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Show Flaming HOB EET W CtiAMBE: i" Qx&iq. oeouge H-Doeuvn cctvi'-iAfir BEGIN HERE TODAY j Twice had the beautiful l. E STRAYJSR br;n nonr death that day, twice had she barHy eacaped with her lift; irom the hanl3 of men who fousrht with blind frenzy In the i Adirondack woods to gxiln posSes-j posSes-j Ion of the gem of priceless worth, the Flaming Jewel, which her rougn and law-breaking stop-father, MIKE CLINCH, madly hoarded as the I means of. giving her "the-, education I of a lady." I Klrsf stolen from the refugee 1 I '1 NTKSS OF -STHONIA, by i yL'NiTAXA, th" great International thief, and then Ktolcn from Quln-tniia Quln-tniia by Clinch, the Jewel had reached reach-ed America and was now under Eve's pillow ai she recovered from her tn-atrmnt ai tho hands of ejuln-tuna ejuln-tuna and the murderer, Leverett, Clinch was now In the woods, savagely sav-agely lnU-nt on wiping out eulntana's gang, and with him waa. JAMES DARRAOH, known as ! HAL SMITH, who, unknown to Clinch, had sworn to rostoro the Jewel to Hi. bewared ( ountcsa. Guarding live was TROOPER STO RMONT, the man she suddenly realized she loved. ti I 1 1 i STOR1 EPISODE Si CLINCH'S lUMP CHAPTER 1 hen Mil." Clinch bad- Hal Smith ! return to the Hump and take care of Eve, Smith already had d i ided to go I there. Somewhere in Clinch's Dump was I hidden the Flaming Jewel Now wan' the time to starch for It. There wore two other reasons why he should go back. Une of them was that Leverett was loose, if anything had culled Trooper Stormont away. Eve would be alone In the house. And j nobody on earth could forecast what a coward like Leverett might attempt But there was another and more serious se-rious reason for returning to Clinch's I Dump. Clinch, blood-mad, was h ad-ed ad-ed for Drowned Valley with his men, I to stop both ends ol that vast mor- I ajs before ijulntana and his gang could get out. It was evident that neither Climb nor any of his men although their t- lis depended upon familiarity With the wilderness know that a j ! third exit from browned Valley existed. exist-ed. And that was why Darragh, or Hal Smith, finally decided to return to Star Pond - because Qulntrtna had been told or had dlscoered that clr-cultoua clr-cultoua way out of Drowned Vallcv j he might go .straight to Clinch's i Dump And, supposing Stor mont was still (here, how long could one State Trooper stand off Qulntana's gang.' No sooner had Clinch and his motley mot-ley followers disappeared In the dusk than Smith unslung hlo basket-pack. fished out a big electric torch, flashed It tentatively, and. then re-sllnglng the p-ek. and taking his rifle In his let hand, he set off at an easy swinging swing-ing stride. For a long while he did not dare to uso his torch; but now he was obliged to. He shined the ground at his feet, elevated th- ioicu with infinite precaution, pre-caution, throwing a fan-shaped light over the btretch of sink he had inspected ins-pected and feared. It fianKf-d the Hat, wet pnth of rock on either side. Hito De.lh : pn-ud its slimy trap at his erjr feet Then, as he stood taking his bearings, bear-ings, with burning torch, far ahead In the darkness a light flashed, went out. flashed twice mor-, and was extinguished. extin-guished. Qulntana! Smith' wlts were working like lightning, but Instinct guided him before be-fore his brain took command. He leveled lev-eled his torch and repeated the three signal flashes Then. In darkness, he camo to a swift conclusion. For 300 yards, counting his strides, he continued on. Then In total darkness, dark-ness, ho pocketed Ihr- torch, slid a cartridge Into the breech of his rifle, slung the weapon, pulled out a hand-Kerchief, hand-Kerchief, and tied it across his face under the -yes Ho continued to move forward After a little while his ear caught a slight splash ahead Suddenly a glaie of light enveloped him. "Ia It you, Harry Heck?" Instinct led again whllo wits worked work-ed madly "Harry Beck Is two miles back on guard. here Is Sard " The silence became terrible. Onre the glaring light In front moved, thn became fixed There was a light splashing Instantly Smith realized that the man In front had set his torch In a tree-crotch and was now cowering cower-ing behind a leveled weapon Hla volco came presently "Hot Drap-a that-a gun. damn quick !" Smith bent, leisurely, and laid hit rifle on a mossy rock. "Now! You thero! Why you want Sard! Eh7" I I'll tell Sard, not you." retorted Smith coolly. "You listen to me. whoever who-ever von are I'm from Sard's office In New York. I'm Abrams. The police po-lice are on their way here to find Qulntana." I A movement might have meant 'death, but ho calmly rummaged for a rlgaret. lighted It. blew a cloud ln-Isolently ln-Isolently Coward ihe white glare ahe-ad. TUen ho took another chance: I guess you're N'lrk Salzar, aren't j you ?" "SI! I nm Salazar TVh the devil are you?" j "I'm Eddie Abrams. Sard's lawyer My business In to find my client. If you stop me you'll go to prison the Whole gang of a ou Sard. Quintans.. I T'leuuet. Sam-he. cJeorgladrs and Harry Bcc); and you!" After a dead silence "Maybe you'll go to the chair, ttoo!" It wa-? the third chance he took. There was a dreadful stillness In thft wood Finally came a slight series of splashes; the crunch of heavy boots on rock. "For Why you coni-a here, eh" de-Imanded de-Imanded Salzar in a less aggressive manner. What-a da matt', eh?" "Well," said Smith, "if you've got to know, there aro people from Es-thonlfl Es-thonlfl In New York ... if you understand un-derstand I b.i t." "Christ! ! When do I hey arrive ." . week ago. Sard's place Is In the hands of the police. I couldn't st"p them They've got his safe and all his papers 'lty, stat and federal of-fli of-fli . rs are looking for him. The constabulary con-stabulary rode into Ghost Lake yesterday yes-terday Now. don't you think you'd better lend me to Sard 7" "Chrlstl!" exclaimed Salzar. Sard h Is a milo ahead with the others Damn! Damn! Me, how should I know what Is to bo done? Me J have mv orders from QuInLana. What, I do, eh? Chrlstl" What to do? h:it you say I should do eh. AbramsT" A new fear had succeeded tho old one that was evident and Salzar I came forward Into tho light of his own fixed torch a well-knit figure in slouch hat, gray shirt, ;-ind gray: breeches, and wearing a red bandanna over the lower part of his face. He carried a heavy rifle. .smith said slowly: "If Qulntana Is marchlni? on Clinch's he's marching Into a trap'" S-alzar blanched above his bandanna bandan-na "The state troopers are ther." said Smith "They'll get him sure." "Christi." filtered Salzar. " then they are gobble Quintana, Sard, everybody SI?" He glared at South started to move, came back and took his torch, mndc a violent gesture with It which drenched drench-ed the woods with goblin light. I "You stop-a Qulntana, maybe You tell-a heem he is the blRg-a fool You ! tell-a heem Nick Salzar Is no damn fool. No. Salzar Is no damn fool j No Adlos. my frlen Abrunis I beat it I rive my skin." "Salzar." Smith called sharply. Th man halted and looked around. "Coma bnck." Salzar hesltatert. turned finally, slouched toward him Smith la Id asido his pack and rifle, and. as Salzar came up. he quietly i took b's weapon from him and laid It beside bis own. What-a da matt'" demanded Sal-I car. astonished 'Why you tak-a my gun ?' Smith measured him. They were j well matched. "Set your torch in that crotch." he said. s.ilzar, puzzled nnd impatient, do-, do-, manded to know why. Sm!th took ; both torches, set them opposite eacn Other and drew Sal.ar Into the white ! glare. "Now," he said "yoXl dirty desper-ago. desper-ago. I am going to try to kill y ou clean. I Look out for yourself. " I For a second Balsar stood rooted ' In blank astonishment "I'm one of Clinch s men." said Smith, "but I can't stick a knife In I your back, nt that Now, take care J of yourself If you can " His voice died In his throat; Salzar Sal-zar was on him. clawing biting kick-1 , lng, str!ing to strangle him, to wrestle I him off h'.s fcot. Smith reeled, stag-1 I gerlng, under the sheer rush of tho1 man, almost blinded by blows, clutch- ed. bewildered In Salrar's p anther grip. "I keel you i keel you. Damn' Damn ' panted Salzar. in convulsive fury as Smith freed his left arm and ; strud him In the faee. Now. on the narrow, wet and slip-1 pery strip of rock they .-waved to anu fro. murderously interlocked, their heavy boots splashing, battling With limb and body, Twice Salzar forced Smith outwarc over tho sink, trying to end it but COUld not free himself. Once, too, he managed to get at a hidden knife, drag it out and "tab at head and throat, but Smith caught the flat th.it wielded it, forced bai k the arm held It while Salzar scream-d nt him. lunging at his face with bared teeth Suddenly tho end came; Salzar'' body heaved upward, sprawled for an Instant In the dazzling glare, hurtled over Smith's head and fell Into the sink with a crashing splash Frantically he thrashed there, spat-, tering and floundering In darkness. He made no outcry. Probably he had landed head first In a moment only a vague heaving come from tho unseen ooze. Smith, exhausted, drenched with sweat, leaned against a tamarack, sick-end. sick-end. Aftr all sound hod ceased he straightened up -with nn effort. Presently Pres-ently he bent and recovered Salzar s red bandanna and his hat, lifted hlj own rifle ana par k and struggled Into the harness. Then, kicking Salzars rifle overboard, he unfastened both torches, pocketd one. and started "!i In a Hood of ghostly light. (Continued In Our Next Lsnuo) |