Show the black box a ence isak by francis illustrations by 0 irwin myers copyright by wall william gerard Chapma charmant Chap manT nj CHAPTER I 1 the black box it was between the acts of the play the ore orchestra h estra of a theater in carthage a co college liege town of the middle west was in full swing when there sounded a faint click from what appeared to bo be an overgrown portable camera on the lap of oneff one of two young men seated in the right hand proscenium box of the theater and instantly the bowing of the violins the fhe cellos and the bass the fingering of the brass and woodwind the tapping of the padded sticks on co the kettle drums became merely so many soundless boundless gestures in a pantomime all was dead silence the two young men in the box who seemed to have precipitated this extraordinary tra Va state of affairs were both about of an age both carthage born and reared and both graduates of the kocul college dut but with these basic lars the similarities paused abruptly owen landis the one with the queer black box on his knees was waa built with a thin eager face and dark hair and eyes the eyes of a dreamer and enthusiast ills companion walter markham was the young man about town of a small city well vell dressed well fed yet not without a glimmer of penetrative shrewdness in his eyes to prove his right to claim kinship with his hardheaded hard headed banker father for an interval measurable in seconds the soundless pantomime continued then suddenly and as if there biad been no gap of silence the various instruments burst nto into full voice A wave of halt bewilderment swept over the house followed quickly by enthusiastic thusia an applause the audience evidently taking the pantomimic interruption for a skillful bit of stage bustness business on the part of the orchestra wonderful Wonder tul I 1 markham exclaimed tinder tander cover of the res resumed timed music As aa yon said owen it has to be seen to be believed why you keep it up a bit longer landis shook his head 1 I iare to let it go on in two seconds more there would have been a panic I 1 figured that for just about so long berga bergs men would go on bowing and fingering angering automatically as they did but when realization came be chaos I 1 meant to aithel T pate that moment and I 1 did let it go over the brink you know black magic 1 markham comment ed d Is this what been working on all these months that youve been up in your laboratory den youve said it well now youve got it what s the answer I 1 mean how does it do it As ive told you it la Is simple enough in principle by radio we transmit sound and make it do out our bidding my ily problem was to find a n circuit which instead of amplifying the received sounds would itself operate to neutralize them once my basic circuit was developed all it asked for was a pretty long series of experiments now youve found the answer to your problem what are you going to do 40 with it comoe come around to my shop with mo me after the play and ill talk it out with you landis said adding most imort inventors and discoverers are short on practical sense cense common sense and im no exception maybe you can supply what im lacking in that respect r two hours later the two young men were vere seated in landis workshop laboratory on the walk from the theater landis had tried to explain as as he could the successive steps taken in the development of hla his astonishing invention what youve been saying Is mostly greek to me markham offered just the same I 1 can surround the fact accomplished complis hed all right having baving had bad the practical demonstration but now the question arises what have you got can it be put to any useful use possibilities landis queried they are almost unlimited the trouble Is that they are bad as well as rood good shoot said the son of small city wealth rm listening the or whatever yon choose to call it will operate at a distance I 1 dont know just yet how bow far and it will vill pass either cither through ot or around obstructions turn a switch and you yon can sleep in silence as profound as ag that of a mountain top so BO far as noises are concerned huh I 1 sounds a good bit like alice in wonderland but what else it if you top stop the racket for yourself you stop it for everybody else as well dont your you at short distances as tonight in the theater yes take for example a steam whistle a mile away in the lin immediate neighborhood of the whistle the sound Is normal or nearly so a listener within a radius of say a quarter of a mile would scarcely detect any muting of the blast though it li Is really muted at its source beyond this inner circle the sound diminishes quite rapidly until at about halt half a mile it has hag vanished completely in your demonstration tonight you yon connected the thing with the theater lighting cIr circuit cult does that mean that you xou are tied to electric power plants for its use not at all an automobile storage battery fc will operate the box for a una JIM ted cited time nodded slowly dont yon know owen tt it nil all listens a good bit like hire a pipe dream so it does to me cut but what Is worse I 1 cant get away from the fe feeling ea that rm im in the fix of the man who invented the frankenstein thing meaning 1 meaning leaning the frightful uses to which tS this a contrivance of mine could be put in the committing of crime you might say there Is no end to them noise la Is the burglars chief menace denaco j with this box bos of mine coupled to a lighting socket he could wreck the lower story of it a house or blow the strongest bank vault in perfect security so far as the noise was concerned so also with the use of firearms you see se what VO in the possession of a criminal there Is 1 simply no limit to the harm the abing might do I 1 mean in the possession of a criminal there Is simply no limit to the harm the thing might do how many people know about your invention owen up to fo this minute just two of us you and myself I 1 talked about it to anybody partly because the whole thing was experimental and I 1 want to have to answer a lot of curious questions but now as ive on said id im like the man who invented the F frankenstein rank enstein thing in mrs shelleys Shel leys leya r tory story when I 1 think of all the harm it might do in the wrong hands I 1 feel ns as if I 1 ought to tie a stone to the box and pitch it into the river there was a thoughtful pause and at tie one end of it markham said you are quite sure nobody elso else knows about it 1 chope I hope I 1 am have you any reason to doubt it not what you could call a reason no but I 1 have worked here in the lab a good many nights sometimes until quite late and there have been moments when ive had a queer feeling that I 1 alone that eo metody was spying on me pure auto tion I 1 guess markham nodded well let that part parr of it rest and pass on to the material things you want to make some money out of this invention of yours dont you or are you too much of an inventor to look that far ahead landis smiled rm im not quite so much of a dreamer as that wally if I 1 could only be sure the thing be ba put to evil uses like to see some hard cash results markham finished for him that Is right and proper and human 1 11 I suppose so while I 1 was at work on oa it 1 I 1 did think that if 1 it should prove a success it might help me find a place as a research man with one of the big electric companies too modest as you usually are grunted markham theres a frilly fortune in that box if Its properly exploited ed but to make money out of art an invention you have to spend money suppose you let me talk to dad in strict confidence of course do that for me sure I 1 would why not there was a moment of silent embarrassment barras and then landis landals said halt half apologetically give me a day or so to think about it wally I 1 want to see if I 1 cant fight down that feeling about the criminal possibilities its fearfully good of you to offer to step in and I 1 P markham cut the protests short take as much time as you want of 0 course and never mind the acknowledgments edg ments weve been pretty chummy for a good many years you and I 1 owen and it would be a pity it if either of us give the other a hand when the chance offered then with a glance at his watch if it aso so late id stay a bit longer and ra rawhide W you about another matter but I 1 guess the other matter will keep it late for me what have I 1 been doing that I 1 ought not to have done 1 I was watching you tonight when detty betty lawson was on the stage 1 I guess you know good and well what I 1 saw landis flushed boyishly and looked down you see sea anything more than you have known tor lor a good while markham laughed nothing more than all carthage has known for that matter hut but say may boy n what aliat liat do you think a girl Is made of for a half year and better youve burled yourself in this work shack of yours and if youve thought anything at rill all about betty youve taken it out in thinking what social pleasure ashes enjoyed ashes had to forage for in other dirac alons t the e amateur theatrical movements tor for instance ive chased her about nebout a little not nearly so BO much imich as aa I 1 wan wanted t ed to but youve simply ignored tier her owen you know you have the laggard in love spoke up quickly you are not saying it all wally not speaking for youri yourself elf I 1 mean but you dont need to ive known ever since last year year hw how tt it ta is with you you are in love with hetty betty yourself that la Is one reason why thy ive burled myself in my job hereto give you and her a chance to find out where you both stand yo no dont make any clr take it any silly knightly chivalry on my part just common decency if I 1 should marry im not even sure I 1 could teed feed and clothe a wife and when poverty comes coined in at the door oh shush I 1 you quote proverbs at me dont you suppose I 1 know that I 1 dont stand a chinami Chin amans s eb chance a ace with hetty betty what im beefing about b ou t Is the way you scamp your ch chances ances with her theres another Ilich richmond mond in the field did you know that landis face fell not nol you dont mean that 1 I do indeed this new follow fellow canby who Is cutting such a wide swath with his wonderful development scheme for Carth carthage loins to make it another chicago overnight and all that he Is rushing betty to a finish and she seems to like it A gridiron trig of fine lines appeared between landis eyes 1 I dont like canby wally what little ive seen of him film just the same he la Is exactly the kind of brute to take a garls fancy t good looking dashing man ot of the big ger world that sort hetty betty la Is plenty sen sensible ible but at the same time she Is human there ive said my say and now ill toddle along what do yoa do with this priceless casket of yours yourn overnight take it to bed with youl not quite that I 1 keep it here landis knelt before a small safe under I 1 the laboratory work bench opened le if put the black box inside and twirled the combination 1 I see safe bind safe find said markham SIar kham with a laugh for a weak pun let me know when or if you want me to have a talk with dad about the financing so long so much for the night when betty lawson daughter of the physics professor at the college starred in their little theater associations production at a comparatively early hour the following morning wally markham getting out hta his roadster to drive to town for a box of congratulatory roses to be taken to the successful actress was called to the telephone A strained voice that he barely recognized as landis came to him over the wire Is that yau wally 7 for heavens sake come around here to the house as quick as you can my safes been opened and the black box Is gonel gone I 1 CHAPTER II 11 A blind lead landis was waiting at the driveway y gate when markhams Mark hams roadster came to a stand and his bis thin face see seemed in ed to have grown haggard overnight it my imagination after all that feeling I 1 told you about last night the feeling that some one was spying upon me as I 1 worked he said and as they entered the small building this la Is just as I 1 found it a few I 1 you markham stooped to look into the safe the th door of which was standing open it was waa opened on the combination he said bald of course it had to be the thief knew what was inside and knew that he dynamite the safe without taking a long chance of destroying the thing he was after I 1 found it just as aa it stands now the bolts shot and the dial standing on the final figure of the combination cm that brings on more talk right at the beginning of things somebody know kno your combination w the question seemed to plunge the inventor into a deep pit of embarrassment 1 I cant say positively wally but but the one person who may know the combination to is as for far above suspicion as the stars are above the earths earth come clean said markham with his hie good natured grin it rm im going to help ive got to know the tha insides all of it 17 I 1 who Is this person who may know ill tell you and are e that theres nothing to it that there cant be one day a few weeks ago I 1 brought betty out here to show her an electrical toy id been tinkering on I 1 was keeping the thing inthe safer safe as an I 1 do anything that I 1 dont want to leave lying around in sight and when I 1 began to spin the dial she knelt beside me saying baying shed always been curious to know how a combination lock on a safe worked and you showed her of course I 1 explained how the tumblers were made and put together so that each time the dial stopped at the proper figure one of the tumblers aou would id be left in the open position was wai that all you did not quite to illustrate what I 1 meant I 1 unscrewed the th e back plate of the lock and called oft 0 it the series of figures PO fo she could spin the dial and see sea for herself how the mechanism worked w it was only a bit of byplay as you might say eay and there a s shadow hadow of doubt in my mind bit that betty forgot the figure before she was an hour older but even if she she la Is out of the she lent abi ono one who opened this thin ante tafe last 1 night you tou know that n v vf 11 t ili 10 1 I tr TO ru pra f |