The Secret of the Invisible Girl

by Clement Fezandié
One of Dr. Hackensaw’s Secrets
First published in Amazing Stories, July 1926, pp. 376-379, 384.

INTRODUCTION. Making oneself invisible has always been one of the great fascinations to the human race. And no wonder! Imagine all the mischief we could make, all the eavesdropping we could do, and all the secrets we could unravel!

Scientifically speaking, it is not impossible to make a body invisible. Recent experiments made by a New England professor of chemistry show that when certain liquids are injected into organic tissues, they become practically transparent. The professor succeeded in making small animals entirely transparent and practically invisible. Who knows that in the future, by some means of chemicals, combined with certain rays, it may not be possible for us to make ourselves entirely invisible?

We are sure you will enjoy the latest Dr. Hackensaw exploit of the Invisible Girl. How would you catch an invisible person? But nothing is impossible to Dr. Hackensaw, so see how he did it!

1. A Strange Offer

“Doctor Hackensaw, I’m looking for a place.”

“I’m sorry, my friend, but we have no vacancy at present.”

“My name is Phessenden Keene. Although I left school at the age of 15, I have studied at home and have the equivalent of a college education. I am very anxious to study inventing, and having heard a great deal about your marvelous inventions, I should like very much to work for you.”

“I’m sorry, but as I said before, there is no vacancy at present. In fact, this is the dull season and I have more men on hand now than I know what to do with.”

Phessenden Keene smiled. “I know,” said he, “that you have no vacancy for an ordinary man, but I am sure you have one for me!”

Doctor Hackensaw looked up in surprise at this conceited statement and was about to make an angry reply, but a look at the clean-cut, intelligent features of the young man before him, caused him to hold his tongue. The young fellow evidently had a strong will, for he continued:

“I know my own value better than you know it. I am so sure that you have a vacancy for me that I am willing to come to work for you for nothing.”

“Thank you,” replied Doctor Hackensaw, coldly, “but I desire to pay my assistants for their work. Besides, as I said before, there is no work for you to do.”

“I’ll find work,” replied the young man confidently, “and plenty of it. Besides, I am willing to do all the dirtiest and most disagreeable work on the place. I will black the boots, clean out the spittoons or the drains, attend to the furnace, shovel snow, and so on. I will be your porter and carry heavy bundles for you to any part of the city.”

“Give him a trial, Pop,” whispered Miss Pep Perkins, who, seated at her typewriter, had overheard the conversation and was pleased with the young man’s looks.

“How can you live if I don’t pay you any salary?” asked Doctor Hackensaw of the young man.

“I have a couple of hundred dollars laid by that I saved penny by penny from my wages on a ranch, where I worked for a while. I can make that last me for a year, and I know that long before that time I can convince you that my services are invaluable.”

“And if I am not convinced?”

“In that case, I won’t ask for anything.”

“Very well, I’ll engage you on your own terms. You are to do all the hardest and most disagreeable work on the place and are not to receive a cent in return.”

“Thank you.”

“When will you begin?”

“Right away! I see the windows in the next room haven’t been washed for a month. I’ll begin by cleaning those—” and five minutes later, provided with a pail of water and a rag, the young fellow was industriously polishing away at the windows, which soon shone as they had never shone before.

“Well, Pep,” asked the Doctor, “what do you think of that young fellow and his proposition?”

“I don’t know what to think, but I like his looks.”

“So do I. But for all that he may be a burglar, and may be choosing this means to learn where all the valuables on the place are kept. I have millions of dollars worth of unpatented ideas that an intelligent chap like him could steal.”

“He looks like an honest fellow.”

“Looks don’t count for much. The only other explanation I can see for his offer, is that he has fallen in love with you, Pep, and has chosen this way of coming near you.” And Doctor Hackensaw smiled mischievously.

“Nonsense!” cried Pep, blushing, but seemingly not at all displeased with the idea.

Whatever the reason, young Keene soon made his services veritably invaluable. He came early and stayed late and worked industriously all the time. One of his first jobs was to make a grand house-cleaning. Room by room he went over the whole establishment, opening every neglected cupboard and cleaning it thoroughly. He timed his work so well, and did it so neatly as never to occasion discomfort to anyone. He did more. He made a card catalogue of every document and every object in the place with a hieroglyph, to indicate where the thing was to be found. It was soon learned that if anyone wanted some particular thing, there was no sense in hunting for it, for Keene could lay his hands on it in a minute.

2. The Z-Ray Photograph

“Doctor Hackensaw, I’ve got something peculiar to show you!”

The speaker was Phessenden Keene, bronzed from sunburn, and just returned from a trip to Central Africa, where he had been sent on a confidential mission by the Doctor.

Keene was now Doctor Hackensaw’s right-hand man. His declaration that he would make himself indispensable was no vain boast. Before he had been in the Doctor’s service a week, it was evident that he was a man of extraordinary abilities and energy. Doctor Hackensaw, however, in order to make the test thorough, kept him at work a whole month, without any salary. At the end of that time, he made him a princely offer for his services, and needless to say, the boot-blacking and spittoon-cleaning ceased immediately. The man was too valuable to be allowed to spend his time in such duties.

Finally, the Doctor, needing a confidential man to send to Africa, had entrusted Keene with the mission. Poor Pep Perkins was brokenhearted at his departure, because her admiration for this unique specimen of a man was unbounded. She had at last found a man who made her heart go “tick-tack”!

Keene was now back from Africa, and it was after his business report that he exclaimed:

“Doctor Hackensaw, I’ve got something peculiar to show you.”

“What is it?” asked the Doctor.

“It’s a little memento I brought back from my African trip. As you know, I had with me some of the special cameras you invented for taking photographs at night without the need of flashlights.”

“Yes,” said Doctor Hackensaw. “I gave you photographic plates of two kinds. I gave you plates that were sensitive to electric, emanations so that you could take photos of the ‘aura’ that surrounds living beings.”

“Precisely,” said Keene. “What you call the Z-ray plates. Well, the curious thing I have to show you is one of the Z-ray photographs I took near Mongalla. I think you will find it rather curious!”

So saying, Phessenden Keene took from his pocket a photograph which he handed to the Doctor, and Pep left cleaning her typewriter in order to get a better view.

The photograph represented what appeared to be a beautiful young girl in a state of nature, but surrounded by an aura of electric emanations.

“Well, what is there peculiar about this?” asked the Doctor. “It’s just an ordinary photograph of a young lady, taken on a special plate in order to show the ‘aura.’ ”

“No, indeed,” replied Keene. “I took that snapshot in bright sunlight, and not a trace of a girl could I see. It was a bird I was photographing and I hadn’t the faintest idea there was a girl anywhere near me. Doctor Hackensaw, do you believe there are such things as invisible creatures?”

“Well, yes there are. In the water there are certain animals like jellyfishes that are so transparent that they are practically invisible. Among the animalcules too, there are many whose small size renders them invisible, and there are some that are so transparent that we cannot see them until they are stained even with a microscope. That is what makes it so difficult to discover the specific microbe that causes a disease. We must find some stain that will make the microbe visible, and this isn’t always easy. The celebrated Ehrhardt had to try no less than 606 different stains before he found one that would color the microbes that cause syphilis. Once he found the proper stain, however, he was able to incorporate drugs with it, and was thus enabled to have his drugs carried into the bodies of the microbes. But, while invisible beings are common in the microscopic world, we know of no large invisible animals.”

“Then the original of this photograph is the first one,” said Keene, “and I wish to ask your permission to return to Africa and try to capture her.”

“Why didn’t you try while you were over there?”

“I unfortunately didn’t develop the negative until after my return to the United States.”

“Well,” assented the Doctor. “A search for an invisible girl is worse than a search for a needle in a haystack, but the thing is so curious that we ought to make the attempt. I’ll order my rapid airplane and Pep and I will go with you.”

3. Bunches of Bananas for Bait

“Here we are, Doctor,” exclaimed Phessenden Keene. “This is the very spot where I took the snapshot, as you can see by comparing it with the photograph.”

“Even now,” said Pep, “I don’t see how we can ever hope to find the invisible girl. Pop spoke of its being as hard as looking for a needle in a haystack, but it seems to me much harder.”

“Yes,” assented the Doctor, “but to a scientist there would he no difficulty in finding a needle in a haystack. He would merely spread out the hay and pass a strong electromagnet over it, and in a few minutes the needle would be found clinging to the magnet.”

“Perhaps so,” said Pep, “but at least you can see the needle when you do find it. Here we can’t see the girl, and even if she were right in front of us and we took a snapshot of her with the Z-rays, she would probably be gone by the time the negative was developed.”

Doctor Hackensaw smiled. “You forget, Pep,” said he, “that we have other senses besides the sense of sight. Besides there are ways of making the invisible visible. Don’t imagine for an instant that I have come unprepared. I have in fact several strings to my how. You will remember that we stopped awhile in Mongalla and I heard news there that will be of use to us. Hunting parties out after lions or elephants have noticed the mysterious disappearance of their provisions. Bunches of bananas disappear, and also the strips of hippopotamus meat that they hang up to dry. This knowledge will be very useful to us. The girl evidently has no way of obtaining provisions except by stealing them; hence a bunch of fine bananas would make a tempting bait.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Pep, “that’s the reason you loaded up the airplane with such quantities of bunches of bananas!”

“Precisely. Our first job is to locate the girl. To do this we will hang up small bunches of bananas at likely spots near the White Nile, where she must go for water. And when tomorrow we find one or two of the bunches missing, we may strongly suspect one invisible girl of being the culprit.”

It was no easy task tramping through the wilds, for caution was necessary, as lions, leopards, and elephants abounded in the region and even the crocodiles were dangerous, the post-boat captain having informed our adventurers that he had had two of his men devoured by crocodiles the past year.

Fortunately, most of the wild animals had acquired a real wholesome dread of man. Even a herd of elephants would fly from a single person. It is a curious sight to see a herd of these huge monsters quietly feeding when a single man comes to windward of them. First one trunk goes up into the air as the man’s scent is wafted to the herd. Then another and another trunk is raised and moves about until the direction of the scent is located. Then the whole herd marches briskly away at a rate no ordinary hunter can attain.

When all the bait was hung up, carefully suspended out of the reach of elephants, the party returned in their airplane to Mongalla to spend the night. The next morning they returned to examine the bait, and to their joy they found several of the bunches of bananas missing. In most of the places no tracks could be found in the hard earth, but near one of the trees a small footprint could be plainly discerned in the sand.

“There’s our young lady!” cried the Doctor, “and I propose that we name her ‘Lily Foote.’ It will be handy to have some name to know her by.”

“Yes, when we catch her,” muttered Pep to herself.

“Now,” said the Doctor, “the problem is, shall we try to trap her here, or shall we follow her to her den, for she must have a lair somewhere, safe from the wild beasts?”

“How could you follow her?” asked Keene. “It would be easy enough if we had a good dog, but you can get nothing of the kind here.”

“I have something better than a dog,” answered Doctor Hackensaw, “I have my trusty old ‘super-nose’ or smell amplifier. It is really nothing but a series of half a dozen specially constructed audions designed to amplify smells instead of sounds.”

Calling one of his Nubian servants, Doctor Hackensaw took from one of the bags a small case, which he fastened like a knapsack on his back. Two tubes projected from the instrument—one somewhat rigid with a flaring end, which the Doctor held over the scent. The other tube ended in a small mask which fitted over the Doctor’s nose. Thus equipped, Doctor Hackensaw could follow a scent better than the very best hunting dog.

Starting at the footprint, the doctor had no difficulty in picking up the trail, and started along it, followed by his friends and the Negro porters. For several miles he pursued his quarry in this manner when he came to a tall tree and then paused and looked up into the branches. Nothing was visible.

“She climbed up here,” said the Doctor, “and is here yet, unless she came down on the other side.” He made a rapid tour of the tree and then returned. “She is still up in the tree. All we’ve got to do now is to catch her!”

“Yes, that’s all,” returned Keene, sarcastically. “But how are you going to catch a girl you can’t see? I brought a lariat with me, but how are you going to lasso a girl unless you can see her?”

“I have an answer for that,” returned Doctor Hackensaw, “for I have brought with me several pairs of specially constructed ‘electrical spectacles’.”

“What are they?”

“They are spectacles so constructed that they make electrical emanations visible. This invisible girl is, as we know by her photograph, surrounded by an aura. These spectacles will make that aura visible to us, and it will be our own fault if we do not catch the girl.”

A moment later, the Doctor, Pep and Keene were each equipped with the unique spectacles and were gazing intently up the tree. But the girl was well concealed in the leaves and they could see nothing.

“Never mind, I’ll climb up with my lariat, and if I see her, we’ll soon have her. I’ve lassoed plenty of wild cattle on the ranches out west.”

A moment later, the young fellow, with his slip-noose in his hand, was ascending the tree, while Pep and the Doctor looked eagerly from below.

“I see her!” cried Keene, and as he shouted the words, a rustling in the leaves was heard.

“I see her too,” cried Pep, “or rather I see what looks like the shadow of a girl. She’s coming down the tree, letting herself drop from branch to branch like a monkey.”

It was a most peculiar sight, the aura of this invisible girl as she rapidly descended. But she was no match for a western cowboy like Keene. He watched her descent, bracing himself against the trunk of the tree, and seizing his opportunity, shot the loop of his lariat over her shoulders and pulled it tight. The girl made a spring, but hung dangling helpless from the rope.

“I’ve got her,” cried Keene, “I’ll let her down to you carefully, but I recommend you to tie her tightly until we can get her into the cage we brought for her. She looks like a slippery customer!”

4. Conclusion.

“Here we are, back in New York again!” cried Doctor Hackensaw, gaily, five days later, as his swift airplane entered its hangar. “Our first job now will be to teach Aura to speak.”

Aura was the name that had finally been decided upon for the invisible girl. “Lily Foote” did not seem very satisfactory. The girl evidently possessed a language of her own, and a few Arabic and Shilluck words that she had evidently overheard the natives use, but otherwise knew nothing and owned nothing. As Miggs expressed it, when they found her, “she didn’t even have a pagoda on.” (He evidently meant kimono.) Miggs had been the airplane pilot on their expedition.

Doctor Hackensaw, with his usual foresight, had realized that if they caught the girl they would have to have some means of making her visible. Accordingly he had brought along a trousseau for her. It didn’t fit very well, but was more suitable than the electric aura which had been her sole garment previously. To render her face visible, he had also brought along a vanity-ease, and when her cheeks were powdered and her lips painted, and she was attired in modern costume, you couldn’t have told her from an ordinary girl except for the absence of visible eyes. A pair of spectacles, however, concealed this defect.

Phessenden Keene fell in love with Aura at first sight, and poor Pep was madly jealous, for in the whole-souled breezy westerner she had at last found a man who had won her heart. But she was a good girl and managed to conceal her feelings. She was very good indeed to her rival, who evidently returned Keene’s affections.

Keene spent hours teaching Aura how to speak, and also training her in the elements of civilization, for she knew less than a child.

Unfortunately, the climate of Now York did not agree with her. She who in the tropics could stand a, dry heat of 120° F., suffered under a damp heat of 90° F., and three months after her arrival in the United States, she became ill, and in spite of Doctor Hackensaw's strenuous efforts to save her, died.

Keene was inconsolable for a long time, but some years later he married Pep, and the pair were very happy together. Migg’s heart almost broke at the time, for he was devoted to Pep, but he finally consoled himself with a peroxide blonde.

As for Doctor Hackensaw, he is still alive and still continues making his wonderful inventions.