The Mystery of Wandering Caveman - M. V. Carey [25]
Then there was stillness.
Pete stepped backward, as if he might run. Bob made a move towards the closed door, and Pete caught his arm.
“Don’t!” whispered Pete. “Suppose it’s … “
He didn’t explain. He didn’t have to. The other two understood. Suppose the cave man had walked again. Suppose he had escaped from the captor who held him for ransom, and the long-dead bones had somehow assumed flesh once more, and the ancient creature was there, crouched in the hidden room, armed! Armed? With what?
“Impossible!” said Jupiter bravely. He ran forward and went up the two steps. As he did so, there was another noise — a noise as if something had touched the door, rattling it slightly.
Jupe put his hand on the doorknob, and then he froze. A prickle of horror stirred his scalp.
The knob was turning under his hand. It was turning by itself! Then the old hinges groaned in protest, and the door began to open!
“Good night!” exclaimed Dr. Hoffer, his hand still on the knob of the vestry door.
“You startled me. I didn’t know anyone was here.”
Jupiter was still trembling, but he managed to smile. “We were exploring,” he said.
Hoffer walked through the vestry door into the church. The boys could see that there was a small room behind him, with a door leading to the outside.
“You boys want to be careful,” said Hoffer. “This is private property. It belongs to the Lewison family. They own a big house on the far side of the hill. I have permission to come here, but I don’t think they like strangers.”
He sat down on the steps that separated the altar area from the rest of the church.
“It’s amazing how things never really change,” he said. “There is an empty building in the neighbourhood, and I find you three exploring it. I would have done the same thing when I was a youngster. When I was your age, there was a vacant house up our neighbourhood in Milwaukee. We found unlocked windows and we got in and established a clubhouse in the cellar. It was very pleasant there — not infested with people like parents and teachers.”
Dr. Hoffer stopped and sneezed. He took out a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes.
“It’s that hay fever again,” he said. “I’m always having allergic reactions to things.
It’s what prompted my interest in immunity.”
He stood up. “This is as far as I’ll go today,” he said. “Something in the air isn’t agreeing with me. Are you boys coming back to the village? If I were you, I don’t think I’d explore further. Edward Lewison has been known to take a shotgun to trespassers.”
“Like somebody else we know,” said Jupe. “Newt McAfee.”
“Then let’s go back to the village,” said Pete.
The boys followed Dr. Hoffer out through the vestry.
“You’re interested in allergies?” said Jupe as they plunged into the woods. “But you became an immunologist. I thought people who took care of allergies were allergists.”
“They are,” said Hoffer. “However, one thing leads to another. An immunity is a sort of allergic reaction.”
“It is?” said Bob.
Hoffer nodded. “Our bodies have various ways of defending themselves. They can produce things called antibodies. The antibodies destroy invading viruses and bacteria, or they cancel the poisons that come from the tiny invaders. If you get German measles, for example, your body will produce antibodies to fight the disease.
Once that happens, you won’t get the disease again because the antibodies remain in your system. So we say that you’re immune to German measles.
“Now suppose your body produces antibodies in reaction to things that don’t bother most people. Say you’re allergic to a certain pollen. Your body will produce antibodies that react with the pollen, and it will release a chemical compound called histamine. This makes your nose swell and your eyes water.
“So our immune system saves our lives when it fights disease, but it can make our lives miserable when it gets out of control. I believe that many more human ills are due to breakdowns of the immune system than is commonly thought.
“Suppose a person’s body produces chemicals that make his joints swell up, the way the mucus