
Doc Savage's strange golden eyes roved over the assembled men; from Renny, whose knowledge of
engineering in all its branches was profound, to Long Tom, who was an electrical wizard, to Johnny,
whose fund of information on the structure of the earth and ancient races which had inhabited it was
extremely vast, to Ham, the clever Harvard lawyer and quick thinker, and finally to Monk, who, in spite
of his resemblance to a gorilla, was a great chemist.
In these five men, Doc knew he had five of the greatest brains ever to assemble in one group. Each was
surpassed in his field by only one human being—Doc Savage himself.
"I think you can guess why you are here," Doc said.
Monk rubbed his hairy hands together. Of the six men present, Monk's skin alone bore scars. The skin
of the others held no marks of their adventurous past, thanks to Doc's uncanny skill in causing wounds to
heal without leaving scars.
But not Monk. His tough, rusty iron hide was so marked with gray scars that it looked as if a flock of
chickens with gray-chalk feet had paraded on him. This was because Monk refused to let Doc treat him.
Monk gloried in his tough looks.
"Our big job is about to start, huh?" said Monk, vast satisfaction in his mild voice.
Doc nodded. "The work to which we shall devote the rest of our lives."
At that statement, great satisfaction appeared upon the face of every man present. They showed
eagerness for what was to come.
Doc dangled a leg from the corner of the table. Unwittingly—for he knew nothing of the red-fingered
killer lurking in the distant skyscraper that was under construction—Doc had placed his back out of line
with the window. In fact, since the men had entered, he had not once been aligned with the window.
"We first got together back in the War," he told the five slowly. "We all liked the big scrap. It got into our
blood. When we came back, the humdrum life of an ordinary man was not suited to our natures. So we
sought something else."
Doc held their absolute attention, as if he had them hypnotized. Undeniably this golden-eyed man was the
leader of the group, as well as leader of anything he undertook. His very being denoted a calm
knowledge of all things, and an ability to handle himself under any conditions.
"Moved by mutual admiration for my father," Doc continued, "we decided to take up his work of good
wherever he was forced to leave off. We at once began training ourselves for that purpose. It is the cause
for which I had been reared from the cradle, but you fellows, because of a love of excitement and
adventure, wish to join me."
Doc Savage paused. He looked over his companions. One by one, in the soft light of the well-furnished
office, one of the few remaining evidences of the wealth that once belonged to his father.
"Tonight," he went on soberly, "we begin carrying out the ideals of my father—to go here and there, from
one end of the world to the other, looking for excitement and adventure, striving to help those who need
help, and punishing those who deserve it."
THERE was a somber silence after that immense pronunciation.
It was Monk, matter-of-fact person that he was, who shattered the quiet.