“My mind is made up. I talked with Avis again today. She practically
admitted that Lessman has been annoying her with his attentions. Who
knows to what steps he will go while she is under his devilish influence?
“Meta, too, is showing her teeth at poor Avis. Heretofore she has
shielded the innocent girl to a certain extent. Of that I am certain, and
Avis also believes it. But of late she has acted strangely, even showing
her temper on several occasions. Lessman treats her at such times with
amused contempt. He knows the absolute hold that he has over her.
“But she may injure my loved one. How, I do not know. She is a woman
capable of anything. And the ‘green-eyed monster’ has neither brains nor
conscience.
“I am going to be a man at last. I am summoning all of my will power for
the battle which is sure to come within a few days. I must—I will—break
the bonds which he has placed about me. Just as I arose in rebellion
against him on those other occasions, so will I rise against him again
for the sake of the woman I love. But this time there will be no
surrender. I will conquer him and save her, or die in the attempt.
“To die for Avis may mitigate my sin in the eyes of God.
“I feel The Bodymaster summoning me.... My every nerve tingles.... These
may be the last lines I will ever write.... I wonder if these pages
will ever be read by other eyes than mine?... I go now to answer to his
call.... _God help me...._”
_CHAPTER XIV._
_The remainder of my tale is from memory, for the preceding lines are
the final entry in my diary. As I have stated elsewhere, I can recall
certain things which occasionally happened during my trance-like periods.
Remember your dreams—vague, indistinct, hazy—leaping here and there? So
are my recollections of that last hour with The Bodymaster. Probably
many things happened of which I have no memory. In my desire to stick to
facts, I give only that which I remember, leaving the blank places to the
reader’s imagination._
It must have been immediately after making the final entry in my diary
that Lessman summoned me, for the book was in my pocket when I eventually
found myself.
Of this, however, I have no memory. My first recollection is of floating
through space on one of those strange exploring expeditions in the Great
Beyond on which The Bodymaster so often sent me, several of which are
described in my diary. Whether I was just returning, or was on my way,
I do not know. I only recall that something seemed to be dragging me
back—that my whole thought—if thought I could be said to have had—was to
get back to my own body as soon as possible.
My next recollection is of being in the room with Lessman. My body lay
back in an easy chair, cold, stark and deathlike. I attempted to enter
it. But the will of Lessman held me back.
I could see, I could hear, yet I had no visibility. I was but a wraith—an
ego as it were—a thought—a spirit—a vapor!
And I was controlled wholly by the brain of Lessman. Just as the
invisible current sent out by a central station causes the tiny submarine
miles away to hurl itself here and there, so was his magnetic brain
master of my actions.
I knew then—or _felt_ rather than knew, for I do not believe that a
wraith is able to think—I felt that it was Lessman’s will that I should
never return to my body shell. Something—it was his thought—seemed to
hurl me back into space. And at the same time another—an even stronger
thought—seemed to hold me transfixed.
It was the will power that I had concentrated for weeks past, aided by
the desire for help from Avis. Her whole being was calling out for me.
She was in the beast’s arms. For once in his career his terrible will
had no effect upon his victim. Her golden hair was torn from its coils
and lay in a shimmering cloud about her shoulders. Her tiny fists beat
a tattoo upon his face; his black, lustful eyes gazed, snakelike, into
hers, seeking to charm her with their power.
It was awful! I knew that she was calling me—calling me with every bit of
her being. And I was helpless, chained to the floor, unable to regain the
cold form which was myself.
Suddenly, she tore herself from his grasp. Her clothing was hanging in
shreds; across her cheek was an ugly scratch; upon one white, rounded arm
stood a livid red welt where his cruel fingers had seized her. She was
screaming madly. The furniture was overturned.
Now he had her cornered. But she fought herself away from him, striking
him across the head with the leg of a chair that had been broken in the
fray.
He pursued her across the room.... Once more she was in his grasp. I
could hear her breath come gaspingly as she put every ounce of her
strength into a final effort to free herself....
The door opened. Meta entered. Her black eyes were blazing. Her mouth
worked convulsively. She was a raging demon—a woman scorned—cast aside
for another. Like a devil from hell, she threw herself into the fray.
Lessman swept her aside with a single motion of his muscular arm.
For an instant she lay there stunned.... She dragged herself to her
knees, her lips mouthing curses.... She half rose to her feet and
staggered toward them as Lessman dragged his shrieking victim toward the
door which led to the other room. He turned toward her, his fiery eyes
snapping with uncontrolled anger.
For the moment I was forgotten.... Something snapped. I found myself
again within my own body, the lust for battle raging within me....
Lessman, surrounded by his enemies, turned like a stag at bay.... I felt
the currents of his powerful mind surge around me again like great waves
beating against a rock-bound coast.
Every bit of energy I possessed was necessary to hold myself
together. He caught me within the power of his will! I felt myself
slipping—slipping—_slipping_! Everything grew black before me. I could
see nothing save his eyes—burning—_burning_ into my very soul.
Like a man who is fighting an overdose of chloral, I strove to free
myself from the web which his mind was weaving about me. It was of no
avail. Again I felt a wave of fire shoot through my veins.
I lurched against the table. Seizing the lamp, with a final effort, I
hurled it straight at the face of the mocking demon before me.
* * * * *