[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Two loud reports came snapping through the night! They were sharp. Their echoes bounced back and forth
with an uproar that sounded like a fantastic dragon coughing!
Monk, confused by the multitude of echoes, demanded: "Where did the shots come from?"
"From the Oveja camp!" Doc decided.
They listened. But a dead stillness had fallen. There were no more shots.
"We'd better go back!" Doc declared.
The bronze man whipped over the brink of the cliff. Below, the drop was almost sheer. Footholds were few
and unpleasantly precarious. Yet, Doc seemed to take no particular pains with his going. His speed seemed
unaffected by the peril of a fall.
Monk and Renny, tackling the dangerous descent, found it necessary to lower themselves a few inches at a
time. Doc was far ahead of them by the time they reached the bottom.
Coming in view of the camp some time later, Monk and Renny received a surprise. They had expected to find
violence. However, there was nothing about the scene to indicate anything desperate had occurred.
Senor and Senorita Oveja and El Rabanos stood in the moonlight. Long Tom and Johnny were near. Doc
Savage was to one side.
The pig, Habeas Corpus, was galloping slow circles in the moonlight. The shoat's running gait was more than
ever like that of a dog.
Monk stared at his pet. "Where did Habeas come from?"
Chapter 15. WHEN TROUBLE DOUBLES 95
 BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF
"It came tearing through the brush," Doc explained. "Thinking it was a prowler, Johnny fired a couple of
shots in the air. Those were the shots we heard."
"I'm sure Patricia took him back with her," Monk declated. "Ham must have turned him loose. That's the kind
of a trick the shyster would pull. He don't think a whole lot of Habeas Corpus."
"I imagine his opinion of the pig is improving a little," Doc declared.
Monk's jaw fell. "What do you mean, Doc?"
By way of answer, Doc Savage produced his tiny lantern, which threw ultra-violet rays. He switched it on,
and played the beam on Habeas Corpus.
Letters in an electric blue flame sprang out on the pig's back. Due to the uncertainty of the bristled surface on
which they had been drawn, the letters were large and irregular. Each time the pig moved, they seemed to
convulse. The letters spelled two words.
SLEEP - GETTING -
"Holy cow!" Renny muttered. "What's that mean?"
"Ham's idea of a joke!" Monk growled.
Doc Savage set out swiftly in the direction of the cabin.
"I hardly think it's a joke," he called grimly. "Long Tom, you stay here and guard these three prisoners."
The electrical wizard nodded, and turned back to watch Senor and Senorita Oveja and El Rabanos.
The other three men ran in Doc's wake toward the cabin.
THE cabin was silent as a house of death. It might have been a tomb of logs, erected on the shore of the little
inlet. There was no night breeze to flutter leaves in the surrounding brush. Small waves were piling sloppily
against the shore. Out on the sea, moonbeams glanced in long silver shafts.
Doc Savage was first to approach the cabin. Renny, Monk, and Johnny brought up the rear. They did not
want to spoil any sign with their clumsy tramping.
Using his flashlight, which gave a powerful beam, Doc Savage made a quick inspection of the house. If he
had expected signs of violence, he was disappointed. The place was in a no more topsy-turvy condition than
it had been when he left.
But there was no sign of Patricia, Ham, or the fat Indian servant.
"It's all right for you fellows to come in!" Doc called, after his first cursory inspection.
Monk lumbered in and looked around. "That's funny! I don't see any signs of a fight. And Ham ain't the kind
to give up without a scrap."
Instead of answering this directly, Doc Savage indicated a black smear on the wall of a bedroom. This had the
shape of a wolf, with an unpleasantly human face.
Chapter 15. WHEN TROUBLE DOUBLES 96
 BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF
"The werewolf!" Monk ejaculated.
"Placed there recently - no doubt by the gang who captured our friends," Doc replied. "The presence of the
werewolf mark indicates why there was no struggle."
"How do you figure that?" Monk questioned.
"The strange sleep we have not been able to explain," Doc reminded him. "It seems to strike coincident with
the appearance of these werewolf marks."
Doc led the way to the kitchen. Fresh food stood on the table. A sandwich lay on a plate. One bite was
missing.
"They must've been having a snack to eat when the thing happened," Renny said.
A saucer, holding a large lump of butter, stood on the table. Doc handed this to Monk.
"Analyze it," he said.
"For crying out loud!" Monk grunted. "What for?"
"Search for the presence of the following chemicals," Doc said, and rattled off a half dozen highly technical
laboratory terms.
The chemical terminology was unintelligible to Renny and Johnny. Both were well-educated men, but it was
doubtful if either could have picked two comprehensible words out of the list.
Monk nodded with perfect understanding, however. Behind Monk's low forehead, there did not seem room
for a teaspoonful of brains. But his looks were deceiving. A roster of the three greatest living chemists would
certainly have included Monk.
Taking the platter of butter, Monk went into the room where he kept his portable laboratory. He set to work.
Doc Savage peered closely at the kitchen floor, then took his portable ultra-violet lantern out of his pocket,
switched it on, and played the invisible beams on the floor.
A puddle of blue fire seemed to spring into being.
Renny dropped to a knee and rubbed an enormous hand through the glowing spot.
"It's the chalk we use to do invisible writing," he said. "Ham must have dropped his piece. It's been stepped
on."
"I think we stepped on it while wandering around in here," Doc said. "My opinion is that Ham, Patricia, and
the squaw were in here eating when they felt the weird sleep begin to creep over them. Ham managed to
scrawl those words on the pig, Habeas Corpus. He dropped the chalk as he passed out."
Outdoors, a voice hailed loudly.
"Ahoy, the cabin!" it cried. "Don't shoot me!"
Chapter 15. WHEN TROUBLE DOUBLES 97
 BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF
RENNY and Johnny sprang to a window and looked out. They could see nothing.
Doc's flashlight went out. It made no sound doing so, for the switch was noiseless. The darkness which [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]