“I awoke as one awakens from a horrible nightmare. My brain was as
clear as a crystal. For an instant I imagined that I was in my own
apartment—that the suffering I had gone through were but the conjurings
of my own mind.
“A single glance at the barred window brought me back to a sudden
realization of my condition. But my mind was my own. I was freed from the
horrible thing that had obsessed me.
“On the table in one corner of the room was food. I ate ravenously. I do
not remember how long it had been since I had eaten. My meal completed,
I looked about me for some means of escape. Once I could find a way out
of the accursed place—some weapon with which to defend myself—I would
return, free Avis and flee.
“It must have been midnight. Outside, the rain was falling in torrents.
It beat a regular tattoo upon the window. Cautiously, lest I be heard, I
tiptoed to the door and tried the knob.
“The door was unlocked!
“In an exultation of excitement, I peered out. There was no one in sight.
My mood was detached, strange, vague—marked by an indescribable something
I could not explain. Save for the single kerosene lamp, which burned low
in its bracket at the end of the long hallway, the place was in darkness.
“Removing my shoes, I tiptoed my way across the floor. Avis’ room was the
fourth door from mine. That much she had told me. Reaching it, I tried
the knob. It was locked. I tapped softly against the panel. Receiving
no answer, I rapped more loudly. I dared not raise my voice. Failing
to arouse her, I was forced to leave her for a moment to continue my
exploration.
“In one corner of the hallway stood a huge stick—evidently a cane that
had been carried by one of the keepers in the days when the place was
used as an asylum for maniacs. With this in my hand, I felt more secure.
“Where was Lessman? Had he made his escape while I slept, leaving my door
open? Had he forced Avis and the other poor creatures who were under his
command to accompany him? The thought startled me. Grasping the cudgel
more firmly, I took the lamp from its bracket and started on a tour
of investigation. All of the doors opening into the hallway, with the
exception of my own, were locked. The silence was tomblike, uncanny.
“At the end of the long corridor a pair of stairs wound upward. Mounting
them, I found myself in a long passage similar to that which I had just
quitted. One or two of the rooms near the end were open. There was
nothing in them except old furniture, moth-eaten and dusty with age. The
entire floor seemed deserted.
“Continuing onward, I came to a door which, though it seemed to be
locked, seemed to give a little under the pressure of my knee. Setting my
lamp upon the floor, I put my shoulder against it and gave a long, steady
shove. Under this force it opened quite readily.
“My stockinged feet made no noise, while the ease with which I was able
to force the door showed that the hinges had been recently oiled. Inside,
a lamp was burning.
“I hesitated in the doorway. Then my startled gaze made out a second
room, partitioned from the first by curtains, pushed partly back.
“Across my field of vision moved the gaunt figure of The Bodymaster. He
was clad in the faded bathrobe in which I had first seen him, and he
held a lamp in his hand. The light shone upon his thin, cruel face. He
approached the side of the bed and stood gazing down upon its occupant.
“Something seemed to draw me closer. Upon the bed lay a corpse—a
blond-haired giant—stripped to the waist. As Lessman, his evil gaze still
upon the mammoth figure, held the lamp a trifle aloft, _the dead man
writhed and twisted as if in mortal agony_!
“The Bodymaster stretched forth one thin hand. The man upon the bed
stiffened—then sat bolt upright, his bloodshot eyes glaring!
“Involuntarily I took a step backward.
“_As God is my judge, the eyes were those of a corpse—glassy, unseeing!_
And while I still looked, the body slipped backward, the curious writhing
movements ceased, and that which lay upon the bed was only insensate clay.
“Now or never was the time to strike. Grasping my cudgel more firmly, I
raised it over my head. The back of the Bodymaster was turned toward me.
I had him off his guard. I was about to bring the club down across his
head when, without turning his gaze, he spoke:
“‘Sit down, my friend, and throw your cane aside. You can not strike.
Your arm is palsied.’
“The cane dropped from my fingers. I attempted to lower my arm to recover
it. Impossible. I was unable to move. My arm was held aloft as by an
unseen hand.
“The Bodymaster turned toward me with a smile.
“‘Sit down!’ he commanded.
“My arm dropped to my side. Like a drunken man I staggered to a chair.”
_CHAPTER VII._
“Seating himself opposite me, Lessman pushed a box of cigars across the
table.
“‘Help yourself,’ he smiled, selecting one for himself. ‘You are some
sixty seconds ahead of time. I hardly expected you to be so prompt.’
“‘Expected me!’ I ejaculated.
“He nodded. ‘Naturally,’ he responded. ‘How else do you suppose you
got here? You certainly did not expect that I would make so great an
oversight as to leave your door unlocked? I wanted you—wanted to have a
talk with you. My mind willed that you should come, and you are here.’
“He waved his hand with a slight gesture as if dismissing the entire
subject. For a second there was silence. Then he resumed:
“‘Our little fracas of the other night taught me that you are a man of
more than ordinary mental ability; in fact, you are the first who has
ever disobeyed my unspoken commands. And, more than that, you showed me
that you are the man I have been seeking all these years.’
“His eyes burned with enthusiasm as he continued.
“‘Man,’ he went on, ‘my experiments have been a success. True, lives have
been destroyed. But what is life! Your man-made theology teaches you that
life is but a span of a few years in eternity; you snap the cord which
binds you to this earth, and immediately you enter the paradise which
your God has prepared for you. Why, then, prolong matters? I, rather than
being the monster you think me to be, am a benefactor to the human race.
Every man who dies in my hands before his allotted time has that much
longer to spend in heaven.’
“He leaned back in his chair and laughed mirthlessly for an instant.
“‘I am not here to argue the right or wrong of the thing, however,’ he
continued. ‘I am a man born to rule; I would rather be a big devil in
hell than a little angel in heaven—if there be such places as heaven and
hell, which I greatly doubt.
“‘I need help in my work—my experiments. True, I have Meta—but she is
only a weak woman. I need others—men whom I can teach—men whom I can
trust—men with the will to conquer. You have proved to me that you are
such a man. The world is yours—the world and all that it contains—if you
accept.’
“He stopped suddenly and gazed into my eyes as if trying to read my very
soul. In fact, I believe that he did read my mind, for he answered my
unspoken thoughts before I had voiced them:
“‘Yes, the devil took Christ upon the mountain and offered him
everything,’ he exclaimed, his eyes blazing. ‘Call me the devil if you
like—I care not a rap what you term me—I offer you the same. I said
before, and I say again, the world is yours—money, power, pleasure and——’
“As he spoke, as if in obedience to some rehearsed cue, the door opened.
A vague perfume assailed my nostrils—a faint, elusive scent—a zephyr from
the East. Through the opening Meta stepped. She wore a kimona—a soft,
silken, figured affair reminiscent of the Orient. I can only remember
that beneath its folds protruded a glimpse of tiny, bare feet clad in the
smallest of sandals.
“There are silences more eloquent than words. For an instant my eyes
sought hers—deep, dark, lustrous, glowing like great pools of liquid fire.
“She smiled. Then, suddenly, she sprang forward, her arms from which the
folds of the kimona had slipped, bared—outstretched toward me, her rich
red lips upraised to mine.
“I leaped to my feet. My mind was filled with wild, insane thoughts. I
took a half step toward her. Like a frightened bird, she darted backward.
Then, as if filled with a wild abandon, she tore open the neck of her
kimona, revealing to my startled gaze a glimpse of transparent white skin.
“Stretching forth one rounded arm, she displaced the curtain, discovering
to my view a room opposite that in which lay the body of the man from the
grave.
“My God! Crouched in a corner like a frightened animal was Avis! Her
dress was torn, her golden hair matted and unkempt. She shrunk away from
the light as one who fears its rays. Her big blue eyes gazed into mine.
They were wide with fear. Yet her lips moved. It seemed to me that they
were trying to form some message—to convey something to me.
“She held up her hands appealingly. They were fastened together with
chains.
“From behind me came the voice of Lessman:
“‘Choose!’ he commanded. ‘On one hand wealth, luxury, power, beautiful
women; on the other—_this_!
“‘_Choose!_’”