"Gunar?" "Come in." "I hear that Dr. Quest and his party have rented a cruiser to bring him up the fjord, professor." "Good. lt will be an honor to have a man of Dr. Quest's prominence as my guest." "He'll be the first to see what I have accomplished." "Take the car, Gunar." "Meet him at the dock." "Yes, sir." "Professor Eriksson, what has happened?" "Are you all right?" "Professor?" "!" "Professor, are you all right?" "Someone or something just tried to put me out of commission, permanently." "My glasses were knocked off." "I couldn't see who it was." "Here they are, sir." "That is better." "My notes are still here." "Whoever it was, you must have scared him off." "Probably through that window." "There's nothing out here." "Nothing." "Except those ugly gargoyles." "Well, we know it can't be one of them." "I'm looking forward to meeting Professor Eriksson." "He's a great man." "Yes." "His experiments with gravity have certainly brought him world fame." "Very true." "And being the recluse that he is it's a distinction being asked to visit him at Raklev Castle." "Raklev Castle?" "Sounds spooky." "Think we should've brought ghost powder, Hadji?" "The best way to handle ghosts is to ignore them unless they are pretty and girls." "Well, whoever heard of a girl ghost?" "l met one once in Kashmir." "A princess." "Really?" "Then she turned into a water lily and floated away." "Oh, brother." "There are many legends about Raklev Castle." "Baron Raklev, who built it centuries ago is still supposed to wander through its corridors." "Centuries?" "And he is still alive?" "No, he's been dead over 1 00 years." "He's buried in the castle's private cemetery." "Private cemetery?" "That castle must have everything, including hot and cold running tombstone." "lvar. Ivar." "It's me, Dietrich." "Dietrich." "Come in, quick." "Before someone sees you." "Did you get Eriksson's formula?" "No." "No, not yet." "Not yet." "Why?" "l was in the laboratory." "I took care of the professor, but the servant heard me." "Excuses." "Excuses." "I want that book, and I want it now." "I'm trying, lvar. I'm trying." "But I must get the key to the laboratory when the professor isn't there." "And he's expecting a visitor, an American scientist." "A Dr. Quest." "Quest?" "The professor will undoubtedly show Quest the formula." "This should be your chance." "Don't fail, Dietrich." "Don't fail this time." "l won't." "I won't. I won't." "Get back to your perch and stay there!" "Keep your eyes open." "Move at your first chance and get that formula." "Kill anyone that gets in your way." "Those cliffs look like they're right on top of us." "This is the deepest and most mysterious fjord in Norway, and the narrowest." "Further ahead is the Strondheim Glacier." "It overhangs the water too." "That's it coming into view now." "A magnificent sight." "Wow." "What would happen if it ever collapsed?" "Just don't be there when it does." "Or you'll be saying hello to your princess ghost." "He's right. lf it fell, it would wipe out everything beneath it start a tidal wave and destroy all the villages on the banks." "Gosh." "How about that, Bandit." "A welcoming committee of one seal." "A seal, and a periscope?" "Say, Dad, can submarines navigate these fjords?" "Submarines?" "What do you mean?" "Well, there's a periscope behind us." "Or at least there was one." "Probably the tail of another seal." "It's highly unlikely you'd find a submarine around here." "Then I saw a highly unlikely submarine." "l didn't see anything." "Well, I did." "The fjord is treacherous." "Be careful." "l am." "Do you think the cruiser saw us?" "No, but we won't surface again until we rendezvous with Ivar at Strondheim Glacier." "If he is successful, many people will be willing to pay a fortune." "A vast fortune for Eriksson's formula." "We will surface tomorrow at dawn." "ls this the only road to the castle?" "Yes, doctor." "And not used often." "We have few guests, you know." "Did he say guests or ghosts?" "lf you can't see ghosts, Jonny you can always go back to seeing submarines." "Right, Bandit?" "Well, I did see one." "My son thought he saw a submarine periscope in the fjord." "Would such a thing be possible?" "ln the fjord?" "Only if the crew were crazy, Dr. Quest." "Look, those spooky monsters." "Gargoyles, Jonny." "Originally, decorated water spouts but a word now applied to grotesque figures on top of cornices." "l'd hate to meet one in a dark forest." "l'd hate to meet one, period." "That old castle looks like a great place to explore." "A dangerous place to explore." "Professor Eriksson was attacked this afternoon..." "...in his laboratory." "Attacked?" "By whom?" "We don't know." "But when one realizes the potential of successful experiments with the power of gravity, it is most certain to attract dangerous elements." "But let him tell you himself." "Shall we go in?" "Get Bandit and come on, Jonny." "Right." "Jump, boy." "What is it, boy?" "What's the matter?" "Oh, it's just a bird." "Hey, he moved!" "Hadji." "Look at that gargoyle. lt moved." "The gargoyle moved?" "Yeah." "He shooed away a bird." "Oh, Jonny." "When you see submarine periscopes where there couldn't be any and then see stone gargoyles move I think you'd better have your eyes examined, or your head!" "We have a proverb in my country, Hadji." "Seeing's believing." "We have one in mine too." "I'm from Missouri." "I am not surprised at these attacks on me, Dr. Quest." "The world of science is as full of greed and envy as any other world." "Shouldn't the authorities be notified?" "I care little who my enemies are." "Work is all that matters." "Work and results." "And speaking of results, I will show you what I have accomplished." "You will see the power of the current that runs through this bar." "In a moment of ego, I named my discovery after myself." "I call it "Erikon."" "Now, watch." "As I drop this heavy ball...." "Hey!" "It's dropping up." "Incredible." "If the ceiling hadn't stopped it it would keep going forever." "Wish I knew about this when I dropped Algebra." "But when I turn off the current...." "Can we do it again?" "Certainly." "You may do it, if you wish." "Swell." "How do I work it?" "Take this ball and hold it over the Erikon current, Jonny." "Like this?" "Right." "Now, drop it." "Bandit!" "He's falling the wrong way!" "I will cut the power." "Catch him, Jonny." "Got you." "What's the matter, boy?" "Maybe he saw a ghost." "Well, maybe he did." "Cut it out, boys." "Do not scoff, young man." "All old castles have their strange secrets, haunts and hoaxes." "In case anyone tries more attacks on you, professor, I'll sleep in your room." "I'll try to give him a run for his money." "We can station Bandit outside this lab." "He's a genuine ghost-watching watchdog." "Right, Bandit?" "Thank you." "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Bannon." "Haunts and hoaxes, even in old castles often have flesh and blood characters behind them." "Do submarine periscopes have flesh and blood characters behind them too?" "Here we go again." "Jonny thought he saw a periscope." "I'm sure it was only a seal." "It would take desperate men to try and run a submarine through the fjord with its tricky channel and the danger of falling ice." "Falling ice?" "From Strondheim Glacier." "I have a small helicopter here." "Now and then, Gunar and I check the glacier's progress." "But to answer your question, Jonny I suspect your periscope was just another of this strange country's weird illusions." "If you say so, sir." "Do we have to wait here under this wall of ice?" "Yes." "Those are the orders." "We wait here for Ivar and the formula." "Stay where you are!" "Don't move!" "Race, what's happening?" "Something jumped me and got the key to the safe." "lt looked like a gargoyle." "l knew it. I was right." "l wish I were back in Calcutta." "Quickly." "We must get to the laboratory by the back stairs." "You go ahead, we'll put out the fire." "The laboratory is down this way." "The laboratory door is open." "Hurry." "Maybe he is still there." "He got away." "Well, the safe hasn't been opened." "It is gone!" "The Erikon bar is gone!" "Dietrich." "Dietrich, did you get the formula?" "No, lvar." "Why not?" "I got this instead." "The Erikon bar with the Erikon current to cut off gravity." "The Erikon bar." "I can ask any sum in the world for this and get it." "And me?" "What about me?" "When do I get paid?" "You'll be paid when I'm ready to pay you." "Now, get back to your perch before they find you're gone." "What difference does that make now?" "I want my money." "My money." "Don't question me, Dietrich." "Get back up on the parapet and keep your ears open." "Hear what they say and report." "No!" "No!" "Yes!" "Yes!" "And right now!" "l want my money!" "Go!" "I'll get back to you later!" "You'll regret this!" "You'll regret this!" "Doctor." "Doctor, I see scratches on the sash." "Whatever it was went out this window." "See anything outside?" "No, just those gargoyles." "l must get the Erikon bar back." "Maybe the police can help." "l will call them now." "So he threatened me, huh?" "I'll pay him." "I'll pay him right now." "What was it, Race?" "Looks like one of the gargoyles." "So I was right." "The gargoyle did move." "Not only that, but this gargoyle's been shot." "And whatever it is, it isn't a gargoyle." "Dietrich." "Dietrich Sorensson." "He was once Norway's greatest acrobatic dwarf." "I wonder how he ever got involved in a thing like this." "Professor!" "Professor!" "A car is going from the gravedigger's shack down the road to the fjord." "It's Ivar." "So he is in this too and probably taking my secrets with him." "Where can he go?" "There are boats at the dock." "And many inlets and islands nearby." "You said you had a helicopter." "Behind the castle." "Come on, Race." "You boys stay with the professor." "Yes, sir." "Hadji, if they find that submarine I saw, you'll be eating your words." "And you better chew them good." "There he is, in our cruiser." "He can't get far." "There wasn't much gas left." "But I can't land this chopper on water either." "Look there, up ahead." "lt's a submarine, all right." "Undoubtedly waiting to pick up Ivar." "Here comes Ivar." "Looks like he's done it." "Good." "What about that helicopter?" "Just keep them off with the rifle." "Ivar will be aboard in a minute." "They're shooting at us." "l'll move up out of range." "There's our man." "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop shooting, you fools!" "You stupid fools!" "We're under the glacier!" "Stop shooting!" "There was nothing we could do." "I'm afraid your Erikon bar met the same icy fate your enemies did." "Well, I am not the first scientist who has had to go back to the drawing board." "By the way, I have a souvenir for you boys." "A souvenir?" "Right here." "The real gargoyle from the parapet." "Gunar found it in the gravekeeper's shack." "Gee, thanks, professor." "Thanks a lot." "Yeah." "Just what we've always wanted." "I'm glad you like it." "Goodbye." "Bandit doesn't seem to like your little souvenir." "I'm not sure I do either." "Hey, Jonny, I think I saw it move." "Now, let's not start that again."