The Death Giver

CHAPTER VIII. THADE ORDERS

“HARLAN TREFFIN.”

Thade pronounced the name in a tone that betokened doom. The visitor shuddered.

“Remember!” Thade’s voice came in an eerie monotone to Treffin’s ears. “Those who serve Thade once, serve him always. You have come here because you wish to avoid an exposure of your past. You need not fear it so long as you obey the commands of Thade.

“You will receive instructions here. You will obey them. If you fail, your past will be exposed. Not only that, you will also receive the only reward that Thade gives. That reward is death!”

Ominous words! Treffin stared at the ghastly green face before him. He knew that those livid lips carried no idle threat. Thade, The Death Giver, had spoken.

“Death is something that men fear,” continued Thade. “To some, it is a boon; to others, it is a misfortune. Death is the inevitable lot of man. It cannot be eluded; but it can be gained sooner than one anticipates.

“With death I have shown mercy to those who found life a burden. With death, I have ridden the world of those whose lives were useless. With death, I have gained riches; with death, I shall amass more wealth.”

Thade’s voice had reached a ringing note of assurance. It paused; then became low and conniving, an insidious tone that brought new alarm to the stranger who heard it. The hideous face of luminous green showed rows of gleaming, fanglike teeth as Thade spat forth a potent threat.

“With death I have wreaked punishment,” hissed Thade. “Quick death to those weaklings who failed to do my bidding. Slow death to those who conspired to thwart my purposes. Behold!”

A clawlike hand went to the side of the chair and pressed a knob. Harlan Treffin stepped back in horror as he saw the floor slide slowly open.

Beneath the spreading surface of green was a thick sheet of plate glass. Under it, entombed in a coffin like a mummy in a museum, was the form of a living man!

A helpless, miserable being whose shroud-wrapped form was wasted with long suffering: that was the horrible sight that Harlan Treffin saw. There, beneath the floor of Thade’s den, was proof of The Death Giver’s power. A face with hollow, bony cheeks; its colorless eyes staring sightlessly upward; a pain-racked frame that had shrunk to the proportions of a skeleton: this was the exhibit that Thade uncovered.

“One month ago,” came the cruel voice of The Death Giver, “that creature was like you — a strong, healthy man — a servant of Thade, The Death Giver. He planned to bring harm to me. He failed.

“When he was brought here, it was in his mind to betray Thade. Instead, he found this resting place. He is dying, as he has been since that night a month ago. He will continue to die, so long as I, The Death Giver, choose to torment him.

“Let this be a warning to you, Harlan Treffin. Thade, The Death Giver, bestows naught but death to such as you. I, Thade, shall reserve death so long as you obey my mandates. Should you fail, death will be swift. Should you exhibit the slightest sign of treachery, you shall die slowly — and painfully.

“As my underling, it shall be your duty to loose death when Thade commands. I shall give you instructions. I shall provide you with a means whereby you can protect yourself against formidable enemies. Remember the words of Thade, The Death Giver. I am your master, Harlan Treffin; there is no turning back!”

THADE’S voice ended, and the fangs showed in another gleaming smile as Harlan Treffin, his courage failing as he saw the sight beneath the floor, began to sway. Thade pressed the knob at the side of his chair. The green carpet closed, just as Treffin’s body collapsed upon the spot where the opening had been.

The Death Giver uttered words in a strange language. The tall Nubians stepped silently forward and lifted the form of the man who had fallen senseless. They carried Harlan Treffin into the anteroom. Paul Roderick stepped forward to where Treffin had lain.

“He will do?” questioned Roderick calmly.

“He will do,” responded Thade. “Like the others, he faltered. That sight is one that he will never forget. When he recovers from his faint, he will heed the commands of Thade.”

Paul Roderick nodded as he approached the dais on which The Death Giver was seated. Here was one man whom Thade did not rule by awe; yet Roderick was careful in his manner toward the strange creature clad in green.

“Death!” remarked Thade, in a hissing tone. “That is the reward to all — except to you, Roderick. You, alone, shall share a portion of the vast wealth which I shall accumulate. That is because you are the one who aids me in my plans.”

“We have failed for the present,” declared Roderick solemnly.

“Failed?” Thade’s question was one of hollow sarcasm. “Thade rules by death, and death has been dealt.”

“Yes,” admitted Roderick, “the killings at Felswood were perfect. The police were there for the third one, but they saw nothing. Yet Henry Bellew did not heed the threat. We have lost the million that we could have gained from him.”

“Bah!” Thade’s voice was scornful. “He was but one of many. I prepared for him to act as he did. My next subject will heed the warning. With Bellew’s death as an added threat, he will be afraid to speak. I hold him as surely as I held Bellew. Death can strike him in a moment.”

Roderick nodded in agreement; then his face clouded with momentary doubt. Thade detected the expression and scowled. Roderick hastened to explain his thought.

“Barcomb and Quinley,” he remarked. “We thought that they were safe. But events proved otherwise. Both were killed last night. Each must have been trapped—”

“By the police?”

“No. I have read the newspapers carefully. The police know nothing. But some one knows. Barcomb was found dead in Bellew’s study. Poisoned by an injection.”

“The watch I gave him.”

“Yes. It must have been that. He thought it was a weapon he could use in an emergency. Therefore, he must have faced a crisis. Some one confronted him and demanded the truth.”

“He did not know this place of my abode.”

“No. But he could have spoken the name of Thade before he died. He might have mentioned me. I brought him here, as I brought Treffin to-night.”

“Perhaps his nerve failed him—”

“No,” said Roderick emphatically, “Barcomb was in danger. Quinley’s death was proof of that. Quinley was a coward. He welshed from the time I first confronted him with what I knew about his fake real-estate dealings. He was yellow when he came here.

“Last night, I followed your instructions to the letter. I phoned Quinley and told him to get rid of the apparatus. He must have gone to the garage immediately after that. He turned the key and blew the whole works. He would have done so only if discovered by some dangerous intruder. He thought — like Barcomb — that the device was for his own protection.”

“It was for the protection of Thade,” sneered The Death Giver.

Once again, Paul Roderick nodded. His face, however, retained its look of perplexity.

“We are up against some one,” he declared. “Some one who knows much. Some one who knows more than the police. Some one who is keeping his knowledge to himself. It may be—”

“Who?” questioned Thade, as Roderick paused.

“The Shadow,” asserted Roderick. “You have heard of him.”

“THE SHADOW!” Thade’s tone was scornful. “I do not fear The Shadow! He is a man who fights with petty crooks. What if he did discover Barcomb and Quinley? He can not cope with Thade!

“One year ago” — Thade paused reflectively — “there was a poor inventor. A deluded man, who discovered marvels with poisons and with deadly gases. A man who understood explosives. He had hopes of doing great things for the government. He was told, in Washington, that his experiments were not of interest.

“That man died, Roderick. Died in heart, though not in body. His life work had been ridiculed. His spirit departed. Yet he lived, as a new being. He became Thade, a man who knew no country. Thade, The Death Giver!

“I, Thade, shall use my great knowledge to gain wealth. I have done so in a trivial way. This hidden refuge has been built by death. Now, I shall gather millions! You, Paul Roderick, are my aid. You have found men of wealth whom I can threaten. You have brought in dupes whose trivial secrets you have learned — men whom I can twist and mold until they are afraid to do other than my will.

“I, Thade, fear no one! I give death to those who would thwart me. I sent death to three unknowns that I might terrorize Henry Bellew. He failed to heed the warnings that I sent through you. He died. Barcomb’s work was ended; it is well that he is dead. Quinley had served his purpose. It is well that he died also.

“The campaign against Henry Bellew was scarcely more than an experiment. The next will be Irwin Langhorne. He is richer than Bellew was. The warning will be greater. Mysterious death will strike more rapidly.

“You have brought me Treffin, to act as Quinley acted. Jarvis is ready to act as Barcomb did. The messages must go to-night. Thade, The Death Giver, has spoken! Thade fears no one. The Shadow! Bah!”

The Death Giver clapped his hands. Bowing, Paul Roderick withdrew.

One of the Nubians entered from the anteroom. Thade spoke in the foreign tongue. The man went back; a moment later, he and his fellow-servant returned supporting Harlan Treffin between them. Thade’s new vassal was as pallid as before. The conversation between The Death Giver and Paul Roderick had barely given Treffin time to recuperate.

Thade raised his hand and beckoned. The Nubian stepped aside, and Treffin advanced unsteadily until he stopped before The Death Giver’s dais.

His eyes stared like bulging bulbs toward the green-hued face of Thade. That ghoulish visage was terrifying; and Treffin drew back as the scrawny hands reached forward, bearing a square box. The lid opened, to show three transparent tubes of a substance that resembled glass. A gummy streak lined the upper surface of each tube.

The voice of Thade droned in steady words. Harlan Treffin was receiving his instructions. The man slowly nodded his understanding. The lid of the box closed. Thade thrust the container into Treffin’s listless hands.

“Roderick will take you to your house,” continued Thade, after he had completed his orders. “There, he will leave you the schedule upon which you will work. Be precise in your actions. The time is tomorrow. After that—”

One of the Nubians approached carrying a cylindrical container. Thade raised the cover, and drew out a table lamp that resembled an artillery shell, standing point upward.

“This,” declared The Death Giver, “is your protection. While it rests upon the table in your little room, you will be safe from all intrusion. The lamp will not light; it has no connection. The switch up here is useless. But in the base—”

Thade’s finger touched an ornamental spot in the rounded bottom of the lamp. The finger did not press. It merely indicated; then drew away.

“Should an enemy confront you,” said The Death Giver, “you can thwart him by pressing this concealed button. Use the device only in case of extreme emergency. It will demonstrate the power of Thade. Your foe will learn the suddenness of death. You understand?”

Treffin nodded.

“Turn around.”

Treffin obeyed the command. Staring downward, he saw the floor opening to display that gruesome figure of a dying victim. A scream came from Treffin; his body swayed at this repetition of the sight he had seen before.

The floor was closing. Thade’s voice was speaking, and Treffin, although dazed, managed to nod his complete understanding of The Death Giver’s words.

“You will obey my word,” commanded Thade. “You will not betray me. You will act as I have ordered should danger come to you. Otherwise, the fate that you have seen will be your destiny!”

THE turbaned servants were supporting Treffin. Paul Roderick was there, holding the box of pills. He offered two of the brown tablets to Harlan Treffin, who managed to hold them between his fingers and gulp them hastily.

The coma that he had experienced before would be a grateful relief from the terror of this abode where Thade was ruler. The green walls whirled dizzily before Treffin’s eyes. He steadied as the quieting drug took effect. He felt himself being led across the room, through the green-walled chamber beyond. He felt himself moving downward through darkness; then recollection faded, although he still possessed the strength of locomotion under Roderick’s guidance.

An hour later, Harlan Treffin awoke to find himself in the little room at the rear of the first floor in his home. He was slouched in a chair beside the table. Before him lay a square box, which he recognized distinctly. Set upon the table was the oddly shaped lamp that he had received from Thade. Near him stood Paul Roderick.

All that had happened came back to Harlan Treffin in vivid memory. The interviews with Thade were a recollection that he could not forget. Every detail throbbed through his brain. But of the journeys to and from The Death Giver’s abode, he remembered nothing.

Roderick advanced. He placed a sheet of paper in Harlan Treffin’s weakened hand. Upon the paper were the names of three places in Manhattan. Each was listed with an exact time in the morning — certain minutes between eight and nine.

“You remember?” quizzed Roderick.

Treffin nodded and moistened his dry lips.

“Everything,” he declared.

“The lamp?” questioned Roderick.

“Yes,” answered Treffin.

A smile appeared upon Roderick’s sophisticated face. His mouth formed a short phrase:

“Do not forget.”

The furtive gleam in Treffin’s eyes showed that the man could not forget. The power of Thade, The Death Giver, had impressed itself indelibly upon his brain. The thought of that dying man embedded in the glass-cased floor was a terror that had sapped his courage.

“You may communicate with me,” declared Roderick, “after your work has been finished. Do so every night, after eight o’clock. You may have further duties. If I do not respond, wait for one hour. Unless you hear from me within that period, there will be no message.”

With that, Roderick turned and strolled from the room, leaving Harlan Treffin pondering upon the strange events which had occurred to dominate his future.

Outside, Paul Roderick entered his coupe and drove to a large apartment house in the Forties. He turned his car over to an attendant at the door, and walked to the nearest corner. There, he deposited a large envelope in a mail box.

After that, Roderick returned to the apartment house and went up in the elevator. He was smiling as he alighted on the sixth floor.

He had served Thade well, to-night. The roving agent of The Death Giver, Paul Roderick had acquired a new and useful henchman; and he had also dispatched a note of mystery to the next millionaire on Thade’s list.

Within a few weeks, Roderick was sure, he would receive a tidy share of new wealth that would be in The Death Giver’s hidden coffers! New wealth which would come as a result of the work to start tomorrow!