Part 23 (1/2)

Immediately after Doc Savage had telephoned the Taberna Frio that he had rescued Tip Galligan, Dido had gone downstairs that he might see his sister a bit sooner. He had chanced to see Velvet prowling around. He had been trailing him since.

Dido Galligan crept toward John Acre, only to discover the hawk-nosed man had moved. Indeed, he had disappeared.

With increasing haste, Dido searched. He concluded John Acre must have gone inside the mansion.

Feeling along a wall, Dido located a window, heavily barred. The bars offered handholds by which a window above could be reached. This one was not grilled, nor was the sash of the window locked.

Without much effort, Dido Galligan got it open. A moment later he was inside.

The room in which he found himself was very dark. He got down on all fours and felt his way ahead in order not to upset any furniture.

He soon found himself able to look down into the patio. This consisted of shrubbery, flowering vines, a fountain, and numerous statues. It was like a hole in the middle of a square doughnut.

More than a dozen men were in the patio. All were richly dressed. One thing was noticeable about these men-their eyes had a certain glitter; their manner a certain grimness. An experienced psychologist would have realized they were fanatics, men who gave their whole souls to some cause.

The men seemed to be waiting for something. Velvet appeared among them. The patio was dimly lighted by shaded electric bulbs. Velvet, Dido Galligan could see, was grinning widely.

”I left the note at Doc Savage's hotel,” Velvet announced.

”Good!” some one told him. ”The First Little White Brother is to arrive soon. He will be pleased.”

Dido studied the men below. A surprising fact dawned on him. All of the men were prominent in the Chilean nitrate industry! Some owned plants. Others were managers.

Dido fingered a gold coat b.u.t.ton thoughtfully. He knew the nitrate industry, being engaged in it. He knew thatthe dozen men in the patio practically controlled the nitrate industry of South America-since the recent series of deaths. Each of these men had stepped into shoes which death had emptied.

Equally surprising was the fact that none were Chileans. Nor were they Yankees.

Dido stared more closely. He was sure that they all came from the same European country.

There was a stir in the patio. Eyes sought a doorway directly beneath Dido.

”The First Little White Brother!” some one breathed in awed tones.

YOUR attention, gentlemen,” said a powerful voice. ”I am the First of you-the First Little White Brother.”

Dido Galligan, straining his ears, could not decide whether or not there was anything familiar about the voice.

He remained perfectly motionless and listened.

”For a time, I thought it might be necessary to postpone our meeting,” continued the newcomer. ”This man Savage was pressing us. However, we had good fortune. We seized all five of Savage's men. And I have a scheme for the finish of Savage himself.”

Dido grimaced. If what he had seen of Doc Savage was any criterion, the fellow below was slightly optimistic.

”But enough of Savage,” said the First Little White Brother. ”We must perfect details of our organization.”

The speaker hesitated and moved about. Dido hoped he would step out into view, but it was a vain hope.

”Only three or four men remain to be eliminated,” continued the sinister one. ”Then we will have an unbreakable hold on the nitrate industry. After that, we will begin disposing of Chilean government officials who might be unfriendly to our cause.”

Dido wet his lips uneasily. The plot of the Little White Brothers, it seemed, was tremendous in scope.

He understood now that the Little White Brothers were an organization, a secret society of a European nation. A secret society which had some sinister purpose. If he could just find out what their objective was!

He learned very soon.

”In another month we will be ready to eliminate the leaders in our country who do not desire war,” continued the speaker. ”Then will come the war to give us our rightful place in the world.”

The excitement that rippled over the patio did more than anything going before to convince Dido Galligan that he was observing a gang of political maniacs. He gripped his automatic tightly.

”When the supreme war comes,” the man below announced loudly, ”it is important that we have nitrates, so essential to the manufacture of explosives.”

Nitrates! Dido understood fully now. He was a nitrate man. Very well did he know that glycerin was treated with sulphuric and nitric acids to get nitroglycerin, the explosive. A chemical product known as toluene, treated with nitrates, gave TNT, super-explosive famous in the World War. And there were others.

”Financed by certain munitions manufacturers of our country, we have almost reached our objective of controlling this great nitrate center of the world,” proclaimed the First Little White Brother.

With that, the man stepped out into the patio.

For the first time, Dido actually saw the fellow. In his astonishment, Dido almost fell into the patio. He could hardly credit his eyes.

”That guy is John Acre!” he gasped.

THE hawk-nosed man beat his chest in the dim light of the patio.

”I, the First Little White Brother, will be elevated to dictator of my country when the great war comes,” he declared. ”Perhaps I shall be dictator of all nations in the world. Mussolini-Hitler-they will be nothing as compared to me!”

In the rear of the patio a man sprang atop the head of a stone ornamental lion. He waved his arms in a zealotic frenzy.

”Cheer, comrades!” he howled. ”Cheer the man who created the device which made possible our power-the machine which makes the earth tremble! Cheers for the First Little White Brother- the earth shaker!”

Silence, fool!” rapped hawk-face. ”You may be overheard.”

Dido Galligan saw the hook-nosed personage whom he believed to be John Acre summon three men from the a.s.sembled zealots.

”We must discuss in a more private fas.h.i.+on the next eliminations of nitrate owners,” said the hawk-faced man.

The men disappeared into the house.

His automatic gripped tightly, Dido Galligan left his observation point. He had determined to find John Acre and capture him if possible-shoot him down if necessary.

Finding a stairway, he descended. The carpet was thick, m.u.f.fling. The rooms for the most part were unlighted, but from the patio windows a few light rays slanted.

Ahead of Dido, a man crept in front of a window. Dido froze. The man ahead was John Acre! And only a double arm-length away!