ASTOUNDING STORIES _Appears on Newsstands_ THE FIRST THURSDAY IN EACH MONTH
The trail of mystery gold leads Carnes and Dr. Bird to a tremendous monster of the deep.
[Illustration: "_The mass hung over the ship._"]
"I beg your pardon, sir. I'm looking for Dr. Bird."
The famous Bureau of Standards scientist appraised the speaker rapidly. Keen blue eyes stared questioningly at him from a mahogany brown face, criss-crossed with a thousand tiny wrinkles. The tattooed anchor on his hand and the ill-fitting blue serge suit smacked of the sea while the squareness of his shoulders and the direct gaze of his eye spoke eloquently of authority.
"I'm Dr. Bird, Captain. What can I do for you?"
"Thank you, Doctor, but I'm not a captain. My name is Mitchell and I am, or was, the first mate of the _Arethusa_."
"The _Arethusa_!" Operative Carnes of the United States Secret Service sprang to his feet. "You said the _Arethusa_? There _were_ no survivors!"
"Where have you been hiding and why haven't you reported the fact of your rescue to the proper authorities? Tell the truth; I'm a federal officer!"
Carnes flashed the gold badge of the Secret Service and an expression of anger crossed Mitchell's face.
"If I had wished to talk to an officer I could have found plenty in New York," he said shortly. "I came to Washington in order to tell my story to Dr. Bird."
The seaman and the detective glared at one another for a moment and then Dr. Bird intervened.
"Pipe down, Carnes," he said softly. "Mr. Mitchell undoubtedly has reasons, excellent reasons, for his actions. Sit down, Mr. Mitchell, and have a cigar."
Mitchell accepted the cigar which the doctor proferred and took a chair. He lighted the weed and after another glance of hostility toward the detective he pointedly ignored him and addressed his remarks to Dr. Bird.
"I have no objection to telling you why I haven't spoken earlier, Doctor," he said. "When the _Arethusa_ sank, I must have hit my head on something, for the next thing I knew, I was in the Marine Hospital in New York. I had been picked up unconscious by a fishing boat and brought in, and I lay there a week before I knew anything. When I knew what I was doing I heard about the loss of my ship and was told that there were no survivors, and I didn't know what to do. The story I had to tell was so weird and improbable that I hesitated to speak to anyone about it. I was not sure at first that it was not a trick of a disordered brain, but since my head has cleared I am convinced of the truth of it ... and yet I know that it _can't_ be so. I have read about you and some of the things you have done, and so as soon as I was able to travel I came here to tell you about it. You will be better able to judge than I, whether what I tell you really happened or was only a vision."