Chapter XIV
“Halten!” a voice roared from the GEEK!
ranchhouse. The voice added that it meant the submarine.
TOO-TOO THOMAS reached the foot No more shots from the submarine.
of the path ahead of Monk, which disgusted
“Use a searchlight on that path,” the Monk somewhat with his own agility.
voice ordered. It was Der Hase.
Doc Savage and the others were there.
The searchlight sprang out, hot and They had taken shelter on the steps, which white in the night, somehow unexpected in were cut into the stone at this point deeply spite of the fact that they had known it would enough to give cover.
appear. It began searching the path.
Ham asked, “Monk, where’s Das See-The beam passed over Doc and his hund?”
group without disclosing their presence.
“He kicked us down the steps,” Monk From the submarine: “All clear. We see said truthfully, “and went the other way.”
no one on the path.”
“That’s a big help,” Ham said.
From the house: “We are coming down.
The gun cut loose from the submarine.
Shut off the damned light so that Schwartz’s It rattled and gobbled, and knocked rock off men can not see us.”
the cliff. The gunner had put in a drum of The path became dark.
tracers, and these bounced around in the They could hear the men coming down night looking like straight red strings from one the path. Der Hase and Das Seehund were point to another.
in the lead, and they were having violent Doc Savage said, “Get back up the words.
path.”
Monk listened, chuckled, and said,
“It’s blocked at the top by now,” Too-
“They’ve joined forces, but they’re still suspi-Too Thomas said.
cious of each other.”
“There is one point,” Doc said, “where the whole group of us can step off the path.”
The bronze man began moving. “Quick,” he THE two Europeans, the thin fanatic added. “Before they limber up a searchlight and the fat one, were arguing as they passed on that submarine.”
Doc’s group.
The others followed him. They went as
“You were a fool to fall for such a trick,”
silently as possible whenever the machine Der Hase was saying. “Where are your gun on the submarine was not gobbling. The brains?”
spot where Doc was bound was not high.
Das Seehund snorted. His snort said
“Here, ” Doc said.
that he still suspected the whole thing.
It was a kind of shelf, a niche between As they filed past, the leaders first, an outthrust thumb of stone, and the path.
then their men, Doc Savage stepped out and Here they were not only off the path, but they joined them. The others did likewise, one at a were concealed from bullets and search time, as silently as possible.
lights used off the sub.
If the enemy group had been descending the cliff under ordinary conditions, it HELL BELOW
51
would have been impossible for Doc and the would be the only one that was open. And if others to have joined them. Theoretically it the others were open, there was a mechani-would have been feasible, but an actual im-cal means of closing them that operated in-possibility. They would have been discovered.
stantly when the controls were thrown into But they were under fire from above.
crash dive position.
Oberleutenant Schwartz and his men were Doc yanked the conning hatch shut, firing from above, trying to search out the went down into the control room, and worked path. The walrus-faced Schwartz, shouting frantically with the valve controls.
commands, sounded exactly like a walrus The submarine, with no headway to barking, as the echoes mixed up his words.
make the diving rudders effective, sub-Doc and his group joined the retreat merged slowly. But it went down as water without being discovered.
poured into the ballast tanks.
They got to the foot of the cliff.
The mooring lines held the craft for a
“Keep that light off!” Das Seehund while. Then they snapped, and the ship sank called to the submarines.
quickly, grounded on the rock bottom, and Someone—Doc Savage could not tell lay there.
who it was, but the individual was close be-The bronze man looked around for the hind him—threw a rock. Doc heard the rock listening apparatus. He got hold of a new whistle past his ear. He heard it hit its target, type of apparatus for underwater communi-which was Das Seehund. It knocked the fat cation which at first confused him. Then he man down.
found the listener.
Das Seehund got up, wheeled, He heard the other submarine back out thumbed on a flashlight, and planted the of the cove.
beam on Der Hase.
The fat man shot Der Hase four times, seeming to put all four bullets between Der DOC brought the submarine back to Hase’s small eyes.
the surface, not without difficulty, for that Der Hase dropped.
many controls were never intended to be op-The fat man switched out his light, and erated by one man.
changed position rapidly.
“Come aboard!” he shouted from the
“Now I am in command here,” he said hatch. “Monk, the rest of you.”
in his native tongue.
They arrived, running, grimly silent, No one said anything.
and scrambled aboard. Pat had been aboard
“Get on our submarine,” said the fat a submarine before. Lena Carlson and Too-man. “We will get outside the cove, and shell Too Thomas apparently had never been in the ranchhouse from out of rifle range. We one. They stood back gingerly, fearful of can blow them to bits.”
touching anything.
No one said anything still.
“Cast off,” Doc said. “Renny, you and
“The man I just shot was a traitor!” Das Long Tom in the engine room.”
Seehund said. “Get moving, quick!”
They operated under electric power un-They walked toward the submarines til Renny got the Diesels going. By that time, meekly.
they were out of the cove. Doc let the sub Doc Savage, knowing what to expect, idle there.
knew that his aides were ducking off into the
“Man the deck gun, ” he said.
darkness. Shadow lay over this part of the Monk and Ham did that. Johnny got cove, over the submarines, due to the height ammunition ready. They fooled around with of the cliff.
the piece” learning its peculiarities.
Doc kept with the group. He marched Monk said, “Ham.”
out on the dock with them, until he found
“Yes?”
which submarine they were taking.
“Somebody hit Das Seehund with a Doc got aboard the other sub. He got rock, and it made him mad, and he shot Der aboard fast. There was one man on the grille Hase,” Monk said.
walk, and he struck that fellow, knocking him
“Yes.”
overboard.
“Nice work.”
The bronze man was able to reach the
“Just like you, praising yourself,” Ham conning tower, went inside. This one hatch said.
52
DOC SAVAGE
“Wait a minute, I didn’t do it!” Monk ex-
“You’ll blow up my ranchhouse!” Too-ploded. “You did it!”
Too Thomas shouted.
“I never!” Ham yelled. “Don’t try to lay it
“Miss the house,” Doc said.
on to me. Whoever did it knew that the fat They fired about twenty rounds at the man would kill the other one, thinking an at-cliff, generally banging up the scenery. At tempt had been made on his life.”
first, machine-gun fire answered them. Then
“Don’t you bellow at me!” Monk roared there was no response.
back. “And stop trying to lay it on to me.”
Doc said, “We will put into the cove.
Old Too-Too Thomas cleared his throat Where are your men imprisoned, Too-Too?”
modestly.
Too-Too told him where, and they ran
“You gents needn’t get all hot,” he said.
to the spot, carefully beached the sub with its
“I’m the culprit.”
bow high, but not so high but that they could
“You threw that rock?” Monk asked get it higher and back off the beach if neces-Too-Too.
sary. Then they went ashore.
“Yep. One of my old Indian fighting There were four guards in the little vil-tricks.”
lage inhabited by the ranch hands. These Monk and Ham both chuckled.
fled after some shouting and scattered shoot-
“You murdering old scamp,” Monk said.
ing.
“Come over here, pop, and let me shake your Too-Too released his men.
hand.”
“Get these boys some guns,” Too-Too
“If I come over there, I’ll kick you over-said. “They’re old Indian chasers, too.”
board,” said Too-Too Thomas indignantly.
A few weapons were located.
“Quit calling me pop!”
But the advance on the ranchhouse Out to sea about a mile, there was a was without excitement. The birds had flown.
gun flash. The shell screamed overhead, hit
“Go after ‘em, caballeros,” Too-Too the cliff and exploded. It had missed the Thomas told his men.
house about two hundred yards.
“Got it,” Johnny said, and called out range numbers, getting confused somewhat, TOO-TOO THOMAS and his ranch finally saying, “I’ll be superamalgamated!
hands returned about four hours after day-Guess we’ll have to wait for the next shot.”
light. Considering their bag of prisoners, they The next shot came.
should have been happy. But their faces Instantly, their own gun barked. The were long.
shell was fused to explode when it hit almost
“One got away,” said Too-Too Thomas anything, and it bloomed out to sea.
sourly. “It was that walrus-faced hombre, They had missed the submarine by an Schwartz. He stole one of the best saddle embarrassing margin.
horses in the country, and there ain’t a
“As a gun pointer,” Monk told Johnny, chance of overhauling him.”
“you are a good archaeologist.”
“Let him go,” Doc said.
But the other sub did not fire again.
“I can have my Yaquis put out a signal, and maybe round him up.”
“Let him go,” Doc said. “Do not try to THEY waited ten minutes, suspiciously catch him.”
on edge, cautiously changing the position of After Doc had gone, Too-Too Thomas their own craft, then lying silent, so the other scratched his head and said, “I don’t get that.
vessel could not locate them with its listeners.
I think maybe my Yaquis could catch that Nothing happened.
Schwartz.”
Long Tom put his head out of the con-Monk said, “I thought you got your bening tower. “I’ve been on our listener, ” he fore-breakfast exercise scrapping with the said. “That other sub is beating it. Full speed Yaquis.”
out to sea. Want to chase him? We couldn’t
“Oh, me and them Yaquis has been catch him, because from the looks of the two brothers for years. This is the first good fight subs, that one was faster.”
I’ve had in about seven coon ages.”
“Let it go,” Doc said. “Put about, get in
“Well, forget Schwartz. Doc wants him position, and let go a few shells at our friends to get away.”
on land.”
HELL BELOW
53
“The fellow may have some of that gold Too-Too Thomas grinned. He felt of his on him.”
throat.
“No, it’s still there,” Monk said. “Some-
“Geek!” he said.
body slammed the door and locked it when we went out. It’s all there.”
“Then why—”
THE END
“Doc,” Monk said, “wants that Oberleutenant Schwartz to get back to Europe.”
“He does! Why’s that?”
Monk said, “Can you imagine what will happen to Das Seehund when Schwartz gets back and tells the Fuehrer the story.”
THE GOBLINS will get you!
And they’re pretty dangerous goblins, too, these little green men. They pack a terrific wallop, for their slightest touch means a horrible, burning death!
That ’s what Doc Savage faces in our next novel, “The Goblins,”
as exciting a yarn as anyone could wish for. No one knows what the goblins want, but everyone knows they mean business—even Doc Savage, for not even his genius is able to avoid the danger they bring.
Read this great novel in the next issue of DOC SAVAGE
Every Month—At All Newsstands