Part 4 (2/2)

The wire reached it readily enough, but it did not have rigidity enough to pull the key over the little b.u.mp which held it. A glance at the clock threw him into an agony of despair. A full hour had pa.s.sed since Saranoff had left him. Carnes might even now be walking into the trap which had been laid for him.

He rose to his feet and thought rapidly, twisting the wire idly around the knife as he did so. He glanced at the work of his hands, and an oath broke from his lip.

”Fool!” he exclaimed. ”I deserve to die! The means for liberation were in my hands all the time.”

With feverish activity, he ripped open the flashlight. He held the two ends of the wire against the terminals of the light battery and touched the knife to his steel key ring. To his joy, the ring adhered to the knife. Under the influence of the battery, the wire-wrapped knife had become a small electromagnet.

In a moment the doctor was p.r.o.ne on the floor. He tossed the knife out to the key. His aim was good and it fell directly beyond. With trembling hands he drew the knife toward him. It reached the key.

Scarcely daring to breathe, he pulled it closer. The key had risen over the ridge which had held it, and was adhering to the knife. In another moment, he stood erect, freed from the shackles which had bound him.

He made for the door at a run, but a sudden thought stopped him. The clock showed him that an hour and twenty minutes had pa.s.sed.

”Carnes must be nearly here!” he cried. ”If I go blundering out, I'm liable to run right into the trap they have laid for him, and then we're both gone. If I yell to warn him, the fool will come ahead at full tilt. What the d.i.c.kens can I do?”

His gaze fell on the can of radite. The wires leading to the interrupter fuse gleamed a dull gold with a malign significance.

”If Carnes and I are both washed out, there will be only Thelma left.

She can't fight Saranoff alone. Carnes knows the man and his methods.

There is only one way that I can see to warn him out of the trap.”

He shuddered a moment. With a steady step he walked across the cave to the can of deadly explosive. A pair of pliers lay on a nearby bench.

He picked them up. He dashed his hand across his face for a moment, but looked up with steady eyes. With hands that did not tremble, he bent down over the can. With a quick snip, he severed the wires leading to the can of radite.

Operative Carnes jumped ash.o.r.e as the boat reached the bank of Bush River. Before him stretched a dismal swamp, interspersed with occasional bits of higher ground. He looked back over the river for a moment, taking his bearings with great care. A luminous lensatic compa.s.s gave him the orientation of the points he had chosen for markers.

”Are you sure we are at the right place?” he asked in an undertone.

”Sure as shootin', Mister,” replied the boatman. ”It's the only place of its kind in five miles. The rock you're hunting for is about a hundred rods due east.”

”It looks right,” said Carnes. ”Come on, men.”

Operatives Haggerty and Dillon scrambled out of the boat and stood by his side.

”Follow me,” said Carnes in a whisper.

Both detectives nodded silently. They drew their pistols and fell in behind their leader. Keeping his direction with the aid of his compa.s.s, Carnes led the way forward, counting his steps. At five hundred he paused.

”It should be right here,” he whispered.

Haggerty pointed in silence. In the starlight, a large rock loomed up a few yards away. With an exclamation of satisfaction, Carnes led the way to it.

”Dig on the south side,” he whispered, ”and hurry! The d.a.m.ned thing is due to go off in less than twenty minutes. Unless we can find and cut the wire before then, the doctor is a gone gosling.”

<script>