"How far did you backtrail Juan?"

  "Until I found the two burros, Andy and Uncle Bim."

  "No farther."

  "No."

  "Then how," Doc demanded, "do you know where Juan Russel encountered--whatever he encountered?"

  "Very simple. Juan Russel always kept a map of his travels in little-known Patagonian territory. He kept it day by day--absolutely, every night, and often during the day, he would draw in the notebook and make notes there."

  "You mean you found this map on the burros?"

  "Yes. Not map, really--a diary, Señor. A scientific record." "Of what Russel saw?"

  "No."

  "What, then?"

  Pedro Diego gripped Doc's arm dramatically. "The record, Señor, she end suddenly. All of a sudden, no more entries... Is that not meaningful?"

  "You think that the record led up until about the time Juan Russel saw whatever he saw--and after that he was too upset to keep it up to date?"

  "Si. Is that not reasonable?"

  "Very reasonable. Where is this record?"

  The man said, "It is at the Casa Helado. The hotel." "That is where I am staying," Doc said, surprised. "Si, Señor. That I know. I go there seeking you, and they tell me you are here. That you are in Buenos Aires--I learn that from the newspapers."

  BY midnight, Doc Savage had managed to obtain, from the files of a mining concern, the Minerales Internacionale, several reports in the handwriting of Juan Russel. Russel had done considerable work for the company in the past, and, through Orlin Dartlic, access to their files was readily gained.

  Doc finished his examination of the handwriting of reports and the notebook Pedro Diego had given him. The latter--obviously both reports and notebook were in the same handwriting--was copious with scientific detail, and the sketches, while abbreviated, were expertly made and, probably, accurate.

  "Genuine," Doc said.

  "A clue we got, yes," Orlin Dartlic said happily. "That fellow Pedro Diego, I am not liking not a little bit. I think I lock him in jailhouse, yes."

  "That might be a good idea," Doc said. The fat man looked surprised.

  Doc went into the other room, where Pedro Diego was waiting and explained about jail. Doc made it sound quite reasonable, even a wise move. He said, "We have every reason to believe there are tremendous things involved, great dangers, and that your life may be menaced because of this aid you have given us. For your protection, I would suggest that you submit to arrest as a witness. In jail, you will be safe."

  Pedro was not too happy about that. "If you recommend--" "I recommend highly," Doc said.

  RENNY telephoned at twelve twenty-seven. He said, "Doc, I'm down here on the fringe of creation. If you ever saw a wild country, this is it, and I'm not really into it yet. This is the village where Juan Russel was murdered."

  "Learn anything?"

  "Enough to be interesting," Renny explained. "Juan Russel was scared stiff when he came into this town. He tried to telephone you in New York--"

  "Telephone me?" Doc interrupted. "We received no telephone calls from him. Are you sure--"

  "I'm getting to that. The wires were cut. They were cut in a dozen places that day--which means somebody knew what Juan Russel was up to, and got ahead of him and put the telephone lines on the fritz. They did that, it would appear, so Russel could not get in touch with you until they had time to kill him. Russel was very upset about not being able to reach you. He raised hell with the telephone people here, and then, after he was killed, and the lines were repaired, they got scared and kept it quiet."

  "Got scared?"

  "A guy came around and threatened them, as a matter of fact."

  "Anyone we know?"

  "The one who threatened them? Uh-huh. Answers the description of Paul Cort."

  "Paul Cort tried to keep us from finding out Juan Russel was trying to reach us, eh?"

  "Looks as if."

  "You stick right there," Doc said. "I'm coming down."

  Chapter IX

  THE darkness lasted for a long time. They were, in effect, flying into a country that was in its way like the Arctic, a land in which days and nights became distorted in length. This season--winter in New York, summer here in Patagonia--was the season of longest days, but that did not keep the night from seeming long. Doc did not like the country below; there were no landing fields, almost, that were established airports, and not much of the country, he suspected, offered emergency fields. The sun came up finally, and seemed to mount rapidly to about the position it would probably hold most of the day--a phenomena which was not a fact, but due to the presence of mountains to the south which, as they flew toward them, sank quickly, giving the illusion of a swift-rising sun.

  "Is big country, don't I tell you?" Dartlic said.

  Doc made no comment. The fat man was right, though. The territory over which they were flying was as impressive as any he had seen. There were, at intervals, miles of pampas with here and there herds of cattle or sheep--the latter becoming more scarce. They flew over forest lands of vast sweep, and later, as they continued south, there were lakes and, far to the right, the bluish evidence of ice fields and mountains lost in the haze of distance. A rugged, desolate country, a country where rivers roared through gorges, tumbled over gigantic waterfalls.

  "Is vast," said Dartlic happily.

  "I think we're about there," Doc said. He decreased throttle settings, adjusted the tabs for a glide angle, and fell to watching the earth. Below was a road, the sole sign of civilization, and, as he got lower, he could distinguish a telephone line, probably the one that had been cut, as Renny explained, when Juan Russel endeavored to place his call.

  The village came into view presently, appearing rather unexpectedly as a cluster of rooftops not far ahead. Dartlic pointed. "Is lake. Can use."

  Doc thought they could. Their plane--it belonged to Dartlic's Department of Patagonian Affairs--was an amphibian, a fairly new one; the lake about three miles from the village, seemed large enough to serve for a landing area. Doc made a circle, mentally measuring the clear area, noting wind direction from the breaking of the small waves on the lake. A fair breeze, evidently; his navigation checks had indicated about forty miles of wind aloft, but there was probably less, not more than twenty, on the surface. He dragged the lake to make sure there were no floating obstructions, then brought the ship in and set it down.

  Dartlic pointed excitedly. "Somebody is!" "Renwick," Doc agreed.

  "HOLY COW, no news of Monk or Ham yet," Renny said bitterly. "I wish I knew what happened to those two. It's beginning to get me down."

  Doc nodded soberly. He surmised that Renny's spirits were also down because he had unearthed no more information of value. He said, "You haven't learned more?"

  Renny shook his head. "Not a thing. Somebody fixed the telephone wires so Juan Russel couldn't call out. The same somebody tried to throw a scare into the telephone people, and succeeded partially."

  Fat Orlin Dartlic scowled. "Is Paul Cort, no?"

  "Is Paul Cort's description, anyway," Renny said. "Small guy, mouse-like, scar on his lip."

  Doc Savage said, "Some information fell in our laps last night." He told Renny about Pedro Diego, friend of Juan Russel, and the scientific notebook which Juan Russel had of his wanderings.

  Renny frowned. "Yeah? You know, I been asking questions in this town all day, and I got descriptions of everybody, the police included--there were some special police down from the province capitol, and two from Buenos Aires itself--who have been asking questions about Juan Russel. This is a village, you know. Strangers are scarce. It was easy to find out who had been interested in Juan Russel."

  "You make a point, no?" Dartlic demanded.

  "Yeah, I make a point. Nobody named Pedro Diego has been through here on the Russel case."

  "Whoosh!" said Dartlic.

  "You sure?" Doc asked Renny.

  "What's Pedro Diego look like?" Renny asked, and then, having heard Pedro's description, he shook his head vehemently. "No such guy. He wasn't through here--like he said he was."

  Dartlic chuckled. "Ah! It's good we put Pedro Diego the jailhouse in, no!"

  Renny completed his examination of the Russel notebook, turned back to some of the surveys, and compared them with charts. He did some head scratching. "I think we can find that vanished lake from the air," he said. "That is, granting it's what Juan Russel saw."

  Doc nodded. "We'll take a crack at it right away."

  Dartlic started. "Today?"

  "Yes."

  "But gasoline. The fuel gauge I am noticing is not a third left."

  Doc Savage turned to Renny, asked, "Was the shipment of aviation gasoline here?" Renny nodded. "Uh-huh. I had half a dozen guys and two mule carts haul it out here."

  "Gasoline!" Dartlic yelled. "Where you get--shipment you say? How am I confused? What do you do don't you--I mean, gasoline come from where?"

  "Doc had it sent down here."

  "Where from?"

  "Buenos Aires."

  "When?"

  "Shipped four days ago, right after we got to Buenos Aires."

  The fat man flippered his hands excitedly. "I am surprise like damned," he yelled. "You know somethings I don't know, no?"

  Doc said drily, "Let's load the gas."

  THE fat man was puzzled about the gasoline shipment, and during the loading--they had to pack the five-gallon tins about a hundred yards across soft marshy ground--he collared Renny and demanded explanations. "How come this?"

  "The gasoline?" Renny shrugged. "Oh, Doc figured we would use this as a base in hunting for the vanished lake, I guess."

  "But how he know--the lake--is in this direction he don't know and how could he?"

  Renny was somewhat amused by the fat man's method of mixing up the English language when he was excited.

  "Doc figured Juan Russel in it from the beginning, I guess," he said. "The hell he does! Why am I not told, no?"

  "Look, take a deep breath and relax," Renny suggested. "Somebody should have told you about Doc. He goes along apparently getting the worst end of the deal and completely confused, it would appear, and all of a sudden you discover he hasn't been going down--he has been going up. In other words, don't be too surprised to find out he already knows what is what and who done it."

  "I'm a son of my gun," the fat man said.

  THE refueling was about completed when Doc Savage said, "There seems to be a plane coming." Renny's head shot up, his ears strained, and presently he nodded. The fat man, Dartlic, said, "Safe I play!" and struck out running. Renny and Doc watched him, and the fat man took shelter among boulders and underbrush.

  "He's a queer duck," Renny said. "The way he slaughters the English language--"

  Doc said, "He may not have a bad idea. We had better take shelter ourselves until we make sure about this plane."

  The plane, a large cabin job--amphibian--came out of the north swiftly, dropped over the village, made a circle, continued to the lake, circled that, then went into an approach. Presently it was skimming the surface, spray flying. It turned in to the shore not far from where Doc's plane was beached, and the pilot eased up on the sand cautiously with the hull keel. Then the pilot opened the nose hatch, and stood up for a look around.

  "Perling!" Renny gasped.

  Bernard Perling looked all about, then yelled, "Mr. Savage!" Doc said, "Keep down, and let's see what he is up to."

  Perling repeated his shout, then swore mildly in Spanish. He disappeared back inside the plane, then, and presently there was an uproar, the effect being somewhat as if Perling was trying to drag a scratching, spitting wildcat out of the ship. But it was Susan Lane, blonde, angry, saying plenty and using her long fingernails whenever she could.

  "Holy cow!" Renny rumbled.

  Doc said, "We might as well look into this."

  When Susan Lane caught sight of the three men, she screeched, "Take this gorilla off me! Take him off!" Perling grinned at them, his small moustache slanting upward on each lip like a pair of surprised eyebrows.

  "Susie dear," he said, "isn't the little angel I thought she was."

  Susie stopped fighting. She eyed Doc Savage uneasily, tried to straighten her dress and untangle her hair. "This idiot doesn't know what he is doing," she said, indicating Perling. "He's a fool."

  Perling looked pleased. He bowed slightly, said, "My dear, the reputation of idiot has been a cross to bear. I think, from now on, though, that I shall carry it more lightly."

  "What happened?" Doc asked.

  "The lovely Susie," Perling said, "was keeping track of where you went. She had some fellow--he got away--who was bringing her reports on you."

  "Is that true?" Doc asked Susie.

  "I don't care what you're thinking," she snapped. "And I don't think I'm going to dignify his accusations"--she tried to kick Perling's shin here, unexpectedly, but failed--"with an answer."

  Fat Orlin Dartlic cleared his throat loudly. "The tutz she follow me to New York and back again, maybe," he said.

  Susie gave him a dark look. "I wouldn't follow you from here"--she made a sixteenth-inch space with thumb and forefinger--"to there."

  Bernard Perling was straightening his coat, and feeling dubiously of several scratches on his face. "Oh, by the way, I wish to extend hospitality," he said.

  "Hospitality?"

  "I have, south and west of here, a hunting estate," Perling said. "A small place of mine that I've used occasionally when I wanted solitude. There is a small landing field, and a hangar. You are welcome to use it."

  "How far?" Doc asked.

  "About two hundred miles," Perling said. "You will accept, yes?"

  DOC SAVAGE drew Renny and Dartlic aside and announced that he thought it would be a good idea to accept Perling's invitation. Renny said, "If you vote for that, it's okay with me."

  But fat Dartlic was less agreeable, explaining, "You will overlook me a good scare, no? This Perling and this Susie, it is very funny they follow us, yes? I am not a man who likes to put on his boots with snakes in them already. I vote for look at that lake."

  "I think we can find the lake, and stop at Perling's place before dark," Doc said. "The plane will hold Perling and the girl."

  Dartlic said, "Perling's place is not from that lake so damned far, maybe?" "Suspiciously close," Doc said.

  "Maybe we get in trouble that place. Is possible?"

  "Is possible, all right."

  "I no like."

  "Put it this way, why don't we?" Doc suggested. "We take Perling and the girl along, and have a look at the vanished lake, then a look at Perling's hunting lodge, as he calls it, and if it seems all right, we'll land and investigate."

  "Is agreeable," Dartlic said.

  Chapter X

  THE lake lay on a tableland at the foot of a considerable escarpment of cliffs and low mountains, the valleys of which were laced with glaciers. There was actually a series of lakes, connected by small streams, forming necklaces that led to a much larger lake a few miles to the left. This larger lake lay at the foot of the mountains, and was obviously a picturesque, as well as a remarkably remote spot.

  Doc said to Dartlic, "You can fly, can you not?"

  The fat man nodded.

  "Take over," Doc said. "Renny and I will want a close look at that place."

  "Can you detect radio-activity from this height?" the fat man asked anxiously. "We would not want--we do not know..." He swallowed in fright.

  "It would depend on how strong it was," Doc said.

  Perling and Susan Lane were riding in the two rear seats in the cabin, the girl with her wrists tied to the seat arms. She told Doc bitterly, "So now we're going to see the master work, eh?" Doc seemed slightly amused. "That would be a change, wouldn't it?" "Eh? Change?"

  "Almost everyone has been working on me, so far, don't you think?" he asked. She blinked at him. She was surprised.

  "Maybe you're not as over-rated as I was beginning to think," she said. "No?"

  "As long as you know they've been playing you for a sucker, I guess that might take you out of the sucker bracket," she said.

  Doc carried some of the instruments he had brought--nothing extraordinary; the instruments were ones he had borrowed in Buenos Aires, from a radiological research laboratory--back to the seat immediately back of the pilot-copilot seat.

  He told Renny, "Susie is a character." "She's something," Renny agreed. "My stock is going up with her."

 

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