Show F h e black box f silence by francis lynds lynda illustrations by 0 irwin maefs service by gerard chapmann Chap many CHAPTER I 1 11 the black box it was between the acts of the play the orchestra of a theater in carthage a college town of the middle west was in full swing when there sounded a faint click from what appeared to be an overgrown portable camera on the lap of one of two young men seated in the right hand proscenium box of the theater and instantly the bowing of the violins the cellos and the bass the fingering of the brass and woodwind the tapping of the padded sticks on the kettle drums became merely so many soundless boundless gestures in a pantomime all was dead slier silence ce the two young men in the box who seemed to have precipitated tills this extraordinary tra Va state of affairs were both about of on an age both carthage born bom and reared and both graduates of the kocl college but with these basic particulars the similarities paused abruptly owen landis the one with the queer black box on his knees was built with a thin eager face and dark h hair air and eyes the eyes of a dreamer and enthusiast nis his companion sand walter markham Mar khara was the young man nebout town of a small city well dressed well veil fed yet not without 9 glimmer of penetrative shrewdness an his eyes to prove his right to claim with his hardheaded hard headed banker i father for an interval measurable in seep ads the soundless pantomime continued then suddenly and as it if there tad bad been no gap of silence the various Pst instruments burst into full voice A wave of half bewilderment swept over j the house followed quickly by en ari applause the audience evidently taking the pantomimic inter atlon for a skillful bit of stage bustness business on the part of the orchestra wonderful Wonder full 1 markham exclaimed under cover of the resumed music As you ou said owen it has to be seen to be believed why you keep it up a bit longer landis shook his head 17 1 I 1 dare to let it go on in two seconds more there would have been a panic I 1 figured that for just about so long bergs men would go on bowing and fingering automatically as they did but when realization came be chaos I 1 meant to anticipate that moment and I 1 did let it go over the brink you know black magic 1 markham commented Is this what youve youre been working on nil all these months that youve been holed up in your laboratory den youve said it well now youve youre got it the answer I 1 mean how does it do icv it As ive told you it la Is simple enough in principle by radio we transmit sound and make it do our bidding my problem was to find a 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 with it come around to my shop with me after the play and ill talk it out with you landis said adding 1 most lost inventors and discoverers are short on practical sense common sense and anci im fm no exception maybe you can supply what nhat im locking lacking in that respect two hours later the two young men were 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 greet greek to me markham offered just the same I 1 i can surround the fact accomplished complis hed all right having had 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 la Is that they are bad as well as good 11 shoot said the son of small city wealth rm listening the circuit or whatever you choose to call it will operate at a distance I 1 dont know just yet how far and it will pass either through or around obstructions turn a switch and you can sleep in silence qs as profound as that of a mountain top to BO far as noises are concerned guht sounds bounds a good bit like allro allm in wonderland rut but what else if you stop the racket for yourself you stop it for everybody else as well dont you at short distances as tonight in the theater y yes es take for example a steam whistle a mile away in the immediate ailt neighborhood of the whistle the sound Is normal or nearly so a listener within a radius of r say ay a quarter of a mile would scarcely detect any muting of the blast though is really muted at its source delt deit beyond yond this inner circle the sound diminishes quite rapidly until at about half a mile it has vanished angshed completely in your demonstration tonight you connected the thing the theater lighting circuit does that mean that you sou are tied to electric power plants for its use not at all an automobile storage battery will operate the box tor for ft limited time markham nodded slowly dont you know owen it all listens a good bit like a pipe dream so it does to me dut but what Is worse I 1 cant get away from the feeling that im in the fix of the man who invented the frankenstein thing meaning meaning the frightful uses to which this 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 with this box of mine coupled to a lighting socket he could wreck the lower story of a house or blow the strongest bank vault in perfect security so far as the noise was as concerned so also with tse the use of firearms fl rearms you yon see what 1 R in the possession of a criminal there Is simply no limit to the harm the thing 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 this minute just two t wa 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 said im like the man who invented the frankenstein thing in mrs shelleys Shel leys story when I 1 think of all the harm tt it might do in the wrong hands I 1 feel as if I 1 ought to tie a stone to the box and pitch it into the river there was waa a thoughtful pause and at the me end of it markham BIar kham said you are quite sure nobody else knows about it 1 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 somebody was spying on me pure auto tion I 1 guess markham nodded well let that part 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 im not quite so much of a dreamer as that wally if I 1 could only be sure the thing be put to evil uses like to see some hard cash results markham finished for him that is right and proper and human 1 I suppose so while I 1 was at work on it I 1 did think that if it should prove a success it me a as a research man with one of the big electric companies too modest as you yon usually are grunted markham theres a frilly fortune in that box if its properly ex plotted ed but to make money out of an invention you have to spend money suppose you let me talk to dad in strict confidence of course do that for mel me sure I 1 would why not there was a moment of silent embarrassment barras and then landis said 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 markham cut the protests short take as much time as you want of course and never mind the acknowledgments edg ments weve been pretty chummy for a good many years you and L I 1 owen and it would be a pity tf if either of us give the other a hand when the chance cha nee offered then with a glance at his watch it it so late id stay a bit longer and rawhide you about another matter but I 1 guess the other matter will keep it late tor for me what have I 1 been doing that I 1 ought not to have done 1 I was watching you tonight when betty lawson was waa on the stage I 1 guess you know good and well what I 1 saw landis flushed boyishly and looked down you yon see anything more than you have known for a good while markham laughed nothing more than all carthage Cart hago has known for that matter but say boy what do you think a girl Is made of oa for a half year and better youve burled buried yourself in this work shack of yours and if youve thought anything at all about betty youve taken it out in thinking what social pleasure ashes enjoyed ashes had to forage for in other dirac i eions the amateur theatrical movements for instance ive chased her about a little not nearly so much as I 1 wanted to but youve simply ignored her owen you know you have the laggard in love spoke up quickly ivyon itou are not saying it all wally not speaking for yourself I 1 mean but you dont need to ive known ever since last year how it la Is with you you yon are in love with betty yourself that to Is one reason why ive burled buried myself in my job here to give you and her a chance to find out oat o at where you both stand no dont make any mistake it any silly knightly chivalry on my part just comm common on decency if I 1 should marry im not even sure I 1 could feed and clothe a wife arid and when poverty comes in at the door JI oh ob shush I 1 you yon quote proverbs at me dont you suppose I 1 know that I 1 dont stand a Chin amans chance with betty what im beefing about Is the wiy you scamp your chances with her theres another richmond in the field did you know that landis face fell nol no I 1 you dont mean that 1 I do indeed this new fellow canby who lg Is cutting such a wide swath with his wonderful development scheme for carthage going to make it another chicago overnight and nil that he Is rushing betty to a fintch and she seems to like it A grid ironing of fine lines appeared between landis landh eyes 1 I dont like canby wally abat vi hat little ive seen of him blin just the same he Is exactly the kind of brute to take a girls fancy good looking dashing man of the alg ger world that sort betty Is plenty sensible but at the same time slip she la Is human there ive said my say and now ill toddle along what do yoa do with this priceless casket of yours overal overnight bt talce take it to bed with you not quite that I 1 keep it here landis knelt before a small sore safe under the laboratory work bench opened it put the black box inside and twirled the combination 1 I see safe bind safe fino find said markham 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 his roadster to drive to fo town for a box of con 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 you wally for heavens hen vens sake come around here to the house as quick as you can my safes been opened and the black box Is gonel gone 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 thin face seemed 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 wai spying upon me as I 1 worked he be said and as they entered the small building this Is just as I 1 found it a few minutes before I 1 phoned you markham stooped to look into the safe the door of which was standing open it was opened on the combination he said of course it had bad to be the thief knew what was inside and knew that taking a long chance of destroying the thing he be was after I 1 found it just as it stands now the bolts shot and the dial standing on the final figure of the combination urn um that brings on more talk right at the beginning of things somebody know your combination 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 Is as far above suspicion as the stars are above the earth come clean said markham with his good natured grin if im going to help got to know the insides all of it 17 I 1 who Is this person who may know ill III tell you and see 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 in the safe as 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 roe me saying shed algava been curious to know how bow a combination lock on a safe worked and you yon 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 would be left in the open position was that all you did dair not quite to illustrate what I 1 meant I 1 unscrewed the back plate of the lock and called off the series of figures so BO she could spin the dial and see for herself how hov the mech mechanism anista worked it was only a bit of byplay as you might say and there a shadow of doubt in my mind bit that betty forgot the figure before she was as an hour older but even if she she Is out of the question she me one who opened this safe 1 lit apt night you ton know that ns as we well as I 1 do TO nw |