Page 17 - 1952

A splash of •Cold water on his face, someone shaking him. Jmught him b!llck to painful reality. His mouth felt as if it were stuffed with .cotton •and his head seemed swollen to ~wice its size.
" Come on, Jordllln. You're a- wake now.''
Hands ierked him up roughly r> a sittin!!' position. Fordnq his eves onen, he s:aw he w::t<: in ~'~· sm "·1I. suarcelv-furnii>her'l ronrn . One look alt his captors
:>nd hi~· he::trt sunk. There were. threA< of them-th'l Jittle man. another lbig guy who fitted Ped- ro's desaiptiOill of Wayne's mur- rlerer and the elderly, well- rlrec•qo.d man who had conven- iently "passed •orut'' near lthe pawn shou. They •all looked v-ery capable of handling .any nan- sense he might w.ant to try
''Alrig-ht Jordan, you want to kno·w why we tricked you." the elderly gentleman said.
Paul nodded mutely.
''.We hruve obtained the oat, whLch was our first objeoti-,ne but we failed in the second ob.: .iective; olbtaining the 'secr.e>t of the cat. That we want you to do."
Plaul's .~:m2'Je fell on the sleek 1ines of the •Qat sitting on the table. The one yellow light cast a high sheen on its black sur- face and ·CiaiUSed the ernerald eyes to scintillate. What on earth was its secret, •Paul won- dered. He knew nothing about it.
He must ha-,ne look!ed puzzled for the .gentleman spoke again. ''All you hruve to do is de- ctpher rt;he markings on the side
o•f the c.at. Here."
He plaoed the cat in Paul's
h a n d s , indicat~ng t h e r a i s e d marks of ancient writing along the ·base of the feline.
"But why do you want to know whalt it says?'' Paul asked wear- ily.
''Y ou •never mind," growled the big man advancing men- acingly. "I'll take care of him, Mr. Forman."
The other put out his hand. C. D.C. I. GILEANE!R
"I'll handle this, Cully. You're altogether too rough. I'll -tell y;ou Jor·d:an. We have it fvom a very •good smwce tha.t this cat is a key to a buried Aztec treas- uTie. we want this deciphered. ]f you do you will be ·CUt in. If not ... •Well. Manuel there, has very persuasive ways.
The little man ~inned evilly, dr.awing forth .a knife from his oockeft,.
B<JUl re.garded three with out- ward •calm. Inside he was frall'l- ticallv searching for an ou•. Even if he could decipher those ma.rks. his s•ense of iustice would nr>t ,.JioJW three such men to haVle the knowledge.
Imuatienlt F1orma•n motioned to :Manuel. P.aul watch'ld him approach w~rily grinning and forn.dling his knife. He was two feet 1awav from Paul. who seem- ed to still lbe weak from the ef- fiects of the dOPe, whP'l'l there was a loud banging on the door.
''Senor Jordan! Senor Jor- dan!"
Even ·as he recogrn.ized Pedro's voice. Paul had f'harged his would-be torturer. For the rna- moot !Pedro's in1Jerru:otion hllld diverted the three. With the .ad- vantage of surprise .and size
Paul easily •bowled over Manuel and rushed for the door. Reach- ing it he ftumg it open and thrust the .cat into the boy's hands.
''Quick Pedro, the police,'' he muttered. Then, slamming the door, he stood with his back to it, watching the three before him. Fi:>rman rallied first.
"Cully, go after him."
Paul smiled grimly. To rea.ch Pedro they had to go through the door ,and to do that they would have to overcome him. That would gtve Pedro enough time to ~et away.
Cully rushed him. Steppin,g nimbly to one .side Paul tried to give the big man a rabbit punch. But Cully straightened abruptly and whirled on Paul. His blow only grazed !Paul's shoulder while Paul grabbed his arm al!ld twisted it up behind him.
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