Amazing Stories, Vol. 3, No. 2 — page 7: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

FOUR. DIMENSIONAL ROBBERIES by Boh Olsen Author of ‘‘Four Dimensional Surgery,” ete: HEN you are told that more than a billion dollars worth of bonds and other valuables were stolen within a few weeks from safe deposit boxes throughout the United States, you will realize how imperative it was that the criminal responsible for these stupendous robberies should be apprehended as quickly as possible. The true state of affairs never became generally known, of course. Had even the slightest inkling of the tremendous and far-reaching effects of the thefts leaked out to the public, it would undoubtedly have caused the most disastrous panic in the history of the world. You can easily imagine what would happen if it were suddenly discovered that a safe deposit vault—which has always been universally accepted as the one and only place where valuables may be stored with abso- lute safety——was no longer immune from theft. Though this fact was known only to a few: persons, that was exactly the situation that obtained at the time I learned the truth about -the great safe deposit robberies. That I happened to be drawn into this extraordinary case was as fortuitous as some of the other preposter- ous things which had happened to me within the pre- ceding few months. . Possibly you already know about the Hyper-Forceps, which I constructed under the direction of Professor Banning, the eminent authority on Four Dimensional: Mathematics.* With this device it was possible to grasp an object and, by moving it through the fourth dimension, lit it from in- side a closed receptacle perience like this would suffice to deter Professor Ban- ning from any further inclination to experiment with the mysteries of four-dimensional phenomena, but such was not the case, He insisted that he was pledged to devote his entire sabbatical year to the development of four-dimensional surgery and other practical applica- tions of hyper-spacial theory, and nothing—not even the risk of annihilation—could induce him to deviate from his plans, However, he did consent to take a protracted vacation lulgence which he had not enjoyed for over six Tt was characteristic of the man that he chose years, ‘to visit England, France, Austria and Norway, chiefly for the reason that in each of these countries there was an eminent scholar who had done original work in developing four-dimensional mathematics. This left me with little to do, although I was still under contract to assist Professor Banning and Doctor Mayer for the remainder. of the year. I offered to cancel the agreement and even urged them to release me, but this they declined to do. Professor Banning insisted that as soon as he returned from abroad fie intended to resume his experiments in the practical applications of four-dimensional mathematics and that he would need me to help him carry out the mechanical details of his work. I was told to take two months’ leave of absence on full pay. Professor Banning gave me permission to use his books, including one a the most complete libraries on hyper- -space that has ever been assembled, and suggested a course of reading for me, but he did not insist on my doing this. without in any way disturb- ing the container. It was designed specifically for re- moving gallstones and for- eign substances from within a person’s body without cutting the patient’s skin. You will recall that it Dimensional Hy per-Forceps. F course, you will remember the preceding story by Bob Olsen, in. which acquaintance was made with the Four In. this story, more about the fourth dimension, a good deal of which ts probably new to most of our readers. knack for handling a subject that usually is only understood by mathematicians in such a way that it becomes plain and understandable on its face to all of us. In fact, it was left entirely up to me to decide how I should occupy myself dur- ing his absence. Up to this time, my ex- periences with four-dimen- sional devices had in some respects been rather unfor- ze learn alot Our author has a was during an attempt to perform an operation of this sort that the Hyper- Forceps was caught by some mysterious cosmic force and was snatched into four dimensional space, drawing with it the bodies of Doctor Paul Mayer and his patient, Professor Banning. Thanks to quick thinking on the part of Doctor Mayer, with a slight amount of assist- ance from me, a tragedy was averted and the two wanderers into hyper-space were brought safely back to our three-dimensional world. ' One might reasonably suppose that a harrowing ex- * “Pour Dimensional Surgery,” published in the February issue of AMAZING STORIES. 102 tunate. Yet I could: give them credit for putting me in close touch with these internationally famous men, namely: William Sidelberg, Professor Banning and the two Mayer brothers. It was about a month after Professor Banning’s de- parture that Great Man Number Five appeared on the scene. He was none other than William Dern, head of the great detective agency that bears his name. “Two gentlemen in the lobby to see you,” was the phone message I received from the clerk in the Win: chester Hotel: Taking it for granted that they were reporters, ae said, “Send them up.” Commichookxs.com