forgotten their captives in the excitement. They sat with faces glued
to the windows, watching curiously as George Lardner at the controls
brought them down in ever tightening circles toward the valley below.
Adams nudged his companion.
"Look at 'em," he whispered. "The rattiest looking bunch of bums I've
ever seen. What in hell does Lardner need so many guns for?"
"To finish murdering a race of people," Drake answered coldly. "A job
that he started when he found the Flaming Diamond. If he has a chance,
he'll finish the task to get it back again."
"Shut up, back there!" A lean, sharp nosed individual in the seat
ahead turned slightly. "No talk now. You'll have plenty of chance
later on."
A ripple of hard laughter went through the cabin.
George Lardner was an expert pilot. More than that, he was familiar
with the country over which they were flying. Realizing that any
attempt to escape now would be futile, Drake tried to memorize the
layout of the small valley into which Lardner seemed to be heading.
With the entire country a white layer of blowing snow it was difficult
to make out the sharp walls of granite that arose from the cup-shaped
hole below. It was like a huge bomb crater, perhaps ten miles across.
On the valley bottom was the smoothly swept blue-green of a frozen
lake.
The plane banked abruptly and Lardner cut the motors. Drake felt the
tenseness mount within the cabin. A fear was filling these State
Street gunmen that had never troubled them before. The motors were
silent. The ship dropped below the lip of the canyon wall and the wind
died smoothly. Circling, Lardner gunned the motors again and roared in
straight over the strip of frozen ice.
Try as he might Drake could see no sign of life or human habitation.
Heavy fir trees came straight to the edge of the lake, standing guard
stiff and frozen.
The plane zoomed up sharply and cut back over the lake leaving a black
shadow against the ice. It sank down, bounced gently and rolled ahead.
They went straight toward the high cliff at the far end of the lake.
"This guy better know what he's doing." Puffy clutched the chair ahead
and held on grimly. "Or we'll crack up like a broken match against
that wall."
Drake was silent. A murmur of anxious voices arose about them. They
still rolled swiftly toward the cliff. Lardner seemed to make no
attempt to cut speed. The plane took the bump at the edge of the lake,
and then Drake saw the cavern ahead. It was huge and black, cut at an
angle in the surface of the rock. A sudden blur of rock walls and they
were in the darkness of the cave. The plane settled back roughly on
its shock absorbers and stopped. Lights flashed on within the cabin.
* * * * *
George Lardner pushed through the small communication door between the
pilot's cabin and the waiting gangsters. As he came, he jerked the
helmet and goggles from his eyes. A hard smile on his heavy face left
no doubt as to his frame of mind.
"Hello, Drake," the mouth a mask of expressionless hate. "I take my
hat off to you. Never gave Cinderella Drake credit for being anything
but a whiskey mill."
Jim stood up slowly, knowing these minutes might be his last. Fear was
in his heart. Not for himself, but for the doom that faced Sylvia
Fanton unless she could be warned of Lardner's coming. There was no
doubt in Jim Drake's mind that this frozen valley was the home of the
fox people and their queen.
Lardner wasn't the soft night club owner now. The man was short and
stocky, but with bulging arms that were tensed for action. The dark
face was filled with devilish purpose.
"I'd like to know why we weren't thrown out of the plane last night
with the others?" Drake said quietly.
"Oh! That?" Lardner chuckled. "I knew you were headed toward this
valley and I thought you'd appreciate the lift."
"For your information," Drake answered coolly, "we took the plane for
Winnipeg. Where we are now I haven't the slightest idea."
George Lardner started toward the outer door. He whipped around
savagely, his face twisted into a hateful grimace.
"All right, play boy," he snapped. "You asked for it. Now it's my
turn. I know you helped Sylvia Fanton to escape. I know you had a part
in stealing the diamond, and I also know you are in love with the
girl. That, if you'll have the truth, is why you are with us now."
A hissing sigh escaped Puffy Adams' lips. He was beginning to
understand now why Lardner had not shot them both long ago.
"So I am to act as decoy," Drake said. "If you think I'll let you
torture that girl, you're a madman."
Lardner ignored him. He pushed the outer door of the cabin open and
dropped heavily to the cave floor.
"Unpack your stuff, boys," he ordered crisply. "And keep an eye on our
guests. I want them to be safe and comfortable."
The gangsters closed in, and some of them started for the baggage
compartment.
A ring of steel closed about the pair.
"Out, quick," one of the plug uglies mumbled. "And don't try to get
away."
* * * * *
To Drake's surprise the cave was warm, as though heated from some
vast, hidden source of fire. Lardner was well ahead of them, going
cautiously down the long tunnel. A flash-light sent its beam ahead of
his outstretched hand. The baggage was handed down quickly and tommy
guns came into sight from the instrument cases. They were smoothly
polished and glistened under the dull light of lanterns. They followed
Lardner slowly down the vast hall that led under the lip of the
mountain. It was warmer and more humid now.
"The boss knows what he's doing," a voice said behind Drake. "These
fox people can't do us any harm during the day. By night we'll be
ready to blast them down in short order."
Unable to speak to Puffy, Drake was thinking plenty. If they went on
to wherever the tunnel led them, it would be too late to face Lardner
with any show of force. Drake knew that Sylvia Fanton would be caught
off guard if she were here. Could he raise some sort of alarm?
The man at his side seemed a trifle sleepy and disinterested in what
was going on. Making sure the man's gun was pointed away where he
wouldn't jerk the trigger, Drake lifted an arm high, pointing toward
the dark roof of the cave. Pretending fright, he shouted:
"Oh my God! Look!"
Before Lardner could control them, two men had raised their guns and
sent salvos of lead screaming into the darkness. Lardner's voice,
ahead in the shaft, shattered the silence that followed with wild
oaths.
"Who the hell did that?" He stormed back toward Drake, but Jim was
well satisfied with what he had done. The sound would carry for miles
into the base of the mountain. If Sylvia or her people were here....
From far down the shaft a faint bark echoed clearly. It was the bark
of a fox, followed in quick succession by more of the same sounds.
George Lardner faced him, neck red and arms akimbo.
"You're getting too damned clever for your own good," he shouted. "I
oughta' knock some of the cockiness out of you."
Drake had a slow temper. But behind the Cinderella Drake who had soused
himself so thoroughly in Lardner's whiskey still lurked the keen eyed
air patrol cadet who had only six months ago put his body through
every air battle on the west coast. Some of the old strength and nerve
were coming back now. Coming with a rush of hot blood to his head.
Puffy Adams had sworn he'd stick by Drake until that spirit returned.
Now, ringed in by steel death, Adams' face lighted with interest. Yet,
he realized that Drake had small chance against these bums.
The cave was dead silent again. Lardner breathed hard, crouched like
an oversized wrestler about to spring.
* * * * *
Drake's face was suddenly cold, emotionless.
"If your men weren't ready to shoot me down the minute I move," he
said slowly, "I'd pound you within an inch of your rotten life."
Lardner's face lighted slowly and a sardonic grin crossed his face.
"Talk big, play boy," he urged. "I don't need lead to put you out of
the way."
Drake's slim body shot forward with the suddenness of a catapult. His
shoulders were low as they struck Lardner's thick belly. Caught off
guard, Lardner's heavy, ape arms twisted about Jim's waist and he
started to crush Drake's body against his own. With a quick twist
Drake was loose, dodging backward as a light left caught Lardner on
the chest. Lardner jumped in quickly, puffing hard. His right arm
swept out and brought blood to Drake's nose.
The slim air cadet shook his head, feeling the sting on his face. He
brushed an arm across his nose, and felt warm blood on his fingers.
This time Drake went in low, caught Lardner with his left hand just
above the belt. The big man bent over with a grunt as Drake's right
climbed under his chin like a looping Spitfire. Jim Drake's right fist
went home with the entire impact of his shoulder behind it. He felt a
twinge of pain shoot through his arm as Lardner's head swept backward
with a jerk. The fat man stumbled and sat down abruptly. He looked
surprised and frightened, shaking his head back and forth like an
angry bull.
"You dirty...." Lardner didn't attempt to rise. His face was flaming
red. "Shoot the legs out from under him."
A tommy came up swiftly, trained on Drake.
"Hold it!" A harsh, almost frightened voice came from the shadows by
the wall.
Puffy Adams stood, back to the granite, sweeping a tommy gun around on
the gang of men. His trigger finger was poised easily, the gun slung
carelessly in the curve of his arm. His voice, frightened for Drake,
became cool as he saw the last gun drop toward the floor.
"One shot," he said, "and I'll poke enough lead into your boss to keep
you rats from ever flying anywhere again."
Drake was at his side now.
"How did you manage it?" he whispered.
"Black-jack," Puffy grinned. "They were interested in you. It wasn't
hard."
* * * * *
George Lardner was frightened. The tommy gun was aimed at his head and
he knew Puffy Adams wouldn't hesitate when the time came to shoot. He
sat up slowly, eyes on the pair by the wall. Then like a shot he
rolled quickly over and over into the darkness beyond the lighted
area. His voice, harsh and powerful shouted.
"Get them, quick!"
A hail of lead swept the air over his head as Puffy jerked backward.
"It's the firing squad," Adams shouted. He dropped to one knee and
opened up wide.
Lardner was snarling something unintelligible. Guns swept around on
the men by the wall. Then from within the circle of men compressed
hell broke loose. Someone was opening up a deadly fire from within the
ranks. Gunmen screamed in pain and turned their guns in every
direction, trying to determine who had betrayed them.
"Run for it, Drake. Down the tunnel."
The voice was vaguely familiar. Drake didn't hesitate. He clutched
Adams' arm and together they dashed into the blackness ahead. From
behind them, the sound of gun shots ceased. Only loud groans of pain
drifted to them as they went forward through the midnight blackness.
Then, far behind, single footsteps followed them hesitantly.
Lardner was still alive. Drake had heard him curse softly as they
passed him. He felt blood on Puffy's arm.
"You're hurt," he said quietly. "Where did it hit?"
"Just a nick." Puffy sounded game. "Glanced off the shoulder. A bit of
shirt will fix it up. Say! That was a nice poke you took at Lardner."
* * * * *
The tunnel grew wider. Far ahead a pale shower of colored light tossed
against the walls like a weak rainbow. There wasn't a sound ahead or
behind them. Drake led the way swiftly. The light seemed stronger,
drawing them toward its source.
Then they stood on the edge of a great chamber. From the walls of the
circular room a barbaric curtain of rainbowed color sprayed down
toward its center.
It flashed and changed as they watched with wide eyes, changing into
rich shades of purple, gold, orchid and startling the eye with its
everchanging spectrum.
In the direct center of the chamber on a raised dais stood the huge
carved statue of a marble polar bear. It towered ten feet high, a
magnificent standing beast with lifted outstretched paw. On the back
of the bear a small throne had been carved. The blinding flood of
color that converged on the throne, hid anything that might be seated
there.
Drake clutched his companion's arm.
"Look!"
He pointed toward the low pit that surrounded the statue.
Puffy nodded.
"The biggest fox farm in the world," he said dryly. "Or I'm going
nuts."
As their eyes grew accustomed to the changing light, the pit grew
clear. The animals became visible against the floor of the pit. There
were thousands of them lying about the chamber. They spread over the
floor carpeting it with rich fur like a deep rug of precious black and
silver.
One thing held Jim Drake spellbound. Every animal had its head lifted
toward the throne atop the bear's back.
His eyes lifted again slowly. His vision broke through the bright haze
of light. Stretched out in sleep across the stony back was the perfect
nude figure of a girl. She seemed frozen in death, yet the bronzed
flesh was alive and throbbing. It was the same girl he had saved from
Wildwood Zoo--_Sylvia Fanton_!
* * * * *
He tried to take his eyes away from the vision but could not. Color
seemed to splash and caress her body as though it alone gave her the
power to exist. Then he knew what it was that made her look human. The
light preserved her body during daylight hours, or she would have been
forced to enter the body of a fox and mingle in the pit with her own
kind.
A queen, Queen of the Flaming Diamond, doomed to lie dead until she
could be restored to her normal life.
"What do we do now?" Puffy asked in a tense whisper.
"What I want to know first," Drake said wonderingly, "is who saved us
from Lardner's mob?"
"Whoever it was," Adams offered, "he'll never escape them alive."
Soft footsteps came from behind them.
"But you are wrong!"
Drake pivoted, and faced the same man whom he had met in the apartment
that night he lost the fur. The man who brought his last message from
Sylvia Fanton.
"You see," the man went on quietly, "I am not your enemy. I asked you
to stay out of this, but I could not desert you."
Drake's face was lighted in a relieved smile. His hand gripped the
other's.
"Now you have saved our life, why did you do it?"
"Because," the man said simply, "you are human and you are good.
Sylvia Fanton asked me to help you, and I am her brother."
Puffy Adams sat down abruptly on the cave floor.
"And I," he said unbelievingly, "am the keeper of Cinderella Drake,
the sap who still looks for the silver slipper."
"But Sylvia is no fox woman," Drake protested. "She's too warm, too
human!"
For a moment there was silence. Then a warm smile lighted the
stranger's eyes.
"We are all human," he said. "We are early settlers who came to this
valley and sought its sanctuary. Only the curse of George Lardner has
spoiled our paradise and driven us into animal form. Perhaps you will
see...."
* * * * *
He looked hurriedly at the light that was growing dimmer above them.
The rainbow had faded swiftly and darkness was coming down on the
cavern.
"I am Silvaris, King of the Fox People," he said swiftly. "On the
Flaming Diamond depends our ability to exist. Night is almost upon us
again, but unless the diamond can be restored to the paw of the bear,
there will be no more night or day."
"But you have it!" Drake protested. "Lardner came here to get it back
again...."
"Lardner came by mistake to this valley six months ago," Silvaris said
brokenly. "We welcomed him as we welcome all people. He betrayed our
trust and stole our life source. We took him to our hearts as Sylvia
and I were taken many years ago."
"Then you aren't really of the same race?" Drake's voice was filled
with relief.
Silvaris shook his head.
"We are here by our own choice," he went on. "Sylvia and I, lost
children, found our way here from a trapper's cabin when we were very
young. We never tried to leave. When Lardner stole our precious gem,
she and I alone knew the ways of civilization. It was our task to
return the stone to its rightful place."
"If that diamond is the solution of this mess," Puffy asked in a
puzzled voice, "why don't we clean up the mystery right now?"
"Wait!"
Silvaris went slowly down the long steps to the fox pit. He climbed
the steps to the side of the polar bear and his sister's lifeless
body. From her armpit, he took a huge gem. As he came toward them,
Drake knew it was the Lardner stone, flashing and alive in the
semi-darkness.
He pushed it into Drake's hands.
"Somehow Lardner pawned a paste imitation of the real Flaming Diamond
off on us that night in Chicago," Silvaris said sadly. "The real stone
is the only gem that will make the transformation."
Drake examined the diamond curiously.
"Hey!" Puffy said excitedly. "Wait a minute. How come Lardner is so
almighty hot after us, if he thinks we've only got a paste?"
"That I cannot explain," Silvaris admitted helplessly. "I purposely
disguised myself to mingle with his men. He came to destroy us and yet
he knows our life is short now that the diamond is gone. We cannot
live long as animals."
* * * * *
Far away toward the mouth of the tunnel came the sound of an idling
motor. Drake sprang into action.
"I think," he said, "that we can outplay Lardner at whatever game he's
playing. He must be wounded. Perhaps too badly to fly."
The face of Silvaris, the Fox King, lightened.
"You are a pilot?" he asked.
Puffy chuckled.
"Cinderella can fly the blind spots off a Jap Zero," he said. "Just
strap a pair of wings on him."
They charged toward the mouth of the tunnel. A few hundred feet from
the entrance Drake stopped. He picked up a tommy gun where it had been
dropped by the fleeing gunmen. Going forward more slowly they saw
three men at the entrance, guns pointed into the darkness.
On one knee, Drake fingered the trigger. He picked up a large rock
with his free hand and tossed it ten feet to one side. It struck with
a loud thump. Immediately red fire cut loose around the place where
the rock had hit. Drake brought his finger back lightly against the
trigger and watched coldly as the men went down. They pitched forward
like alley pins, bleeding and screaming with the pain. There was no
time to lose.
Dropping the gun he went forward swiftly, whipping an automatic from
his pocket as he ran. Then, seeing Lardner, he took a head dive into
the deep snow as the vicious crack of lead whizzed over his head. He
rolled over silently coming to his feet with a bound. Lardner, waiting
by the plane, shot again and the lead burned into Drake's shoulder. He
sprang forward as Lardner's foot lifted toward the open door to the
cabin.
Clutching his foot, Drake jerked the man back into the snow with all
his strength and they rolled into a white, seething mass of fury. With
a short, terrifying blow on the chin he snapped the man's head
backward. It twitched queerly and his eyes bulged. Lardner's neck was
twisted to one side, stiff and broken.
"The diamond?" Puffy was at his side. Jim Drake bent over the dying
man, watched his face as it twitched in pain.
"You want the girl," Lardner croaked. "You'll never get her. Even
with the diamond, you'll never...."
His body relaxed suddenly, as though deflated of life. Drake pushed
him back into the drifted snow, a look of disgust in his cold eyes.
* * * * *
"Give me that paste imitation," Drake said. "Perhaps somehow...?"
Silvaris nodded helplessly.
"It's of no use," he groaned. "We tried, but it has no power."
Puffy, a knife in his hand once more, was working slowly over the gem
with its keen blade. His face was solemn and deep with interest. In
spite of themselves, the two men stood close to him watching the thin,
case-like stuff that he peeled away from the surface.
"This ain't paste," he said excitedly. "It's a kind of silicate.
Lardner must have dipped the gem into it and let the stuff harden as a
protective cover."
Drake took the gem eagerly.
"Then he realized that whatever the power was that this stone has, it
couldn't work unless the diamond itself was clean and unprotected."
The late afternoon sun was fading slowly beyond the far end of the
frozen lake. They turned and went into the cave of the Fox People.
Perhaps the gem would work. But if it didn't, Lardner had died with
the secret on his lips.
"_You'll never get her_," he had said, "_even with the diamond_."
At the edge of the pit they stopped. Silvaris spoke in a faraway,
silencing voice.
"Our lives depend on you. I am no longer able to control myself. In a
few hours we will all be dead...."
He hesitated and the voice trailed off into nothingness. Before their
eyes the man fell away into a light mist. Instead, a large fox stood
at Drake's feet, tail drooping and its eyes staring ahead dully.
Silvaris the Fox King had returned to the stature of his people.
The chamber grew silent as death. The fox turned slowly and walked
down the steps into the marble pit. He mixed quickly with the others
and no movement came from below. The spot of color over the throne
wavered and went out. The cave was black as pitch.
"Now or never," Drake muttered. His tongue was rough and dry. His
hands shook under the weight of the diamond. It and it alone seemed
alive and glittering in the cold unnatural tomb of the cave.
* * * * *
He went toward the bottom of the pit and gently forced his way through
the sleeping animals. Up toward the throne his legs carried him step
by step, and each step was a million years. A torture of uncertainty
and hope.
He lifted the diamond and without hesitation pushed it with all his
strength into the outstretched claws of the marble bear.
The Flaming Diamond suddenly glittered more powerfully than ever
before. The claws seemed to grasp it tightly, as though the power of
the gem must stay where it could never be stolen again.
Bright flames of every hue sprang from the surfaces of the stone. They
bathed his body like colored lightning and he fell backward down the
steps, his arm upraised in protection. The place came alive with
sound. Pealing, silvery tones of rich bell-like music tore the air
asunder and the light of the diamond flashed warmly against the flesh
of the girl on the throne.
On his feet now Drake stumbled toward Puffy Adams at the entrance of
the chamber. Puffy was on his knees, face blinded with the light.
"Holy Ned," he shouted. "Now look what you've done, Cinderella."
Drake didn't answer. His eyes had grown accustomed to the glare. The
chamber was hot and brilliant with some new world born from the cold
womb of the old. Men and women arose from where animals had been
waiting for the end.
Silvaris, the Fox King, came toward them. His face was alight with
thanksgiving. Looking over his shoulder, Drake saw something that made
him lose all interest in the others. Something that he had prayed for
was taking place atop the polar bear's throne-back.
Sylvia Fanton, her body alive and glowing, sat upright. No false
modesty marred the perfect, classically molded body. She slipped down
from the beast's back and caressed its side with slim fingers. Then
she came toward him slowly.
* * * * *
The men and women parted as she went among them gracefully. Her eyes
were wide and wonderfully warm as she came up the steps toward him.
Her gaze never wavered from his. They had changed from a cold black to
soft, gold-flecked brown.
"I knew you would come," she said softly. "It was necessary that we
have each other."
With a happy sob she was in his arms. He only knew that her body was
pressed tightly to his. That the warmth of the Flaming Diamond had
brought her life, and that Jim Drake would never be lonely again.
Voices arose happily in the chamber. The heat, now, was almost
unbearable. He heard Silvaris's voice say happily:
"It is good that the Ice Gods have played their part."
Strong arms were on Drake's shoulder. He stumbled after the men toward
the open valley. Then, with his emotions under control, he saw the
transformation that had taken place because he had done his job well.
"You have once more breathed life into a lost valley," Silvaris was at
his side. "We will be forever thankful."
Drake looked down at the wisp of loveliness at his side. She was
partly clothed now in a small fur jacket. Somehow it displayed rather
than enshrouded her charms.