Ds184 python isle doc, p.14
DS184_Python_Isle.doc, page 14
XI - Tale of Ophir
XI -- Tale of Ophir
The first thing that Doc Savage did upon reading the note left by Blackbird Hinton's raiders was to place an immediate call to the Cape Town authorities to learn if Monk, Ham, or Renny had been there.
They had according to the Constable that he spoke with.
"Your men did in 10 minutes what we couldn't do in 3 hours," the constable reported. "They were able to learn the location of these kidnappers using that truth drug. Then they departed."
"Where are these kidnappers hold up?" Doc asked.
"On a tramp steamer called the Mighty anchored out in the bay. It is registered to a suspected diamond smuggler named Edward Hinton. We just had a report from a cutter we sent out to investigate that there was a fire aboard the Mighty and she is headed out to sea. I'm afraid that only a seaplane could catch her now. And we have none available."
Doc thanked the constable and hung up.
He next called the front desk and inquired if any suspicious persons had sbeen seen in the vicinity.
None had. He got another reply when he asked about his 3 assistants.
"I've not seen your men since they returned less than an hour ago."
Doc instructed the desk clerk to have the bamboo tube sent up to his suite.
While he awaited the mysterious length of bamboo, he placed a quick transatlantic call. He got a British manufacturer of aircraft.
He identified himself and purchased a new amphibious tri-motor. The individual at the other end was deferential and promised to have the plane flown directly to Cape Town, there to await the Bronze Man's convenience.
Doc terminated the conversation.
A bellboy arrived with the bamboo tube moment later. Doc accepted the tube. He tipped the boy (the latter's eyes about bugged out of his head at the sight of the bronze giant! ) and extracted the contents.
He examined the flexible parchment scroll with the aid of his all-purpose optical gadget. Aside from being a handy periscope and telescope, the device could be converted into a magnifying glass or microscope. He re-examined the odd tube, first with the microscope arrangement and then with the single lens.
Doc unrolled the parchment. The sinister serpent in the wax seal jumped out under the glass. He held either end in a big metallic hand. On the roll were many blocks of writing as if the texts of several pages had been reduced and set side-by-side along the length of the parchment.
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He pondered these again. The words spoken by girl earlier had furnished him with proof that certain suspicions of his regarding the cabalistic writing were on the right track. Even so, the deciphering of the text would consume many precious hours.
Abruptly, Doc stood up and went over to the girl. She was still sleeping peacefully.
He paused a moment, struck by her radiant loveliness …
… then rested 2 hard fingers at the base of her neck under her black hair. He kneaded the spot deliberately.
The girl roused from her slumber. Doc had removed the pressure causing unconsciousness. She looked up at him with wide luminous eyes. She started.
He pronounced low words, not in English. His handsome bronze face framed a quiet smile. His
golden eye s exerted a quelling effect. This calmed the strange girl instantly and she sat up. Her lips framed a query:
"Are you the Wizard Barbarian?" she asked in her odd tongue.
"The Wizard Barbarian?" The Bronze Man was puzzled. At first, he thought he must have misunderstood the language.
"Yes. Tom Franklin brought me to the Outer World to seek the aid of the Wizard Barbarian. I am Queen Lha. The Wizard Barbarian of whom I speak is known by another name".
She stumbled over the pronunciation.
"Doc Savage."
For the briefest of moments, Doc's mellow trilling broke forth.
But the Bronze Man caught himself. Queen Lha -- not realizing that the resonance emanated from him -- looked about puzzledly.
Understanding dawned on him. In primitive lands, wizards often act as doctors. And the word
"barbarian" translated to "savage". The "Wizard Barbarian" was a rough translation of his own name.
"I am Doc Savage," he admitted quietly.
"I am pleased to meet so great a man," Queen Lha said.
She drew herself up proudly.
"I have come to entreat your aid against an evil monster."
"Blackbird Hinton?" Doc suggested.
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Queen Lha shook her attractive head. Despite her soaked and soiled garments, she assumed a regal demeanor.
"No," she replied in her own language. "Although he is an evil one, too. I speak of Tau the sorcerer.
He has stolen my throne. He is hungry for power and has cast spells over my friends and allies.
"Hagai was the last. She is an old woman. She raised me. When the Invisible Wrath fell upon her frail shoulders, I knew I was doomed."
She shuddered, her eyes reflecting pain.
"The Invisible Wrath?"
"A spell of madness from which there is no awakening," Queen Lha supplied. "Taxus calls his Invisible Wrath down and his victims lose their minds. It is horrible. I had no one to turn to but Tom Franklin.
"He had fallen from the sky inside a metal bird years before and lived among us while he sought to bring his bird back to life. I know nothing of this magic. But Tom Franklin had heard of you from his talking box which spoke from the Outer World and said that if we sought your aid, you would help us."
Doc considered. Obviously she was referring to Tom Franklin's plane and his radio set.
Suddenly, he ventured a question:
"What have Blackbird Hinton and his men to do with this?"
Queen Lha said: "They captured us. But Tom Franklin escaped their boat to seek you out.
Blackbird Hinton wants us to lead him to Python Isle. This where I rule as queen. Or did rule before Taxus worked his wizardry."
"Why does Blackbird desire the location of Python Isle?" the Bronze Man asked.
"For the same reason that Taxus has stolen my throne," Queen Lha returned. " He covets the ancient treasure of Ophir. "
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This time, Doc Savage could not restrain himself.
His strange trilling pervaded the room once again full-voiced, running wildly up-and-down the scale without tune. His flake-gold eye s seemed to revolve excitedly.
Ophir! The fabulous lost land mentioned in the Bible! The supposed treasure trove of the ancient world!
Doc had heard of it. What man had not? Ophir had been a riddle for thousands-of-years. A lure to adventurers down through the ages.
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According to biblical legends, Solomon -- King of the Israelites -- regularly traded with the people of a land called Ophir. This place was reputedly rich in rare woods, precious spices, stones, and -- most of all -- Gold! The wealth gotten from commerce with Ophir was supposed to be the source of wise King Solomon's riches.
The true location of Ophir had been lost in the mists of history, Doc knew. But the lure of its wealth was not forgotten. In the 16th Century while the Spanish conquistadors plundered South America in quest of the fabled El Dorado, Portuguese conquistadors were vainly searching the Near East for Ophir.
Since that time, fortune seekers had sought the place unsuccessfully in Arabia, Africa, and even India.
Doc put a terse question to the bewildered Queen Lha:
"You have come from Ophir?"
"No," Queen Lha replied with a trace of disdain. "Ophir was a savage place. My ancestors were subjects of great King Solomon who founded a colony in the land of Ophir. There, we lived in peace for many years and oversaw the flow of trade to our true home. But time passed, wise Solomon died, and the trading fell into decline.
"Cut off from supplies, the colony fell prey to savage tribes. They drove us out. We -- that is, my ancestors -- fled in boats with all the gold we could bear away. But our navigators were killed and we lost our way. Finally, our history tells us that a terrible storm carried those boats which could stay together to Python Isle."
"And your people have remained on Python Isle for thousands of years?" Doc Savage asked, almost incredulously.
Queen Lha nodded her attractive head.
" Python Isle is surrounded by almost unending storms. No boats could escape the island. In time, my ancestors ceased to build boats or even to think of leaving. Python Isle became our home. It wasn't until Tom Franklin …"
Just then, the phone in Doc's hotel suite rang. It caused the girl to jump.
He scooped up the receiver and identified himself.
"Savage? You got the message?"
It was Blackbird Hinton's vicious voice.
"I did," the Bronze Man stated evenly.
There was no hint of anger in malleable voice. But his golden eye s were molten.
"Then listen good. You have the girl and the treasure map. We got everyone else. Even swap. How
'bout it?"
There was a pause. Queen Lha regarded the Bronze Man passively.
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"What are your terms?" Doc said at last.
"In 10 minutes," Blackbird rasped, "the girl walks out of the hotel. Alone. With the map. Got that?
A car will pick her up. Your men will be set loose when we have the girl. I'm keepin' Franklin."
"That is not much of a deal," Doc Savage said. "How do I know you will keep your part of the bargain?"
"You don't!" Blackbird sneered. "But you'd better make up your mind quick. I can't keep Bull from tearin' into that Monk swab forever."
As if to accentuate his threat, there came a squawk of agony through the receiver and the cruel laugh of Bull Pizano.
"Hear that?" Blackbird demanded.
Then he hung up.
Doc Savage turned to Queen Lha, a little grim.
"Blackbird Hinton has Tom Franklin and friends of mine," he informed her in her own language.
Queen Lha then did something characteristic of women from all ages upon hearing disheartening news.
Her hand flew to her mouth which had widened in surprise. "Tom Franklin," she moaned. It was clear that she had feelings for the redheaded man.
"Blackbird wants you and the scroll in exchange for my friends," Doc stated.
Queen Lha stiffened. "What will you do?"
In the same language (it was a peculiar dialect of ancient Hebrew) but haltingly, Doc replied: "I have a plan whereby I can free you and my men from Blackbird's clutches. If you will trust me."
"Tom Franklin said you were a good man, a great man," Lha said bravely. "I will trust you."
"Good," Doc said. "There is little time."
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The Bronze Man whipped to one of his equipment cases. They had been damaged during the abduction of Monk, Ham, and Renny. But their contents had not been harmed.
He produced a spray device consisting of a short hand-pump of the type used to expel insecticides.
A glass container in which a clear liquid sloshed was affixed to this.
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Doc took the pump to a window overlooking the hotel's entrance. He carefully eased the window up. Street bustle entered the room. He sprayed a fine mist out into the street.
He repeated this action at each of the windows along that wall as Queen Lha watched with open incomprehension.
Then Doc took up the parchment … worked it into a roll … and inserted it in the bamboo cylinder.
With his back to Queen Lha, he busied himself with the length of bamboo for some minutes. When he was done, he surrendered the tube to the girl.
"Blackbird called this a treasure map," he stated. "Why?"
"He has not seen it. But he knows it to be important," she told him. "He does know of the gold and so must have assumed that it tells where it may be found. The parchment is really a script history of my people which I took from the royal library. We brought it to show you. To prove that Python Isle truly exists."
The Bronze Man nodded. He had deduced as much.
"I am to set you free," Doc stated. "Blackbird's men will take you away from them. But I will follow as best I can. When they take you to where Franklin and the others are being held, you will smash the bamboo tube against the nearest hard object.
"Smash the bamboo tube?"
"Yes. Endeavor to keep it in your possession until then. Do not try to understand. Just do this thing for me."
Queen Lha nodded. "I will do this thing for you."
"Good," Doc said, pleased.
He called for a bellboy to escort her to the lobby. He did not wish to walk into a trap himself. He reasoned that the girl would easily become lost in finding her way out of the massive hostelry alone.
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Doc Savage observed Queen Lha emerge onto the pavement minutes later.
2 men fell upon her instantly. They escorted her to a waiting touring car. The machine (it was an unpalatable yellow hue) roared off in the direction of the ring of mountains buttressing Cape Town.
Doc waited a full minute before riding the elevator down to the street. Habeas Corpus trotted happily in his way. The Bronze Man carried one of his equipment cases to his waiting car and drove off in the same direction as the ugly yellow phaeton.
He picked up the tire tracks immediately. It was not difficult. He had donned a pair of odd-looking goggles which he had taken from the equipment case. The lenses of these were as large as condensed-milk cans.
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Next, he placed one of the ultraviolet-ray projectors on the dash so that it cast its invisible light on the road ahead.
Through the goggles, he could see a pair of blue lines on the road as if someone had hastily dipped 2
brushes in luminous paint and dragged them along the ground. These were really the tracks of the phaeton. The explanation for this phenomenon was a simple one.
Back at his hotel, he had sprayed a fast-spreading chemical into the air where it was dispersed as microscopic particles onto the pavement. These were impregnated with a substance which glowed under the black light (like the special chalk used by him and his aides to leave messages). Driving over the sticky stuff, the yellowing touring car had picked up these particles in its tire treads. The Bronze Man was following this trail.
He drove at a decorous pace. He did not sight his quarry. Nor did he wish to. Fortunately, traffic leaving the city was light. So there were no other luminous tracks on the road which the yellow machine had taken.
He had known this would be the case in advance. Otherwise, he would have employed another trailing method. He had several. This seemingly limitless bag of scientific tricks was one of the secrets of his success. And of his survival.
The trail led to a road which wound between Devil's Peak and Table Mountain and away from the city. Beyond was the treeless expanse of the Karroo with its shrubs and tall grasses. Roads became dirt trails. Farms and vineyards flashed by.
He followed for several miles. The glowing particles began to thin. They were not limitless. But the machine itself would fluoresce until washed. It would be easy to spot.
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Doc Savage spotted the plane first, however. He braked immediately.
The plane was a small 2-motored job. It was equipped for amphibious landing but sat on a field not far distant. Dusk had settled and the aircraft's lights spread a calcium whiteness around it. Because his car had been running without its own lights, he did not fear immediate detection.
"Stay out of sight, Habeas," Doc told the pig.
The remarkable creature got under the driver's seat as he quitted the machine and began to work through the shrubs surrounding the open field. Concealment was not difficult. Cape Marquis shrubs average about 6 feet and are thick-leaved. But it was tough going where progress was concerned.
When he got within earshot, the first thing he overheard was the voice of Blackbird Hinton announcing: "Now that we got the girl and everything, there's no sense in keepin' these lubbers alive anymore."
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He was referring, of course, to Monk Mayfair, Ham Brooks, and Renny Renwick who sat bound-and-gagged in an open car near the plane. Blackbird, King Hancock, Bull Pizano, and their various satellites were standing about with guns in hand.
Tom Franklin -- looking somewhat more bruised and bloodied than when Doc had seen him last --
stood with them, his hands tied behind his back. Next to him was Queen Lha, one arm in dapper King Hancock's firm grasp. She still retained the bamboo tube, Doc perceived, and her sloe orbs shifted frequently to the hard fender of the yellow phaeton.
Doc waited until her arm tensed before he shouted.
The bamboo cylinder splintered against the yellow-painted metal! Bull Pizano reacted loudly …
then suddenly keeled over.
King Hancock was next. Followed by Queen Lha. Tom Franklin completed the picture.
