Story of the Phantom

by Lee Falk

  Story of the Phantom

  The Ghost Who Walks by Lee Falk

  (Book 01)

  HOW IT ALL BEGAN

  Over four-hundred years ago, a large British merchant- man was attacked by Singg pirates off the remote shores of Bangalla. The captain of the trading vessel was a famous seafarer who, in his youth, had served as cabin boy to Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to discover the New World.

  With the captain, was his son Kit, a strong young man who idolized his father and hoped to follow in his footsteps as a seafarer. But the pirate attack was disastrous. In a furious battle, the entire crew of the merchantman was killed and the ship sank in flames. The sole survivor was young Kit, who, as he fell off the burning ship, saw his father killed by a pirate. Kit was washed ashore, half dead, and friendly pygmies found him and nursed him to health.

  Walking on the beach one day, he found a dead pirate dressed in his father's clothes, and realized this was the pirate who had killed his father. Grief-stricken, he waited until vultures had stripped the body clean. Then, on the skull of his father's murderer, he swore an oath by firelight as the friendly pygmies watched. "I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, and my sons and their sons shall follow me."

  This was the Oath of the Skull that Kit and his descendants would live by. In time, the pygmies led him to their home in the Deep Woods, in the center of the jungle, where he found a large cave with many rocky chambers~ The mouth of the cave, a natural formation shaped by the water and wind of centuries, was curiously like a skull. This became his home, the Skull Cave. He soon adopted a mask and a strange costume. He found that the mystery and fear this inspired helped him in his endless battle against worldwide piracy. For he and his sons who followed became known as the nemeses of pirates everywhere, a mysterious man whose face no one ever saw, whose name no one knew, who worked alone.

  As the years passed, he fought injustice wherever he found it. The first Phantom and the Sons who followed found their wives in many places. One married a reigning queen, one a princess, and one a beautiful red-haired barmaid. But queen or commoner, all followed their men back to the Deep Woods, to live the strange but happy life of the wife of the Phantom. And of all the world, only she-wife of the Phantom-and their children, could see his face.

  Generation after generation was born, grew to manhood, and assumed the tasks of the father before him. Each wore the mask and costume. Folk of the jungle and the city and sea began to whisper that there was a man who could not die, a Phantom, a Ghost Who Walks. For they thought the Phantom was always the same man. A boy who saw the Phantom would see him again fifty years later; and he seemed the same. And he would tell his son and his grandson; and his son and grandson would see the Phantom fifty years after that, and he would seem the same. So the legend grew. The Man Who Cannot Die. The Ghost Who Walks. The Phantom.

  The Phantom did not discourage this belief in his immortality. Always working alone against tremendous- sometimes almost impossible-odds, he found that the awe and fear the legend inspired were a great help in his endless battle against evil. Only his friends the pygmies knew the truth. To compensate for their tiny stature, the pygmies mixed deadly poisons for use on their weapons, in hunting or defending themselves, though it was rare that they were forced to defend themselves.

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  Their deadly poisons were known throughout the jungle, and they and their home, the Deep Woods, were dreaded and avoided. Also-another reason to stay away from the Deep Woods-it soon became known that this was a home of the Phantom, and none wished to trespass.

  Through the ages, the Phantoms created several more homes or hideouts in various parts of the world.

  Near the Deep Woods was the Isle of Eden, where the Phantom taught all animals to live in peace, In the southwest desert of the New World, the Phantom created an aerie on a high sheer mesa that was thought by the Indians to be haunted by evil spirits and became known as "Walker's Table," for the Ghost Who Walks. In Europe, deep in the crumbling cellars of an ancient castle ruin, the Phantom had another hideout from which to strike against evildoers.

  But the Skull Cave in the quiet of the Deep Woods remained the true home of the Phantom. Here, in a rocky chamber, he kept his chronicles: written records of all his adventures. Phantom after Phantom faithfully wrote his experiences in the large folio volumes. Another chamber contained the costumes of all the generations of Phantoms. Yet others contained the vast treasures of the Phantom, acquired over centuries, used only in the endless battle against evil.

  Thus twenty generations of Phantoms lived, fought, and died-usually violently-as they followed their oath. Jungle folk, sea folk, and city folk believed him always to be the same man, the Man Who Cannot Die. Only the pygmies knew that, always, a day would come when their great friend would lie dying. Then, alone, a strong young son would carry his father to the burial crypt of his ancestors where all Phantoms rested. As the pygmies waited outside, the young man would emerge from the cave, wearing the mask, the costume, and the skull ring of the Phantom: his carefree happy days as the Phantom's son were over. And the pygmies would chant their age-old chant, "The Phantom is dead. Long live the Phantom."

  And thus we come to an exciting day in the life of the twentieth generation of Phantoms; the birth of a boy baby. It is this boy baby who will grow up to become the twenty-first Phantom, the Phantom of our day, whose adventures we know and follow. And the tale we are about to tell is his story as he grows from that baby boy into the mysterious Man Who Cannot Die, the Ghost Who Walks-the Phantom.

  CHAPTER 1

  A DOCTOR REMEMBERS

  Living alone in a small bungalow at the edge of the jungle, young Dr. Axel was awakened by a soft touch on his shoulder. What he saw in the moonlight coming through the bedroom windows terrified him. But let him tell it in his words:

  "Standing around my bed were four small muscular men armed with short lances, wearing only loincloths. Though I'd never seen one of them before, I instantly knew who they were, the pygmy Bandar whose weapons were tipped with poison that caused instant death."

  Dr. Axel had come to the jungle only two years before from his native northland, giving up the comforts and pleasures of his home to bring modern medicine to the jungle- folk. His dream was to build a small hospital in the jungle, a dream that appeared impossible now-or in the future-for lack of funds. But as he looked in frozen fear at the grim little men staring silently at him, he wondered if he had any future at all beyond this moment. Why were they here? Had he broken some taboo? City people never saw the pygmies. Normal-sized jungle folk rarely did. The pygmy poison people, as they were called, were feared and avoided. It was rumored they lived somewhere in the Center of the jungle, a place called the Deep Woods.

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  But let Dr. Axel continue his tale. He was to retell it, for the next twenty-five years, as the most fantastic experience of his life. "There were moments of silence that seemed years. How had they gotten into my bedroom so quietly? I later learned they moved like cats. There was only their soft breathing, their sharp eyes staring at me. I knew none of the jungle dialects, but I tried simple English, a fairly common language in this area. 'What do you want?' I said, or some such brilliant remark. I knew from their unchanged expression that they understood not a word. One of them spoke:

  'Come' he said, pointing to a window. In spite of my fear, I felt relieved. Maybe we could talk to each other. 'What do you want? Is someone sick? Is that why you're here?' 'Come,' said the spokesman again. 'Come where? Why? What do you want?' I repeated foolishly, sensing they understood nothing. They all took a step closer to me. The spokesman moved his lance with its deadly tip to within an inch of my throat. '
Come,' he said. I needed no further urging. I got up and dressed quickly while they watched with no change of expression on their grim faces. I started out the door. 'Come' said the pygmy, pointing to the window. He also pointed at my medical satchel.

  Somehow, they knew what it was. I went out the window into the moonlight.

  "Once outside," continues Dr. Axel, "a half dozen more pygmies came out of the bushes and joined us. I was surrounded by the little men, none of whose heads were higher than my chest. I took a last look at my little white bungalow. Would I ever see it again? They avoided the few houses near mine, and soon we were in the jungle. They broke into a fast jog which they were to continue for many hours, tireless, and silent."

  Dr. Axel's memory of that trip is fragmentary. He says that he jogged along as well as he could. Then, amazingly, a horse-saddled and bridled-was led out of the dark bushes by a waiting pygmy. He mounted it, but the pygmies kept hold of the reins and led him as they ran.

  "I've often been asked if, once on horseback, I attempted to break away from my captors who were on foot. The thought never entered my mind. I knew that one scratch of a deadly lance or arrow and my horse would drop dead under me. I also knew vaguely that the jungle through which we now moved was filled with great cats, lions, leopards, and panthers. And also hostile tribes, a few of which were reputed to be headhunters or cannibals. But we saw none of this. Evidently wild animals and wild men alike feared the swift and deadly pygmy poison people."

  Dawn came, then a day, and another night, at the same relentless pace. Dr. Axel recalls that he was permitted to rest for a few hours, and was given nuts and berries from the jungle. Then on at the steady trot. The endurance of the little men amazed him. But where were they taking him? Why?

  Somehow they found paths through what seemed to be solid impenetrable jungle. Dr. Axel had lost all sense of direction and time, but near the second dawn he heard the sound of a distant waterfall.

  For the first time, the pygmies seemed excited. Their faces brightened. A few actually smiled as they spoke to each other. As they neared the sound of the waterfall, they stopped. Dr. Axel was blindfolded securely with heavy leaves and vines. Then on. Now the waterfall was a roar, and suddenly he was plunged into it, still on horseback. The cold water drenched him, but it was not unpleasant. He could not know that he had passed through the hidden and secret entrance to the home of the pygmy Bandar-the Deep Woods. But there was more, much more! Let Dr. Axel tell it.

  "The roaring waterfall had almost knocked me off my horse. I came out of it, drenched but refreshed, rid of two days of jungle dust. A touch on my leg told me to dismount. I did so, and little hands removed my blindfold. I must tell you that I stared! What I saw was fantastic.

  "There was a large cave opening into a high cliff. The cave mouth looked like a giant human skull.

  On one side, or~ a dais, was a stone throne, with stone skulls carved into it. A group of pygmies watched me. There might have been fifty or a hundred. One of them ran into the cave. After a moment, a large man came out of the cave. He was the most fantastic of all. He was masked, and wore a skintight costume with a death's head on a broad gun belt that bore two pistols. The masked man came bounding toward me. He was huge, with massive muscles, a superb physical specimen.

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  He actually grinned at me as he said, 'Dr. Axel, I believe. Sorry about this, but we needed you. Please follow me.' That was all he said. He knew me but did not mention his own name.

  "I followed him into the great cave. There appeared to be many chambers. I saw what looked like a library with great volumes on shelves; another chamber seemed to be a burial crypt, and through a partially opened door I saw what may have been a chamber filled with shining gold and jewels. But I had not time to examine all that, for my masked host hurried me into another chamber where a beautiful woman with long blonde hair lay on a wide bed made of heaped furs. She wore a long velvet robe of royal purple, and brilliant jewels; diamonds, rubies, and emeralds hung at her throat, encircled her arms, and were woven in the blonde hair. Moreover, she was within an hour or two of childbirth.

  'My wife,' said the masked man. 'Will she be all right? Do you need anything?' For all his size and apparent power, he sounded nervous. After a quick examination I assured him that her condition appeared normal and that an uncomplicated birth could be expected.

  'So this is why I was shanghaied and raced through the jungle,' I told him, almost angrily. I say

  'almost.' This was not a man at whom you shouted. The sense of regal power that came from him was awesome. I felt as if I were in the presence of a king or emperor. He smiled. I could not see his eyes because of the manner in which the mask was made. His deep voice was kindly but urgent. 'You see, this is our first child. I must have a boy, Dr. Axel.' His wife smiled at that. 'Can you promise a boy, Dr. Axel?' she asked softly. 'Forgive us, Doctor,' she continued, 'but I am a weak city-bred girl. I am not like these strong jungle women who can manage their own childbearing in the field or under a bush. I asked for a doctor. I was afraid. You see-he, or she-is my first.' 'He,' boomed the deep voice.

  "The sweetness of this lovely woman so completely won me that I forgave them everything. My head was buzzing with a dozen questions. Who were these people? Why was he masked? Why did they live in this strange place-why this 'city-bred girl?' But there was no time for answers just now.

  Her labor pains were coming rapidly. Pygmy women rushed in and out of the cave aiding me, and bringing in wooden bowls of hot water, and other necessities. The masked man paced through the rocky chambers like many a father-to-be before him. And, outside the cave, the little people sat in quiet groups, waiting.

  "Then the time came. 'It's a boy,' I told her. She smiled faintly. 'Let me tell him,' she said. The masked man bound in and bent over her. 'Mother and child are doing fine,' I assured him. 'We have our boy,' she whispered. 'Kit,' the masked man held up the tiny infant in his huge hands. 'Kit!' he roared, and, carrying the child in its swaddling wrap, went to the entrance of the cave and held up the tiny bundle so that all could see. 'A boy,' he shouted. The pygmies leaped up. No longer mysterious and grim, they danced and laughed and jumped and sang. I now saw that the dreaded pygmy Bandar were a delightful and lovable people; sweet, shy, and friendly as they crowded around the huge figure and the infant. Kit! I later learned that all firstborn males of this unusual family were named Kit.

  "It was time for me to go. I had all the questions, but I was to receive few answers that day. 'The Bandar will escort you to your home,' he told me. 'I prefer that you tell no one about this experience, but if you do, no one will believe you,' he added, laughing. 'Before you go, doctor, one moment ...'

  We were in the cave, standing near a partially opened door. He went in. I had only a brief glance, but it was the room that seemed to be filled with chests brimming with shining gold and glittering jewels.

  Tons of them! He came out carrying a small sack and closed the door behind him. 'This is for your trouble, Doctor. I have no money here, but this will serve.' I opened the sack and poured part of the contents into my open hand. 'Are these glass?' I asked, hardly believing what I saw. 'No, real,' he said, smiling at my amazement. 'Now you can have that hospital, Dr. Axel.'

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  "The party of pygmies who had brought me into the jungle were waiting. 'We must blindfold you once again,' said the masked man almost apologetically. 'It is for your safety as well as ours.

  Someday, people might want to know this location, people with criminal intentions. If you don't know how you got here, no one can use you, or force you.' I didn't understand at the time, but I did later on.

  Then, as we shook hands, he did something that was odd. I noticed that he wore a heavy ring on either hand. Holding my right hand in his, he made a massive fist of his left hand and pressed the ring against my wrist. It left a mark on my skin that looked like two crossed sabers. Or crossed P's. I could never decide. I looked up at him questioningly. I say
'up.' I am a tall man, but he was almost a head taller. 'My good mark,' he said, smiling. 'All who see it will know that you are my friend, under my protection, as will be your Sons and their sons. It may be useful to you someday.' I was surprised and puzzled as I mumbled my thanks. 'Protection?' I thought to myself. 'From whom? And how?' But I didn't ask him. I rubbed the mark. The impression remained unchanged. 'I'm afraid it won't come off. . . ever,' he said. 'Think of it as a good luck charm.'

  "I wanted to ask more, much more, but at that moment the pygmies approached me with a blindfold.

  I had one more quick look around. A cluster of pygmies peering into the weird skull cave-the skull throne-and the masked man who faced me. Then I was blindfolded and helped upon my horse.

  'Before I go, one question only. Who are you?' I asked. The deep voice replied, 'Men know me by many names. Some call me the Phantom. Farewell, we will meet again, Dr. Axel.'

  "Phantom! I was confused as they led me toward the roaring waterfall. In my brief two years in Bangalla, I had heard the name whispered several times by servants, and overheard jungle-folk patients mention the same name. I had questioned them. They were secretive and evasive, and offered only meager information. From them I got the impression of an ancient jungle myth, a legendary being 'with the strength of ten tigers and the wisdom of sages,' as one old man put it; a protective image they all admired and loved, who had lived for centuries and could not die. What else had they called him? The Ghost Who Walks.