Part 1

DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY

by

FRANK V. MARTINEK

Illustrated by

F. WARREN

GROSSET & DUNLAP Publishers NEW YORK

Copyright, 1940, by GROSSET & DUNLAP, INC.

All Rights Reserved

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

I BOMBED! II OUT OF THE POISON FOG III HIGH EXPLOSIVE IV THE CODE MESSAGE V STRUCK DOWN FROM BEHIND VI MURDER BELOW DECKS VII “MAN OVERBOARD!” VIII THE SECOND ATTACK IX RED NABS A SPY X A DESPERATE SCHEME XI JAWS OF DEATH XII TIGERS OF THE SEA XIII WINGS OF DESTRUCTION XIV THE MYSTERIOUS CAPTIVE XV RED GETS A SHOCK XVI DANGER AND A WOMAN XVII ORDERS FROM WASHINGTON XVIII THE DARK FIELD XIX A LUCKY ENCOUNTER XX THE TEST XXI CHO-SAN XXII WET TRACKS IN THE FOG XXIII THE CHINESE CABINET XXIV CHO-SAN’S NEWS XXV LOTUS’ CONFESSION XXVI THE ROOM OF A THOUSAND TORMENTS XXVII WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT XXVIII PULLING DEATH’S WHISKERS XXIX THE WRATH OF CHO-SAN XXX TRAPPED XXXI THE SECRET CHAMBER

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.

The slim, dark-eyed girl had suffered less, apparently, than her two companions. Yet her stout whipcord breeches showed rough wear, and her face, under a mass of wind blown curls, bore traces of weariness and jungle dirt. The society columnist who had described her coiffure at a Washington ball, six weeks ago, would have been startled to recognize Mercedes Colby, daughter of a retired Navy Admiral.

Even more sharply would that columnist have been astonished by the identity of Miss Colby’s present escorts. For United States Naval Commanders are not ordinarily found in beachcombers’ rags, on the shore of a tropical island. And nothing in the book of Navy Regulations (which covers everything) decrees that even a lieutenant must tackle the Haitian jungle barefooted, with half a shirt tucked into the remnant of once-white trousers.

The truth was that ordinary duties had never been the lot of Don Winslow and his husky shadow Lieutenant “Red” Pennington since their appointment to the Naval Intelligence Service. In a few adventure-packed months they had learned to take hardships as a daily ration, with danger for spice. Hunger, exhaustion, blistered skin and bleeding feet, were small matters compared with the importance of their present job—the stamping out of a vast international crime ring, whose deliberate aim was to plunge the whole world into war.

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.

Not all of history’s great adventurers have looked their parts; but Don Winslow in the ragged ruin of his uniform whites was still a man to draw attention. The lithe swing of his powerfully muscled body, from shoulders to lean hips—the unconscious air of command which marks a Navy officer—the clear, level gaze and the strong line of his jaw—all stamped him as a superb product of American birth and training.

Red Pennington, Don’s inseparable companion, cut a far less heroic figure. Except for gorilla-like strength evident beneath his fat, the young lieutenant would have resembled a chubby clown. Just now his naturally tender skin was tortured by sunburn and insect bites to the consistency of raw beef; yet its lumpy redness gave an irresistible effect of comic makeup. Fortunately Red’s own sense of humor was unconquerable and almost as deep as his loyalty to Don Winslow. These two traits, plus real ability as an officer and fighting man, had won him the coveted job of Don’s most trusted assistant, and the envy of every young naval officer who preferred adventure to routine.

Time and again, both Don Winslow and Red had been marked for death by the secret organization of Scorpia, whose war-making plots they had more than once uncovered and wrecked. Their great hope was to capture or destroy the crime ring’s despotic master—that evil, elusive genius who called himself merely “The Scorpion” and sucked in through a thousand agents the war-poisoned wealth of nations. Wherever war, or the fear of it, created topheavy armaments the Scorpion’s brood took their fat share of graft and hush money. War and murder were Scorpia’s stock in trade, and to enlarge them its members’ perverted souls were pledged.

So great had the Scorpion’s secret power become when the United States Government first realized its danger, that only by a miracle could the threat of war be lifted from our own and neighbor nations. In this crisis Don Winslow was chosen to go out, like David against the giant Goliath, and end the Scorpion’s menace.

Flying over the Windward Passage, Don and Red finally spotted and bombed the Scorpion’s submarine which had been torpedoing United States war vessels. A short time later mysterious anti-aircraft fire brought their plane down in the coastal jungle of Haiti. Neither officer was hurt, however, and the gunners from the Scorpion submarine base found the tables suddenly turned when Don and Red surprised them and seized their hidden stronghold. In the fight one Scorpion agent was killed. The others escaped, under cover of darkness.

Amazement struck the two young officers when they discovered their close friend and childhood playmate, Mercedes Colby, a prisoner in the enemy’s underground quarters. Mercedes had blundered upon the Scorpion base, after being shipwrecked on the wild Haitian coast. With her had been taken prisoner a Spanish-American, Yanos, two native fishermen, and an ex-Navy seaman by the name of Jerry Ward.

At the present moment all but Mercedes, Don and Red were asleep in the immense underground tank which the enemy had used as supply base and living quarters. Knowing that the Commander had radioed for a gunboat to pick them up, they took it for granted that their troubles were over.

However, the three young persons now looking out to sea knew better than to take anything for granted where the evil power of Scorpia was involved. By this time the failure of his men to report would have warned the Scorpion that his submarine base was captured. His counterattack might be delayed, but it was certain to be deadly.

With real relief therefore the two officers and Mercedes recognized the trim lines of the United States Gunboat _Gatoon_, just rounding a nearby headland. 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!”

Don Winslow nodded, watching the launch’s bow touch lightly on the white beach. It seemed that for a little while the three of them could exchange dangers and hardships for a well-earned rest aboard ship. The Navy boatswain who had just leaped ashore was a welcome symbol of America’s armed yet peace-loving might, ready at all times to protect its loyal citizens.

Answering the warrant officer’s salute, Don indicated the anchored seaplane.

“Whose craft is that?” he queried. “It’s not a Navy boat!”

“It’s Mr. Splendor’s private plane, sir,” answered the boatswain. “A young fellow called Panama is piloting him. They spotted you at first crack of dawn and led us in to this cove.”

“That sounds like Michael Splendor!” exclaimed Mercedes Colby. “He’s always one jump ahead of everyone else in the Naval Intelligence. Except Don, of course. The man is a wonder....”

She broke off in alarm, as the drone of an approaching airplane grew on the morning air.

“There’s another plane!” she cried, clutching at Commander Winslow’s arm. “Don, do you think it could be a Scorpion scout, coming back to investigate?”

“It could be!” the young officer decided swiftly. “In any case, this changes our plans. Boatswain! Shove off at once in the launch with Miss Colby. Get her safely aboard the gunboat and then come back. Lieutenant Pennington and I will evacuate the other men from the underground base. Hurry, Red!”

He turned and raced up the beach, followed by the stocky junior officer. Two minutes later he paused at the rim of a huge steel cylinder whose bulk appeared to be sunk deep in the earth. Thick jungle growth had sprawled across the great tank’s top, hiding it completely from the beach.

One hand on the hatchway leading to the cylinder’s interior, Don Winslow waited for his friend to catch up.

“What in thunder’s all the hurry, Don?” the red-headed lieutenant gasped, stumbling through the underbrush. “Even if that is a Scorpion plane up there, it wouldn’t dare attack the gunboat!”

“Maybe not,” replied Don Winslow, jerking open the hatch. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried dropping a bomb on this secret base, now that we’ve captured it. There’s a lot of priceless equipment here—new gadgets of the Scorpion’s own invention. He’d rather destroy that stuff than let us take it away. That’s why I want to get every man out of here before it’s too late!”

A narrow steel ladder led down into the cylinder. In the darkness, its slender rungs offered tricky footing, but the two Navy men made short work of the descent. Thirty feet below the hatchway, they reached a dimly lighted landing, from which two doors opened.

“Take the berth deck, Red,” Don directed curtly. “Get Yanos and the two native fishermen out of their hammocks and up the ladder. I’ll bring Jerry from the chartroom. If he’s still unconscious I’ll carry him top-side.”

“Aye-aye, Skipper!” muttered Red Pennington, pushing through the left-hand door. “If you need any help, just sing out!”

A short corridor led Don Winslow to the cylinder’s crowded chartroom, where the seaman, Jerry Ward, lay on a cot between two banks of electrical apparatus. Don glanced with envious eyes at the array of super-sensitive instruments.

“If only we had time to get some of this stuff aboard the gunboat!” he muttered. “No time to think about that now, though. That plane overhead may lay an 'egg’ on this place any minute!”

Bending over the unconscious Jerry, he shook the man gently. There was no response. A head wound, received at the time of his capture, had left the plucky fellow hanging between life and death.

Carefully Don lifted the limp body in his arms and turned to the door. As he did so, a muffled explosion shook the steel walls about him.

Bursting out onto the lower landing, Don Winslow collided with Lieutenant Pennington.

“Quick, Red!” he barked. “Take Jerry on your back, and get up that ladder. I’ll lash his wrists together, so you’ll have both hands free to climb with. Where are Yanos and the others?”

“They’ve just gone up!” Red answered, stooping to take Jerry’s weight. “And say! That _did_ sound like a bomb overhead, just now! We’d better get out of here in a hurry!”

“Right!” grunted Don, pushing the other toward the ladder. “You take Jerry up and get him down to the boat. I’ve got a little job to do before I follow you; so don’t wait.”

“But, Don!” protested the red-haired officer. “I can’t leave you here....”

“On your way, Lieutenant!” snapped the young commander. “Obey orders and get that seaman down to the boat. Lively, now!”

Talking to himself in a bitter undertone, Red Pennington toiled up the ladder with his heavy burden. He’d obey those orders, all right, but Don hadn’t forbidden him to return after seeing Jerry safely in the boat. If his commanding officer was going to stick around where the bombs were dropping, a certain husky lieutenant meant to share the danger with him!

Meantime, Don Winslow had returned to the chartroom, and was hastily disconnecting the main electric cables leading to the Scorpion’s weather mapping machine.

The invention was priceless, if it could be salvaged. Heavy as it was, Don thought he might be able to carry it up the ladder.

As he worked, with flashlight and screwdriver, wrench and pliers, two more bomb explosions shook the underground base.

Little by little, a stifling, smoky odor filled the air of the chartroom. Tears filled Don’s smarting eyes, inflamed by the acrid fumes. His breath came raspingly between dry coughs.

Reluctantly he dropped his tools and fumbled for the doorknob.

“Those were _gas_ bombs, not TNT!” he mumbled thickly, as he stumbled from the room. “Smoke’s coming down the hatch. Got to get up where there’s some—uh—air to breathe!”

As he groped toward the ladder a bulky form emerged from the smoke above him.

“Don! Don, old man!” came Red Pennington’s choking cry.

“Right here, Red!” coughed Don Winslow, clinging to the ladder’s lower rungs. “I’m—uh—all right. Coming up now. But you shouldn’t have come back!”

“Thank heaven, you’re okay!” the redhead replied. “Want me to give you a hand?”

“No! I’ll make it. Hustle, now, or the smoke is going to—uh—get us both! Where’re Mercedes and Jerry?”

Pennington’s answer was a coughing fit, which shook the steel ladder. Just below him, Don Winslow gripped the narrow rungs and gasped for breath. After a moment the two men resumed their painful climb, fighting against a growing dizziness.

“Mercedes—Jerry—on the beach!” came Red’s muffled words. “Smoke too thick to see—see the boat. Got to save breath now, and—uh—climb!”

II

OUT OF THE POISON FOG

Over the jungle cove rolled an unbroken cloud of billowing, greenish smoke. It blotted out the white beach, spread out over the blue water, and crept slowly outward toward the anchored gunboat.

From its murky edge came the roar of powerful engines. The seaplane’s nose emerged from the poisonous smoke, slid swiftly over the waves, and rose like a great white gull into the clear upper air.

Aboard the gunboat, steam winches began weighing the two anchors, while officers and seamen hurried to batten down hatches and close ventilators. Slowly the craft’s sharp bow swung seaward. Her twin propellors churned white water at her stern.

Neither the launch nor its erstwhile occupants could be seen beneath that greenish cloud of poison gas. In vain the seaplane’s pilot circled the big airship over the jungle’s edge, looking for a break in the smoke.

“Fly lower, Panama!” commanded the hard-jawed man in the after cockpit. “If that stuff thins, even for a moment, we may be able to spot somebody. There’s eleven souls down there, at death’s door for all we know.”

“That’s where we’ll be, Mr. Splendor, if the gas hits us!” replied the pilot. “But here goes.... Look! The wind’s made a rift in the cloud! There’s the launch, and a couple of men sprawled beside it!”

“Drop landing gear!” cried Splendor, as the plane’s nose dipped earthward. “Land in the cove and taxi right up onto the beach. We must get those poor fellows to the gunboat or die trying!”

With a quick nod, Panama cut the throttle. An instant later the seaplane’s pontoons touched the water in a flash of white spray. Straight into the thinning gas cloud the ship plunged, heading for the level beach.

To anxious watchers aboard the gunboat, it looked as if Michael Splendor and his plucky pilot had committed deliberate suicide. Unable to see the rift which Panama had spotted from the air, they waited in agonized suspense for the plane’s reappearance.

Suddenly Captain Riggs raised a pointing arm.

“There’s the plane, now, but something’s wrong, Lieutenant!” he exclaimed, to the junior officer beside him. “See how low she rides in the water! And what under the sun are those dark blotches on the forward fuselage?”

Peering through his binoculars, Lieutenant Darnley cried out in amazement.

“They’re men, Captain!” he reported. “Mr. Splendor is holding two of them, and there’s another in his cockpit. All three look to be unconscious, sir!”

“Lower the whaleboat!” bellowed Riggs, leaning over the bridge’s rail. “Stand by to take men off the seaplane. Darnley, tell the medical officer to prepare berths in the sick bay. I’m going in the boat myself!”

Moments later the seaplane’s crew gave up their helpless passengers to the whaleboat. Michael Splendor, his eyes streaming with tears from the poison gas fumes, insisted on going back at once for another rescue attempt.

“We’ve still to find the main shore party, Captain!” he explained between gasps for breath. “There’s young Winslow and Pennington still to be found, not to forget Admiral Colby’s daughter. Every second will count if we’re to save their lives!”

“You’re right, Mr. Splendor!” agreed Riggs, balancing in the whaleboat’s sternsheets. “We’ll follow you inshore, as soon as we get these poor fellows aboard. The smoke looks to be thinning now. Good luck!”

His words were drowned out by the roar of the seaplane’s motors. Like a huge water bird she taxied around, heading back to the beach. At the same moment, the boat’s oarsmen gave way with short powerful strokes that sped them toward the waiting ship.

Once alongside, the boat falls were made fast by expert hands, and the whaleboat was lifted dripping from the water. Even before the gassed seamen were transferred to the sick bay, the ship was nosing shoreward to join in the next desperate attempt at rescuing Don Winslow and his gallant companions.

* * * * *

Many hours later a westering sun cast its mellow rays through the portholes of the gunboat _Gatoon_, now a floating hospital anchored off the coast of Haiti. In the vessel’s sick bay, a white-coated medical officer bent frowning over one of the ten occupied berths. So intently was he watching the patient that he failed to hear the door open, or see the approach of the big man in the wheelchair.

“I thought this is where I’d find you, Doctor!” exclaimed the latter, his tone warm with a touch of Irish brogue. “They told me the seaman, Jerry, is sinking fast!”

The young doctor turned with a shake of his head.

“He’s in pretty bad shape, Mr. Splendor,” he said wearily. “The others are coming around surprisingly well, though. Even the girl, Miss Colby. I expect Commander Winslow and Lieutenant Pennington will regain consciousness this evening.”

“That’s just fine, Doctor!” exclaimed Splendor heartily. “Do ye mind if I go along when next ye look in on ’em. Even with me crippled legs, I promise not to be in the way.”

“Come along, of course, Mr. Splendor,” smiled the medical officer, opening the door. “If you and your seaplane had been OUT of the way this morning, none of these men would be alive now. You’re pretty much of a hero on this ship, whether you know it or not!”

“You mean my pilot, Panama!” growled the big man, rolling his chair along the steel deck. “It was him who did the rescuing, while I sat helpless in me cockpit.... Ah! So this is the cabin where ye put Don Winslow and his redheaded mate, eh?”

With a nod, the doctor threw open the cabin door.

“They seem to be still asleep, both of them,” he murmured, glancing across the narrow room. “Here! I’ll help you with that chair, if you’d like to come in.”

Low pitched as they were, the words registered on Don Winslow’s slumbering senses. He stirred, opened his eyes, and struggled up on one elbow.

“Michael Splendor!” he exclaimed huskily. “I dreamed about you, and a seaplane, and a cloud of poison smoke and.... Say! Where are we, anyhow? And what am I doing in this cabin?”

Rolling his chair swiftly to the side of the berth, Michael Splendor held up a big hand.

“Whisht, and be quiet, young feller-me-lad!” he rumbled. “It was no dream ye had about the poison smoke. Ye’re still sick from it, so take it easy. Your mate, the redheaded lieutenant, is sleepin’ in the next berth to ye.”

“I am not, Don!” croaked Red Pennington, trying to sit up. “I was lying low so as not to wake you! Oh-h-h! Golly! Does my head hurt!”

“It will be worse if you don’t lie down, Pennington!” snapped the medical officer. “If you and Commander Winslow didn’t have leather lungs and cast iron constitutions, we’d be sewing you up in canvas right now, for a sea burial. You two got the biggest dose of smoke!”

“But Mercedes—I mean, Miss Colby—she must have been gassed too!” cried Don Winslow, from the other berth. “Is she coming out of it yet, Doctor? Tell me the truth....”

“Hush, lad!” soothed Splendor, pushing the young officer back onto his pillow. “Miss Colby’s out of danger, so don’t excite yourself. We got Yanos and the two fishermen in time, too, along with the launch’s crew. Ye’ll hear all the details tomorrow, when you’re feelin’ stronger. The doctor and I will be leavin’ ye now.”

“But—the underground base!” muttered Don weakly, pressing a hand to his aching eyes. “About that apparatus, and the automatic weather map—Tell me, Splendor....”

“We’ll talk about that another time,” said the man in the wheel chair. “There’s nothing to worry about, except the strength ye’re wastin’ this minute, Commander. So pipe down and give your thoughts a rest till ye’re called on deck. The same goes for you, Pennington, d’ye hear?”

“Aye-aye, sir!” came the redhead’s mumbled response, as the cabin door closed softly behind the visitors.

III

HIGH EXPLOSIVE

Dawn had just broken the following day when Don Winslow sat up on the edge of his berth. There was a light of determination in his eye, and a fighting set to his unshaven jaw.

He was going to get up, shave and dress before the ship’s doctor had a chance to forbid him. He was tired of lying in a berth. Most of all, he was anxious to see for himself if Mercedes and the others were really getting over the effects of the poison gas.

There were some difficulties to be met, of course. In the first place, his head was still woozy, and the deck heaved up and down as if in heavy weather. In the second place, someone had taken away his torn and muddy uniform. If he could get to the locker in the corner, though, he might find something to put on.

Groping his way along the bulkhead, Don reached the locker and jerked open the door. There, as he had hoped, hung an officer’s spare uniform, along with a dress sword, weapon belt and other equipment. A drawer beneath contained underwear, shaving kit, and towels.