Kenneth Robeson - The Pirate of the Pacific

Renny had seen that treasure. The sight of it had left him dazed for weeks. It lay in the lost Valley of the Vanished, a chasm in the impenetrable mountains of the Central American republic of Hidalgo. This strange place was peopled by a golden-skinned folk, pure-blooded descendants of the ancient Mayan race. They guarded the wealth. And they sent burro trains of it to the outside world as Doc needed it.

There was one string attached to the wealth — Doc was to use it only in projects which would benefit humanity. The Mayans had insisted Upon that. It was to he used for the cause of right.

Their insistence was hardly needed, for it would not have received any other disposition at Doc's hands. Doc's life was dedicated to that same creed — to go here and there, from one end of the world to the other, striving to help those who needed help, punishing those who were malefactors.

This was the one thing that motivated Doc's every act.

The same creed bound his five men to Doc. That, and their love of adventure, which was never satisfied.

THE search for Monk, Long Tom, and Johnny drew a blank.

"I can assure you we searched every stateroom aboard, and every box and bale of the cargo!" declared slant-eyed First Mate Jong. "There was no sign of three prisoners."

"I don't believe they're aboard!" Captain Hickman Captain Hickman had taken to speaking in a low voice when in the presence of the big bronze man. He was completely in awe of Doc, and his manner showed it.

"I'm still betting they're aboard!" Renny grunted. "Unless — " He wet his lips. His enormous fists became flinty blocks. It had just occurred to him that Tom Too might have become alarmed and slain the three captives, shoving their bodies overboard.

Renny's fears were dispelled by a plain white card they found under the door of the royal suite the next day. It said:

The straw did not break the back of the

camel, you may be glad to ]earn. But

it came very near.

TOM TOO.

"That snake is getting cocky!" Renny gritted. "How could the search have missed our three pals, granting they're aboard?"

"No telling how many of the crew have been bribed," Doc pointed out.

THE Malay Queen stopped at Honolulu for a few hours. Doc had gotten instructions to the flashy cockney and the disheveled tropical tramp, otherwise Ham and Mindoro, and they all kept close watch on such persons as went ashore.

No sign of Long Tom, Monk, or Johnny was discovered in the close inspection.

Immediately after the Malay Queen put to sea again, Doc Savage instituted a single-handed search for his three captive friends. Due to the great size of the liner, the task was a nearly impossible one.

A hundred of Tom Too's corsairs could conceivably have been aboard without Doc being able to identify one of them. Every Mongol, Jap, Chinaman and half-caste was a potential suspect.

Doc began in the hold. He opened barrels, boxes, and bales of cargo. He examined the fresh-water tanks. The Malay Queen was an oil burner, and he scrutinized the fuel tanks. Then he began on the D deck cabins and worked up.

It was on D deck, well toward the stern, that his hunt produced first results.

He found a stateroom which had been used, but which was now unoccupied.

The mirror was missing.

On the floor was a small smudge. Analyzing this, Doc learned it was the crayon he used for his invisible writing.

These discoveries told him a story. The prisoners were actually aboard. They had been kept here for a time. Monk had been caught trying to leave a secret message on the mirror. The mirror had been removed and thrown overboard. Either Monk or his captors had destroyed the crayon by stamping upon it. Probably that was Monk's work, since Tom Too's men would have wanted the crayon to learn its composition.

Doc continued his prowling. It was an interminable task. The Malay Queen had more than four hundred cabins. While Doc searched, Tom Too could easily move the prisoners to a stateroom Doc had already scrutinized.

DOC did not finish the hunting. Tom Too struck at their lives the second night out of Honolulu.

Doc and Renny had been ordering meals sent to their suite to keep Tom Too from getting the idea they were subsisting off rations carried in their baggage. The meals which were brought in to them they chucked overboard. This task usually fell to Renny, while Doc watched for enemies.

Gulls were following the Malay Queen. Swooping, the birds snatched anything edible which was tossed overside before the articles reached the water.

The birds bolted portions of the food Renny heaved over the rail.

Two of the feathered scavengers did not fly fifty yards before their wings collapsed and they plummeted into the sea, lifeless.

"Poison!" Renny grunted.

The cook and steward who had come in contact with the meal put in an uncomfortable half hour in front of Doc's probing golden eyes. They convinced the bronze giant they knew nothing of the poison.

Captain Hickman was perturbed when he heard of the attempt. He acted as scared as though his own life had beer attempted.

First Mate Jong was also solicitous. "Do you wish me to make a second search of the ship?"

"It would be useless," Doc replied.

Jong stiffened perceptibly. "I hope, sir, you do not distrust the personnel of this craft!"

"Not necessarily."

Doc and Renny redoubled their caution.

The next night they found poisoned needles concealed in their pillows.

A few minutes later, when Doc turned on the water in the bathroom, a villainous, many-legged creature hurtled out of the hot-water faucet.

At this Renny's hair stood on end. He was in the habit of carelessly thrusting his big hands under the faucet when he washed.

"I've seen those things before!" he gulped, pointing at the hideous creature which some one had concealed in the faucet. "It's a species of jungle spider, the bite of which is fatal."

"Tom Too must have gone ashore in Honolulu and loaded up with death-dealing instruments," Doc suggested dryly. "It looks as if we're in for a brisk time."

Shortly after midnight a bomb tore the royal suite almost completely from the liner. Partitions were reduced to kindling. The beds were demolished, the bed clothing torn to ribbons. Two passengers in near-by accommodations were slightly injured.

Doc's foresight saved him. He and Renny were bunking in with the cockney who showed such bad taste in clothes and manners — Ham.

Renny started to race to the scene of the explosion.

Doc stopped him. "Wait. Let Ham go and see how much damage was done."

Ham was not long on his mission.

"A frightful explosion," he reported. "The sides and roof of the royal suite were blown into the sea."

"Good!" Doe smiled.

"What's good about it?" Renny queried.

"We'll hibernate in here and make it look like we were blown overboard," Doc explained. "In the meantime, Ham and Mindoro will keep their eyes open."

HAM and Mindoro kept their eyes open enough, but it netted them exactly nothing.

The Malay Queen neared Mantilla, capital city of the Luzon Union. Arrival time was set for high noon.

Doc quitted Ham's cabin, descended to the lower deck, and approached Mindoro. The wealthy Luzon Union politician was more blowsy-looking than ever in his tropical-tramp disguise.

"How much influence have you with the police chief of Mantilla and the president of the Luzon Union," Doc questioned.

"I made them!" Mindoro said proudly. "They're honest men, and my friends. I believe they would lay down their lives for me to a man."

"Then we will send some radio messages," Doc declared.

"You mean you want the liner searched upon arrival?"