Nick West: The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon

Another strange sound made him jump. He looked round and his eyes widened. Ahead of him stretched a long, wide tunnel. And far down it, coming straight for him, was a large grotesque shape he recognized. Its yellow eyes blazed wildly. Its mouth opened.

The dragon roared!

Snapping off his light, Pete took a frightened step back. He felt the wall. It was impossible to retreat farther.

He moved slowly into the darkest corner, holding his projector in front like a shield.

He trembled again as he watched the dragon advancing in little hops, fascinated by the swaying head and open mouth. There was no sign of Jupe and Bob. Pete bit his lip and groaned.

Bob and Jupe were undoubtedly in the monster’s huge belly. He’d lost his chance to rescue them! And as the dragon came closer, he wondered what his own fate would be.

Arthur Shelby’s voice floated down through the open hatch into the dragon. It didn’t sound like the voice of a playful practical joker. It was more like a deep-throated growl, full of menace.

“Come out of there, whoever you are, if you know what’s good for you!”

Bob looked at Jupe. Jupe shook his head, his lips set in a firm stubborn line.

His hands stabbed wildly at the control buttons. “This is our only chance, if I can get this darn dragon running!”

The engine caught again. The dragon lurched and jumped forward. The huge neck suddenly swung up in front of them.

Bob gestured excitedly at the sight. “Jupe, look! One of those buttons you hit must have made the head come up. There’s an opening to see through!”

Jupe nodded and stepped harder on the accelerator pedal. The dragon suddenly stopped short, coughing, and they heard Mr. Shelby cry out.

A clattering sound came from above them, then a dull thud.

“I think we just lost Mr. Shelby, Jupe. Keep going!” Bob urged.

“I’ll try — but I’m doing something wrong. It keeps stalling!”

He turned the key again and pressed the starter button. Above the whine of the engine, he heard Mr. Shelby bellowing for the Morgan brothers.

Bob darted to the rear and pressed his face to the small porthole in the side.

“Here they come, Jupe! They look mad, too. Do something!”

Again the starter caught and the engine hummed. Jupe pressed the clutch in again, pulled the gearshift lever and stepped on the accelerator pedal.

The dragon took a tremendous forward leap.

Then it stalled once more.

Grimly, Jupiter got it started again. The dragon leaped forward. And once again, it stopped with a sickening lurch.

“Keep going!” Bob urged. “Every time you move, you lose them!”

Jupe had started the engine again.

“How far back are Mr. Shelby and those two strongmen?” he asked.

Bob turned his head. “Whiskers!” he exclaimed. “Right on top of us! Get going!”

The dragon leaped forward again, glided several feet, and then abruptly coughed and stalled.

Bob looked back. The Morgan brothers were running hard now, their faces contorted with anger. Arthur Shelby was running just behind them, waving his arms wildly.

“Stop them, you fools! Without the dragon, we don’t have a chance!”

Spurred on, the husky Morgan brothers increased their pace. Bob paled. Their fingers were almost touching the dragon’s long tail. He remembered how easily they had carried the heavy gold bars. If they caught the tail, it could be child’s play for them to pull the dragon back!

Jupe heard Bob’s warning cry, and got the dragon moving again. But after another series of long convulsive leaps forward, it coughed and stalled. He pushed the starter button. The engine whirred. It didn’t catch.

“It’s no use,” Jupe said, biting his lip and scowling. “Now I can’t even get it started.”

“It doesn’t matter any more,” Bob said dully. “They’ve caught up with us.”

As he had feared, the Morgans had finally managed to grab the long tail of the dragon. Now he saw them braced, leaning back, holding it still.

Then one of them ran forward.

“Get ’em out of there, Harry!” the other Morgan yelled.

Harry nodded. He leaped for the metal ridges leading to the top of the dragon and the open hatch.

“They got us, Jupe,” Bob cried. “What’ll we do?” Jupe sighed. There was nothing else to do. He got up and walked down the narrow aisle.

“Perhaps if we surrender now, they won’t hurt us,” he said, doubting his words as he said them.

Preceding Bob on the narrow ladder, he held his arms up high.

“We give up, Mr. Shelby,” he called. “We’re coming out now.”

He heard Shelby’s angry shout. Then another noise filled the cave. It was a roar that echoed and bounced off the thick walls of the tunnel.

“RR — AAAAAAGHHHHHH!”

Jupe jerked his head round at the roar and saw the wall ahead of them had closed.

He heard the Morgan brother coming up the side call out, “Watch out, Jack!”

Then, incredulously, he saw the tough faces of the husky men dissolve into astonishment, then into fear. Another frightening roar filled the cave.

Bob grabbed Jupe’s arm. “Look!”

Jupe nodded. A huge ant had suddenly appeared on the cave wall. It seemed very far away. Then, with an astonishing leap, it had closed the gap between them, and was almost on them.

Harry Morgan screamed from the top of the dragon. “Monsters! Look out!”

In almost the same breath, he had reached into his pocket. A gun gleamed in his shaking hand. He fired twice.

The ant on the wall seemed to scream its defiance, and came closer. Another ant followed, sliding up the tunnel wall to gigantic size, almost filling it.

“I hit him and it went right through him!” yelled the first Morgan. He fired again and again.

The ants roared and kept coming. They came in increasing numbers, filling the cave, crowding the walls.

Arthur Shelby had come up and was staring at the walls, a curious expression on his pale, freckled face. Both Morgans were firing now.

“Giant ants coming out of the walls,” the bigger Morgan yelled. “The bullets don’t bother them. Get us out of here, Shelby!”

Shelby shrugged and stared at the moving ants on the wall.

The second Morgan grabbed him, brandishing his pistol. “Open the wall, Shelby, or I’ll let you have it. We’re getting out of here!”

Shelby looked at him coldly. Then, with a shrug, he reached into his pocket. A thin, tubular object appeared in his hands. He put it into his mouth.

Bob and Jupe waited for the shrill sound of a whistle. They heard nothing. They saw the wall slowly open.

“Come on, Jack!”

The Morgans ran for the opening, firing wildly at the ants on the wall screaming back at them. In another instant they had gone through the huge walls.

“Run, you fools!” Arthur Shelby said mockingly. He looked up at Bob and Jupiter, a curious appraising look on his face.

“Very clever,” he said drily. “But a little too clever, my young friends. You’ve cost me a fortune, and I don’t see how I can decently let you get away with that.”

He reached into his other coat pocket. This time he held a more frightening object. His eyes glittered.

“Don’t shoot,” Bob gasped.

Shelby coldly nodded to them. “Step down, please.” And as Jupe came down, followed by Bob, Shelby added, “The next time you try to appropriate a bus-like vehicle, I strongly suggest you learn how to double-declutch when you change gear. Stops stalling you see.”

Both boys climbed down. Shelby turned towards the darkest corner of the wall and the cone of light. “And you with that projector,” he called. “Shut off that film and come over here, at once! I’ve a gun in my hand, I warn you!”