Amazing Stories, Vol. 2, No. 1 — page 38: what you’re looking at

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

‘he OS pete 8 te be « 4i 7 * “ 7 v3 ae fe nae Shee tite eR Been waht fee ee ee , a 4 Mab ae. on i ¥ . ay oo te 2% > a i ‘< Xe Yo P| At t=: = Fe * - ‘ . ee ae o~ ‘= ® hy ee 7 Sor ght Oh, ete g.. £ ee etn: ‘ Abs ee ore aie espe Ns dae oy ee NEL - man, Elston is, and as enthusiastic an experimenter as I am.” | He reached out a hand-to press the signal button which would summon Elston when Goodwin inter- posed. “Suppose we do the job ourselves,” he sug- gested. ‘“‘No,” as he observed the frown on the officer’s forehead, “I’m not questioning Elston’s in-- tegrity, but the fewer people we let in on this the better. You know that legally we have no right here. If only we three have a finger in it, it will go no farther.” Captain Thompson got up and took a ring of keys from his pocket. “Come on,” he said and led the way into the laboratory adjoining his office, which in the days when the plant was in operation had been the headquarters of its superintendent. “This,” he said throwing open a door and reveal- ing a spacious room, “is the experimental room and those doors you see lead into various other labor- atories.”” He crossed to a great door of steel in the concrete walls, inserted a key in each of the three big padlocks which held it—near the top, the middle and the bottom—and, exerting his strength pulled it open on well-oiled hinges. Investigation by the X-Ray the has gazed curiously about the room into which the captain led the way. It was not large and from floor to ceiling the walls were hid- den by stacks of boxes and cans neatly piled up. “Laboratory material as it came from the manufac- turers and not unpacked before the plant was shut down,” explained Captain Thompson. “If you will wait here I will wheel in the X-ray machine from the experimental room.” While they were waiting for Thompson and the machine, Goodwin and Barry strolled about the room and finally came to a stand in front of the massive door of the vault. The combination which guarded the vault’s contents seemed to be an in- tricate one. Goodwin took the knob of the dial in his fingers and started to twirl it just as the officer returned. “Be careful,” called Thompson sharply. “You are likely to get a nasty shock if you turn the dial around to the figures which form the combination.” Goodwin nodded. “Electrical connections, eh?” he asked. “Not enough voltage to kill, but probably enough to knock a man down. I’ve seen it before, but it’s easy to beat the game. Rubber gloves will do it.” “Certainly,” agreed Thompson, “but gloves would act as an absolute bar to opening the com- bination by the sense of touch alone, and that and acute hearing would be the only way to open it without leaving betraying signs unless one knew the figures and the proper sequence that will open the door.” The scientist smiled. ing a prospectus from the company that installed this protective system,” he said. “This method is quite out-of-date. I tell you it is a continual battle between makers of safes and crackers of safes. As fast as some clever man devises some new protective method some equally clever thief invents a way to beat it. Even I would guarantee to open this thing, electricity and all, in short order.” e - >i bay Ache oe ‘“ Pte Pat Ae oe OR ab =” 4 ~ gee Gee et] Bee et apn Cae EN. ASP “tee ine tru Mate ag ins Sh eel dee ied: % ed ve AON. Bk ty PRNE THe rin ut de eee, 5 - - THE WHITE GOLD PI “You must have been read- - “4 1*\, foe. eo TE, thy * ea ce A ae oP Oe BN, a ee Aa Se. A my 5 eed tk Vee Cees awe: 4 at ete hid As > ye ¥ ee Mat pak vege ts Ma Tea > & , * iy ¥ be a. oS = jes os a ee . is 7 Fath et ‘ atc, ‘ a Sea fae $ Pee tee ry ye be hig . AS > byt . - F Y » ~ - © ‘ et - ss he fx re x x : : in 3 7 at TE . . “How?” demanded Barry, who had been listening intently but saying nothing. “The same way that the man who looted this vault of its platinum contents did,” smiled the scientist. “IT would wear rubber gloves and use a voltmeter to tell me when the knob had been turned just far enough to permit the tumblers of the lock to drop into place.” “I see you are determined to hang on to your . theory that the stolen platinum came from here,” scoffed Barry. “You no doubt have observed that the wax seals are intact. There is your X-ray ma- chine, Goodwin, all ready to shoot. Go ahead and settle the matter. Tell us if the platinum still is in there.” But the scientist had apparently not been listen- ing to him. Goodwin’s head was cocked toward the door by which they had entered from the ex- perimental room. Captain Thompson had closed it behind him when he had wheeled in the X-ray apparatus. “Someone,” the scientist whispered, “is outside the door and very much interested in what we are doing, I think.” With a finger to his lips to enjoin silence he tiptoed to the door and threw it open. But no one was there. The eavesdropper was gone. “Captain,” he said, returning. “You, I believe, are familiar with this machine. Will you operate it while Barry and I with a fluoroscope go around the vault and see what the rays reveal? Keep moving it so that you cover all of the back wall where the cans are piled.” A few minutes later Thompson heard them call- — oe te Reesor eo ee 2a? pooh wee SoS. oe! ee nt a | _ ing him and, shutting off the rays, left the vault’ room and joined them in the experimental room. CHAPTER VII It Is Ascertained that Platinum Has Been Taken From the Vault ‘6° looks as if you were right'and I wrong,” ad- [rite Goodwin to Barry. Through a fluoro- scope they had examined the interior of the vault, as revealed by the X-ray. Certainly the faint, but none the less recognizable, outlines of the cans, containing the platinum were there, an orderly pile of them. © 3 | The scientist appeared more puzzled than crest- fallen. Could he have been mistaken in thinking the stolen “white gold” had come from the Jackson plant? It did not seem possible. Analysis of the sample sent him by the pirate had pointed so con- clusively to the source of his loot. Still the cans were in the vault. The X-ray proved that. Abruptly he got up and, leaving the others, strode back into the vault room and looked around him. He could not have told what he was seeking. He looked carefully at the wax seals over the cracks of the door. So far as he could tell they had not been touched since some government official had affixed them. Yet there was no other way in which the vault could have been entered. The concrete walls were intact; the floor, examined from the base- ment below, presented a smooth, uncracked surface. The three of them had been looking for signs that the thief, or thieves, had burrowed into the vault from the outside. That had been when the scientist had almost hypnotized the other two into —