第13章 The Scientific Cracksman(5)

Fletcher was a pretty fine fellow, and I had come to like him;but I soon found myself wondering what he had ever done to deserve winning such a girl as Helen Bond.She was what I should describe as the ideal type of "new" woman,--tall and athletic, yet without any affectation of mannishness.The very first thought that struck me was the incongruousness of a girl of her type suffering from an attack of "nerves," and I felt sure it must be as Craig had said, that she was concealing a secret that was having a terrible effect on her.A casual glance might not have betrayed the true state of her feelings, for her dark hair and large brown eyes and the tan of many suns on her face and arms betokened anything but the neurasthenic.One felt instinctively that she was, with all her athletic grace, primarily a womanly woman.

The sun sinking toward the hills across the bay softened the brown of her skin and, as I observed by watching her closely, served partially to conceal the nervousness which was wholly unnatural in a girl of such poise.When she smiled there was a false note in it; it was forced and it was sufficiently evident to me that she was going through a mental hell of conflicting emotions that would have killed a woman of less self-control.

I felt that I would like to be in Fletcher's shoes--doubly so when, at Kennedy's request, he withdrew, leaving me to witness the torture of a woman of such fine sensibilities, already hunted remorselessly by her own thoughts.

Still, I will give Kennedy credit for a tactfulness that I didn't know the old fellow possessed.He carried through the preliminary questions very well for a pseudo-doctor, appealing to me as his assistant on inconsequential things that enabled me to "save my face" perfectly.When he came to the critical moment of opening the black bag, he made a very appropriate and easy remark about not having brought any sharp shiny instruments or nasty black drugs.

"All I wish to do, Miss Bond, is to make a few, simple little tests of your nervous condition.One of them we specialists call reaction time, and another is a test of heart action.Neither is of any seriousness at all, so I beg of you not to become excited, for the chief value consists in having the patient perfectly quiet and normal.After they are over I think I'll know whether to prescribe absolute rest or a visit to Newport."She smiled languidly, as he adjusted a long, tightly fitting rubber glove on her shapely forearm and then encased it in a larger, absolutely inflexible covering of leather.Between the rubber glove and the leather covering was a liquid communicating by a glass tube with a sort of dial.Craig had often explained to me how the pressure of the blood was registered most minutely on the dial, showing the varied emotions as keenly as if you had taken a peep into the very mind of the subject.I think the experimental psychologists called the thing a "plethysmograph."Then he had an apparatus which measured association time.The essential part of this instrument was the operation of a very delicate stop-watch, and this duty was given to me.It was nothing more nor less than measuring the time that elapsed between his questions to her and her answers, while he recorded the actual questions and answers and noted the results which Iworked out.Neither of us was unfamiliar with the process, for when we were in college these instruments were just coming into use in America.Kennedy had never let his particular branch of science narrow him, but had made a practice of keeping abreast of all the important discoveries and methods in other fields.

Besides, I had read articles about the chronoscope, the plethysmograph, the sphygmograph, and others of the new psychological instruments.Craig carried it off, however, as if he did that sort of thing as an every-day employment.

"Now, Miss Bond," he said, and his voice was so reassuring and persuasive that I could see she was not made even a shade more nervous by our simple preparations, "the game--it is just like a children's parlour game--is just this: I will say a word--take 'dog,' for instance.You are to answer back immediately the first word that comes into your mind suggested by it--say 'cat.' I will say 'chain,' for example, and probably you will answer 'collar,'

and so on.Do you catch my meaning? It may seem ridiculous, no doubt, but before we are through I feel sure you'll see how valuable such a test is, particularly in a simple case of nervousness such as yours."I don't think she found any sinister interpretation in his words, but I did, and if ever I wanted to protest it was then, but my voice seemed to stick in my throat.

He was beginning.It was clearly up to me to give in and not interfere.As closely as I was able I kept my eyes riveted on the watch and other apparatus, while my ears and heart followed with mingled emotions the low, musical voice of the girl.

I will not give all the test, for there was much of it, particularly at the start, that was in reality valueless, since it was merely leading up to the "surprise tests." From the colourless questions Kennedy suddenly changed.It was done in an instant, when Miss Bond had been completely disarmed and put off her guard.

"Night," said Kennedy."Day," came back the reply from Miss Bond.

"Automobile." "Horse."

"Bay." "Beach."

"Road." "Forest."

"Gate." "Fence."

"Path." "Shrubs."

"Porch." "House."

Did I detect or imagine a faint hesitation?

"Window." "Curtain."

Yes, it was plain that time.But the words followed one another in quick succession.There was no rest.She had no chance to collect herself.I noted the marked difference in the reaction time and, in my sympathy, damned this cold; scientific third degree.

"Paris." "France."

"Quartier Latin." "Students."