Adventure Magazine, December 10, 1924 — page 58: what you’re looking at

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

36 guessing you were some other unlucky who had blundered into the trap, had the hunch to stir up the deaf-and-dumb crowd. We had some —— of a job—and working against time, for we knew you couldn’t last long—getting the idea into their nuts; but when they did get it and the askaris joined their brothers and finished the job they went strong. Now, doc, you take over the technical side of their pretty little game.” “Well,” began the doctor, “‘the scheme is built on false biological’ premises. It ap- pears, from what he himself says, that he had already begun researches in Germany before the war, but had had considerable difficulty in securing—er—suitable material. “‘He had need to have a quantity ofi—er— subjects for observation, which led him, I be- lieve, to come to Africa with the purpose of experimenting on some form of anthropoid which hadn’t turned itself into trade unions and sentimental societies. Well, chance led him here, as Van told you, and he deter- mined to make the most of a devil-sent opportunity. “He began first on the apes and a few of the lesser gorilla, which had been trapped in this valley, and the blacks, using his field instruments. “Then when the anthropoids were ex- hausted and he had replenished his labora- tory through their agents at Chinde, he actually started on some of their own white men. Probably that fellow Flaxman as a medical orderly—and he was a good blond specimen—knew something and got the wind up. We felt sure our time was coming too, and that was one main reason we were willing to take any chance to get away. ‘““Mentioning blonds, we get a hint of his trouble—a fixed idea and technical in- sanity. The hypothesis is that the Nordic is the superior race, the superman of the genus homo; and of course the Germans are the—er—only and original. Roughly speak- ing we—the Anglo-Saxon races of England and America—are what he calls sub-Nordic and renegades and therefore the best ma- terial for his—er—scientific purposes. “Now historically it is a fact that empires have a habit of becoming eventually bloated and weak, such as the Roman and so on, and consequently have fallen before a more vigorous barbarian horde. According to the Germanic theory war, and only war, can keep a nation fit; but this mighty seer sees beyond this; realizes, so he says, the Adventure inevitable future for which he is working to preserve the Germanic race. It is an axiom, of course, that in the next war—which they all say they are now preparing for; I nearly said spinning!—they will be victorious and sweep the world. ‘‘Now probably you will be surprized, gentlemen, to hear that the good and ruth- less Doktor maintains that there shall—mark that ‘shall,’ and cenfound it not with the weak ‘will’; no pun intended!—of the pacifists—there shall be no more war in this shortly-coming-but-not-yet-here age.” The doctor smiled grimly. “Yes, the Germanic race shall be—Lord, I feel like Moses with the tablets of the Law!—shall be lords of the universe, all ap- parently engaged in scientific research and creating mighty works of art, and pre- sumably—at least one hopes for some human touch!—swilling beer and sausages while we—um—sub-Nordic and other in- ferior races sweat willingly for the greater glory of them and the All Highest—let’s hope they’ll give God a chance even if it’s only ‘Me und Goit’!—all by means of the Herr Professor Doktor’s patent for suppresse ing the will-to-power.”’ “Will-to-power? How?” “By the simple process of a certain op- eration—to avoid technicalities—upon the left hemisphere of the brain. To this end —which obviously justifies the means!—he has been experimenting. His thesis is that he can by the transference and grafting of a certain portion of the lobe of a black man’s brain upon that of, say, a sub-Nordic—Van, for example!—take the objectionable kick out of his system and replace it with a high- ly desirable slave instinct, and vice versa, transform the nigger into a good slave with the energy of a white man.” ‘You mean to say,” exclaimed Tony, “that that homicidal maniac has been * “Yes. On the monkeys, the blacks, some of his own people as well as several strangers, Belgian Service people and a Portuguese explorer who had had the ill luck to blunder, as we did, into his web. He admits—re- mark the delicacy!—that he hasn’t quite succeeded yet—as those who don’t die go mad. Listen!” ) A silence save for the hum of the distant forest was broken by that hoarse, crazy scream, rasping. on the nerves of the four white men like a blunt knife on a raw nerve. | | CoMmicbool A) (© =