Boy's Cinema (1933)

16 "Then that's settled," Dr. X spoke quickly. "The sooner this unpleasant business is settled the better. I suggest >ou gentlemen go to your rooms and un- pack. In half an hour we shall all meet again in the main laboratory." [A Chamber of Horrors. FOR a while the goddess of fortune watched over Lee Taylor. Being a young man with a lot of confidence he was under the impression that his presence in the grounds of Cliff Manor was unknown. His blood would have run cold if he had known that as he went from tree to tree a cloaked figuro stalked him. Gradually the figure gained noiselessly on the unsuspecting reporter. Leo paused by a pine to survey the house to discover some means of en- trance. Standing behind him was a figure in a black hooded gown, like some phantom monk. No part of the figure Was visible though one could gather from the outline that the person or spectre beneath the garment was of large dimensions. Softly the figure glided closer and then from the folds of the garment two long, hideous, crooked hands reached out to- wards the neck of the journalist, and just as those hands were going to fasten round his throat Lee stepped forward to attempt the entry of the strange mansion bv the cliff. A hissing sound came from the figure and the terrible hands disappeared behind the black cloak. Perfectly motionless the figure watched Lee attempt to scale a slippery pillar to reach the porch over the main doorway. Lee said a few cuss words when he lost his grip and landed heavily on the gravel drive. Abandoning that idea he worked round the house trying various windows. The hooded figure passed silently through the trees and always the head was turned towards the unsus- pecting reporter. A kitchen window moved but would not give, and Lee felt like aiming a brick through the glass and taking a chance. Hardly a light in the place and except for the moaning of the wind through the trees and the distant beat- ing of the waves on the cliffs there was no sound. By a back door Lee paused for breath. He lit a cigarette and mused aloud: "Of all the jobs I've ever handled I like this the least," he whispered. "Even the garden seems to bo full of shadows. Everything seems bolted and barred and if I don't get inside this place I look like getting fired." He leaned slightly against the door. "A quiet smoke and then for another prowl." The hooded figure was invisible among the trees. Lee's tired body rested more heavily and a very surprised young man stag- gered backwards down some steps to land with a thud on a wooden floor. He lay there too stunned and bruised to move, but he almost gave a yell as the faint light in the kitchen vanished and there was a dull thud—the door had closed. Not a sound except his own harsh breathing. With unsteady fingers he found a torch and the gleam shone on i lie floor, then went slowly round the kitchen. Nothing unusual here, prob- ably the door had a powerful spring. His courage returning, he scrambled to his feet and crossed the room. Another door, which he opened cautiously. More darkness. Still no sound. He jumped as the door closed softly behind him. He wiped his moist forehead and pro- ceeded down a corridor to feel happier February 2ath, 1933. BOY'S CINEMA when a faint gleam showed ahead. He came at last to three flickering candles and stared at them thoughtfully—they seemed to give him courage. Just behind him a panel in the wall slid back, and out of the aperture came those two terrible hands reaching for his neck. Lee's keen eyes saw heavy curtains and he moved forward to explore—the hands vanished and the panel slid back into place. Pulling aside the CHrtains Lee gazed at the dimly-lit laboratory of Dr. Xavier. The faint light came from the ceiling. Lee decided it was electricity, and that this place could be flooded with brilliance if required. In this light it gave him the creeps. Directly in the- centre of the room were four chairs and they were placed in front of an apparatus of coils, trans- formers, tubes and plates. In front of a table that was a miniature switchboard were four large glass thermal tubes, each half filled with a heavy oil fluid. Wires ran from the tubes to the chairs and other apparatus. Heavy electric re- flectors were placed to shine directly on the chairs. What, thought Lee, could this mean? As the chairs and tubes were connected it might mean that if anyone sat in those chairs electric currents would pass through them. Why? He came to the decision that this amazing apparatus was the experiment that Dr. Xavier was going to try out, probably that night. The sound of people approaching made him look round for a place to hide. Some more curtains first pro- vided him with a hiding place. Two persons entered—the maid, Mamie, and the butler, Otto, a satur- nine, hang-jawed fellow with large, staring eyes. Otto was carrying a quantity of feminine wearing apparel. Mamie was evidently in a state of nerves, and the butler seemed to be taking a fiendish delight in frightening her. " Does this room make you frightened, Mamie?" His hoarse voice jarred. "Strange things happen here." "Oh, do be quiet, Otto!" stammered the maid. "I'm scared enough as it is without you making it worse." "Go behind those curtains and don these clothes." The butler spoke in a sepulchral tone. "Your time has come!" Lee Taylor glanced round and saw a door in the wall. He tip-toed to it, and opened it. Good, it was a sort of store- room. Softly he closed the door and Hashed the torch. A superstitious thrill went down his spine. Grinning at him was a human skeleton on a stand. He glanced away. On the shelves were books and bottles containing queer objects. On the floor were two skulls. "Gosh, what else lias this place got?" murmured Lee. "It's a regular cham- ber of horrors!" He placed his ear against the door to listen. He did not hear a slight sound. Part of the shelves had rolled back—just a small aperture. There was a faint hissing sound. "Phew, the air's pretty foul in here," Lee wiped his forehead. "No air any- where," he choked. "Smells like the place was on fire." He flashed the torch and found that the cupboard was full of thick fumes. The light showed the aperture in the bookcase—thick, reeking fumes were pouring through in a dense cloud. Lee fumbled for the door. His head seemed spinning, and then he slumped to the ground in a heap. Every Tuesdayf Death Strikes Again. MAMIE was bickering with Otto over changing behind a curtain when suddenly and silently Dr. Xavier appeared. "Pay attention, both of you," he ordered. "You have the dress, Otto? Ah, I see you have. Mamie, you will kindly put it on." "But, doctor ■" quavered the seated servant. "Quiet! You and Otto are going to enact the last murder bv the so-called moon-killer in front of a specia audience. Otto knows all about it and will instruct you in your part. You act the part of the old charwoman who was killed last night, whilst Otto will be the killer. In the one crime that was witnessed the killer wore a cloak, and I have provided Otto with such a garment. You can both get ready on the stage." The two vanished behind thick cur- tains. If Lee had had more time to explore he would have found a small stage erected. Dr. Xavier had not wasted time over his experiment. For a long time he had been wanting to test it, so that everything had been set with the exception of the necessary "props." These he had obtained from a wax-figure factory. Scarce had they gone when the four professors appeared. Duke was on crutches and muttering under h:s breath. "Gentlemen," Dr. Xavier pointed to the chairs, "will you kindly be seated. It is necessary for you to be seated for the experiment." AH complied with the exception of Wells. " This is a brief outline of what I am going to do. With your permission I am going to ask Wells to clamp a contact wire to each of your bare arms—my own included." Amid much grumbling and protesting the wires were clamped upon the arms of the seated men. As Wells completed the task the full moon shone brilliantly through a window of the laboratory. Everyone gazed at it in startled fashion. "Close those curtains!" snarled Pro- fessor Duke. "That moon's shining right in my face." "You may close them, Wells." replied Dr. X, but he gave Duke a searching, suspicious glance. The curtains closed, the doctor turned to his control table and made a qui It survey to see that everything was cor- rect. WeUs 6tood patiently behind his chair. "Everything is set," Dr. X nodded to Wells. "Let us commence." Wells went to a switchboard, and out went all the lights. "I think this is an absurd business," came the voice of Haines. "Why only a crazy person would conceive " "Quiet!" rasped out the doctor. "When your eyes grow used to the dark- ness you will find that the room is not completely black. Can you see the thermal tubes in front of my desk. Among other things the fluid inside, them contains phosphorus." Gradually the four tubes took shape and gave out a strange, penetrating glow, and the fluid in each tube began pulsing up and down, no two of them the same. "One of us in this circle," spoke Dr. Xavier, "may be a murderer! A mur- derer who kills in the light of a full moon—leaving his victim's bod mutilated—a cannibal! You are all connected with the tubes, and I alone know which tube is yours. Your heart beats are being reflected before you As the heart beats faster, so does the red liquid begin to pube and rise until