Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-04-06


"a him and he had a dull impression
mat he was roped to a chair and that
4be chair itself was clamped 10 the
1oor His eyelids fiuttered weakly
snd he closed them instinctively as a
door opened behind him.
Two men were entering the ROOM
md one of them was chuckilng gee
g,Ilv as If he had just heard Sood
3olke Though his thoughts were wan
gai,,~ in a haze. ii occurred TO him
5ba+ If might be well to feign uncoh-
snioueness He closed his eyes tightly
nd sat motionless in the chair. Inc
40 men advanced until they stood IN
x,.ont of him. The Phantom felt their
ayes on his face. -
"Canitalp' exclaimed one Of them,
and he thought there was soLnetnlns
Familiar about the voice. 100 pau
49, nuke can't be here and see TINS!
Ii would do his soul good 10 see , nls
Ala enemy strapped to char wen,
Somers. l guess this VIII De tie Gu"
pf the GRAY Phantom.
& rrbe words stung the listener senses
like a whiplash. He tried TO ldehthH
4be voice. but he was unable to reca1
where he had heard 1t before.
.sNe've got him just where we want
him" remarked the man addressed as
Soners. land ] don't think he'll get
away from us this time. 1t VIII De
miracle if he does. -,
Not even a miracle can save nm.
The Phantom is done Ior' lou olu
good Job. Somers.
~0b II was easy enough. All we
had To do was to shoot some dope into
fine MOL. pose her in the window OF
the car. and drive past the place where
we had been tipped off we would ma
4ha phantom. | was just wondering
how to get him out Of the joint, when
he walks out of a doorway, catches
glimpse of the skirt, and rushes bnnd-
" into the trap 1t worked IKE
creased lightning. Looks as though
he'd be dead to the world for quite a
while yet"
The Phantom depressed smile. His
auperh constitution was already shak-
ing off the effects of the chloroform
GLOW is the little doll?" inquired
the first speaker. who seemed to be
q man of authority in the Dukes or
ganiZation.
"Chipper as a wild cat. She came
to shortly after we got here. That Kid
had spunk. and she's all there on looks.
/ don't blame the Gray Phantom Tor
falling for her / would myself"
"Santinent and business make a had
mixture. was the others dry COM
Don't let a pretty face bedevil you.
Somers. The young lady is here TO
serve our purpose. After that
He stopped. and the ensuing pause
somehow impressed the Phantom as
well. then, what?" asked Somers.
and there was a slight catch to his
voice.
''She is a. shrewd young thing and
4nn for Q00N.
Our safety demands that-but Wen
cross that bridge when we get to it. .
He laughed again, as if TO rid his
mind of unpleasant thoughts. Il can
scarcely realize that the Gray Phan-
tom is in our power at last. It's al.
most too good TO be true"
1T is true, though. Say, won't ne
get a Jolt when he comes out of the
daze and finds himself strapped to a
chair?"
THAT isn't the only Jolt that's in
store for him. Wen give him d
glimpse of the big show, just for the
moral effect it will have on him. Just
4 little eye-teaser, you know, Somers.
Is everything ready
READY to a dot. Want to have
look?"
The other answered afirmatlvely,
and the two men left the room. The
last part of the conversation had been
unintelligible to the Phantom, and he
did not try to puzzle it out. The I'M
finished sentence and its train OF
vaguely disturbing thoughts haunted
him. Helen Hardwick was to serve
some mysterious purpose. After that
he wondered why he felt a chill as
he tried to imagine the rest. me
words left unspoken suggested terri1y-
ing possibilities.
He opened his eyes. Evidently the
two men had extinguished the lights
upon leaving, for the room was dark.
With the fragmentary sentence still
echoing in his ears, he tore at the
ropes, but the attempt only bruised
his wrists.
Suddenly he sat still, his eyes fixed
on a tiny light that had appeared In
the back of the room. The point Of
iuninance grew larger and larger,
swelling into circle of pale radiance,
and in it's center he saw. something
that caused him to wonder whether he
was dreaming a. madman's dream.
Rigid in every fiber, the Phantom
stared at the circle of light, which
seemed to have appeared out of no
where. At first small as the head OF
a pin, ii gradually unfolded and ex'
banded, at the same time changing
from white into a pale greenlsh hue
that dissolved the surrounding dark
ness into translucent mist.
AS it grew larger, the light wrapped
itself around an object Of strange ap
pearance. It was gray as ashes anC
its shape gave forth a weird sugges
ton that it had once been a Twins
thing The pale, ghostly light thai
surrounded it like a ninbus gave II
monstrous character.
IA skull"' mumbled the Phantom
Under ordinary circumstances he coult
have looked upon it calmly, but tbs
stiffness and darkness, broken only by
the pallid glow in the distance, gave
the object a mystical touch that cas-
q spell over his senses.
His nerves had withstood physlca
fear in its most severe forms, but they
uuaYered a little before this subtle anc
bewiidering manifestation. His weak
ness uettled him and he closed his
ewes and sought to Danish the thing
from his mind, out the vision as i
fingered in his imagination was ever
more disturbing than the reality
Again he opened his eyes and looked
ffxedly TO one side. determined not II
let an inanimate thing Of bone upse
his nerves. A slight shiver ras
through him as, among the shadows
Mt the wall. he discerned a dim shape
lie COulu DdIeiy ulSbltiS NaSh AtS O@e
lines, but again he received an impress
sion Of something that had once pulses
with life and was now hollow an
dead. He peered sharply at tn
blurred shape standing grimly erect
few feet from his chair, and present..
he saw what it was.
Then he laughed, but the laugl
sounded trifle forced. He had seel
similar object before, I'm one of tn
glass cages in DR.. Bimble's labora
tory, but he had regarded 1t with n
stronger feeling than mild curiosity
Now, in the stiffness and gloom, tn
.inht a-anaa HIM feel II q dead han