by Lee Falk
"A good idea," said the Phantom. "Guran, can you take Doctor Love and her friends down to the nearest Jungle Patrol post?"
"If that is what you wish," answered the pygmy. To Gabe, he said, "Your leg will soon be well.
Please climb aboard our craft now."
Gabe hesitated. "I don't know if I want to go back to civilization or not," he said finally.
Jan said, "Don't be afraid, Gabe."
"Yeah, but I was supposed to be working for Tinn and Silvera and those guys," said Gabe. "I ought to be turned in."
"No," said Karl, "you were working for us."
"Anyone who says otherwise," Jan told him, "Will have to argue with us."
With Guran's help, Gabe rose to his feet. "Well, okay then. I'll come along with you."
Jan moved near the Phantom. "Are you going to be traveling with us?"
The masked man shook his head. "No," he said. "You'll be all right from here on."
The blonde girl bounded forward and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad at least one legend turned out to be true." She took a few steps back. "Will we ever see you again?"
The Phantom smiled at her. "Perhaps," he answered. Karl reached out to shake his hand. "We can never thank you enough."
While they were climbing into the pygmy bark,
Guran came up beside the Phantom. "We will meet again in the Deep Woods?"
"Yes, soon."
"I am happy you have returned to us."
"As I told you I would."
Guran removed his thatch hat and rubbed at his head. "But I see you have discarded the magic spear I presented you with. Did you not need it?"
"I'll tell you about that back at Skull Cave," the Phantom said, laughing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Colonel Weeks was squatting on the dusty ground. Beside him sat the plump chief of the Llongo tribe. The chief's face was smeared with ash; his plumed headdress was bedraggled and singed. Late-afternoon shadows fell across the two men as they talked beside the Llongo country Jungle Patrol
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outpost building.
"You know nothing of Doctor Love then?" the colonel asked.
The chief said, "I know only this, Colonel. She will return to you and her people."
The colonel's gray eyebrows lifted. "Why do you say that, Chief?"
"She will be delivered out of the flames of ," answered the plump chief. "Indeed, that is why the volcano has exploded."
Controlling his temper, the colonel said, "What do you mean?"
"The great Ghost Who Walks could not get out any other way," explained the chief, "So he forced the mountain to explode, and blew himself out. Though I might wish he had arranged it so the lava did not flow across one hundred of my best acres of-"
"The Ghost Who Walks? You mean the Phantom?" "None other," said the chief, "The Man Who Cannot Die."
The colonel glanced toward the post landing field. He was waiting for Sandy to return in his copter, so that he could get a firsthand account of things. "What makes you think the Phantom was in the volcano?"
Touching his fingertips to his plump cheeks, the Llongo chief replied, "Did I not see him with my own eyes?"
"Did you?"
"Yes. I stood as close to him as you are to me. I watched as he ascended the mountain and entered it."
"You mean to tell me," said the colonel, "that the Phantom climbed up the side of and he then went down inside her? That's impossible."
The big chief smiled. "For any but the Phantom." Colonel Weeks stood up and began pacing in the long stripes of shadow. He drummed his blunt fingers against the side of his leg. "So the Phantom was in there, too?" he said. "Then he's probably dead, too."
"Oh, no," said the still-seated chief. "The Phantom can never die,"
The colonel gestured at the blackened afternoon sky. "No man, ghost or otherwise, can possibly have survived what happened."
All at once the Llongo chieftain hefted himself up. "Listen," he said.
Drums were sounding, coming from some distance beyond the Jungle Patrol post.
"What are they saying?" asked the colonel.
Nodding, beaming, the Llongo chief interpreted the drum message. "The Ghost Who Walks has returned from his visit with ," he said. "He has brought with him Doctor Love and two others."
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"Where are they now?"
"No one knows where the Phantom is," answered the chief. "The lady doctor, however, and her two companions are coming here. They travel the Llongo River at this very moment."
"Sergeant Barnum," the colonel called, "did you hear that?"
The stocky sergeant came running out of the post building. "What is it, sir?"
"They're alive, Sergeant," said the colonel. "Alive and headed for here. Let's get down to the riverside."
"Yes, sir," said Sergeant Barnum.
Guran handed Gabe a small leather pouch. "Apply this powder twice a day," he instructed, "morning and night."
Doctor Love, Karl, and Gabe were standing on the shore of the river. Behind them stretched a wide trail leading uphill. "The Jungle Patrol post is just up there then?" asked Jan.
The pygmy hopped back into his dugout. "Yes. You will be made welcome there," he said. "Now, farewell."
"Won't you wait and-?" began the blonde girl. But the pygmy paddles were already knifing into the waters of the river. Soon the dugout was racing away into the fading afternoon.
"Well," said Karl, putting an arm around Jan's shoulders, "we're almost at the end of our journey."
"Yes," said Jan. "And it's too bad..."
"Too bad?"
"Oh, I just mean-well, golly, in a way I'm sorry it's over. There was so much down there to study, so much to learn," Jan said. "Now it's all gone, finished and gone forever."
"I know how you feel," said Karl. "But remember, Jan, we were almost finished down there, too. If it hadn't been for-"
"Doctor Love, Karl!" called a familiar voice. "Are we glad to see you!"
"I guess," said Gabe, starting to drop back, "nobody's glad to see me."
"Wait now, Gabe." Jan caught his sleeve. Colonel Weeks slowed, hesitating. "It's good to see you again, Doctor Love."
Jan smiled, ran ahead, and gave the colonel a hug. "Same here."
His face reddening, the colonel disengaged himself from the girl. "How in the world did you get out of the volcano?"
"You should have seen him the last couple of days," said Sergeant Barnum, "He's been worried silly.
You see, he figured-"
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"That's enough for the moment, Sergeant," ordered the colonel. "Let the lady talk. How did you get here, Doctor Love?"
"It's a long story, Colonel," the girl said. "In fact, you might even say it was a legend."
"Yeah?" said Barnum. "We heard it was the Phan-"
"Let's wait until we're all seated around a cool drink back in Mawitaan," suggested Karl. "There'll be plenty of time then for talking and explaining."
"Though even then," reflected Jan, "you aren't going to believe us."
After clearing his throat, the colonel said, "Doctor Love, I'm afraid I'll have to turn your pilot over to the Mawitaan police."
"No, I don't think so," said Jan.
"You don't understand," the gray-haired colonel told her. "He was hired by men back in Mawitaan to spy on your expedition, possibly even to kill both you and Karl."
Jan shook her head. "No, Colonel. Gabe was hired by us to help us get in and out of .
And he did that, and a lot more than that."
"But-" said the colonel.
"This is another one of those things we can talk about back in Mawitaan," said Karl. "For now, Colonel, let me assure you Gabe is one of us and not one of our enemies."
The colonel looked from Karl to Gabe. "Very well," he said. "I get the impression you and Doctor Love know what you're talking about. Come on then. We'll see about flying you all back to Mawitaan."
"See, Gabe," Jan said quietly to him, "thi
ngs will be okay now."
He grinned weakly. "Looks like, maybe."
As they moved along the trail Colonel Weeks asked Jan, "Another thing, Doctor Love, that's been puzzling me."
"Yes,Colonel?"
"Yourlast radio message to us. You said, 'Why it's a giant b-! What did that b stand for?"
Jan smiled. "Just that," she said. "A giant bee. B-e-e."
"What?" said the colonel, blinking.
"That's another of the things we'll explain later," said Karl.
"Boy, that's going to be some get-together," said Sergeant Barnum.
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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Sergeant Barnum's face brightened. He dropped the chain of paper clips he'd been fooling with back into his pocket. "Here they come," he said. Clutched in his right hand was a bouquet of white flowers.
"I see them," said the colonel. The two men started across the Mawitaan airport building.
"Here," said the sergeant, thrusting the blossoms toward Doctor Jan Love. "Sort of abon-voyage offering."
Jan took the flowers. She was wearing a simple tan suit. Her blonde hair was pulled back and ribbon-tied. She looked fresh and rested. It had been three days since they returned to the capital. "Why, thank you, Sergeant. They're very pretty."
"I thought you'd like them," explained the stocky sergeant, "because the blossoms are so big."
"Yes, I've gotten used to largeness," said the girl.
Colonel Weeks said, "We've respected your wishes, Doctor Love. We've told no one the details of what you and Karl encountered down inside ."
Jan watched his face for a few seconds. "I wonder if even you quite believe us, Colonel."
"Oh, yes," he assured her. "I believe you, but I'm wondering if-"
"The rest of the world would," said Karl. "Yes, Jan and I will have to think about this before we decide what to tell."
"Sometimes maybe," said Jan, "some discoveries are better kept quiet. I'm not sure yet."
Sergeant Barnum asked, "Where are you going next, Doctor Love?"
"Home," she replied, "just home to Boston. I feel the need of teaching a few very quiet, very simple, biology classes for a while."
Karl laughed. "She always says that. But I'll bet before another semester is over, she'll have plans drawn up for a brand-new excursion."
"I don't know about that, Karl. Maybe this time I'm really ready to settle down. I might even consider, well, we can discuss that when we get home."
"If you ever get back to Bangalla," said the sergeant, "come by and say hello."
"Of course," said Jan.
Karl cocked his head. "They're announcing our flight, Jan."
The lovely girl reached out her free hand, touched the colonel's hand, then the sergeant's. "Thank you both for being so considerate, and for worrying."
"By the way," said the colonel. "You needn't worry about Gabe McClennan. Lieutenant Kiwanda isn't going to charge him with anything, and the airfield is willing to take him back. After what you
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told us, Doctor Love, we're all willing to give him one more chance."
"I know," said Jan. "We talked to him in the hospital right before coming here."
In another moment, she and Karl were gone.
The pilot of the Bangalla Airways jet said, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you'll look to your right you will see the gal who gave everybody so much trouble a few days ago. They used to call her , but I don't know about that. She seems to have lost her veils."
The great mountain stood out stark and black far below.
Jan took Karl's hand. "She doesn't look very formidable from up here, does she?"
"Distance is like time," said the beardedKarl. "It gives you a different perspective."
"It's sad," said the girl, her eyes on the retreating volcano. "All those amazing life-forms gone forever. And those two poor foolish men, Silvera and Tinn, dying for nothing."
"A good many people do that."
"What did Colonel Weeks say the name of the man behind them was?"
"Barber," said Karl.
"Yes, Barber. Imagine, we never even saw him and yet he played such a large part in our lives."
"I wonder if there could have been any treasure down there."
"I don't think so," said Jan. "The Phantom told me there was no trace of gold or jewels around the place of sacrifice."
"The Phantom," said Karl. "He was quite a fellow."
"Yes," agreed Jan. "And he's down there someplace." Impulsively, she leaned across Karl to wave at the window. "Good-bye, Phantom, wherever you are."
The jet roared through the sky.
Standing at the edge of the airfield was a tall stranger. He wore dark glasses, a wide-brimmed hat.
With him, on a leash, was a large gray dog which looked much like a wolf.
The stranger's head was turned skyward. He was watching the course of the Bangalla Airways jet that had recently taken off.
He kept his eyes on the plane until it was only a dot in the sky. Then, an instant before it left his sight, he raised his hand and waved.
"Good luck, Doctor Love," he said.
He reached down, patted the animal with him.
"Come on, Devil. It's back to the Deep Woods for us.
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The two of them walked away.
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