Story of the Phantom (5 page)

Now the crowd was silent. This, more than all the rest, was unbelievable. Redbeard, defeated? Was a change of leadership at hand? Redbeard, sweating and bloody, looked steadily at the masked man.

He would not have granted mercy, and he did not ask for mercy now. All he said-panting for breath-was "Well done. Too bad I couldn't have stayed to know you." The masked man stepped back, and to the amazement of everyone, threw away his sword.

"Put up your fists," he said. "This fight isn't over yet."

Redbeard needed no further invitation. If the masked man was mad enough to miss his chance, he'd not get a second one. He sprang at the smaller masked man, pouncing on him like a cat. His powerful arms grasped him. Redbeard could break a man's spine as if it were a match. But not this man's. The body he held was like steel. Steel fingers gripped his throat, throttling him. And as he staggered back, a steel fist landed on his jaw, and Redbeard staggered. Before he could right himself, another blow, then another and another, crunched on his red-bearded jaw, and the pirate king toppled like a high tree, crashing his full length to the pavement. He lay not a dozen yards from The Crusher, who was still unconscious. The masked man grasped a sword and turned toward the watching crowd.

"Is there any man among you who challenges me?" he said in a full deep voice. No one replied. He took a step forward and the entire circle of watchers retreated a step.

"I will say it once more. Is there any man among you who wants to face me with any weapon, or bare-handed?"

The crowd looked at Gillaim, at The Crusher, at Red- beard, and there was silence.

"Then I am your leader. You will obey me in all things. Do you all hear?"

"We hear," they replied in chorus.

"Is there any man among you who does not agree?"

Silence.

"Bring Queen Natala to me," he commanded.

She was brought before him, this proud, beautiful girl, her flashing gray eyes and soft voice filled with gratitude and questions. Who was he? But he was wounded and tired now, and sank wearily onto a bench. As the others watched from a safe distance, she bathed his wounds with spirits, and bound them with cloth torn from her lacy petticoats.

"This tale has a surprising ending," his father told the enraptured Kit, "and I'll make it brief, because it's almost time for dinner' What did the Sixth Phantom do with the pirates and the beautiful queen?

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First, he returned Natala and her stolen ships to her country, along with her dowry of treasure. Pirates served as the missing royal crew. All this took time to arrange, and Natala spent many weeks dining and talking with her masked rescuer. He told her about the jungle and the Deep Woods, and this Skull Cave. (Young Kit looked about wonderingly during this.) And he told her of quiet woodland trails and jungle pools and golden beaches and much else. And she told him of her life at court, of her loneliness and unhappiness there, and of the stranger whom she was to marry-a man she had never seen except in portraits-a man who was older than her late father, a man said to be a tyrant. It was a marriage of state-intended as a union between two nations-and that was that.

Now it was time to leave, and she knew that she loved this quiet powerful masked man. And he knew she loved him. For his part, he loved this gentle, warm, and beautiful girl. And she knew he loved her. But she was the Queen, and that was that. Her fleet departed from the pirate city. The masked man sailed a long part of the way, leaving Redbeard, Gillaim, and The Crusher behind as his lieutenants, to rule in his absence. His final order to them was, "do nothing until I return."

After a few idyllic days of sailing along the coast, a long war canoe filled with Mori warriors paddled alongside the frigate, and the masked man climbed in. He waved farewell to his beautiful queen until the ship was across the horizon. Then he headed back to the former pirate city. The Sixth had decided that piracy was over, and none challenged him. The vicious and criminal men among them were jailed. The others followed his command, for he had a daring plan. He would form a Jungle Patrol. A dozen small nations bordered the vast jungle, and along this long border, there was no law, no authority. The region was infested with bandits, who attacked caravans and travelers, and raided villages, and there were none to stop them. The Sixth Phantom decided that this patrol would fill that function, and be supported by the treasuries of all the small nations involved. This took time to develop and caused amazement in the capitals, when they knew who the Jungle Patrol would be: Redbeard and his pirate crews! "Who better, to fight land pirates, than sea pirates?" asked the Sixth.

And the rulers agreed, for they were afraid to refuse. But it was a good thing. And the Jungle Patrol, founded with pirates, exists to this very day.

"What happened to Queen Natala?" demanded Kit.

"Yes!" asked the mother who was also listening.

The beautiful queen returned to her fawning courtiers and their sickly compliments. And she met the king who would be her husband, and he was a lecherous, diseased, stupid man, though a king. She thought of the masked man, and the quiet jungle trails and the Deep Woods with its waterfall. And one night, the very night before the state wedding, she slipped out of the harbor on one of her ships with the ex-pirate crew which had remained with her. And they sailed back to Bangalla. One day, as the Sixth sat quietly on that Skull Throne (Kit and his mother looked out of the Cave toward the throne in the sunlight), excited pygmies rushed to tell him that a personage was approaching.

Approaching she was, Natala, the Queen of France, riding in a jeweled howdah, on an elephant, followed by a dozen more elephants, bearing chests of gifts. The Sixth caught her in his arms as she stepped from the kneeling elephant and-"I quote"-said Kit's father, glancing at the Chronicles that contained this tale "I kissed her warm lips for the first time and looked into her gray eyes and I knew that she was mine and I felt as though a thousand rockets had exploded in my heart."

"How beautiful," mother sighed.

"Did they get married on the Golden Beach of Keela-wee in the jade hut?" cried young Kit.

"No. There was no jade hunt at Keela-Wee then. That came later. But marry they did, and all the chiefs of the jungle came to watch, and all the pirate crew, who were now jungle patrolmen. And 22

who do you supposed was best man? Redbeard! And the chief ushers? Gillaim and The Crusher."

"What a story!" said Kit, rushing out to tell Guran all about it. He paused at the Cave mouth. "Will you tell me about the jade hut and the Golden Beach next?"

"Not today," said his father. "I'm hoarse."

THE GOLDEN BEACH OF KEELA-WEE

In the northeastern stretches of the jungle, near the mountain country, there is a plateau rising about five hundred feet above the jungle floor. It is several miles in length and width and is now as wooded as the jungle below. This thick foliage covers and largely conceals vast ruins which are evidence of a civilization that once flourished there. In olden times, these ruins were magnificent palaces, temples, and gardens, the capital city of the ancient black kingdom of Nyahpura. The powerful mountain princes were feudal vassals to the black emperors of Nyapura whose rule also extended deep into the western jungle, including the portion known as the Deep Woods. This kingdom reached its zenith in the latter half of the seventeenth century under the rule of the mighty Emperor Joonkar. It is said that his palace and gardens and fountains and the elegance of his court rivaled Versailles. Caravans bearing the wealth of the continent poured into Nyahpura. The emperor maintained a powerful army.

Brilliant court festivities displayed the beauty of the ladies and the richness of their jewels and gowns.

Ballets and orchestral music prepared by masters from Europe entertained these gatherings, and hundreds of chefs prepared the week-long banquets with delicacies from the four corners of the earth.

The Emperor Joonkar was a powerful young man, a beneficent, wise ruler, a renowned sportsman and hunter, and a bachelor. He had resisted the busy matchmakers of his court for some years, preferring his freedom among the lovely ladies of the court. But at last, to the relief of all the husbands, a bride was on her way to Nyahpura. She was a young princess, a titian-haired beauty, Sheeba, of the distant mountain state of Adzahbadar. Joonkar had met her only once before, at a conference of rulers, and had fallen madly in love. So it was decided, and she was on the high seas, on her way to Joonkar.

At the edge of his kingdom that bordered the sea, there was a secret cove that for generations had been the personal beach of the emperors. It was always guarded by royal sentries, and all trespassing was punishable by death. The reason for this security was that by a unique geological quirk, the sands of this amazing beach consisted of fifty percent pure gold dust. Hence, the Golden Beach of Keela-Wee.

While awaiting his bride's arrival, Joonkar occupied himself with affairs of state: polo-at which he was an expert-and hunting. He horrified his court with his hunting. For Joonkar was a bold and powerful man, and he preferred to hunt on foot with crossbow, steel arrows and short lance. So it happened one day that his beaters were moving through a part of the jungle that was new to them, and they waved torches and banged on drums to drive animals toward their waiting ruler. It also happened that this was only a short distance from the Deep Woods. This land was under the protection of the Phantom. He had made it an animal preserve, and had forbidden all hunting there, except for the pygmies who depended upon this area for their meat. Their sentries brought news to him that hunters had entered the preserve and he raced to it.

Joonkar was having a fine day. He'd never seen so much game. With his steel arrows, he shot antelope, wild boar, zebra, wildebeest, a gorilla, and a leopard; a royal slaughter. Nothing would be wasted, however. The eatables would be served at the court tables, and the noneatables would be stuffed and mounted. Now, the unexpected happened. The beaters had flushed a lioness with her cubs, and before guards could rush to his aid, the lioness charged Joonkar. His crossbow was empty at that moment. There was no time to get an arrow, which might have been useless in any case at such short range. But he stood his ground with the short lance, an equally futile weapon against the

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charge of the lioness. In a flash Joonkar realized he faced death, and that there was no escape. The guards watched, petrified. When the charging big cat was within ten feet of the emperor, a strange masked figure dropped from the trees onto the beast's back. The lioness whirled in midair, twisting to fight off this surprise opponent. But a long knife reached her heart, and she fell to the ground, dead.

A happy roar came from the beaters and guards as they rushed toward their monarch. He looked at his rescuer. Skintight costume? Mask! A large powerful man. "I thank you for my life. Who are you?" asked the black emperor.

"You are welcome. You are also trespassing. No hunting is permitted here," said the Phantom, pointing to the piles of dead animals.

Joonkar's guards took a step forward. He laughed, and waved them back.

"Do you know who I am?" he said.

"Obviously a man of importance," said the masked man. "You came to this area, ignorant that it was a preserve, so you are excused. You will not hunt here again."

Joonkar stiffened. As might be expected, though a wise and generous man, he was arrogant, an absolute ruler, and son of absolute rulers. No one in his lifetime had forbidden him anything.

"I, in turn, forgive your ignorance, or you would not address me in this manner," he said. "I am the Emperor Joonkar."

"I thought you might be," said the masked man. "I've heard about you."

Joonkar was amazed. "You knew; yet you spoke to me like that? Don't you realize I rule this land we stand on?"

"No man rules this jungle. It is common land. And no hunting is permitted here, except by the Bandar, who take limited supplies of meat," said the masked man.

Now Joonkar turned cool and deadly. "Whoever you and the Bandar are, you will learn that I rule this jungle. This is rich hunting and I intend to return here at my pleasure," he said.

"I regret that. I have warned you," said the masked man. Joonkar held back his wrath and studied him.

Who could he be? With confidence and arrogance equal to his own? For his part, the masked man had no fear of kings or emperors. His own mother had been Natala, Queen of France. This was the Seventh Phantom.

"I forgive your impudence because you saved my life," said Joonkar. "I thank you and I free you without punishment because of that. But now we are quits. Go your way. Be off with you. Let the hunt continue."

"I have said, you will not hunt here," said the Seventh in a strong voice. Exasperated now, Joonkar signaled his guards. As they stepped toward the masked man, a small arrow struck the tree trunk a foot above Joonkar's head. All looked into the trees. In each tree was a pygmy with an arrow in a bow. They were recognized at once. The pygmy poison people!

"These are the Bandar," said the Seventh.

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Joonkar looked around at his guards. They were clearly paralyzed by the sight of the pygmies, one scratch of whose arrows meant instant death. But he was not about to retreat before this masked man.

"It appears to be a standoff. I will not be humiliated this way. We will settle this, man to man. You have a knife. Draw it," he said. The guards stared at their ruler.