The Mind Master
Page 12
CHAPTER XII
_A Woman of Courage_
Caleb Barter smiled warmly at the woman who had come to him almost asthough in answer to a prayer. He admired her flashing eyes and thelifted chin which spoke of pride and courage.
"I had thought of improving the feminine strain of the race also," hetold her, but almost as though he spoke to himself, "but I realizedthat it mattered little the stature of the mothers of the race as longas the fathers were made virile. But if all women were like yourself,Miss Estabrook, the race would not require the improvement it is nowmy duty to bestow upon it."
Ellen stared directly into the eyes of the white-haired old man. Asshe looked at him she found it hard to believe that one so gentle fromoutward appearances had such a vast, grim power for evil. In reposehis face was kindly, though there was something out of character inthe fact that it was so apple rosy. And his lips were far too red.
"Where," she said quietly, fearlessly, "is Lee Bentley?"
Barter raised his eyebrows as he stared back at her. So far she hadnot looked around at this great room into which he had had herconducted; she had seemed interested only in her mission, whateverthat might be.
"You mean that delightfully rude young man?" he asked sardonically.
"You know well enough whom I mean! Where is he?"
"Then he is not to be found in his usual haunts?"
"He has disappeared."
"And you come out seeking Professor Barter because Bentley hisdisappeared! It is almost as though you had previously arranged withhim to come seeking me if, at a certain time he failed to return fromsome mysterious rendezvous...."
- - -
Barter's face was now a mask of uncanny shrewdness. In a few words hehad pierced through Ellen's secret of why she had deliberately placedherself in the way of Barter's minions in order to be taken, and nowhe had used the words of her own questions to form a weapon againsther. Ellen gasped in terror.
Had she made a hideous mistake? Had she, by failing to wait for wordfrom Bentley, ruined all his well laid plans?
Barter now stood before her, his eyes almost shooting fire.
"Tell me quickly," he began, and for a second she thought he would puthis hands on her, "what sort of plan is he making to betray me intothe hands of my enemies, who are the enemies of super-civilizationbecause they are my enemies?"
"I know of nothing," said Ellen stoutly, hoping that she had not,after all, betrayed the fact that she knew Bentley had started to workout an unusual scheme. The details she didn't know, for Lee hadn'ttold her. "But I do know, what all the world knows, that he washelping the police against you. Naturally, then, when he vanished Ithought of you. Besides you had already warned him that you wouldremove him in your own good time. He caused you the loss of two ofyour puppets and I thought, naturally enough, that you would try toremove him to some place where he could not operate so successfullyagainst you."
"That's all?" queried Barter eagerly. "You don't know of some specialscheme that has been worked out to trap me?"
"I know of no scheme. Now that I am in your hands, Professor, what doyou intend doing with me?"
Barter stared at Ellen for several minutes.
"I haven't captured Bentley ... yet," he said at last, slowly, "but Ishall--no doubt about that. It is inevitable--as inevitable as CalebBarter. I can use him in my labors for humanity. How I treat him afterhe is taken depends somewhat on you. You may therefore consideryourself a sort of hostage. I have much medical work to perform. Haveyou ever been a nurse?"
- - -
Ellen recoiled in horror. "You don't mean you would ask me to help youperform those horrible--" She stopped abruptly before her suddentendency to hysterics should make her say things to anger Barter toofar.
"So," he said quickly, "you think my brain operations are horrible,eh? Well, you shall see that they are not horrible; that ProfessorBarter, the greatest scientist the world has ever produced, is reallypreparing to prevent civilization from utterly decaying."
"And afterward?" asked Ellen. "I know that eventually you will betaken and that the people will destroy you, tear you limb from limb.But you will never believe that. Tell me, then, what you plan to dowith me."
For a brief time he considered the matter.
"I am an old man," he said at last, musingly, "but I am young inspirit and in body. It would be amusing to have a mate--but no, no,that would not do! The destiny of Caleb Barter is not linked with awoman. You would simply hold me back. However, I have often beeninterested in miscegenation and its effect on the race if properlyguided. My assistant Naka Machi, is one of the finest specimens of hisrace. Perhaps I shall arrange for you to mate with him, underconditions which I shall dictate, in order to experiment with youroffspring...."
Ellen swayed, her face going dead white. She hadn't yet met NakaMachi, but his name told her enough. The thought of a Japanese,however, was far less repellent than the cold, calm way in whichBarter spoke of using the offspring of such a union.
"I'll kill myself at the first opportunity," said Ellen suddenly.
- - -
Barter put his forefinger under Ellen's chin in a paternal fashion.His eyes looked deeply into hers. She thought of what his fingers haddone in the past ... those long slender fingers. His touch made hershudder.
But his eyes held her. They seemed like deep wells. Then they werelike black coals advancing upon her out of the darkness, growingbigger and bigger as they came, with little flames in their centersalso growing as they approached.
"You will submit your will to mine," said the soft voice of CalebBarter.
His right hand was making swift snakelike movements back of Ellen'shead. His voice droned on, but already it seemed to Ellen to come froma vast distance.
"Your mind will be concerned only with the welfare of Caleb Barter,"droned on the voice. "You will think only of Caleb Barter; yourgreatest desire will be to serve him. There is nothing you would notdo for him. Let your objective mind sleep until Caleb Barter wakensit; give your subjective mind into my keeping."
Beads of perspiration broke out on the cheeks of Caleb Barter as heworked quickly to place the girl entirely under his skilled hypnosis.At last she stood like a statue, her wide-open eyes staring intospace, straight ahead. She did not move. She scarcely seemed tobreathe.
"You will know that my home is your home, Ellen," said Barter softly."You will feel that you are welcome here and that you love this place.It needs the attention of a loving woman; you will give it thatattention. But you will be subservient always to my will. You willenter upon your duties."
Ellen Estabrook sighed softly as though with relief. Her hands went upto remove her hat, which she placed on a chair in a corner of thehellish laboratory. She removed her light coat and arranged her hairwith skilled fingers. But even as she moved around the room of thelong table her eyes stared vacantly into space. She was as much apuppet of Caleb Barter as were Stanley, Morton and Cleve. But,mercifully, she did not know it.
- - -
Barter studied her for several moments; his eyes squinted. He wasmaking sure that she was not duping him with pretense. Satisfied atlast be turned his eyes away from her. He stepped to the porcelainslab set in the bronze wall of his laboratory and looked at thepush-buttons marked "C-3" and "E-5". The red lights were on,indicating that the two puppets controlled by these two keys werereturning toward their master. The lights had been green when Barterhad begun his conversation with Ellen Estabrook, indicating that thetwo puppets were still going away. With a tremendous effort of will hehad given them sufficient mental stimulus to keep them travelingwithout his direct will for the few minutes he would require forEllen.
Now, however, he quickly donned the metal cap and the little ball, andinserted into the orifice in his cap the swinging key which connectedby chain with the key which fitted into the slot under the buttonmarked "C-3".
He had returned to his puppets just in time. "C-3" was Cleve, who wa
sdriving the car sent out to bring in the Colombian ape. As Barter gotin touch with the car it narrowly averted a crash with a police car... and the perspiration broke forth afresh on the body of Barter ashe resumed control of his puppets.
The second creature, in the front seat of the car, was Morton, and itdidn't matter particularly about him as he was not driving. But Mortonwas now becoming all ape. Barter did not wish to use any more of hismental energy than was necessary. He contented himself by sending hiswill into Cleve, who began at once to drive like a master. WheneverMorton, beside him, showed an inclination to jump out of the car orotherwise interfere with Cleve in his work, Barter had but to expressthe thought, and Cleve either pulled him back to his place beside him,or gave him a walnut from his pocket.
- - -
Barter could as easily have had them change places, since he assumedcontrol of either at will, or could have controlled a scoresimultaneously. But that would have required additional thoughtstimulus, and he wished to conserve his mental energies for the workwhich yet faced him.
Once he switched his attention from the heliotube which controlledCleve--and through which, concurrently, he saw everything thattranspired near Cleve, because his televisory apparatus and his radiocontrol were co-workers on almost identical vibratory waves--to thearea of Manhattan immediately surrounding his own neighborhood.
"Hmm," he said to himself, "the police are getting too close. As soonas I have completed my labors to-night I shall destroy some of them asa warning to others to keep their distance."
Morton and Cleve drew up to the curb while Barter watched carefully onall sides, through the heliotube, to make sure that their arrival wasunmarked by the police.
They climbed out quickly and raced across the sidewalk to the greengate which gave on a gloomy old court, inside which they wereswallowed by the shadows from all eyes save those of Caleb Barter.
Five minutes after the strange trio had entered the "place," the greatchrome-steel door of Barter's laboratory swung open.
"Morton and Cleve, my master," announced Naka Machi, bowing low andsucking in his breath with a hissing sound.
Barter's own puppets entered with the ape between them.
Barter walked fearlessly forward. He had slipped the key from theorifice atop his head. Morton and Cleve now stood listlessly, dumbly,looking with dead eyes at their master. Barter tossed them severalwalnuts each.
Then he turned his attention to the ape, rubbing his hands togetherwith pleasure.
But the ape was behaving strangely. His eyes were staring past Barter.His hands sought to lift as though he would hold them out to someone;but the ropes prevented him. Barter turned to look. Ellen Estabrookstood beyond him, white of face, motionless as a statue. The ape wasstraining toward her.
Caleb Barter chuckled with understanding.
"Good evening, Lee," he said gently. "I've been expecting you!"