Part 19 (1/2)
”I'll tell a man!”
John Acre spoke up: ”I have advised all leading nitrate men of the meeting at ten o'clock, Mr. Savage.”
”How did you spread word so quickly?”
”By telephone and messenger. That is the usual method.”
The statement seemed to give Doc food for thought. He was silent several seconds. He did not, however, express an opinion about the summoning system.
”We might as well get organized, brothers,” he said finally. ”The shake was prefaced by a dimming of the electric lights here in Antof.a.gasta,” offered Long Tom, the electrical wizard.
”You'll work on that angle,” Doc told him. ”Attach recording voltmeters and ammeters to the power lines.
Better light out at once on the job. No telling when the next shake will come. You brought the necessary devices, didn't you?”
Long Tom grinned. ”Sure. I brought 'em because you suggested it, Doc.”
Doc Savage now addressed Johnny, the gaunt geologist. ”You have seismograph recording apparatus to register earth tremors, haven't you?” he asked.
The bony geologist fumbled his spectacles with the magnifying left lens. He put them on, made a face, and perched them on his forehead. He admitted: ”I have such apparatus.”
”You will plant the mechanisms at different points,” Doc directed. ”We might learn something of value.”
”O. K.,” Johnny agreed. ”I'll do that immediately.”
”Monk,” said Doc, ”your job is to visit the earthquake scene, gather rock samples, and make chemical a.n.a.lyses. Furthermore, I want you to secure a core drill, if possible, and take samples from several hundred feet down.”
”Some of these mining firms should have a core drill I can borrow,” Monk declared.
”What about me?” demanded big-fisted Renny.
”You've done engineering work in the nitrate business, haven't you?”
A faint smile warped Renny's puritanical face. ”I superintended the installation of a plant down here one time.”
Doc nodded. He had known this. Renny had handled engineering jobs in many parts of the world before joining Doc's crew of trouble-busters.
”You will visit nitrate plants in the arid interior,” the bronze man advised. ”You better use our plane for the purpose. That will be quicker. Leave in the morning.”
”What am I to look for?” Renny asked.
”Something which might indicate what is behind these earthquake murders,” Doc suggested. ”Check the plants for operating efficiency. Keep your eyes open for signs of sabotage. But what I want particularly is to know the type of man who is taking charge of these plants when the original owners and managers are murdered. You might make inquiries in Antof.a.gasta tonight.”
”I get you,” said Renny.
Ham, the lawyer, twirled his sword cane and looked expectant.
”You will snoop in the legal end,” Doc told Ham. ”We have two big mysteries to solve. The first is: What causes the shakes; the second is: The motive behind all this! You're going after the latter. The legal papers of these nitrate companies-the articles of owners.h.i.+p, contracts, and so on-may hold the explanation.”
John Acre had listened to all this with great interest. His hawk face had brightened visibly. He nodded as if thoroughly satisfied with the way Doc was going into action.
”I think I owe you an apology,” he told Doc.
”For what?”
”The fact that my manners for a time were slightly uncivil,” John Acre explained. ”After the incident in Panama, I thought that you suspected me of being connected with the Little White Brother's organization. It got under my skin.”Doc Savage bowed with a proper amount of politeness. But if John Acre expected to receive a.s.surance that he was no longer under suspicion, he was disappointed.
Doc Savage went to the case containing Monk's numerous chemicals. From these he extracted several bottles. A moment later he left the room.
To the men whom he left behind he said nothing of his destination.
Chapter XIV. MASKS THAT DISSOLVED.
AN elderly lady whose ancestors had been at least fifty per cent Indian owned the house where John Acre had been holding his nocturnal conclaves.
She was something over eighty years old, and stone deaf. Her honesty was as reliable as her hearing was bad. She was also nearsighted.
Informed by a messenger, whom John Acre had dispatched, that there was to be a meeting that night, she immediately prepared to take her departure. She had been in the habit of making herself scarce at meeting times. This was John Acre's suggestion.
Opening a wooden chest, the crone removed the a.s.sortment of poncholike hoods. These had been supplied by John Acre. She was taking care of them. She hung them on the array of nails in the outer room.
Then the old lady tottered outdoors. The night swallowed her.
Her footsteps had hardly died when a shadow beside the door took on life. This murk a.s.sumed a bronze color, and whipped into the room where the hoods dangled. There was no sound. The only indication that the bronze apparition was flesh and blood was the fact that several hungry mosquitoes trailed it inside.
Ignoring the insects, Doc Savage busied himself about the ponchos. He examined one, noting the attached hood. He gave attention particularly to the cloth.
Seemingly satisfied with what he had found, Doc Savage produced the chemicals which he had brought from the Taberna Frio. A foray into the kitchen regions resulted in the acquisition of a large earthenware crock. Into this, Doc poured chemicals. The process took many minutes. He watched the color of the mixture closely.
Time after time he tested it with hydrometers and narrow strips of litmus paper. At last he was satisfied with his brew.
In quick succession he dipped the poncho mantles in the solution. After each had been soaked, he wrung it out and hung it back on its nail.
The ponchos dried almost instantly. The immersion seemed to have had no effect on them.
When he had treated all the ponchos, Doc flung the rest of his chemical concoction outdoors. The stuff evaporated almost instantly after it had fallen. The bronze man washed the crock and replaced it.
For a time he stood in the door. He seemed to be listening. Then he faded into the outer darkness.
Doc had not used all the chemicals brought from the Taberna Frio. He was still carrying various vials and flasks.
Silence enwrapped the house for some ten minutes.
Then John Acre and Dido Galligan appeared.
THE two men entered the house, went to the room which was encircled by the wooden bench, and waited.