Arthur J. Burks - The Mind Master.pdf - Arthur J. Burks - widez2

The Mind Master

Burks, Arthur J.

Published: 1932

Type(s): Short Fiction, Science Fiction

Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/29416

About Burks:

Arthur J. Burks (September 13, 1898 – 1974) was an American writer

and a Marine colonel.

Burks was born to a farming family in Waterville, Washington. He

married Blanche Fidelia Lane on March 23, 1918 in Sacramento, Califor-

nia and was the father of four children: Phillip Charles, Wasle Carmen,

Arline Mary and Gladys Lura. He served in the United States Marine

Corps in World War I, and began writing in 1920. After being stationed

in the Caribbean and inspired by the native voodoo rituals, Burks began

to write stories of the supernatural that he sold to the magazine Weird

Tales. In 1928 he resigned from the Marine Corps and began writing full

time. He became one of the "million-word-a-year" men in the pulps by

virtue of his tremendous output. He was well-known for being able to

take any household object that someone would suggest to him on a dare,

and instantly generate a plot based around it. His byline was common-

place on pulp covers. He wrote primarily in the genres of aviation, de-

tective, adventure and weird menace. Two genres he was not to be found

in were love and westerns. He wrote several series for the pulps, includ-

ing the Kid Friel boxing stories in Gangster Stories, and the Dorus Noel

undercover-detective stories for All Detective Magazine, set in

Manhattan's Chinatown. The pressure of producing so much fiction

caused him to ease off in the late-1930s. He returned to active duty as the

U.S. entered World War II and eventually retired with the rank of lieu-

tenant colonel. Burks moved to Paradise in Lancaster County,

Pennsylvania in 1948, where he continued to write until his death in

1974. Throughout the '60s, he wrote many works on metaphysics and the

paranormal. In his later years, he lectured on paranormal activities and

gave readings.

Also available on Feedbooks for Burks:

• Lords of the Stratosphere (1933)

check the copyright status in your country.

Note: This book is brought to you by Feedbooks.

http://www.feedbooks.com

Strictly for personal use, do not use this file for commercial purposes.

Transcriber’s Note:

This etext was produced from “Astounding Stories” January and

February, 1932. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the

U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.

The original “What has gone before” recap section from the second

part (February edition) has been removed from this combined version.

Chapter 1

The Tuft of Hair

“LET’S hope the horrible nightmare is over, dearest,” whispered Ellen

Estabrook to Lee Bentley as their liner came crawling up through the

Narrows and the Statue of Liberty greeted the two with uplifted torch

beyond Staten Island. New York’s skyline was beautiful through the mist

and smoke which always seemed to mask it. It was good to be home

again. Once more Lee Bentley is caught up in the marvelous machina-

tions of the mad genius Barter.

Certainly it was a far cry from the African jungles where, for the space

of a ghastly nightmare, Ellen had been a captive of the apes and Bentley

himself had had a horrible adventure. Caleb Barter, a mad scientist, had

drugged him and exchanged his brain with that of an ape, and for hours

Bentley had roamed the jungles hidden in the great hairy body, the only

part of him remaining “Bentley” being the Bentley brain which Barter

had placed in the ape’s skull-pan. Bentley would never forget the horror

of that grim awakening, in which he had found himself walking on bent

knuckles, his voice the fighting bellow of a giant anthropoid.

Yes, it was a far cry from the African jungles to populous Manhattan.

As soon as Ellen and Lee considered themselves recovered from the

shock of the experience they would be married. They had already spent

two months of absolute rest in England after their escape from Africa,

but they found it had not been enough. Their story had been told in the

press of the world and they had been constantly besieged by the curious,

which of course had not helped them to forget.

“LEE,” whispered Ellen, “I’ll never feel sure that Caleb Barter is dead.

We should have gone out that morning when he forgot to take his whip

and we thought the vengeful apes had slain him. We should have

proved it to our own satisfaction. It would be an ironic jest, characteristic

of Barter, to allow us to think him dead.”

“He’s dead all right, dear,” replied Bentley, his nostrils quivering with

pleasure as he looked ahead at New York, while the breeze along the

Hudson pushed his hair back from his forehead. “He had abused the

great anthropoids for too many years. They seized their opportunity,

don’t mistake that.”

“Still, he was a genius in his way, a mad, frightful genius. It hardly

seems possible to me that he would allow himself to be so easily trapped.

It’s a reflection on his great mentality, twisted though it was.”

“Forget it, dear,” replied Bentley, putting his arm around her

shoulders. “We’ll both try to forget. After our nerves have returned to

normal we’ll be married. Then nothing can trouble us.”

The vessel docked and later Lee and Ellen entered a taxicab near the

pier.

“I’ll take you to your home, Ellen,” said Bentley. “Then I’ll look after

my own affairs for the next couple of days, which includes making peace

with my father, then we’ll go on from here.”

They looked through the windows of the cab as they rolled into lower

Fifth Avenue and headed uptown. Newsies were screaming an extra

from the sidewalks.

“Excitement!” said Bentley enthusiastically. “It’s certainly good to be

home and hear a newsboy’s unintelligible screaming of an extra, isn’t

it?”

On an impulse he ordered the cabbie to draw up to the curb and pur-

chased a newspaper.

“Do you mind if I glance through the headlines?” Bentley asked Ellen.

“I haven’t looked at an American paper for ever so long.”

THE cab started again and Bentley folded the paper, falling easily into

the habit of New Yorkers who are accustomed to reading on subways

where there isn’t room for elbows, to say nothing of broad newspapers.

His eyes caught a headline. He started, frowning, but was instantly

mindful of Ellen. He mustn’t show any signs that would excite her, espe-

cially when he didn’t yet understand what had caused his own instant

perturbation.

Had Ellen looked at him she might have seen merely the calm face of a

man mildly interested in the news of the day, but she was looking out at

the Fifth Avenue shops.

Arthur J. Burks - The Mind Master.pdf

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: