher it rose from the floor, Tamy from ear to ear, and its eyes turned upward
staring fixedly, like somebody under a to the face in the mist. How long this
hypnotic spell, at a point about ten feet in lasted I’ve —
no idea I was out of my mind,
(he air. and time meant nothing. Tamy raved and
"Gradually, the mist rose from the floor cursed like a maniac, taking no notice of
and thickened higher up, until a perfectly me whatever. His eyes were red-rimmed
round ball was formed, which hovered, and bloodshot. His jaws worked convtil-
motionless, in the air. Then I saw God! — sively.
—
what did I see? a face, half human, half "Poor devil, he was being terrified to
devil, materialize in the middle of the fog. death, while those two hellions looked on.
Slowly it became more distinct the most — At last Tamy shrieked in agony and fell

hideous sight I ever beheld! A perfectly back on to the floor, fighting something I
round face, all eyes and mouth! Two couldn’t see.
black, staring eyes were fixed on Tamy. Its "Suddenly, most of his body was blotted
mouth was gaping in a devilish grin, bar- out by something, although I couldn’t see
ing two rows of long, yellow teeth, over what it was. Then the thing moved and
which a blood-red tCHigue licked, gloat- spread until I could see nothing of him.
ingly. Heaven only knows what was happening,
110 WEIRD TALES
for the kid fought and shrieked like a devil his body from the floor, he gave a long
in torment. gurgle, and lay still, his fingers locked
"All at once the thing seemed to leave round his throat in a death grip.
him, for the whole of his body came into "I think I must have fainted, for every-
view at once. Across his chest and arms thing went black, and I came round, to find
were long, ugly slashes in the flesh, and the fire out, and daylight breaking through
streaming with blood. Tamy still strug- the sky. dragged myself to my feet and
I

gled and then, with a despairing, agonized went to Tamy. His face was distorted out
look at the hellish face in the air, he put of all recognition, his tongue was black and
his two hands up to his neck. He turned swollen, but the slashes on his body had
them palm upward, put his fingers at the disappeared! Not a sign of them!
nape of his neck, and stuck his two thumbs "I lifted him on to the bed, set the room
into his wind-pipe. He was strangling in order, and then swallowed a himblerful
himself! of neat brandy. I looked for the head. It

"I tried to shout, but my tongue refused was gone! Vanished! In the corner was
to move! I couldn’t get up, I couldn’t a slight dampness. I went to the safe and

move a finger. I had to sit and watch my found that the ruby, too, had gone! And
brother being willed to choke himself to that was the end of both the devilish things.
death. It was ghastly! I searched everywhere, but they had dis-

"Soon itwas over; for several minutes appeared completely, and I’ve never seen
Tamy rolled about in agony, trying, I could either of ’em since, and have no desire
from his
see, to tear his strangling fingers to.’’

throat,but they were held there by a will- In the silence that follcjwed, Challoner
power stronger than his. His struggles stood up, his face set grimly.
were soon over, his shrieks died down to Without another word he walked un-
groans; then with a sudden heave, jerking steadily from the lounge.

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M artin WEBLY

Millham,
a bustling, officious
better than medium
was not the
best choice for the parish at
in the south country:
man of medium height,
weight, with a glint in
ability of the parish to raise funds, they
settled back again to wait for the Reverend
Mr. Webly’s solution to the problem.
They were kept waiting a scant ten days
before the vicar announced his solution.
his eye and determination apparent in the He had come upon certain old papers,
set of his jaw. The parish, however, had he said, which indicated that a treasure had
been spoiled almost into oblivion by tlie been buried in the tomb of Nicholas Mill-
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son, Webly’s predecessor; that he had left ies ago, and he proposed to investigate
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finances in a deplorable state the tomb forthwith, beginning the second
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lem might afford the new vicar. In-
this his assistants should come from the parish.
deed, there were certain people in the It was an unheard of and impossible
parish who held that a problem of this solution. In the first place, everyone had
magnitude might be a good thing to help been aware of this legend for a long time,
make smoother the edges of the Reverend and no one had ever done anything about
Mr. Webly. Some regret was manifest. it. Why not? demanded the vicar. Be-
However, there he was, and there in cause of the belief in certain local legends,
Millham he meant to stay. for one thing; because was thought ir-
it

He was not married, but he had a house- reverent for another; because there was a
keeper, a gardener, and occasionally hired reasonable doubt about the supposed treas-
a chauffeur. He took complete possession ure. Martin Webly was adamant; he thrust

of the vicarage, and within a fortnight con-
ducted himself as if he had always lived
there. Within that fortnight, too, the
vicar had got himself thoroughly informed
in regard to the financial problems of the
parish. He was
in his next sermon;
not pleased and said so
moreover, he said,
“something must be done,” speaking with
such a positive air that several of his lis-
teners were rudely jolted from their lethar-
gic acceptance of the status quo. After
consideration of the enormity of the prob-
lem, coupled with a knowledge of the in-
forth his jaw, beetled his eyes, and said that
he would tolerate neither superstition nor
any other nonsense, and the parish had
better understand that from the start.
ON THE following Sunday, old Sir Basil
Hether, who was the local authority
on everything from pottery to astronomy,
was shown into the vicar’s study. He was
faintly apologetic, but rather more distant
due in his manner than apologetic.
“I came to see you about the Millham
tomb,” he said.

112
 a

”Tiie vicar revealed Sir Nicholas Millhatn’s remains, a small casket of jewels,
and a thick mass of musty dust ...”

“We begin Monday week,” said the tively the script.

at “It seems properly
vicar cheerfully. clear,”he said thoughtfully. “The Latin
"So I heard. But of course, you can’t is and you are warned that
easily translated,

do it, you can’t open it, you know very
well there’s a curse on it.”
The Reverend Martin Webly fingered
his jaw patiently and then took up some
old papers which lay not far from his el-
any disturbance of the tomb will give you
grievous trouble.”
The Reverend Mr. Webly took the old
paper back and looked at it with pursed
lips and narrowed eyes out of which his

bow on his desk. "Yes, yes,” he said, a skepticism showed plainly. "I’m glad you
little scorn in his voice. "That curse. Let find it so clear,” he said. "I fail in that.
me see, I believe it’s here somewhere — 'Who dares disturb this tomb releases unto
copy of it, that would be. Yes, here it is.” death my companion and now his’,” he
Hether extended his hand for it and read. "That’s a free translation, isn’t it?”
opened it slowly, carefully, with a certain Hether nodded. "And clear enough,
respect for old things. He peered atten- too, I should say.” 113
m WEIRD TALES
Webly made no comment. He put the "What a queer name for a dog!”
paper down and crossed his hands on his Hether rose to go. "Oh, not at all,” he
paunch, eyeing the old man with ill<on- said benignly. "When you consider the
cealed impatience. "Nevertheless, Mon- root of it and its subsequent
in the Greek,
day we begin work. I don’t anticipate that use in our own language; daimon to dae-
it will take us very long. And if the men mon or demon. I dare say Millham had
make any kind of trouble about this super- a sense of humor.”
stition, I’ll take a hand myself.’’ The Reverend Mr. Webly mentally re-
Hether brightened visibly. "That might served to include Sir Basil Hether among
not be so bad, then,” he said reflectively. those destined to receive the benefit of his
"As I understand the curse, it applies only prayers and showed him out, unmindful
to the disturber of the grave; so you are of the old man’s dubious mutterings and
not really loosing any menace upon the head shakings. The vicar was a practical
parish.” man; he permitted Hether’s "I really
Webly ignored thrust and
this asked wouldn’t do it! I wouldn’t sanction it!”
about the legends which existed about to pass from his mind even more swiftly
Nicholas Millham. He had heard hints, than the old man passed from his sight
of course, but few people wished to speak down the lane to where his car stood wait-
of the old man. What was there about “g- .f-i

him?
Hether, however, had no inhibitions. N MONDAY week the work was be-
He could say quite readily what there was gun, everyone exercising the utmost
about Sir Nicholas Millham. The old man care, so that no damage might be done.
had practiced demonology, and there were The vicar told himself and his parishon-
any number of queer events which had ers that he was not a vandal. Nevertheless,
been attributed to him in the absence of he had to import workmen from outside;
any otlier explanation. And then there without saying so in so many words, old
was, of course, the matter of his death; he Hether had given him to understand that
had apparently had some foreknowledge he would have difficulty with local work-
of that, and had had the tomb erected and men, and he had been right. The vicar
the curse put on it just a week before got outside help, preached a sermon on
he was killed in an accident. the evils of superstition, and devoted his
Webly had some difiiculty restraining attention to the matter of the Millham
himself. He reminded his visitor that this tomb. He was eager to discover now how
was, after all, the twentieth century, not great the treasure would
and whether
be,
the dark ages. "But you’ve said nothing it would pay the parish’s debt, which would

about Millham’s companion to which he please his superiors very much and make
went on. "I
so cryptically alludes,” he pre- his own chances for advancement so much
sume he did have a companion or is — that greater. He did not at the moment con-
presuming too much?” sider the possibility of his advancement to
Hether w^as aware of the
If Sir Basil another plane.
vicar’s sarcasm, he chose to overlook it. By Wednesday, the coflfin was ready for
"Oh, yes, several. But his favorite was a its opening, and the vicar, true to his word,
large black dog, named Daemos, and the came from his study and opened it. He
story goes that of dark nights the villag- revealed Sir Nicholas Millham’s remains,
could hear the old man’s voice calling
ers
liis dog
— 'Here, Daemos! Here, Dacmos’l”
a small casket of jewels, and a thick mass
of musty dust, whidi slithered like a cloud
 HERE, DAEMOSI 115

of fog over the edge of the coffin and the way, if you should need me —^my tele-

vanished. One glance at the jewels was phone is next to my bed.”

enough to convince the Reverend Mr. 'The vicar made short work of him; he
Webly that the parish’s financial problem was not kind. When he put down the
had been solved for the time being. He telephone he was convinced that he had
could not keep from returning to his study better plan to give an entire series of lec-
and telephoning old Hether to impart tures upon the evil effect of superstition.
something of his triumph to him. If he had been irritated by the curious,
Sir Basil was not enthusiastic. Indeed, stolid refusal of his parish workmen to as-
he was curiously restrained, so that the sist at the opening of the tomb, he was

vicar had the uncomfortable impression even more disquieted and angered by the
that he was talking to a listener who sat persistent stupidity of a man like old
annoyingly waiting for the end of a story Hether, who ought to be about setting a
which had already patently ended. good example rather than upholding the
The vicar’s triumph, however, was not error of these country ways. The vicar,

to be dampened. He announced a special clearly, was from the city; he had come
thanksgiving service for that evening, and out of Whitechapel, which was not a sav-
preached a long sermon on the ways of ory environment. Having seen a good deal
Providence, despite the fact that the major- of the rawer side of life, he had a natural

ity of his parishioners were not present. tendency to be irate about those needless
Old Hether was there, and several beliefs which always work to make the lot
strangers, summoned no doubt by the un- of a poor yokelry more difficult
usual ringing of the bells, and curious When he put out the light and went to
about the whispered tales already making bed, the vicar’s mind was occupied with
their way over the countryside about the sonorous and rather pompous lines derid-
vicar’s find. 'The vicar had a few uneasy ing the folly of superstition.
moments, until he could reassure himself
was awakened
that the jewels were safely locked up
where no strangers were likely to find
them; the only individual who might de-
H e
what he thought
against the window
in the night by
at first
pane; but, as he came
was rain

mand more information than he cared to more he recognized it

fully to his senses,
impart to his parish was the tax collector as a snuffling sound —
the kind of sound
for the Crown, and he was certainly not an animal might make. At the same time
among those present. he was conscious of a veritable bedlam in
Being practical and methodical, the vicar the village; it seemed to him that every
made a conservative estimate of the treas- dog in the countryside was barking furi-
ure’s worth, and reckoned that, with care, ously, madly, as if something frightened
there might be a small fund left over after or angered them. He turned over on his
the parish debt had been paid. It was side and listened intently; the snuffing
while he was doing this late that night in sound was repeated.
his study that the telephone rang and old It was manifestly ridiculous that any
Hether’s voice came over the wire to in- kind of animal could be snuffling at his
quire whether the vicar was stilt all right. window. 'The vicar slept on the second
"Of course. I’m all right. What do you floor, and the walls went straight down to
mean?’’ the ground, with not even a vine up which
"Forgive my curiosity,” murmured Sir something might crawl, much less the roof
Basil. "I told you I was superstitious. By of a veranda. Yet, there it was, a peculiar.
ire WEIRD TALES
persistent snuffing, accompanied from time There went the Reverend Mr. Webly’s
to time by an oddly muted whine or growl, chance for immediate advancement. Before
and set all the time against that wild bark- noon, his gardener quit, coming into the
ing in the background. He got up at last, study and putting his case very stolidly.
irritated, and went over to the window. "Seein’ as how the dogs do bark, and
The window looked out upon the lane you know what that means, Reverend Zur.”
and the corner street-light. Almost the first "Why, no, what does it mean?” de-
thing he saw was a man standing there; manded the vicar truculently.
he stood a little in the shadow, and yet "Strange dogs about, there be, zur.”
his face was clearly visible —
a long, dark, "Indeed!”
saturnine face, with dark pools for eyes, The vicar paid him and sent him off, not
not exactly a young man, and yet not seem- without rancor. It was being borne in upon
ing old except in the curious parchment- him painfully that a man even of his stand-
like quality of his gaunt features. It was ing could not educate people hidebound by
not someone the vicar knew. allmanner of legend and lore simply by
While he stood looking, the vicar ob- denying the existence of their beliefs.
served that the stranger under the light And before the day was out, there
was not alone; dog bounded out of
a large was, as might have been expected, old
the vicarage yard and came quietly to his Hether. The vicar was obviously in no
side, ft seemed to the vicar with a curious mood to see him, but there he was, com-
kind of thrill that man and dog both turned ing as if he expected to be welcomed by

and looked for a moment intently at the open arms.

window from which he peered outward "Hear the dogs last night?” asked
before they turned and vanished in the Hether.
dark direction of the churchyard. "Who didn’t?”
"What a strange thing!” murmured the "Thought you might have heard ’em. So
vicar. did I. Thought it might put you to think-
He stood there a little longer and was ing a bit.”
"
conscious presently that the bedlam of 'What fools these mortals be’!” quoted
barking had ceased. It did not occur to the vicar pointedly.
him had stopped in ap-
that the barking "Quite so,” agreed Sir Basil cheerfully,
proximately the time it would have taken producing an old leather book. "Brought
the watcher and his dog to reach the you a book I thought you’d like to see.
churchyard. In some respects, the vicar Picture of old Millham in it.”
was unimaginative; if he had thought The vicar took the book, glancing at its

enough of old Hether to give him a ring title: South Country Demonology. He
on the telephone, he might have spared opened it to the picture and gazed at the
himself certain unpleasant experiences. countenance of Nicholas Millham. He
It was maddening, but from that eve- had instantly the singular sensation of
ning, everything seemed to go wrong. The looking upon someone familiar, but he
bishop took him to task for opening the could not place him. He frowned briefly
tomb without first investigating every other before handing the book back.
avenue of raising money and without hav- "That black dog beside him was sup-
ing the parish convinced of the right to posed to be his familiar. Of course you’re
open it. "A form of desecration all the aware of the legend about practitioners of
more to be deprecated since it was done the black arts and their demon companions,
purely for material gain,” wrote the bishop. who took odd forms, but quite often tiiat

HERE, DAEMOS!
of a black dog,” old Hether went on.
"I’ve seen that face somewhere before,”
said the Vicar.
"Then you’ve seen the book, too, eh?”
"Oh, no.”
"Must have. This is the only place Mill-
ham’s portrait occurs. Never been re-
printed, as far as I know, and the book’s
rare.”
Their conversation was not pleasant.
TT WAS not until Sir Basil had gone
that the vicar remembered where he
had seen that strange gaunt face before
itwas the face of the nocturnal watcher
under the street-light in the lane!
"What a curious coincidence!” he
thought. It was a pity that the vicar was
conditioned to think in platitudes.
That evening he made the mistake of
working late in the church; though the
work he had to do there could have been
done any time, it was possible that the
vicar obstinately pursued this course be-
cause Sir Basil Hether had none too subtly
hinted that it might be well if the vicar
stayed inside after dark.
"When he came out, on his way to the
vicarage, he was immediately aware of the
wild barking of the Millham dogs, the
same mad volume of sound which had as-
saulted the usually quiet country darkness
on the previous night. Looking around him
from the comparative .security of the church
steps, he made out a figure standing at the
entry to the churchyard just beyond.
thought briefly of old Hether’s ridiculous
hints, and reflected that in any case,
rather late to be considering them.
He went down the steps and
lane to where the lights of the vicarage
shone out. A man’s voice was raised in a
.shout behind him, and he thought with a
warm pleasure how pleasant it was
the familiar voices of countrymen in the
deepening darkness of nights men in the —
fields, men on their way home, men with
—
IWi
lanterns looking for lost lambs or calves.
Even as he thought this, he was aware
suddenly of the words that reached his
consciousness. He could not believe the evi-
dence of his own ears— a man’s voice call-
ing insistently, with a strangely ominous
quality: "Here, Daemos! Here, DaemosF
Frightened now, he turned.
He had a fleeting glimpse of a great
black hound with red eyes bounding to-
ward him, its mouth slavering, its outline
no less distinct than the aspect of earth
seen dimly through its dark body and be- —
hind it, coming swiftly as the wind, the
tall black-cloaked stranger, his face de-
moniac in its saturninity, the face of the
dead Nicholas Millham. Then the hound
was upon him, and he went down with
the furious wild barking of the village
dogs still ringing in his ears.
ONE of the vestrymen found
after midnight. The vicar
him shortly
was not a
pleasant sight, with his throat tom out,
and many lacerations apart from the sev-
ering of his jugular. At the inquest, the
coroner’s jury decided that the Reverend
Mr. Webly had come to his death in an
unfortunate encounter with a stray dog,
"of some considerable size.”
Sir Basil Hether, however, took no
chances. Having satisfied himself that the
curse on the Millham tomb applied only
to the opening of the tomb itself, and not
to the removal of the jewels, he neverthe-
He less repaired to the proper quarters and
had an elderly gentleman publicly in very
it was bad odor as the practitioner of certain un-
mentionable arts come down from London
up the and seal the tomb again, with incantations
and exorcisms.
Being a man with a healthy regard for
country lore, he did not forget to have the
to hear MilUiam curse put back upon the tomb
for any future Webly who might dare to
show his scorn for the beliefs of the local
yokelry.
 Rustic Interlude become so powerful that my readers must be
gripped by it sufficiently to read on to the climax.

A fter
Spina
from Quakertown,
an all-too-Iong absence, Greye La
is back with us once again. And
The introduction of the Rat Master and the Black
Magician must wait until the very end. Because
I steadfastly believe that Light will always con-
Pa., she writes us:
quer Darkness, the situation is climaxed by show-
I’ve been spending several years on a farm ing that in the lowest of creatures there frequently
and went into it off the deep end, wearing over- is a responsive chord to what is highest in human

alls, running a tractor, raising poultry, dogs, goats beings. That note runs through all I’ve ever
and pheasants. I’ve learned some curious and in- written.
teresting things that don’t belong in this letter. I hope W. T. readers will enjoy my experiment.
As I had to neglect writing while farming, I
finally dropped the latter because tny typewriter The “Fantastic” Frank
called me back to my very own work again.
I am by nature an inveterate experimenter. My From Washington, D. C., Frank Moulton
hobby is weaving. Just now I have two big looms writes;
living with me and two smaller ones visiting me.
I cannot make the same thing twice on my looms; Practically since I could read I have been an
every article has to be unique in itself which is ardent detective fan, and left fantasy severely
tough on people v/ho’d like to order six guest- alone. But about a year ago I happened to see
towels but know I’d definitely refuse to make Frank Gruber’s name on the cover of WEIRD
more than one of a kind. For the same reason 1 —
TALES ^July, 1940, I think it was. And as he is
range fromportieres, window-drapes, cushion a great favorite of mine, I bought the magazine.
covers, modernistic table runners to large and Not only did I thoroughly enjoy his tale The
small bags, peasant aprons, Italian toivels with Golden Chalice, but most of the other stories in
gaudy wide borders of gay cotton. Although it the issue rang the bell too. So I bought the next
takes morn time and effort, I prefer "free weav- issue, and the one after that . . . and since then

ing” which enables me to make up my own pat- I haven’t missed a number.

tern and reproduce it on a loom. And I want you to know that Frank Gruber’s
Thb experimental nature of mine crops out second story. The Book of the Dead, was swell,
when I write. I enjoy doing a story my own and much better, I thought, even than The
way even if it falls outside the regular rules. Some- Golden Chalice. I’m getting so I prefer Frank’s
times I get away with it and sometimes I don’t. weird tales to his detective yams!
But I do have fun. Tlie Rat Master was suggested Well, here’s a long life, and a haunted one, to
by something ominous about the bold rats we have WEIRD TALES!
at Windy Knoll, in beautiful Bucks County, Pa.
One of them sat on its haunches on my bam What Is Buddhism?
floor, in a beam of light from an electric torch,
and bared its teeth at me with such menace that The Buddhist Brotherhood of America,
I couldn't get the red, glittering eyes out of my
writes from Brooklyn, N. Y.
mind until I’d put something on paper that had
to do with rats and — —
^yet something more than The following article may interest some of
rats. 5 ’our readerswho have written in, asking for fact
In The Rat Master my experiment was to pro- articles about "Oriental Philosophy and Occult-
duce first of all an atmosphere of mounting ap- ism.”
prehension, subtly rising in its suspense. This must "Buddhism —misunderstood by thousanth of.

ii?
 —

THE EYRIE
Westerners —was founded by Gautama, an Indian SECRETS ENTRUSTED
Prince. The term Buddha, translated from San-
skrit,means Awakened One or Enlightened One. TO A FEW
Buddhism was first expounded twenty-five cen-
turies ago and is the most perfect system of
thought yet recorded by man from the secret
archives of nature.
"Buddhism has three aspects, the philosophical,
the scientific and the religit us. Many see only
the religious, or dogmatic side. Some see only
the scientific and philosophical side, while others
regard each aspect as part of the great jewel and
embrace it all. It creates, in those who have
embraced it, spiritual joys which equal and per-
haps surpass those experienced by adepts of all
other doctrines.
"Buddhism has been received by both savage
and civilized races in the Bast and in the West,
A doctrine of such wide acceptance by individ-
uals of different characters and circumstances.
Buddhism has controlled the lives of thousands
of millions during twenty-five hundred years, and
comes nearest to Christianity in the purity of its
morals and benefits it proposes to confer upon the
human race; it is certainly worthy of careful
attention.
"In various Eastern countries. Buddhism has
been polluted with superstition by the ignorant
masses who are incapable of understanding and
raising themselves to
JhehnpuSiU^^
its heights.
"Buddhist doctrine does not speak of God, not
a divine revelation. The pure doctrine has no
J-acU.qfjC^
dogma and prescribes no ritual, but advocates a
complete liberty of examination and thought. If THERB are some things that can not be
generally told things you ought to
know. Great truths are dangerous to
has no place for either speculation or meta-
physics, each is at liberty to decide the question
—
some ^but factors for personal power
and accomplishment in the hands oS
for himself. If Buddhism can be termed a reli-
those who understand them^ehind the tales
gion, it must be admitted that as a religion if of the miracles and mysteries of the andentsi
does not ask its followers to give up the right lie centuries of their secret probing into
of exercising their intellectual and critical facul- nature’s laws — their amazing discoveries
ties. 'I quoth the following from the words of of the hidden processes of man’s mind,
the Buddha.’ and the mastery of life’s problems.
" 'Whatsoever,
after personal experience and
Once shrouded in mystery to avoid their
destruction by mass fear and ignorance^
investigations, is fotmd to agree with your own
these facta remain a useful heritage for
reason and trends to serve your own well-being the thousands of men and women who
as well as the well-being of all other living be- privately use them in their homes today.
—
ings ^that clave to as truth and shape your life
THIS FREE BOOK
in accordance therewith.’
Uie Rosicrucians (not a relislons organizadon)^
"The Buddha was not afraid to trust the an age-old brotherhood of learning, have pre-
human mind nor was he afraid of appealing to served this secret wisdom in their archives for
human reason. centuries. They now
invite you to ehare the
nraotioai helpfulness of their teachings.
•The doctrine stands nearest to and farthest Write today for a free copy of the book, “The
from Christianity. In its extent, it is one of the Secret Heritage.” Within its pages may lie a new
life of opportunity for you. Address S<^be H. Y.X.
world’s greatest faiths and includes four-tenths
(nearly one-half) of the world’s population.”
Rosicrucians
(AMORQ, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U. & A.
Clark Ashton Smith —His Life and Letters

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120 WEIRD TALES
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Address
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tioo. Grcascicss, stainless. Soothes irritation and quickly* stops Fantasies, and four volumes of verse: The Star-
the most intense itching. 35c trial bottle tx'ovcs it, or money Trcader, Odes and Sonnets, Ebony and Crystal,
t^k. Ask your druggi^ today for D. D. D. PRESCRIPTION.
and Sandlewood. He is preparing three new vol-
umes of verse. He has contributed poetry and
9Vs EASY to
Anyone can now draw pretty faces and love^ figuree per*
DRAW 40 or 50 magazines, including The Yale
fiction to

fectly with the b^p of the New. Anatomy-Nude Guide.

Review, London Academy, London Mercury,
Develops your natnral ability. SO gorgeoun art models pose in Munsey’s Philippine Magazine, Asia, Wings,
thenttde. Basy-to-follow inAtructlonsenableyou todrawFree
Hand as good as the <risinals. Ideal c^portunity for be* Poetry, The Lyric West, Buccaneer, Weird Talcs,
glnncrs to get Into big paying fields. Free indi-
vidual crticlsm. Complete course only $1.00 of- Ainslee’s, 10 Story Book, Live Stories, The Wan-
fered on 6*Day Money Back Guarantee. WE
derer, The Recluse, The Thrill Book, Amazing
SEND C.O.D. Mall 18 penny etamps and
>
postman li.OO or Midose |1 now and save 18c Stories, Wonder Stories, Astounding Stories,
postage. (No C.O.D. outside V. 8. A. Sa^
. 0. $1.25) to RAY ROGERS. 807 Artuokle Bldg., Breoklya, N. Y. Strange Talcs, The Sonnet, Interludes, and the

old Smart Set imder Mencken, and his poems

have also found place in a dozen or more anthol-
ogies, among them Brigg’s Great Poems of the
English Language, Continent’s End, and a British
^sed no HtMtvl
d«fU lie Bosh name and address fc
MBBOf! Ui,, As-sortmeot of FOODS. anthology issued by the Mitre Press, London. His
CROCESIKS, SOAPS, Etc.—full else pactogr
worth $5.00. Yours ABSOLUTELT FRBEl talcs have been reprinted in one of the Not at
Show these products to friends, neighbors.
Take orders for sensattonid values, more
tnan 200 quality products u^cd In every Night English story anthologies, and in Today’s
home. Earn big profit^ full or spare time.
>o experience arcessary. Wrlle foe FitKiS literature, a collection used for supplementary
r.’J.Oi) As^'irtmont of ProduHs 5lOW.
,AN0l., 4939 MoKRoutli, Ciocitmatl, O, reading in junior colleges. Some of his early
 THE EYRIE Ilf
poems have long been used in Califomina school i

readers. Out of 107 short stories and novelettes

written, he has sold 99 to magazines and expects f TRAINED THE
Heis also a
to sell nearly all of the remainder.
painter and sculptor, and has exhibited many of MEN WHO THEN
his outre and exotic pictures and carvings at
Gump’s in San Francisco. His paintings have GOT THESE
been ranked above those of Odilon Redon, the
celebrated French symbolist artist, and have drawn ,
BIG JOBS
high praise from Parisian art-reviews. His sculp- V /
tures, mostly cut from strange and unusual min-
Students or graduates of mine hove complete charge
erals, have been compared to pre-Columbian art
of the Bureaus of Identification in the following
and have foimd numerous purchasers. In addition
mmiyi
to his four arts.Smith was a journalist for several states and cities—and, they ore only a few of
State Bureau of Delaware Albany. N. Y.
years, and has worked oS and on at several man- State Bureau of Florida Trenton, N. J.
ual occupations, has picked and packed fruit, has State Bureau of Maine Canton, Ohio
State Bureau of Michigan Tulsa, Okla.
chopped firewood, has typed bills, has mixed and State Bureau of New Mobile, Ala.
poured cement, and has been a gardener, and a Mexico Phoenix, Aria.
State Bureau of Fhoda Los Angeles, CalUL
hard-rock miner, mucker and windlasser. He has Island Seattle, Wash.
been acclaimed by a small but growing audience State Bureau of Texag Madison, Wis.
State Bureau of Utah Miami, Florida
as the great living poet, and thousands of readers Lincoln, Nebraska
i

X«eaTenwortb, Sat*
have ranked his tales with the best of Poe and
Dunsany. His poems range in theme from the
cosmic sublimities and immensities to the most
BE A
delicate ardors and tenderness of love. He claims FINGER PRINT EXPERT
to possess powers of magic, mesmerism, psycho-
CxfiaHiiaa ia Jleantt
analysis, and prophecy. He springs from titled
lineage, being the descendant of Norman-French HU will teach you Finger Print Identification—Firearms
I Iden^fication —
Police Photography —
astd Secret
counts and barons and Lancashire, baronets, and Service!” That’s what I told the men who now handle
Crusaders. His paternal grandfather, a wealthy those jobs.
niillowner of Lancashire, married into the old And now I repeat, but 'THIS time it’s to YOU Just . ; .

and noted Ashton family, one of whom was be-
headed for implication in the Gunpowder Plot.
His mother’s family, Gaylords, came to New Eng-
land in 1630; their name was originally Gaillard,
and being Huguenots, they fled from France at
tfietime of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
settling in Devonshire, where the name was
Anglicanized. Many of them have been Congre-
gational ministers. Smith’s father, Timeus Smith,
was a world-traveler in his earlier years but set-
tled in California, where he suffered long years
of continunal ill-health. Smith lives on the out-
skirts of Auburn. Still young at 48, he feels that
his best work is yet to be done.
give me a chance and I’ll train you to fill an important
osition in the fascinating field of scientific crime
Serection.
GET IN NOWI But don’t be misled. Scientific crime
detection is not as simple as it might appear. It’s not
anoccimation at which anyonewithout training might
succeed. It’s a science —
a real science, which when
mastered THROUGH TRAINING gives you some-
thing no one can EVER take from you. As long as you
live —
you should be a trained expert— able to make
good in scientific crime detection.
LOOK AT THE RECORDiNow over 43% of ALL
Identification Bureaus in the United States are beaded
by our students and graduates. They have tegular jobs
—re^lar salaries—often collect reward money besides
—and many of these men knew absolutely nothing about
this work before they began their training with me.

Olden Time Fantasy Fans Forecast
Modern-Day Blitzkrieg!
Well known are Jules Verne’s "fantasies” of
submarines and aircraft. And most of us have
read H. G. Wells’ uncannily accurate descrip-
tions —
years before they came about —
of radio
and other modern marvels. But it is astounding
and truly weird that the not so vain imaginings
r iNsmun or appud sciinci
of long ago "fantasy fans” should have forecast
Hider’s blitzkrieg!
As early as the sixteenth century, a military
engineer named Ramelli laid before his boss.
King Henry III of France, blueprints for an am-
phibian tank. This granddaddy of the panzer
FREE This book takes yon 'right
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tion on scientific crime detection, including
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YOU how YOU, at a cost so low yon
shouldn’t even think of it, can get started in
this big important work without delay. Don’t
wait. Clip the coupon : : ; send it NOWI
1930 Sunnydd. Av.w DH>t, I5S2.
.
Chlcoee. IU>
I
I Gendemeo: Without oblisatioo, send me the "Blue
I Book of Crime,” and complete list of over 7S0 bureaus
I employing your graduates, together with your low
I prices and Easy Terms Offer, (ticeramre will be sent
I ONLY to persons statmg their age.)
j
Name ... ...........

—
was armored in the prow providing a metal I Address ....................
sheathed nest for lurking sharpshooters. On land.
 -

^122 WEIRD TALES

it would trundle into battle simply by being
pushed along. inventor had more elabo-
But its
rate plans for his brainchildwhen it took to the
water; hand-worked paddle wheels, operated from
within, would drive the machine forward on hs

LEARN AT HOME swimming assault.

Then, in 1870, a lithographer named Albert
Are you adult, alert, ambitious, willing
to study? Investigate LAWl We guide Robida published prints picturing a hurricane of
—
you step by step furnish all texts, in-
cluding 14-volurae Law Library. Train-
mobile redoubts, ironclad and steam driven,
storming to the attack; above them, he showed a
swarm of flying fortresses. France nearly died
laughing. Seventy years later, she just died . . .
Send NOW for Free, 48-page “I^w a grim warning indeed to scoffers at "fantasy”!
Training for Leadership." Nordid parachute troops go unprophesied. For
LASALL E EXTENSION UNIVERSITV in 1892 a German cartoonist laid out his concep-
__ A eoRMcspoNBeNce iMSTmntoM
DEPT. 27S.L CHICAQO tion of a locust-like cloud of parachutists,
equipped with bat wings and descending in or-

SONG POEM
WRITERS:
derly formation, fluttering into the fray!
Yes, it certainly seems that the fantasy of each
epoch acts as a kind of eternal Nostrodamua—
SflDd ua your orisinal poem, Uotber. Horae. Lcre. blueprinting, in no uncertain terms, the "Shape
Ricred, Patriotic. Comic or any rabjoet, for our
plan and TfiElS Bhymlns Dictionary at ooee. of Tljings to Come”!
RICHABD BROTHERS
27 Woods Baildinff Chicago, HL
[ 1 The One and Only
LEARN AT From Kansas City, Kansas, T. H. Smith
HOME TO MOUNT BIRDS
writes:
Anbnala, Heads, Fishes, Pets; to TAM.
Be a Taxidermist. Profit and FUN. I nm writing to you at this time and wish to
Hunters, save your valuable TROPMIKS.
UooatdBeks. aquiml*. •rarrthiaa. Lom So
say that WEIRD
TALES sdll produces an out-
TANf«nii2Wsnd fan. WofMlorfol HOBBY standing quality magazine.
Bmv* s home museum. BI& PROFITS—
bmodUv foe odMcs. IHVCSnOATC HOW. More success to you in the future and may
FREE BOOK there be another Lovecraft on the horizon of the
ION HOW abwlntcly rREC. Witt. TODAY. up and moving WEIRD, portrayer of the unusual
Send Postal TODAY for FREE BOOK. State AGE. 1

ILW. SCHOOL OF TAXIDERMY. DepL 3032. Omaha. Neh. and bizarre!

Atlantis a Fact?
ANYoPHOTO ENLARGED
sinIndm
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m A
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M
animals, etc., or enlargements of anyHIHi
•
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^ _
3
original pboto guaranteed. lOf # loOO

SEND NO M0NEYJS,«M
and within a week you will receive your beautifiu
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 THE EYRIE 123

rite to MARTIN WARE, SECRETARY

• This —
your club a medium to help you
is

get together with other fantasy and science-fiction 12 WEEKS’

fans. —
Readers wanted it they wrote in tell- **Learnby Doing'* Training
ing us how much they tvould enjoy meeting others
of similar tastes. Right Here in Coyne Shops
• Membership is very simple: just drop us a

line, so that we can enroll you on the club

roster, and publish your name and address in the Send coupon now and I'll tell yon all abont my oulcfc* easy
way to train for a better iob and a real future m the slant
magazine. field of ELECTRICITY. I'll not only tell yoa about my
trainins but I’U t^ you how you can get this tnining without
laying out a lot of mcmey. You can get training first then
start paying for it in easy monthly payments starting 60 day*
—
• A
membership card carrying the above de- after yoar regular ironing i>eriod is over. My trainlag ptoe
sign —personal token of your fellowship with the my unusual offer — is your chance to get started towards a
real iob and a real future. Don’t dieem about better pey and
—
weird and the fantastic will be sent on request. a good job prepare now to get it.

(A stamped, addressed em-elopc should be en-

closed.)
QUICKER, EASIER
Here in my big COYNB
WAY
Chicago training shops yon are
trained on real electrical machine ly and eQulpotent^oot by
correspondence or embarrassing reating bnt by actual Prsc*
—
shown how to do ft Then you do the work yourself under the
—
tlcal work. First you are told bow to do a thing Then you are

guidance of expert instructors. By my method of instructioa

yoa don't need previous cgperiepce or advanced location.
Splendid Medium
EARN WHILE LEARNING
The WEIRD TALES CLUB is a splendid me- EMPLOYMENT HELP AFTER GRADUATION
If you are short of money and need part-time work to bdp
dium for those wishing to contact others of similar pay for your room and board while tra&ning, my Emfrfoyment
interests. I suggest that the department be given Department will help you get a part time job. After gradu*
ation,you get FREE lifetime Employment Service.
more A
short fact article published in each
space.
issue would prove interesting to those interested
Dcm*t
GET THE FACTS
let lack of m« from sending the Coupon
in the occult. Material of this kind could be con- :E Book is fuU of facts a^
tributed by readers, among which are many sin- yon abMt COYNE Practical xral^
ing and bow you ( get this training first, and pay for it
cere followers of diderent branches of philosophy shows you hov
later. It easy it is \o learn by the COYNB
IV c—
method. It will mso tell you about my part tj™* 'W®** I
end occultism. This would make WEIRD
TALES about my graduate employment service. I
ship privile^ and many other facts you will
a magazine for fiction lovers as well as the more want to know. Don't delay—* mall
WEIRD
TALES coupon TODAY.
serious minded readers, thus
H. a LEWIS, President EXTRA
would be different from the average run of pulp COYNE ELECTRICAL SCHOOL ^WEEKS
j

paper magazines that clave to the weird and fan- 800S. Paulina St.« Dept. 22-66. Ghicaco cauasf IN
TODAYmmI
j

tasy. Your publication is GOOD. •••MAIL THIS COUPON

H. C. LEWIS. President.
I have been a reader of WEIRD
TALES for a COYNE ELECTRICAL SCHOOL
I

600 S. Paulina St., Dept. 22«£6. Chicago

number of years and believe it is the best publi- Please send me your Big Free Book artd details of yeur
cation of its kind on the newsstands. There have **Pay 'Tuition After Graduation Plan," the Radio Coiuse,
and other plans to help a fdlow get aJicad.
been various magazines devoted to the weird and
fantasy; they appear on the market and for a NAME.
while enjoy popularity, then suddenly vanish into
nothingness, but WEIRD
TALES seems to have ADDRESS
weathered the test of time. The reason is simple
CITY STATE.
enough, by giving the reading public what they
124
NOT BOMBS ^ AMERICANS
GET GOVERNMENT JOBS With
WEIRD TALES
want it has never failed to hold their interest.
I would like to hear from other readers whose
interest lies in "Oriental Philosophy,” "Buddhistic
Ideals”and "Occultism.” Will be pleased to hear
from either sex and from persons of all ages.
best wishes and kindest regards I am,

$1260
MEN-WOUEN
to
/
$2100
COUPON
A YEAR Sincerely yours,
Alexander MacDowclL
//
FRANKLIN INSTITUTE 181 Bay 14th St., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Prtnn NOW for 1942 oopt. F-239, Rochester. N. Y.
ExamlBPtions. / Sirs: Rush to me without (^arge (1) S2-
/ Pase book with list of many D. S. Govern*
• j %#
Afpointod Yearly.
I ment Big Pay Jobs; (2) Tell mo bow to Branch in Peoria
/ qualify for one of these Jobs.
Mall Coupon ^ Name
Today SURE. /Address As a member of the WEIRD TALES CLUB,
I’m writing to let you know that I am attempting
SHOPMEN FOREMEN
:
.Traln
. . .

=== to form a fan<lub of fantastic and science fiction

readers in Peoria and Central Illinois. All mem-
bers will be urged to join the TALESWEIRD
For the Job
Take advantage of the great need
Ahead
for supervisors, fore*
CLUB. All who are interested in this proposition
are asked to write to me, and get in on the ground
men. general foremen, superintendents. This need will in* floor!
crease because of the Defense Program and the business
tx>om. Add to your present ability the loiowledge which Would appreciate your printing this, as Cent.
will prepare you for these better jobs. You can do ib
quickly, in your spare time at home, at moderate cost. Ill, fans need a few horrific jolts to make ’em
X>aSaUe Modern Poremanship training is condensed, inter*
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the job tomorrow. It was built by experience factory men
rise, screaming with agony and fear, from their
And is taught by experienced shopmen. Write for our free easy-chairs!
48 page booklet. “Modem Foremanship.’* It tells of the Yours for more Quinn, Gruber, and Derleth.
opportunities and gives full details of our training. It's
FREE. Mail this ad or write today. Edward C. Connor.
USALLE EXTENSION UNIVERSITY 929 Butler St., Peoria, 111.

A Correspondence Institution
Dept. 275-MF, CHICAGO Sea Rover “Joins Up”
One 25e Siie Sample. Enclose
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STOMACH ULCER
Other
I am a steady reader of
believe I should become a member of the
WEIRD TALES and
WEIRD
Pain, Heartburn, Gas and
Distress Due to Gastric Hyperacidity TALES CLUB.
Not only can and
I write letters to the rest,
Xiearn all about this remarkable. Inexpensive borne treat-
ment. Pain often relieved promptly. No rigid or liquid diet.
discussand exchange a few weird tales, but I can
We will also send you, FRE£
with this sample, an informa- also see several ofthem personally. I travel over
tive booklet on this simple home treatment. Send for sample. most of the Atlantic Coast, Gulf of Mexico and
TWIN CITY VON CO., P^pf. 0-203, Mipneopons, Mina, the islands of the Caribbean Sea also. It might
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MAGICAL Not
For the PROFKSSIONAIi, made by pnrfessionals.
the tadlnary
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&QUARES-Mi880UT8-PAS8ER8-CARD8-INK8-DAU8S-
klod.
Please enroll me in this fine club which has
8HINERS-BO0KS-EXPO8ES-ACCES8ORIES for every occasion. proved very interesting to an outsider.
Bead your name anU address with 25 cents for new 1942 catalogue.
Bex 2482-U BAB
SPECIALTIES Kanaat City, Me. Yours sincerely,
Glenn Reid.
IfYou r/o Capt. Vanden Heuval. P. O. Box 151,
G. P. O., Staten Island, New York.

Get Up Nights ..
Believes W. T. Has Mission
You Can't Feel Right Your Werewolf Howls (November issue) is
If j-ou have to get up 3 or more times a night your
rest is broken and it’s no wonder if yon feel old and
run down before your time. Functional rather than
one that raises one of
truly one of those tales —
the leading questions that underlies search into
organic or systemic Kidney and Bladder troubles
often may be the cause of many pains and symptoms possible truth concerning lycanthropy. Frank
tiie
simply because the Kidneys may be tired and not Gruber’s The Book of the Dead, in the issue, is
working fast enough in filtering and removing Irritat-
ing excess acids, poisons and wastes from your blood. also one of those tales that is really worthy of
So If yon get up nights or suffer from burning, scanty note and of thought.
or frequent passages, leg pains, backache, or swollen
ankles, due to non-organic or non-systemic Kidney member of your TALES CLUB A WEIRD
and Bladder troubles, you’ll make no mistake In try- for some time. I’d be glad to hear from those of
ing the prescription called Cystex. Because it has
given such joyous, happy relief In so high a percentage
your members who are sincere seekers after the
of such cases, Cystex Is sold under a gnarantee of truths that are a closed book to the average "eyes
money back on return of empty package unless com- that see not and ears that hear not.” I believe
pletely satisfactory to you. Cystex costs only 3Sc at
druggists and the guaranteg protects you. wc arc living in times when it is more necessary
 —

THE EYRIE
than ever for some of us to interpret those truths
correctly — for the time is coming when Christian-
ity itself must be interpreted correctly. In an en-
tertaining way, I believe WEIRD TALES has a
—
mission to perform for the sowing of a seed that
may lead to speculation and study and final dis-
covery of underlying truths by which we may live
can first reach many people only through such
a medium as you offer. I’d be glad to hear from
WEIRD TALES CLUB members who agree with
me, and whose object is also to find the real

thread of truth in life that really underlies most

"weird” tales.
With continued hopes for your renewal of
World’s Greatest Collection
monthly publication, and best wishes for the con- Strange & Secret Photographs
tinued increased membership in your WEIRD
TALES CLUB, I am.
N— OW 70U eaa travol round th« world with th« most dariae adwm*
**'*’«». You can see with your own oyeo, the weirdest people*
earth. Too witness the strainreat customs ot the red.
whlto, bitrnn, black and yellow roots. You attend their surtllne
rites, thoir mysterious practleeo. They aro all asseanblsd for you to
Sincerely yours, theao Avo sraat volumea of Ttaa SKCRCT MUSEUM 09 MANKIND.

Embe True 600 LARGE PAGES

151 West Qiff St., Somerville, New Jersey. Here fs the frarld's Oreateit Oolteettoa of Stniifo end Seeret Pho-
tographs. Her* are Exotlo Pboloe frtaa Skirop^ PrlmitiTe Photos
from Africa, Torture Photoe from Asia, Female Photos from Owanla
•nd Amerl^ and bimdreds of others, mere are almost 600 LARGE
pAQES ef Straoflo 4 Pbetoarijilii^ each page 57 touare
Inches in sixe.
Makes Life Worth living
inoo REVEAUNO PHOTOS
, eee actual courtship practleed
Ton
.
In every quarter of the world. Too CoolMits of S^Vahma Sal
It delighted me to learn that readers of Weird see majrle and mystery In queer

Tales Magazine can now communicate with one

lands where the toM ct m white man
has rarely trod. Too see Oriental
raodeo of
_
The
VOLUME I
SecretAlbum ef AfrlM
_ and Ibmale
... marriage

another. I have been a devotee an addict or — , e alaTtsy

bUt*
In China, Japan, India, etc. Through
the Intimacy of the camerae yoo snt-
_
Tno
VOLUMES
Album ef Eurepe
Secret
what-you-will —of your publication for sixteen
ness the eicotlc habits of ev ery con-
tjnent and the etnuweet customs of
ifTe and love In AmeIio^ Buropa, etc.
^
Tbe
^ VOLUMES
Secret Album of Alia
years. Often I was hard put to reason out why You are bewilder^ by these large VOLUME 4
P»ses of ONE THOUSAND PHOTO* Tbe Secret Album ef AMerlco
ORAPHS* including 130 full<psge
this form of fantasy fiction held such allure. . . .
photos, and thrilled by the hundred ^ ^ VOLUMES
Tbe Secret Album ef Occult
I wondered what sort of readers, beside myself, of abort stories that dascriba them.

bought the magazine. Since then I have learned B PICTUBE-PflCKED VOLUMES

the value of such reading. It not only takes me r.25.* »«e«xT nytcun or ««.
KINO consists of Av* bimuiwpadii^
(SpKtaM PlwtMl flumes ^tdly bou^
out of the humdrum, sordid realms of reality convenient reading). Dtp into any
Drw, A TAidnn Bound OM
—
not die least of its values but it makes me the World
Tarloos Secret flodetleu
<a tbese volumea, and as you
turn lU pages, yen And ft diAcull
to tear youmlf away. Here. In story
tliink. Civilized Love vs. Savage and unusual photo. Is the WORLO*R
Strange Crimes, CrlmUuus GRRATUST^ COLLRCTION^P
For in order to fully appreciate the merit of Omens, Totems 4
Tabooc
STRAHAS ANB SUCRIT PHO*ra-
r
GRAPHS, containing everything frons
Mysterious Custoou Female Beauty Round the tiwa to
some of the stories, necessary to have a
it is
1.000 strange 4 tbe most Mysterious Cults and Cos*
toms. Thpse hundreds end hundreds
broad knowledge; including mythology, ancient Pbetog
of isrgs pages will give you dasrs
and modem religions, history, science, philosophy, 1 DlghtB of thrilling InstruetleB.

psychology, and even a smattering of languages. Stmpte ulgB 4

SEND NO MONEY
mall ttie coupon. Bsmembar, aaeb of tba 8 Tel
is 9JA inches high, end. opened, over a foot wldel Remember
Being drawn toward learning more concerning that thie 6*Volurae Setforraerly sold for A 10, And it Is bouii
expensive *'llfe>time** cloth. Don't put this out tho
the mmierous subjects upon which the stories arc pon, drop It In tbe next malU and
off.
receive this
Fill
work at <

based I found myself being introduced to the

classics, the authors of the world’s finest litera-
ture, and the great thinkers. And W.T. has made
life worth while —for conscious imagination is the
romantic gilding that gives life its worth.
I like studying the machinations of the minds
of the authors in constructing the weaving of fact
with fantasy to create their fiction; and I am
grateful to the authors who keep my imagina-
tion and thinking capacity keenly alive and work
ing.
There seem to be only two members to the
WEIRD TALES CLUB, at present, in the vicinit;
of Philadelphia; I am hoping the group grows I METRO PUBLICATIONS. 70 Fifth Ave., Dept. 1994 New Terit i
Send me "The Secret Museum of Manama (8. great vol*
so we may be able to form a Fantasy Society umes bound togelheri. I wlU pay postman A1.98, pitas postage .
I on arrival. If not delight^ Z vrlu return book la ft days ;:y g
such as the one existing in California. I
full refund of ftl.98.
||

Please enroll my name as a member of the Nam. I

club. And here’s to greater success in the future I Addmc

I
I
of Weird Tales Magazine.
I City stale J
Dorothy Lorch Z CHECK you are enclosing $1.94
if Mms asring
mailing costs. Same Money«Back Ouarantea. |
5754 N. I7th St., Philadelphia, Pa. I 1—J
I I
Canadian Ordars—fB.BO In Advance. |
126 WEIRD TALES
From the Frozen North
Asthma Mucus Lady or nolady, I read W. mag, and enjoy
it right along with the men. Seventeen of my

Loosened First
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smoke, dope, or injection. Just pleasant, tasteless
palliating tablets that have helped thousands of suf-
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back unless completely satisfactory. Ask your drug-
gist for Hendaco today. Only OOc.
Day seventeen years of life have been spent in Alaska,
and, as there is not so awfully much to do, read-
ing good material has become an obsession to me.
I consider W, T, "good material.’’
Please enroll me in WEIRD TALES CLUB,
and send me a membership card. Any girls or
boys wishing to write me, do so, and I will t^l
you all about Eskimoes, igloos, and dogteams.
M. Annabelle Edwards
— Douglas, Alaska, Box 1222.

‘Tascinating”

FALSE TEETH WEIRD TALES for as long

I
years of age, and, having am
5ecn a reader of
can remember, I am doing now what I
as I
thirty-nine

90 DAYS’ TRIAL should have done long ago, and that is to tell
TEST THEM your editors how much I have enjo)'ed this
EXAMINE THEM'^ magazine all through the years.
We make FALSE TEETH tor rtn hr mail
from your owu improoaioBS, You here oetie- _ It is with unabated interest that I look for-
facUonot MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Custooen In UnUed 8tM
, , ,

and Cinade roport SATISFACTION but you bo tout oim JTJD^ ward to each issue; since things and stories that
CClin IIA writs today tor freb —
OCNU RU linilCV
RIURtl BOOELBT end UATBBIAU are unusual, bizarre, supernatural in other
CLEVELAND DENTAL SUPPLY CO. words, weird fascinate me and provide delight- —
Dtpt. 50-B2, East St. Louis, Illinois from every-day work and routine,
ful relaxation
would welcome word from other club members
I
about this subject, the exchange of thoughts and
(SIDELINE Salesmen and Agents) opinions and experiences related to it, and, if
Ben oor lOuftrsted Comic Booklets, and other ooveltles. Each ho^c*
iM 4H hv 2%. Ten differeat sample booklets sect for 50c Wholesale
or sa-
possible, to meet personally some of tlic other
sorted fflOl.OO or 100 assorted for $2.00. Shipped prepaid.
norsHy price list seot with order only. No C. O. D. orders. Seod members genuinely interested in weird tales and
Cash. Stamps or Money-Order.
REP8AC BALES CO ., I Wert tZtk St. Dept. 300l« New York City things.

CASH FOR UNUSED STAMPS More power to WEIRD TALES!

He %
to 10c, 85 face valne for denominations 20c to 50e. Small lots 85 Cordially yours,
faoo Yaluo. MAIL STAMPS REGISTERED. Money sent by foturn mail.
George Omstein.
U. 8. Cnosed postage wanted at fare ralne for denominations
SARBER SERVICE* 72 Stli Ave,, DepL 3001. New York City 130 West 42nd Street,
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NEW MEMBERS
Pilchard K. Gardner, SI,-)?) Reel St., Iltirrisburjf. Pa.
Panl Z. Ohlhciscr, 1(5S8 Woodsview, Lincoln, Nebr.
R. P. Hiirlc, Box 303, Pci Rio, Tcxa.s.
Panl Bryant, 010 S. Virgil Avc., care of G. H. Thomp-
son, I.OS Angeles, Calif.
Miss Doris Hamm, 1451 University Ave., New York,
N. T.
Martha Czajkowski, 67 TValnnt St.. Xatrona, Pa.
•Tohn M. Cunningham, 3050 Gilbert St., Beaumont,
Texas
Henry Basse, 509 S. Grand View St, Los Angeles,
Calif.
Fred De Blon. 112 Brann Ave., Hi-Park, New Bruns-
wick, N. J.
George Childs. 535 Madison St, Salisbury, Md.
Murray Bast, Charles Hotel, Miami, Fla.
Robert Rieliel, 12-13 Ellis Ave., Fairlawn. N. J.
Richard V. Polk. 709 E. 42nd St, Brooklyn, N. Y.
J. L. Brown, 1807 5th Ave.. Sacramento, Calif.
Harold Huffaker, 530 N. Court St., Visalia, Calif.
Franklin L. Moore, Co. B, 70th Tank Bn. (M), Fort
Geo. C. hicadc, Md.
•Vrthur lU Graves, 1519 S. Mansfield, Los Angeles,

D I L A - T H E R M Calif.
Ray Weigand, 1893 E. 59th St., Cleveland, Ohi«
 THE EYRIE
NEW MEMBERS (Continued)
Wm. ChapHn, R3r(l Ord. Co. (HM), Unit Training
ACCOUNTANCY
Center, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. One of Amerira’s best paying prafessloos
Grace M. Logan, Box 24, Fairfield, Iowa
Charles A. Bastin, 5740 Franklin Ave., Hollywood.
Calif.
Lawrence Burman, 5246 Eddy St., Chicago, in.
Harriet Whipple, 8350 Lealman Ave., St, Petersburg,
Fla.
James J. Schierbrock, Denver, Colo.
Bill Stoy, 140-92 Burden Crescent, Jamaica, N. T.
Ray Carrillo, 101 Stewart Rd., Columbia, Mo.
A. M. Slusher, 711 E. 6th St., Long Beach, Calif.
Harold Knox, 2ii9 S. 3rd Ave., Mount Vernon, N. T.
Nevln T. Hayes, Hq. and Hq. Btry, 34th P. A. A.
P. O. No. 9, Fort Bragg, N. C.
Abby Lu Ashley, 86 Upton Ave., Battle Creek, Mich.
W. Sherman, 2138 W. Pierce Ave., Chicago, III.
Mrs. Dolores Tapi, 42-47th St., Wcehawken, N. J.
Edwin Goodwin, 952 Princeton Ave., Trenton, N. J.
David S. Grab, 75-07 185th St., Flushing, L. I., N. T.
Richard M. Smith, P. O. Box 212, Tallahassee, Fla.
Mile H. France, Carbondale, Ohio.
Curtis Harrington, 750 Beaumont Ave., Beaumont, These Are
Calif.
Jerry Seardlno, 148 Nevada St., San Francisco, Calif.
G. R. Glendening,'6477 N. 3Sth St., Milwaukee, Wise.
OPPORTUNITY DAYS
Wm. B. Wright, Springs, N. Y. (East Hampton)
Gilmore Rhea, 237 9th St., Wood River, 111.
(or the Trained ACCOUNTANTI
Sam A. Matter, 305 Hicks St., Brooklyn, N. Y. TXTITH new state and federal legislation requiring
* * more accurate
Mrs- E. Robertson, 2333 Rutger St., St. Louis, Mo. accounting from businesses than
ever before, the trained, succrasful accountant is cer*
Donald Long, 6408 So. Van Ness Ave., Los Angeles, tainly a man to be envied. Much in demand, member
Calif. of “America’s best-paid profession,” an important
Lyle Gable, 777 Kennedy St^ Meadville, Pa. figure in affairs, he is one of the most influential and
Kurt 6. Schweingruber, Co. P, 12rth Inf., 32nd Div., necessary individuals in the whole business scheme!
Camp Livingston, La. His is a profession YOU may be considering at this
moment. If so, don’t fail also to consider crirically
Bob Pinke, 1913 State Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio. how, when, and from whom yofi will secure your
Conrad Grumann, 633% W. Vernon St., Los Angeles, Higher Accountancy training. Consider particularly
Calif. LaSalle’s reccuxl of more than 500,000 Accountancy*
John Carlson. 513-57th Brooklyn, N. Y. trained men and women during the past thirty-thr^
George Stanton, P. O. Box
Worcester, Mass.
St.,
146, Parcel Poet Station, —
years a record imsurpassed
tional institution.
^any other educa**
Remember, too, how numerous are the available
Wm. Force, 1267 Georgia St., Rahway, N. J. accountancy schoc^ and courses in the country. Yet»
Harold Payne, 313 Choice St., Greenville, S. C. despite this fact, approximately one-tenth of all CJP.A . *s
Mary E. Gilmore, Route No. 1, Box 545, Port Orchard, have been student members of X^aSallc.
Wash. As to the training itself, you will find it abedutely
Danny S. Szymborsk, 18639 Klinger, Detroit, Mich. complete; from Practical Accounting through to A<>
counting Ss^ten^ and Income Tax lYocedure, indud*
Stanley J. Gajos, 18639 Klinger, Detroit, Mich. ing C. P. A. Coaching that qualifies you thoroughly.
Charles Lucas, 118 7th SL, Bridgeport, Pa. Spare-time study does it ailt No
interference wim
Pauline Kardisci, R. F. D. No. 2, Box 440B Potte- your present work and a careful analysis of thousands
ville, Pa. of student histc^ks reveals that some have realized, in
increased later earnings, as high as $50 returns on
every hour devoted to such study.

We’re sorry that lack of space prevents the inclusion

If you are actually m —
earnest are wflllng to work
devotedly for your future sticces^ look into this
subject carefuny, thoughtfully, and from every angle.
of thenames of all New Members. The rest mil appear Full information and a 48-page survey of this op*
next time. pOTtunity field will be sent you on request.
Sign and mail coupon for complete details

S. O.S.I LASALLE EXTENSION UNIVERSITY

A Correspondence Institution
D,p(. 275-HR Chleacs
I wonder if any club members would care to
Kindly tdl me more about the present
send a poor sick "shut-in girl” any issues of opportonities in Accounting and how
training can help me grasp them.
WEIRD TALES of dates back in, say, 1931, —
Also send ni^*'free yourbookleton
1932, 1933, or further back? I would repay by 'Accountaocy, the Ptttfeseioo That
Pays."
sending novelties and postage stamps from here.
Not being able to get around I can appreciate
Q Higher Accountancy
how truly great "Weird Tales” really are. I
Other LoSaOc Opporh m kieti
If more i nterested in one of the fields
want to wish you and all the club members the indicated below, check and mailnow.

very best of luck! Business Management OExpert Bookkeeping

e Modern Salesmanship OC. P. A. Coaching
Sincerely, Law— Degree of LL. B* DTrafRc Management
OGommerctal Law QStenotypy
Joyce Dayl.
P. O. Box 61, Name.
Liverpool, N. S., Canada. Present Position.

AddrsM........
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I C Minutes a !
Give me kjust this
and ril prove I can m make you
ANEW MAN! ’M “trading-in” old bodies for
I new ! I’m taking men who
know that the condition of their
’
arms, shoulders, chests and legs
their strength, “wind,” and endur- —actual photo
—
ance is not 100%. And I’m mak-
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who
the man
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World's
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Most
now I’m even training hundreds of
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Are you ALL MAN tough-mus- —
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the help that has already worked “Builder of Men”
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everywhere? ONE NAME STANDS OUT-~
All the world knows I was a ONCE Charles Atlas!
skinny, scrawny 97-pound weakling. And THAT is the name Immediately
NOW it knows that I won the title, “The thought of by men who WANT to
attain a physique that will with*
World’s Most Perfectly Developed Man.” stand hardship and strain, ready for
Against all comers How did I do it
! ? How any possible emergency, personal or
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prove that Dynamic Tension can lay a new capable of helping America meet
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.

Address
then man —
get this coupon into the mail to me as fast as your
h’gs can g«'t to thf? letterbox CHARLES .ATLAS. Dept. 9-P,
I i city stale
Jir> East ’ilird St.. Ni’w York City. J
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