Evening star., 1927-04-04
CONTINUED From Page Twenty-slxl J

thrust into the opening. pair Of
! startled eyes stared at him for mo-
/ ment-and in that brief space of
time the Phantom acted, His foot
shot out, delivering a sharp blow in
! the region OF the nose and eyes With
/ "A cry of pain the man tottered back
blood streaming from his face.
! The Phantom extinguished his flash
/ and Gung it through the opening
/ Toots, evidently wondering what haC
4 happened, was jahbering eXcitediy
/ but Slim gave no sound. With a swift
/ and agile movement the Phantom
jerked himself forward, dropping his
| legs over the SILL and in another mo-
ment he was standing inside the room
! He stopped, ran his fingers over the
! floor and recovered the electric torch
1 then darted noiselessly TO one side, a
/ pistol shot sounded, followed by a
sharp thud as the bullet hit the wall
! a few feet from where he stood
/ He leaped silently across the floor
| The brief flash emitted by the pistol
mao given him a glimpse Of Slim at
| the opposite wall Before the man
/ could move. the butt of the Phantoms
pistol had crashed down on his head
Uttering a feeble grunt, he sank limp
| ~ 10 the floor, and in the same instant
came another crack and flash. and a
! buffet syhistled past the Phantoms
! head
/ You almost winged me that time,
/ Toots." he remarked coolly, at the
same moment dropping TO his knees
and nOisclesSly crawling toward where
| Toots stood with his back to the door
Another shot fired at random, lighted
| up ,he room for a brief instant, giving
/ him another glimpse of his adversary
Swiftly and without making the
/ slightest sound, he advanced toward
/ the door Now he reached out a hand
| fumbled for a moment in the darkness
until he lightly touched one of Toots
| shoes. With a swift and powerful mo-
| tion he jerked the mans feet from
upder him.
! The Phantom sprang to his feet and
/ rushed out of the room, turning the
| key in the lock on the other side
/ He paused for breath while he
| brushed some of the dirt from his
| clothes lie had vanquished his ad-
| versaries, but possibly the shots had
| been heard and haste was necessary.
/ He ran to the front of the store. The
Istreet outside was quiet and dimly
lighted. Cautiously he opened the
door and stepped out, casting a quick
glance mp and down the street.
lie made a few rapid calculations as
he walked to the corner. II Culligore
had fallen into the clutches of the
| Dukes gang, as seemed likely from
the remark dropped by Slim, then he
was still reasonably safe so far as the
| police were concerned. Yet, for the
| first time in many years, the Phan-
tom was haunted by misgivings Each
thought of Helen Hardwick burned
| itself into his mind, leaving a scar.
The realization that the Dukes min
| ions had her in their power was mad
dening. He felt an urge to find her at
once and snatch her away from her
| jailers
Yet, at almost every step, he was
! hampered by the designs of his enc
mics. There were traps and snares
everywhere. He had just escaped from
one Of them, but another time he
might not escape so easily, and what
would become of Helen then?
He shuddered at the thought. His
mind was as keen and his muscles as
| plant as ever, but he was playing
| against overwhelming odds, and the
mere thought of defeat was unbear-
able. To ask help of the police was
out of the question. His old organiza-
tion was scattered to the four corners
Of the earth. Wade. his former chief
lieutenant and now his trusted friend,
SGs
and to reach him would be difficult.
Suddenly he thought of Thomas
Granger. The reporters journalistic
instincts, coupled with his fondness|
for strong drink, had given the Phan-
tom the feeling that he was not to be
trusted. Those two qualities aside,
he had rather liked the fellow. Granger
had traits that appealed to him
strongly. lie reconsidered the ques-
tion as he stood on the corner, glanc-
ing furtively in all directions to see
whether he was being spied upon.
In few moments his mind was
| made up For HeIen's sake he must
seek assistance somewhere and he
was in no position to be squeamish
about his choice. A glance at his
watch told him that 1t was half-past
IL PeIl street was only dozen short
blocks away. and a brisk walk brought
him to Peng Yuen's door.
The wooden featured Chinaman
scanned his face as he held the door
open and bade him enter.
There is fire in your eyes," he OBJ
served as he conducted his guest into
the den. us it the little Lotus Bud
who is troubling the Gray Phantom?
The Book of the Unknown Philoso-
pher' says"
The Phantom interrupted him with
a short laugh. "Peng Yuen. for a man
who doesn't read the newspapers, you
are surprisingly well informed. / have
come TO have a talk with my double.
The Chinaman regarded him stonily.
Two incense sticks, burning before
hideous joss idol, filed the air with
acrid fumes. Peng Yuen, sucking
bamboo pipe with gorgeous tassels,
oA 20 10 n
i'm his mind
Il think your friend is sleeping"
he said at length.
Then wake him." directed the
Phantom impatiently.
The Chinaman shrugged his shoul-
ders and touched button on the wall,
then motioned the Phantom to enter.
Granger was in bed, but he looked up
gloomily and stretched himself There
was litter of cigarette ends on the
table, and torn and crumpled news
papers were scattered over the floor.
Hope you've brought me drink,
said Granger.
The Phantom shook his head. Then
he sat down on the edge of the bed
and fixed the reporters face with a
keen and minutely searching gaze, as
IL exploring the depths OF his soul.
Whats the idea?" asked the re-
porter. you look ST me as II were
some kind Of a curiosity"
There was a faint hint of doubt in
the Phantom's face, but it vanished
soon.
~ think you win do,'' he declared.
There's just one quality in your face,
Granger, that I can't quite analyze.
It's a weakness Of some kind-your
craving for alcohol, perhaps Any
way, I am willing TO take a chance on
it. You are going with me-"
The reporter sat up, his face all
ca frpvOeGS