the waiting room and into the inner office, closing the door behind him. The peculiar look of a fanatic, that had become more marked since his second accident, was evident now as he seated himself and turned wild eyes to the doctor.
“Don’t be scared, doc,” he jeered at sight of Bell’s white drawn face. “I didn’t come to blame you for winning Rosalind’s love, though I confess the thought of your wedding next week goes considerably against the grain. I came for another purpose and I want you to help me.”
He rose now and advanced toward the physician. The latter observed the perfect mastery of the artificial limbs, a mastery that proved how well the brain can be trained to control nerves and muscles under unusual conditions. Was all the effort of this brain being turned in that direction to the detriment of a well-balanced reasoning power?
“Here’s my proposition, Bell,” the words jangled harshly, bringing to a swift conclusion the doctor’s thoughts regarding the changed mental status of his one-time friend. “I have decided what I want done. I’ll admit that what I’m about to tell you will prove I have a mental quirk which, by the way, corresponds to my physical quirks, but this thing has become an obsession with me.”
The speaker leaned forward and held the other’s attention with a steady gaze. He then resumed, “I am going to try out an experiment, or rather have it tried out on me, for I shall be a passive factor in this case. I am going to find out how much of this mortal coil I can shuffle off and still maintain my personal identity as a piece of humanity here on Earth. In other words, as much of my body as can be removed and substituted by artificial parts, I wish to have done.”
During Gregory’s recital David’s eyes had dilated in horror, and he unconsciously recoiled from his visitor until the width of the room was between them. Not a word could he utter. The seconds ticked away on the little ebony clock on the desk and still the two men regarded each other with unquestionable antagonism.
“Well, will you do it, Bell?” The man pointed significantly to the surgical instruments and the operating table. “I have ample means to pay you handsomely. I’m going to find out about this mortal body and its relation to the soul before I die. You’ve robbed me of one desire of my heart, but this you shall grant!”
At last Bell spoke, and with the sound of his voice his courage returned. “George, whether you believe it or not, you are a madman and I refuse to comply with your request. If, as you yourself maintain, with the loss of every bodily member, your mental and spiritual powers have waned, what in heaven’s name, tell me, would you be with only enough of your body left to chain your spirit to Earth? I will not aid you in this mad project of yours. Go, or shall I have you taken to the hospital for the insane?”
George Gregory saw that further persuasion was useless. He walked toward the outer office but at the doorway he turned and faced Bell. “There are other surgeons in the world, and mark my words, I shall find out yet by how slender a thread body and soul can hang together.”
V. The Artificial Man
Five years passed. David Bell married Rosalind Nelson and built up a splendid reputation as a surgeon. Nothing had been heard in those years of George Gregory. His memory passed as an evil dream and his name was never mentioned. Then one day (it was shortly after the erection of the new county hospital) David and a young intern by the name of Lucius Stevens were putting away the instruments after an operation, when they felt rather than heard the approach of an individual. Turning, they beheld the unfamiliar form of a stranger. He was a little under average height. A cap covered the upper portion of his face and a long loose overcoat concealed most of his figure.
“What can we do for you, stranger?” asked Dr. Bell of the silent figure in the door.
“Stranger!” exclaimed the hollow, metallic voice that issued from somewhere beneath the visor of the cap. “I am no stranger, though possibly you do not recognize me. Do you remember your rival George Gregory, Dr. David Bell? I am he.”
“You—it is impossible,” exclaimed the amazed doctor. “Gregory was a tall man, altogether different in appearance. You—”
“Nevertheless I tell you I am George Gregory and I have come to settle old accounts with you. Clear out,” he shouted to the frightened Stevens. “My trouble is not with you.”
Lucius lost no time in following the stranger’s suggestion. After his departure the two men in the operating room faced each other for some moments in silence.
“Before I have done with you,” came the metallic tones again, “I will explain a few things that may puzzle you.”
Here he walked to the office door, locked it and put the key into the overcoat pocket. “Now, sit down, David Bell, don’t be in a hurry, for you are not going to leave this room alive. I promise you that, and I am accustomed to doing what I promise.”
Bell did as he was bade. The curiosity of his analytical mind was aroused and he wished to find out more about this stranger whose identity he could in no way associate with Gregory. Fascinated, he watched while the man removed his cap and overcoat, and then before David’s startled gaze the newcomer placed his right hand to his left shoulder and with a slight manipulation removed the left arm which he propped up in the chair nearest him. He then seated himself and proceeded to dismember himself until naught but a torso, head and one arm remained, all of which were scarred with countless incisions. A mirthless laugh jarred to the depths the doctor’s overwrought nerves. The features of the intruder were not recognizable as those of his former friend, Gregory. There was no nose, only two nostrils flat upon the surface of the face. The head was bald and earless, the mouth a toothless gap.
A shudder of disgust went through David, and again the dry laugh of this monstrosity echoed through the room.
“I’m not exactly pretty, eh? But I’m finding out what I wanted to know. After I left you five years ago I went to a famous German surgeon and put my plea to him. He was as interested as I in the experiment, and you see the result. The operations required a period of two years in order to give nature a chance to have the body recuperate in the interim between experiments. As you see me now I am without any parts except those absolutely essential to life. One exception to this however, are my eyes. I did not yet wish to be shut off from the outer world by all of the senses. The artificial internal organs I dare not remove as I do my appendages for they are necessary to my life. The crowning operation of all was a pump replacing my heart. This pump is a simple double valve mechanism which circulates the small amount of blood required for my torso, head and arm. Look here!”
As he spoke he proceeded to reattach the artificial members. After he had again thus assumed semblance to human form he called attention to something David had not noticed before, a flat object lying upon his chest.
“This is the control board,” he explained. “With the exception of the right arm I now move my body by electricity. The batteries are concealed within a hollow below the hip of my right leg. Behold in me an artificial man who lives and breathes and has his being with a minimum of mortal flesh! My various parts can be mended and replaced as you would repair the parts of your automobile.”
During Gregory’s recital David had not withdrawn his fascinated but horrified eyes from the mechanical man. Invulnerable and almost immortal, this creature was existing as a menace to mankind, a self-made Frankenstein. When he was again complete he stood before David, a triumphant gleam in the eyes which alone, unchanged physically, were yet scarcely recognizable as Gregory’s, for the soul that peered through these windows was transformed.
In the gathering gloom Bell could see the automaton staring at him. He moved slowly toward a window hoping to elude his antagonist by a sudden exit in that direction, but Gregory crept toward him with a clocklike precision in his movements. The doctor noticed that the right hand was kept busy manipulating the control board at his chest. If this were the case, the interloper possessed only one free arm, but little had Bell reckoned on the prowess of that left arm! Like the grip of a vise the metallic fingers clutched at his throat. One thought pervaded his mind. If he could get that right hand away from the control and damage the connections to the various appendages and organs! But he soon realized