Don Winslow

“ DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY
I
BOMBED! On the white sand of a jungle bordered cove, two men and a girl stood gazing seaward, their eyes shielded against the rising sun’s first beams. To judge by their torn, mudstained clothing, they had been meeting hardship in large, tough chunks. Out here on the beach they would soon face more of it, when the sun grew hot enough to broil a white man’s skin. ”

“ Leaping down across the footlights, Don Winslow, Red Pennington and a dozen of Hammond’s men lined up with ready guns. Yet in the face of that threat more than half the Scorpion assembly had drawn concealed pistols.
A single shot would touch off a battle to the death. None knew it better than Michael Splendor as he perched on the shoulders of a powerful deputy, full in the spotlight’s glare. He knew also that men and women, however desperate, can sometimes be bluffed. ”

“ Don Winslow took a turn up and down the cabin’s narrow space, frowning as he chewed mentally on Red’s suggestion. Bringing up before his friend’s chair, he shook his head smilingly.
“It wouldn’t do, shipmate,” he stated. “In the first place, we’d have to capture some member of Scorpia who looked enough like me to make my disguise and substitution possible. Next, I’d have to find a way to open that man’s mind out flat, and memorize everything he knew. It’s all very well to dream about, but you know yourself such breaks only come once in a lifetime.”
“Unless you make ’em, Skipper!” ”

“ If a man with no legs can risk his life to help Don Winslow, so can a girl. And you’re not going to stop me!”
Throwing off the borrowed topcoat, Mercedes stood there slim and defiant in her boyish flying togs. Her clear eyes glowed like battle lanterns in the light of Splendor’s torch beam. Before the veteran could frame a reply, a voice outside in the corridor drew everyone’s attention.
“Good for you, Mercedes!” cried Don Winslow, striding up the corridor with Red at his heels. “You’re not the only woman who’s risking her life tonight in the cause of humanity. ”

“ Slowly Lotus’ small chin lifted. Her shoulders lost their discouraged droop.
“Thank you, Don Winslow!” she whispered. “André was like that, too, saying things to give me courage when all seemed hopeless. You resemble each other in more things than voice and appearance. That is why I couldn’t ever betray you to Cho-San! But come! It is dangerous to talk here longer. We must return to the living room, in case Cho-San comes looking for us.”
Don realized that she was right. Without a word he followed back through the curtained archway, ready once more to play the part of Count Borg. ”

“ As the converted yacht’s bower anchor splashed down at the cove’s mouth, her launch swung outboard from the davits, manned by a boatswain and two armed sailors. At the same time a two-seater flying boat roared in out of the dawn to land like a white gull in the offing.
“That was quick answer to your radio call, Don!” observed Red Pennington as the Gatoon’s launch drove swiftly shoreward. “I didn’t count on their raising this little jungle cove till noon. But, say! I sure hope Cap’n Riggs has got more than Java and sinkers for breakfast!” ”

“ Am I right, Skipper?”
“I hope so, Red!” replied Don Winslow soberly. “At least we’ll make the Americas and their two oceans an unlucky harbor for the enemies of peace. With the aid of all our loyal shipmates, not forgetting Suzette and Count Borg and Lotus, too, we’ll work, we’ll live, and if need be we’ll die to make this old world a better place!”
“Amen!” responded Michael Splendor from his sickbed. “Already ye have the Scorpion and his warmongers on the run, but perilous waters lie before ye. Commander. The enemy is desperate. ”

“ We’re all bound for Davy Jones’ locker, now!”
Don Winslow’s laugh rang as hard as the slap of bullets on steel armor plate.
“We were, maybe, but we’re taking a new tack, sailor!” he barked. “Now we know what your murderous pals are up to, we can outthink and outfight them too. The only man aboard who’s bound for Davy Jones is——”
“Captain!” cried a breathless voice on deck. “The prisoner, Durkin—the man you put in the brig, sir—he’s dead! Hanged himself, with a loop of wire he’d made fast to a steampipe. ”

“ Fresh air is what we need more than anything, except news from our friends.”
The news that reached them at the local Intelligence Office was better than Don Winslow or any of his three companions had dared to expect. The bullet which had passed through Michael Splendor’s throat had missed the large blood vessels, though coming dangerously near to the spinal cord. The doctors’ first report gave him more than a fighting chance to live.
Count Borg’s wrenched limbs would be useless for the next month, but his agony on the rack had somehow torn the veil obscuring his memory. ”

“ Isn’t there any trick we can work out to defend ourselves with?”
“I think there is, Captain,” answered Don Winslow, rising from his chair. “I’d like to talk it over first, though, with Michael Splendor. Suppose we join him, below, while Pennington is sending this radio I’ve just coded. Red’s an expert operator, so there won’t be any mistakes!”
Below, in the captain’s quarters. Lieutenant Darnley had just finished outlining the situation to Splendor and Mercedes Colby. The girl was taking the latest news of sabotage and sudden death with cool courage, as became the daughter of a Navy Admiral. ”

“ When the Scorpion strikes, you’ll think I did Ahern a favor. Signed, Durkin.’”
“And so exit Scorpion Agent SC-21!” observed Don Winslow harshly. “He killed himself rather than go down later with the ship. That leaves one enemy agent still unidentified. Who is he, Corba?”
“Seaman Second Class, by the name of Mink,” replied the radioman sullenly. “He’s just a tough gorilla we brought aboard for strong arm work. As it turned out, we didn’t have to use him.”
“Which means you were the bird who shot at us tonight from the corner of the galley!” put in Red Pennington. ”

“ In this case me hunch is that the Scorpion’s power will be broken, and himself a prisoner, six months from this very day!”
A low whistle from Red Pennington greeted Splendor’s statement.
“But those were almost my own words to Don this morning!” the stocky lieutenant exclaimed. “Thanks to Don Winslow, we’ve matched every move the enemy has made with a better one. The Scorpion must be desperate, right now. And desperation usually goes before a flop, doesn’t it?”
“Very often, it does,” replied Michael Splendor cautiously. ”

“ Tugging a blunt nosed pistol from his pocket, the Gatoon’s master would have fired at the man in the doorway, had not Michael Splendor driven his wheel chair between them.
“Stop it, Riggs!” bellowed the gray-haired cripple. “If ye value your own life, not to mention Commander Winslow’s, lower that weapon, sir! Miss Colby is right! The gentleman at the table is a stranger; but the man here beside me is Don Winslow himself, may heaven preserve him!” ”

“ Of Hammond’s deputies, however, ten men were wounded by knives or bullets, and three had given their lives. Don Winslow and Red each bled from knife slashes received in the melee. The old lion, Michael Splendor, had taken a bullet through the throat, but he still lived by a miracle. Mercedes, with Lotus’ help, had just finished bandaging the veteran’s wound when Don located them back stage. Count Borg lay near by, conscious but unable to rise. ”

“ At the same time there came the clang of a steel door somewhere inside the secret room.
“They’re gone!” yelped Red Pennington. “Quick, Suzette! Which way can we follow ’em?”
“Back! Get back, Monsieur!” cried the little French maid, tugging at his sleeve. “That smoke is deadly poison. Quick, everyone—put on the gas masks and come away!”
“She’s right, Red!” clipped Don Winslow, whipping out his own mask. “Clear out of here before something worse happens! I’ll be with you as soon as I get my gun loose.” ”

“ Michael Splendor, just arrived from the airport to take charge of operations, was laying down the law to the chief of the San Francisco operatives.
“It’s all ye’re fault, Hammond!” he roared, pounding the desk with an enormous hairy fist. “Ye should have seen the game was up when Cho-San butted in on the party and spirited Don Winslow away in his big black car! Ye should have had a squad of expert men ready to shadow him, instead of leavin’ it to a young officer who’s not trained to the work. ”

“ Slowly the look of fright left Lotus’ face. Two large tears trickled down each side of her pretty nose, but her lips smiled tenderly.
“My poor André!” she cried, softly. “It must make you feel queer—as if you were someone else—to have your memory 'skip cogs’! But that is certain to cure itself! After all your brain is not like the gears of a car that have to be thrown away when they are broken. You remember me! Very soon you will recall everything. In the meantime, let Lotus be your memory, dear André!”
As Don Winslow gazed into her eager, pleading little face, he felt like kicking himself. ”

“ RED GETS A SHOCK “Listen, Skipper!” pleaded Lieutenant Pennington, seizing Don Winslow’s arm. “Maybe this guy, Count Borg, isn’t nuts; but I’m gonna be if you keep on doin’ and sayin’ things that don’t make sense! First you get an earful of hot dope from Corba, and start actin’ mysterious. Then you get chummy with a dangerous enemy agent. He raves and hollers like a maniac; so you decide he isn’t crazy but only thinks he is. Now you unlock his handcuffs, and tell him what happened to him back in nineteen thirty-three just as if you’d seen it. Have a heart, Skipper! ”

“ Lieutenant Allen, catching the captain’s glance of query, shook his head.
“I didn’t touch Ahern, except to turn him over, sir,” he declared. “And there was no one else in the engine room when I arrived. Strange way to kill a man, with a wire noose!”
“The French call it 'La Garrote,’” observed Don Winslow, stooping to pick a peculiar metal object from a dark corner of the deck. “If I’m not mistaken, this thing is it! Looks as if the killer dropped it in his hurry to get away.” ”

“ Don Winslow interrupted. “The signatures on this record show signs of tracing. Forgery, all right, but a mighty clumsy job. Just study it for a minute and give me your opinion.”
Handing the paper to Riggs, he whispered rapidly in the officer’s ear:
“I have a hunch we are being overheard now. Corba or some other spy may be the eavesdropper. I’m sending Pennington out to check up. Meantime we must all keep talking naturally, so the fellow will not suspect.”
With a nod of understanding, Riggs moved over to Michael Splendor’s chair. ”

“ Back in the radio shack, after seeing the lock turned on both Scorpion spies, Don Winslow sat down to compose a code radiogram to Navy Intelligence Headquarters at Washington. A trusted boatswain’s mate armed with rifle and bayonet stood outside to guard against interruptions.
The message, as Red Pennington translated it aloud, read: “GATOON SABOTAGED. STOP. NOW DRIFTING OFF THE COAST OF HAITI WITH GUNS AND ENGINES DISABLED. STOP. EXPECT ATTACK BY ENEMY BOMBERS AT DAYLIGHT. STOP. SEND FAST ATTACK PLANES TO OUR ASSISTANCE AT ONCE. STOP. OUR POSITION IS....” ”

“ Suddenly he’d heard two pistol shots, and the sound of men running. He was still wondering what it was all about, when the door burst open and two hundred pounds of fighting man landed on him. Naturally he’d tried to fight back, but his attacker, who turned out to be Lieutenant Pennington, had him licked from the start.
Don Winslow heard the story through, without a change of expression.
“Why,” he asked, “did you have the deadlights screwed over the portholes. Is that customary aboard this craft?”
“Captain Riggs’ orders, sir,” replied the radio operator instantly. ”

“ Even the likelihood of being bombed and sunk by a Scorpion airship failed to terrify her.
“Now that I know the worst, I’m not scared at all,” she smiled pluckily. “It was not knowing what fiendish thing the Scorpion was planning, that was the hardest to bear. There are lots of worse deaths than drowning. And anyhow, I can’t believe it will come to that!”
“Neither can I!” put in Michael Splendor, quietly. “With Don Winslow on deck, our chances of making port are better than the enemy’s. ”

“ There are so many traps he might walk into whichever way he turns!”
“Aye, there’s no denyin’ the dangers,” Michael Splendor agreed solemnly. “But there are ways of lessening them, I think. Take that treacherous radioman, for instance, he is only too anxious to talk, and he knows a great deal that will be useful to Don Winslow. The other captives have not been persuaded to loosen up.”
“Then you’ve interviewed them all?” queried Red Pennington, in surprise. “Gee, you must have been busy while Don and I were pounding our ears this afternoon! But how’re we gonna get hold of Corba again? ”

“ To combat this secret menace the United States Government had needed an officer of rare courage and ability for its chief field operative, a man able to match wits with the world’s greatest spymaster—and win! He must be highly skilled in all forms of combat, an expert with every type of weapon. He must be tireless, self-reliant, and prepared to give his life in the line of duty, without warning and without regret. With these qualities in mind, the Navy Department’s final choice had fallen upon an already distinguished young officer—Commander Don Winslow. ”

“ Where? I thought you were over there!” burbled Red Pennington between frantic splashings. “Are you swimmin’ circles around me, Skipper, or is it the darkness? Dawggone....”
“It’s your life preserver, Red!” Don chuckled. “Don’t try to swim fast in that thing, or you’ll just spin round and round. Paddle over here slowly, and I’ll pass you an end of marline I brought along to lash us together.”
There was some more splashing, and a final grunt of relief as Red found Don’s hand holding the length of tarred cord. For a while neither of them spoke. ”