The Golden Man A Doc Savage Adventure by Kenneth Robeson The Golden Man Table of Contents The Golden Man.................................................................................................................................................1 A Doc Savage Adventure by Kenneth Robeson......................................................................................1 Chapter I. THE SUPERNATURAL........................................................................................................1 Chapter II. THINGS TO WONDER ABOUT.........................................................................................6 Chapter III. THE WEIRD......................................................................................................................12 Chapter IV. THE UPSET PITCHER.....................................................................................................18 Chapter V. THE FIFTH COLUMN.......................................................................................................21 Chapter VI. THE BROKEN FRAME....................................................................................................25 Chapter VII. THE LAST MINUTE.......................................................................................................29 Chapter VIII. WATCH RUTH DORMAN............................................................................................35 Chapter IX. DEATH BY IMPOSSIBILITY..........................................................................................39 Chapter X. BEAUTY AND A SPHINX................................................................................................45 Chapter XI. SISTERS............................................................................................................................51 Chapter XII. TRAIL TO THE WIZARD..............................................................................................53 Chapter XIII. DARK SANCTUARY....................................................................................................58 Chapter XIV. THE FISH MAN.............................................................................................................63 Chapter XV. DECEIT............................................................................................................................68 Chapter XVI. MURDER IS AN ACT...................................................................................................75 Chapter XVII. THE EMPTY BUSHES.................................................................................................80 Chapter XVIII. THE SHOCK CURE....................................................................................................88 Chapter XIX. THE CRASH...................................................................................................................93 i The Golden Man A Doc Savage Adventure by Kenneth Robeson This page copyright © 2002 Blackmask Online. http://www.blackmask.com • Chapter I. THE SUPERNATURAL • Chapter II. THINGS TO WONDER ABOUT • Chapter III. THE WEIRD • Chapter IV. THE UPSET PITCHER • Chapter V. THE FIFTH COLUMN • Chapter VI. THE BROKEN FRAME • Chapter VII. THE LAST MINUTE • Chapter VIII. WATCH RUTH DORMAN • Chapter IX. DEATH BY IMPOSSIBILITY • Chapter X. BEAUTY AND A SPHINX • Chapter XI. SISTERS • Chapter XII. TRAIL TO THE WIZARD • Chapter XIII. DARK SANCTUARY • Chapter XIV. THE FISH MAN • Chapter XV. DECEIT • Chapter XVI. MURDER IS AN ACT • Chapter XVII. THE EMPTY BUSHES • Chapter XVIII. THE SHOCK CURE • Chapter XIX. THE CRASH Chapter I. THE SUPERNATURAL It began on the American passenger steamer, Virginia Dare, while the vessel was en route from Portugal to New York with a load of war refugees. It was at night. Mr. Sam Gallehue, in spite of the full−bodied Irish of his name, his West Tulsa, Oklahoma, birthplace, his American passport, was really quite English. Quite. Referring to the incidents of that night, "Disturbing," Sam Gallehue said. "Disturbing Yes, definitely." But disturbing was hardly a strong enough word. Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Blodgett Monk Mayfair had a wordseveral words, in fact. But his words were not from Sunday school, or from any respectable dictionary, although expressive. Unfortunately, they were not printable. Brigadier General Theodore Marley Ham Brooks had no word whateverthe thing left him speechless. Ham Brooks was a noted lawyer who could talk a jury out of its eyeteeth, and it took a lot to make him speechless. But, as everyone admitted, what happened that night was a lot. The Golden Man 1 The Golden Man First, there was the star. It was a clear night and the usual number of ordinary stars were visiblethe Encyclopedia Britannica states the unaided human eye can see about six thousand stars on a clear nightin the crystal dome of a tropical heavens. The sea, with no more waves than a mirror, was darkly royal−blue, except where now and then a porpoise or a shark broke surface and caused a momentary eruption of phosphorescence that was like spilling sparks. As to who first saw the star, there was some question whether that honor fell to Ham Brooks or Monk Mayfair. Both these men were standing on the starboard boat deck, where there was a nice breeze. It was a hot night; it had been hot since the Virginia Dare had left Portugal, and Monk and Hamso had everyone else, toohad grumbled extensively about the heat, although there were scores of Americans on the ship who should have been overjoyed to be there instead of in Europe, dodging bombs, bullets and blitzkriegs. The truth was: Monk and Ham were irked because they were leaving Europe by request. Not at the request of anybody in Europe; they would have ignored such urging. The request had come from Doc Savage, who was their chief, and who meant what he said. The mess in Europe had looked enticingMonk and Ham liked excitement the way bears like honeyand they had slipped off with the idea of getting their feet wet. Doc Savage had cabled them to come backquickbefore they got in trouble. "Trouble!" Monk snorted. "Compared to the kind of things Doc gets mixed up in, Europe is peaceful. Hey, look!" "Look at what?" Ham asked. "Over there." Monk pointed out over the sea. THEY could see the star plainly. It was not a star in the sense of being a planet or a heavenly body twinkling far off in outer space. This was an actual star; a five−cornered one. The star was black. In the dark nightthis fact was a little confusing to newspaper reporters laterthe star could be readily distinguished in spite of its blackness. This black star could be seen in the black sky because, around its edges, and particularly at its five tips, it had a definitely reddish, luminous complexion. As Monk expressed it laterMonk’s descriptions were inclined to be grislythe star looked somewhat as if it had been dipped in red blood. The star was high and far away in the night sky. "Hey, you on the bridge!" Monk yelled. "Hey, whoever’s on watch!" Monk’s speaking voice was the small, ludicrous tone of a child, but when he turned loose a yell, the seagulls got scared a mile away. An officer put his head over the bridge railing. "What the blankety−blank goes on?" the officer asked. "Don’t you know people are trying to sleep on this boat? You’ll wake up the whole ship." "Look at that star!" Monk said. "What the dickens is it?" The Golden Man 2 The Golden Man The officer stared, finally said he would be damned if that wasn’t a funny−looking thing, and pointed a pair of strong night glassesthe night glasses being binoculars with an extraordinary amount of luminosityat the star. He handed the glasses to Monk, then Ham. The consensus was that they didn’t know what the thing might be. Something strange, though. The steamer, Virginia Dare, was commanded by Captain Harley Kirman, a seaman of the modern school, with looks, dress and manners of a man behind a desk in an insurance office, although he loved his ship, as much as any cussing, barnacle−coated bully of the old windjammer school. Captain Kirman was summoned from a game of contract bridge. Another participant in the card game, a Mr. Sam Gallehue, accompanied the skipper when he reached the bridge. The captain stared at the star. He unlimbered a telescope as large as a cannoninherited from his seafaring grandfather, he explainedand peered through that. He took off his hat and scratched his bald spot. The bald spot was crossed from right front to left rear by a scar, that was a souvenir of a World War mine. Captain Kirman’s bald−spot scar always itched when he got excited. "Change course to west, quarter south," Captain Kirman ordered. "We’ll have a look." Monk propped elbows on the bridge rail and contemplated the five−pointed thing in the sky. "What do you suppose it is?" Ham shrugged. "Search me. Never saw anything like it before." MONK MAYFAIR was a short man, and wide. His long armshis hands dangled to his kneeswere covered with a growth of what appeared to be rusty shingle nails. His mouth had startling size, the corners terminating against his tufted ears; his eyes were small and twinkling, and his nose was a mistreated ruin. The narrowness of his forehead conveyed the impression there was not room for a spoonful of brains, which was deceptive, since he was one of the world’s leading industrial chemists. In general, his appearance was something to scare babies. Ham Brooks has good shoulders, medium height, a wide, orator’s mouth in a not unhandsome face. His clothing was sartorial perfection; in addition