Adventure Magazine Cover — page 62: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

6o “None,” Ommony answered grimly. “But I’m pious. I think there’s a Higher Law that adjusts that sort of thing eventu- ally. If not, I’d have killed the brute myself.”’ “Listen to this.” “Don’t read ’em aloud, Mac. It’s sacri- lege. And I’mraw. It was at least partly my fault.” ‘Don’t be an idiot!” | “It was, Mac. Elsa wasn’t so many years younger than me, but even when we were kids we were more like father and child than brother and sister. She was al- ways a mystic, even as a child. She had the spirituality and the brains; I had the brute strength and ‘was presumed to have the common sense; it made a rather happy combination. As soon as I got settled in the forest I wrote home to her to come out and keep house for me. I used to trust Jenkins in those days. It was I who in- troduced them. Jenkins introduced . her to Kananda Pal.”’ “That swine!” ‘“‘No, he wasn’t such a swine as Jenkins,” said Ommony. ‘“Kananda Pal was a poor who was born into a black-art family. He didn’t know any better. His father used to make him stare into ink-pools and all that devilment before he was knee-high to a duck. He used to do stunts with spooks and things. “Jenkins on the other hand had a decent heritage and ditched it. It was he who in- vited Kananda Pal to hypnotize Elsa. Between the two of them they did a devil’s job of it. She almost lost her mind, and Jenkins had the filthy gall to use that as excuse for breaking the engagement.”’ “My ! But think if he had married her! Man, man!” “True. But think of the indecency of making that excuse! I called in Jack Terry ‘“‘Top-hole — generous — gallant — gay! Man, what a delightful fellow Terry was!” said McGregor. ‘Did he really fall in love with her? You know, he was recklessly generous enough to——’’ “Yes,” saidOmmony. ‘He almost cured her; and he fell in love. She loved him— don’t see how any real woman could have helped it. But Jenkins and Kananda Pal— oh, curse them both!” ‘“Amen!”’ remarked McGregor. ‘‘Well— we’ve got what we want. How did you Adventure hear of these letters? Just think of it! That poor girl writing to a brute like Jen- kins to give her back her mind so that she may— Oh, my God!” “I saw Kananda Pal before he died. That was recently. He was quite sorry about his share in the business. He tried to put all the blame on Jenkins—you know how rotters always accuse each other when the cat’s out of the bag. He told me of the letters, so I went to Jenkins yester- day, and, having resigned, I was in position to be rather blunt. In fact, I was blunt. He denied their existence at first, but he handed ’em over when I explained what I intended to do if he didn’t.” “T wonder why he’d kept them,” said McGregor. ‘The pig had kept them to prove she was mad, if-any one should ever accuse him of having wronged her,’’ Ommony answered. “Do they read like a madwoman’s letters?”’ ‘““Man, man! They’re pitiful! gling to throw off the cursed stuff, and all the while crying for it. Lord save us, what a time Jack Terry must have had!” “Increasingly rarely,” said Ommony. “He had almost cured her. The attacks were intermittent. Terry heard of a sacred place in the Hills—a sort of Himalayan Lourdes, I take it—and they set off to- gether, twenty years ago, to find the place. I never found a trace of them; but I heard rumors, and I’ve always believed they dis- appeared into the Abor country.”’ “Where they probably were crucified!” McGregor added grimly. “{T don’t know,” said Ommony. “I’m not so sure. , I’ve heard tales about a mysterious stone in the Abor country that’s supposed to have magic qualities. Terry probably heard about it too, and he was just the man to go in search of it. I’ve also heard it said that the ‘Masters’ live in the Abor Valley.” McGregor shook his head and smiled. “Still harping on that string?” “One hundred million people, at a very conservative estimate, of whom at least a million are thinkers, believe that the Masters exist,” Ommony retorted. ‘‘Who are you and I to say they don’t? If they do, and if they’re in the Abor Valley, I - propose to prove it.” McGregor’s smile widened to a grin. “Men who are as wise as they are said to MICLOOOK They. _read like the letters of a drug addict, strug- C@ inn