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Dan Dunn Secret Operative 48
"Crime Never Pays"
CHAPTER I
What Became of Fagan?
Dan Dunn, Secret Operative 48, succeeded in wrecking the crime ring created by the master mind, Fagan. Every one of Fagan's henchmen was in jail awaiting trial. But Fagan himself had disappeared!
"We don't know where Fagan is right now, Wolf," Dan said to his faithful dog, "but we'll get him yet!"
Unknown to Dan, at that very moment a plot was being hatched in San Fragel, under the leadership of Wu Fang, a wily Oriental.
"It may be true," Wu Fang was saying, "that if we combine both of us will prosper. I will consider it."
The person to whom he spoke was a flashily dressed white man.
"Why, it's a natural," he urged. "An' you've heard how I can handle things!"
"My business is very valuable as it is," Wu Fang answered. "But it is true that Western ideas might help."
"We can make three times as much money!" the man insisted.
"Very well," said Wu Fang. "I shall give you a trial—Mr. FAGAN!"
For it was none other than the former leader of the crime ring broken up by Dan Dunn. Here he was in San Fragel, joining forces with one of the craftiest criminals of Chinatown. Wu Fang knew Fagan's reputation, however, and was cunning enough to take every precaution.
"The great danger," Wu Fang thought to himself, stroking one of his long mustaches, "will be that Fagan may assume it will be possible to cheat me—that he will be able to give me the double-cross. I must prepare his mind against that!"
His slanting eyes narrowed to slits, Wu Fang spoke:
"I wish to warn you—," he began, turning to his companion.
"Aw, cut it!" Fagan snarled. "I only shoot one way, Wu. On the level, see?"
"But if you will be good enough to look behind you," Wu Fang continued in an oily tone, "you will see part of my mob, as you call them— a gang, is it not?"
Fagan's cigarette popped out of his crooked mouth when he turned and saw a horde of Chinamen in the room beyond.
"Every one of them is a hatchet man," Wu Fang went on quietly. "Every one is sworn to die for me if necessary. Let not your feet stray upon an unstraight path in our dealings, Fagan!"
Meanwhile, acting on sudden orders received by telegraph, Dan Dunn sped to San Fragel by fast airplane. He was accompanied by his loyal dog Wolf. Arriving there, he went immediately to the narcotic office. Mr. Beardsley was an old friend of his, long acquainted with Dan's exploits.
"Dan," Beardsley explained, "the most vicious smuggling ring in the country is operating in this town. My office has used every resource trying to run them down, but it has all been useless. We suspect some Orientals, but we can't prove anything!"
"Orientals, eh?" Dan repeated. "Guess the best thing for me to do is to locate near Chinatown where there'll be a chance to watch closely. I'll call you every day. If you don't hear from me, you'll know then that something's wrong!"
Taking a room in a squalid neighborhood, Dan, as was his habit, chatted to Wolf about his plans.
"As long as I'm going to work on Oriental smugglers, I don't want to be conspicuous, Wolf. So the old wrinkled suit will do—and no shaving for a while. Got to look over my gun, too."
Soon the spick and span Dan Dunn was a shabbily dressed individual with hunched shoulders. He left Wolf guarding his room. Alone, he went out to see what Chinatown looked like.
"Now to find a hop joint or a peddler," he said to himself. "Then the job of tracing back won't be easy. These Orientals are anything but loose-tongued!"
He entered a den and engaged a Chinese waiter in conversation. But the Oriental regarded him with suspicion, and would say only:
"No speakee English. You go now."
Dan had caught a glimpse of someone that looked like Fagan slipping out the back way.
"I know that feller," he said to the waiter. "Used to work for him down East. He's a big shot. Does he come here often?"
"No speakee English. You go," the waiter repeated.
CHAPTER II
A New Recruit
In one of Wu Fang's many dives, Fagan, master criminal, was hatchplans for the enlargement of Wu-s evil trade. Seeing a young ^an alone at a table, Fagan inMi'ed about him.
"That feller's sure well dressed. Who is he?"
"Ah, Mr. Fagan," was the answer. "That is Dick Hudson. He is of very wealthy family."
At Fagan's request, the Chinaman introduced the lad.
"Yeh, I'm glad to meet yuh," Fagan mumbled. "Let's talk, eh?"
"Have confidence, Mr. Hudson," the Chinaman said to the young man. "This is Mr. Fagan, who comes direct from the Great One."
"Say, who is the Great One anyway?" Dick Hudson demanded.
Seated at a table in a comer, Fagan and the lad conferred.
"My folks are the Hudsons— got a lotta dough. But they don't give me enough. An' I gotta have dough. Yuh know why—?"
"Mmm," Fagan murmured. "Yes, I know why. Your folks have that place up the coast—Ocean View, isn't it? Say, how'd yuh like to team up with me? I'll show yuh how t' make some real dough!"
Dick was persuaded to drive Fagan out to Ocean View when his folks were absent.
"We have a private harbor," pick confided. "Very snug, ain't it?"
He stood with Fagan, looking at the cozy little cove.
"That's my dad's private yacht," Dick went on, "and that there is my speed boat—one of the fastest on the coast."
"How much weight will your boat carry, Dick?" Fagan inquired.
"A ton, easy," was the boastful reply.
"Well, well," Fagan commented, ut to himself he thought, "What a perfect set-up for Wu Fang's business!"
Fagan lost no time in reporting to Wu Fang.
"But can this Dick Hudson be trusted?" Wu Fang asked cautiously.
"Sure," Fagan replied. "He's shiftless, but he has the habit an' wants to make money. No one would suspect that place of being used to bring the stuff in—speed boat, private harbor—it's perfect, I tell yuh!"
"All the same," Wu Fang decided, "we shall have a spy in that household. Everyone of wealth has Chinese servants. The Hudsons shall be served by one of my boys."
That night, much against his will, one of the Oriental house boys at Ocean View was persuaded to change places with a Wu Fang henchman.
"I must now send a secret radio message," Wu Fang explained to Fagan. "It goes to the captain of the boat conveying a cargo from a secret place to these shores."
"You're sure this boy you are replacing at the Hudson house won't squawk?" Fagan wanted to know.
"My men will watch him," said Wu Fang complacently. "My men watch everywhere. I know that a stranger asked about you in that place where you met Hudson. Do you know who that stranger might be, Fagan?"
Fagan rubbed his chin as he tried to think, asking himself:
"Could it be Dan Dunn?"
Wu-Fang's private radio operator wirelessed the message to a mysterious-looking tramp steamer far out at sea, and he received an acknowledgment which indicated that Wu Fang's instructions would be carried out.
Fagan completed the deal with Dick Hudson, and arranged that the speed boat would be held in readiness, ready to leap out of the harbor as soon as the tramp steamer had hove to for unloading.
CHAPTER III
A Battle
From the moment he had asked about Fagan in the Chinese dive. Dan Dunn noticed that Orientals were always following him.
I simply can't get anywhere on this smuggling case," Dan said to Wolf, "until I satisfy them that I'm harmless."
He dropped into a restaurant to have a place to think.
Now it happened that the Chinaman walking a few blocks behind Dan Dunn was Wa Sing, the former house boy at the Hudson mansion, who had been forced to leave to make a place for Wu Fang's spy.
"Wu Fang is a reptile," Wa Sing was thinking. "I wonder why he wanted one of his men in my place."
Still turning the problem over in his mind, Wa Sing entered the restaurant behind Dan Dunn. Across the street, four Chinamen, every one a hatchet man of Wu Fang's tong, watched with interest.
Seeing Wa Sing come in behind him, Dan leaped up and grabbed the fellow.
"Come here!" he ordered firmly.
"I do nothing, mister!" Wa Sing shrieked.
"You and your Oriental tribe have been following me for days!" Dan accused. "What's the idea?"
"I didn't follow you, mister," Wa Sing denied. "Honest. I was house boy for the Hudsons till the tong—uh, uh, uh—me no talkee!"
he concluded, as he spotted an Oriental head peering in at the door.
It was reported to Wu Fang that Wa Sing and the strange white man were talking together, and back came the command from the Great One: "Remove them!"
The hatchet men acted swiftly. When the message came, Wa Sing, his alarm dispelled, was leaving the restaurant with Dan Dunn. In a deserted street, the Orientals waylaid the two.
At a growl from Wolf, Dan whirled quickly to face the enemy.
"You want to fight, eh?" he yelled, seeing the crouching Chinamen creeping up on him. "Well, come on!"
Dan swung his fist at the first Oriental, felling him with a blow. Wa Sing, shrieking angrily in Chinese, put up a powerful resistance. Wolf leaped at their assailants, biting and tearing with his mighty jaws.
The battle was brief. Getting the worst of it, the hatchet men fled.
"Without your valiant dog," Wa Sing told Dan breathlessly, "we would neither of us be alive."
"Wolfs been knifed!" Dan exclaimed, kneeling over the dog's prostrate form. "Get a cab. We must take him to a doctor at once."
Vowing vengeance against Wu Fang's men, Dan made it his first duty to see that Wolf had medical care.
The doctor said that the wound was a very bad one, and quite deep, but he pledged all his skill in an effort to bring Wolf through.
"What are you planning on, Wa Sing?" Dan asked, as they left Wolf in good hands.
"You have saved my worthless life," was the humble answer, "and I shall endeavor to repay you. Come with me."
Wa Sing took Dan Dunn to the house of his uncle, one of the most influential Chinese merchants in San Fragel. Dan began to think he was making some progress. Wa Sing's uncle said. "Your fame has traveled even to far-off China. You are favorably known. My nephew has done me a great honor by bringing you here. I shall be glad to be of service to you. However, we must move cautiously, for I suspect that the insidious power against us is great. Feet that hurry often stumble."
"Thanks, Mr. Sing," Dan said gratefully.
"In my own way I will endeavor to find out what I can about your attackers," Foo Sing went on. "Meanwhile, let caution guide your every movement, Mr. Dunn."
When Wu Fang heard of the failure of his hatchet men, he scornfully belittled their courage.
"So you let those two get away from you—" Wu Fung said. "Four hatchetmen against a Chinese boy and a white man. The only way you can redeem yourselves is to do away with them."
"I have a feeling that the white man is a detective," he said, "and if he is, he must be disposed of!"
Hatchet men started out again with orders to destroy Dan Dunn. They picked up his trail just as he was leaving the doctor's office, where Dan had found Wolf slightly improved. Following close behind him, the Orientals—with orders to kill—were waiting for Dan to reach a spot favorable to their purpose.
Meanwhile, Wu Fang and Fagan were completing their plans for the use of Dick Hudson's boat.
"You say this Hudson boy will bring the precious stuff in his speed boat?" Wu Fang asked.
"Not only that, Wu, but after he gets the cargo ashore," Fagan explained, "we can load it in his car and he can deliver it to us here. Of course, we'll follow and see that he don't cross us up!"
CHAPTER IV
In Disguise
Luckily for Dan Dunn, he realized in time that he was being followed. He knew that unless he gave his shadowers the slip, the thread of his life might be cut short without warning. He ducked into a building and caught an elevator on the run. Showing his badge and ordering the elevator man to let him off at the third floor but to run his car to the top, he managed to elude his sly Oriental followers.
Dan ran down the stairs and out the back; the hatchet men, thinking Dan was still in the building, waited outside, patiently biding their time for hours.
Visiting Foo Sing, Wa Sing's uncle, Dan got some information.
"Servants of Wu Fang are out to kill you," Foo Sing told him. "I have ascertained that Wu Fang is the head of the smuggling ring* His underlings are many. He has combined recently with a white man. You must take care, Dan Dunn."
At that moment, Wu Fang received reports of his illegal cargo.
"Tell Fagan to come to me immediately," he gave orders. "I must give him instructions."
Fagan was prompt.
"The captain of our vessel says he will be here within the next few days if nothing interferes. Advise our men at the Hudson estate."
'Til have everything ready," Fagan promised.
He jumped into his car and drove right out to the Hudson estate. A code tap at the kitchen window brought a Chinese henchman quietly out to receive Fagan's orders.
"The Great One sends me," Fagan whispered. "You will have Dick Hudson appear at the secret meeting-place tomorrow. Understand?"
"Velly well," was the placid reply. "I tell him."
To check up on some of the information he got from Foo Sing, Dan went out to do a little snooping around the Hudson estate. It was the day after Dick Hudson had met Fagan and got the latest word on the incoming cargo.
"Some harbor," Dan said, whistling softly to himself as he discovered the yacht at anchor in the cove. "A perfect layout for a smuggler."
Dan was in luck, for, as he crept closer, he overheard Dick Hudson talking to a mechanic about the speed boat.
"You must have it in perfect shape," Dick was saying. "I'll want to be ready to go any time now."
Dan nodded. "This looks hot," he told himself. "But I must be sure. The only way to be sure is to get into Wu Pang's gang—in disguise."
Back in town, Dan phoned Wa Sing for a Chinese outfit and wig. The nephew of Foo Sing brought em to Dan's rooms and helped him put them on.
You will have to be very cantious, Mr. Dunn," he warned. "Fu Wang's suspicions are aroused. His hatchet men have orders to dispose of both of us. If you were caught in that disguise—!"
"I know my mission is dangerous," Dan confessed. "But danger is part of my business, Wa Sing. Anyway, when I put on these glasses, I don't think anyone will recognize me."
The Oriental that stood before Wa Sing was but another proof of Dan Dunn's mastery of the art of disguise. His eyebrows slanted just enough to give an Oriental cast to his face, and long mustaches, similar to Wu Fang's own, drooped on either side of his mouth.
Arriving at the house of Wu Fang, Dan prowled around. The alley in the back was filthy, hut Dan squatted on some steps to watch the goers and comers. After some time he heard someone approaching— and not with the soft shuffle of Chinese feet.
The man was Fagan, entering Wu Fang's place. Seeing him there convinced Dan that he must be the white man with whom Wu Fang had formed alliance. Fagan noticed the strange Oriental squatting in the doorway, and wondered who he was, he determined to ask Wu Fang about the stranger.
"What!" Fang exclaimed! A watcher? I have only one watcher, and he sits under cover. It is against my orders for any other Chinese to be near."
He glanced out the window and saw Dan sitting as Fagan had described. Wu Fang called his guards.
"Capture that man!" he commanded, pointing out the window.
But Dan caught the movement of the shades, and thought it a very good time to be on his way.
"Looks as though I'm discovered," he said to himself.
Exercising his agility at eluding pursuers, Dan Dunn got away, though the alley was almost instantly filled with Wu Fang's men searching for him.
"It must have been some ignorant Chinese/' Wu Fang decided. "He won't come near us again." Wu Fang then led Fagan through his house and showed him secret passageways and hidden wall openings.
"They may come in handy," Wu Fang commented in his oily voice.
CHAPTER V
Captured!
Wolf having recovered from his wound, though still weak, Dan took him tenderly home.
"No wonder nobody could get the answer to this smuggling situation, Wolf," Dan ruminated. "No Chinaman would talk, and if I hadn't saved Wa Sing's life, he wouldn't have opened up either!"
Wolf listened and seemed to agree.
"The set-up, as far as I can see," Dan rambled on, "is running the stuff through the Hudson estate. If I can only find out when the next shipment is due!"
Wu Fang just then had received notice that the ship would be lying off the Hudson estate the following night. When the tramp steamer slackened speed the next evening, Fagan and Dick Hudson, in the youth's car, were driving for the rendezvous.
"They'll start unloadin' at ten," Fagan warned, "better step on it."
"We'll make it easy," the boy answered.
"When yuh see the ship, watch fer the bunker light," Fagan instructed, as Dick climbed into his speed boat. "Three long hashes an' three short—"
"I gotcha," was the rough answer. "Don't worry, Fagan."
Determined to get this information, which he knew must be available, Dan again donned his Chinese disguise and made his way to Wu Fang's headquarters. He commanded Wolf to stay in the room.
"You're not well yet, old chap," he told the dog.
At the very moment that Dan again entered Chinatown, Dick Hudson's speed boat was floating alongside a sinister ship in the darkness. Numerous small packages were quickly transferred, and, with his motor wide open, Dick Hudson streaked for the harbor of his father's estate.
"Pretty slick," the lad murmured to himself, well pleased.
But a much greater satisfaction belonged to the detective who sought to bring Dick Hudson, and the criminals who influenced him, within the shackles of the law. Dick Hudsop was cheating himself and others; Dan Dunn was getting the thrills of a dangerous life and ridding society of vicious parasites.
At the entrance to Wu Fang's alley, Dan sensed a tenseness among the Chinese figures loitering there.
"Hmmm," said to himself. "Those fellows are guarding the alley or I miss my guess. I'll have to find another way."
At a corner where he thought he could not be seen, Dan climbed up a telegraph pole. From the top of " the pole he clambered onto a roof.
"Something is certainly going on around here!" he noted mentally. "I'll bet it's at Wu Fang's," he concluded, as he noticed the number of guards spread around. "On the other side of this roof I ought to be able to get a view of his back door."
But before he reached a point of vantage, Dan discovered that he would have to leap a chasm between buildings.
"Well, here goes!" he prompted himself. "I've got to get closer, risk or no risk. Boy, if I miss this leap —it would be all over with Dan Dunn."
Dan did not miss; he landed on the opposite roof, and quickly made his way to the farther edge.
"There's Wu Fang's place from He Leaped Across the Chasm the rear," he noted with satisfaction. "Hmm. I'll just keep my eyes peeled a while."
So intent was he with his vigil that Dan did not see sinister shadows lurking on the roof behind him.
"Look," one whispered. "Some interloper is spying upon the Great One's place!"
Unsuspecting, speculating what Wu Fang might be up to, Dan continued to watch. Had he but known it, Dick Hudson had arrived in his Dan Did Not See the Sinister Shadows father's harbor with his evil cargo, which had quickly been transferred to his high-speed roadster. Dick Hudson and Fagan were even then tearing toward Wu Fang's with their smuggled narcotics. This was what Wu Fang's men were on guard for.
"Come," whispered one of the lurking shadows. "We must take this stranger to Wu Fang!"
Quickly they stole up behind Dan Dunn, one on each side. Murmuring low words in Chinese, the two attackers grabbed Dan's arms before he was aware what was happening.
Taken by surprise, Dan Dunn was a prisoner. The two guards were joined by another. All three were powerful men, much more than a match even for Dan Dunn single-handed.
"You—you cutthroats!" Dan called them, furious with himself for having been caught unawares.
His captors spoke no intelligible word, but mumbled weird sounds to each other in their own tongue.
Dan abandoned his useless struggles and began to think. Undoubtedly he would be brought before Wu Fang, and his disguise would be exposed. He must have some plausible explanation for his presence in Chinatown garbed as a coolie.
"Hah!" Wu Fang chortled. "What are you doing, watching my private home?"
"I am a writer gathering material for a book on Chinatown," Dan explained. "I thought if I disguised myself that I could get data not otherwise available."
"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Wu Fang asked slyly.
"I certainly do," said Dan stoutly.
"Then I'll give you something unusual," Wu Fang decided. He turned to the guards, saying: "Take this vile person to the secret torture chamber!"
Out at sea, just off the Hudson estate, a mysterious vessel was getting up steam and heading for the open ocean. The cargo had been delivered. Dan Dunn had been captured. Wu Fang and the powers of evil had the upper hand.
CHAPTER VI
Escape!
Alone in his master's room, Wolf suddenly stood up, every muscle tense, a growl sounding within his throat. Instinctively he sensed his master's danger. Suddenly bending his head, he severed his leash with a few bites of his razor-like teeth.
Once more Dan Dunn would have cause to be thankful that Wolf was no ordinary dog. Escaping from the room, Wolf ran through the streets, unerringly led by his instincts to Wu Fang's house. There he waited until a door was opened, when he leaped upon the astonished Chinaman, flashed through the dingy interior, and arrived at the torture chamber just as Wu Fang was leaving Dan hanging by his thumbs.
Under threat from Wolf's menacing fangs, the Chinese released Dan. Quickly the tables were turned. Powerless against the dog, unable to call for help, Wu Fang was trussed up and left on the floor.
"You're some dog, Wolf, to make that fiend untie me," Dan said affectionately. "Guess it was lucky he came back here to harass me— and alone, too. But come on. We're not out of this place yet."
Wolf followed his master and they slipped silently through the rooms. As they approached a flight of stairs a figure was silhouetted at the top.
"Get back, Wolf. There's somebody at the head of the stairs!" Dan whispered. "You stay here," he added. "I'll see what I can do with this fellow. Be quiet now."
Putting his hands inside his wide sleeves, Dan slowly mounted the stairs as though nothing were amiss.
The quiet figure spoke some strange words in a deep voice.
"Hmm," he said to himself. "I'll mumble—sing-song. Got to get close to him before he gets too suspicious!"
But the Oriental at the head of the stairs was wary. As Dan came up the steps, the Chinese lifted a threatening hatchet and spoke again in the strange tongue.
"He's got his hatchet out," Dan noticed. "He's going to swing— now a quick side step!"
As he spoke, Dan stepped to one side. The hatchet descended but cleaved only the air, throwing the Oriental somewhat off balance.
"A little boost," Dan added, giving the man a shove. "Boy, he should be an aviator. Look at him fly!" he added, as the Chinese, screaming something unintelligible, plunged over the railing to the basement floor.
"Come on, Wolf!" Dan called. "We're practically out now."
They met no further obstacles, and were soon in the street.
"Gee, but it's good to be outdoors again," Dan was saying to Wolf, when he suddenly saw something interesting.
"There's Fagan with Dick Hudson!" he ejaculated under his breath.
But Dan did not know that in the car in which Dick Hudson sat was the load of smuggled narcotics. The rumble seat was filled with the contraband.
"Now keep drivin' around the block, Dick," Fagan was saying, "an' when the Chinaman gives yuh the signal, shoot up the alley. I'll be waitin' fer yuh there."
"0. K, Fagan," the lad nodded obediently.
Darting inside, Fagan was all haste.
"Where's Wu Fang?" he demanded of a henchman. "Snap out of it! The stuff's here!"
"The Great One is in the torture chamber with a man who pretended to be Chinese," was the quiet answer. "Come; I will show you."
Thus Fagan discovered the bound and gagged Wu Fang.
"What's cornin' off?" Fagan cried. "What are you doin' tied up? Playin' Indian or somethin'?"
"I have been humiliated by a white man and a snarling wild beast of a dog," Wu Fang answered indignantly. "They escaped."
"A man and a wild dog," Fagan repeated slowly. "That's Dan Dunn, the secret operative," he asserted. "We'll have to hurry an' get the stuff unloaded an' inside before Dunn gets back. He's deadly!"
Quickly Wu Fang summoned men to stand guard. He sent one to the roof with a machine gun.
"Station yourself," he commanded the gunner, "at the post which overlooks the alley. If anyone attempts to interfere, let the gun talk fluently."
"That's the dope," Fagan approved. "You thought of everything, even a machine gun, eh, Wu?" he added.
Outside, Dan Dunn hid behind a pile of empty boxes to see just what Dick Hudson would do. He watched him enter Wu Fang's alley.
"Certainly looks queer, Wolf," Dan addressed the dog.
Dan stole around to see what would happen next.
"Huh, see those Chinamen pour out—they're not coming from Wu Fang's hack door. It's another place several doors away, and he has guards all through the alley!"
The Chinese crowded around Dick Hudson's car.
"Come on, you mugs," the lad called out. "Unload this stuff!"
Quickly the narcotics were taken out of the car. The Orientals filed back through the door, down into a musty basement, through secret tunnels, and finally through the solid brick wall to Wu Fang's house. This was the hidden door once shown to Fagan by Wu Fang.
Fagan and Wu Fang, standing by the last door, watched the parcels like hawks.
"Now I know Dick Hudson's the one who's helping Fagan and Wu Fang bring in the stuff," Dan concluded. "It's too late to do anything about that now, but the next load will be their last!"
Thus came in the first load of narcotics since Fagan had joined forces with Wu Fang.
"Come on, Wolf," Dan spoke grimly. "We'll be getting home. I've got to doff this disguise and report to Beardsley at the narcotic office. Wu Fang will give my description to Fagan—and he'll guess I'm Dan Dunn, all right. Then they'll all be on the lookout for me. I've got to think of some way to make 'em believe I'm out of the picture, or else I'll get nowhere with this case."
CHAPTER VII
Out of the Picture
Fagan complimented Dick Hudson on his part in their nefarious transaction.
"That was a nice haul, Dick. Here's your dough. An' see that you be careful. Keep yer trap shut an' stand by. We'll be workin' again soon. I gotta go see the big shot now."
"0. K, Fagan," the boy answered, "an' don't worry about me spillin' the beans. I'm no mug!"
When Fagan reported to Wu Fang, he was met by a man beside himself with fury.
"Ah, Fagan, I have been waiting for you. I could hardly curb my impatience during that unloading. We must get this Dan Dunn without delay!"
"That won't make me mad," Fagan commented.
"He has humiliated me," Wu Fang almost spat out the words. "You shall see, Fagan, how a secret operative writhes under tortures which we Orientals have spent years in devising!"
Back in his room, Dan changed into his ordinary clothes.
"Wolf, they'll be out after us," he said. "But the old gun's ready, an' we'll make it as tough for 'em as possible, eh, old boy?"
Going at once to Beardsley's office, Dan made his report.
"That's the story," he finished. "That's the whole situation as I see it. But I won't be much good on Dan Changed to His Ordinary Clothes this case until I can make Wu Fang and Fagan believe that I am out of the picture. I've got to figure out a way to get 'em operating full blast and not worrying about a secret operative on their trail."
At that instant, kneeling in a room across the street, a man with a pigtail leveled a rifle through an open window. The rifle was aimed directly at the head of Dan Dunn, for the open window was in line with the window of Beardsley's office.
A shot rang out.
Dan's hat flew off his head, and Dan himself fell backward.
"0-o-o-oh!" he cried out in pain. "I'm hit! They got me! I should have been more careful."
"Dan, Dan!" Beardsley exclaimed, as the detective sank to the floor in a huddled heap, as though fatally wounded.
"Quick, Beardsley, call an ambulance," Dan whispered.
The ambulance arrived. Dan Dunn was carried out, prostrate on a stretcher. The Oriental watched long enough to make sure that his bullet had done its work.
The newspapers put extra editions on the streets, carrying the headlines:
DAN DUNN, SECRET OPERATIVE, WOUNDED.
The wound was described by the papers as very serious, and possibly fatal.
"At last!" Wu Fang hissed, when he heard the news. "I had begun to think that Dan Dunn had a charmed life. It is gratifying indeed to learn that he is vulnerable."
"Great work!" Fagan agreed. "We can go ahead with our plans now without fear of annoying interruptions."
"I shall reward the man who fired the shot," Wu Fang announced. "As soon as this news gets abroad, a great shipload of our precious commodity will be sent us. The man who killed Dan Dunn—if Dunn dies, as I hope he will—shall have a tenth share in that shipment, with my thanks!"
"Get your radio man to broadcast the news to your foreign contacts," Fagan suggested.
"It is done, Fagan," was the answer. "Wu Fang thinks fast-—and acts."
While this gleeful scene was taking place at Wu Fang's headquarters, quite a different scene was being enacted at the hospital, between Dan Dunn, Beardsley, and the doctor.
Instead of being abed, as everyone would naturally suppose lie must be, Dan Dunn was standing up by the bedside and putting on his coat.
"I've got to get out of here," he said. "I have lots to do."
The truth was that Wu Fang's underling had missed!
But in that shot, Dan had seen his chance to hoodwink his foes. He had simulated being seriously wounded, and had persuaded the doctor at the hospital to aid him in carrying out his plan. The doctor had issued the false bulletin to the press, so that Wu Fang and Fagan might be deluded into believing that Dan was, for the time being at least, no longer active against them.
"Gee, it's great that the gunman missed," said Beardsley. "And I am amazed at the quick advantage you took of the situation. Good luck to you, Dan!"
Thanking the doctor for his splendid co-operation, Dan left the hospital in disguise.
Meanwhile, in a distant city, the glaring headlines about Dan Dunn's critical condition were read by a young and beautiful girl-Ann Vare.
"Bobby, Bobby!" she called her young brother. "Look here. Dan has been shot! I'm going out there to see him immediately. We have no time to lose."
"Aw, he'll be all right," Bobby reassured her. "Dan always comes out on top."
"But he's only human," Ann objected. "Get ready. We'll go by air —the fastest and quickest plane we can catch."
Ann's heart was beating fast with anxiety as she led Bobby to the transcontinental plane. They climbed aboard hastily and took their seats as the plane was about to take off.
"Dan's 0. K.," Bobby insisted. "You wait and see."
Ann had to wait, but she found the suspense very trying.
Sitting in the plane for the few hours of her ride, Ann's thoughts were always on Dan.
"I hope he will be all right," she kept murmuring to herself. "I am so anxious to see him. It just can't be that—that—that he's dying!"
CHAPTER VIII
Ann Enlists
When she arrived in San Fragel, Ann Vare literally ran to the office of Mr. Beardsley and burst in breathlessly.
"Where is Dan Dunn?" she demanded, "Tell me quickly. I must go to him at once."
"What?" Beardsley began, and then, when he saw who was speaking, he asked more mildly, "Who are you?"
"I am Ann Vare," the girl replied. "Please tell me where Dan is. And how is he? Is he any worse?"
"Oh, Miss Vare," Beardsley answered, "I know of you. Now please calm yourself. There is no cause for alarm. Dan is all right, and you may be able to see him either tonight or tomorrow. He's on a big case."
"But I thought—," Ann began. "The papers said—"
"Yes, I know. It was a ruse to delude Dan's enemies. They still think he is ill in the hospital."
In the meantime Dan and Wolf had moved to a new address, the better to keep Wu Fang's men off his trail. Dan's immediate problem was to find out when Wu Fang would be expecting another shipload of narcotics.
"Gee, Wolf, this is certainly a sticker," he said to his dog. "How am I going to learn when that next shipment is coming in?"
Wolf was sympathetic, but not very helpful.
"If I could only move in on those smugglers," Dan wished, "but that's out of the question. As soon as I show up, they know I'm not Chinese, and they're suspicious."
The telephone interrupted his monologue.
"Hello, hello," he answered. "Beardsley? Ann Vare's here, you say? Great! That's fine—fits right in with my plans. Gives me a splendid idea. Have her meet me at Weaver's Tea Room in an hour. I'll be wearing a full beard. G'bye."
Ann went to Weaver's Tea Room and selected a table. After some minutes more than the hour, a bent old man approached. She perceived that it was Dan Dunn in disguise.
"Hello, Dan," she greeted him. "I'd never recognize you if you hadn't told me about the beard."
"I'm your Uncle Blake," Dan told her. "Always call me Uncle Blake."
"All right, Uncle Blake," she obeyed.
"I'm glad to see you, niece. Incidentally, I chose this place because the lights are dim and there is even less chance of being recognized. You can help me without undergoing too much risk. Do you want to?"
"Of course I want to help you, uncle. Even if the risk were great, you could count on me."
"Good girl!" Dan praised. "Well, here's the dope. I want you to rent a certain place—open a curio shop get the money from Beardsley tomorrow. As soon as it's open, I'll appear. But remember that I am always Uncle Blake from now on. Here is the address you are to rent.
Next day Ann went to see Beardsley.
"Yes, Mr. Beardsley, I know this is dangerous. But I want to help Dan, and I am not afraid."
"All right, Miss Vare. Dan know the smugglers and the risks better than anyone else. So if you are prepared to go through with it, go ahead. Here's some money. You will get more as you need it."
From Beardsley's office Ann went to Chinatown, to seek the address Dan had given her. A pig-tailed man with slant eyes answered her ring. He showed her the premises willingly.
"I believe that's the place I want," Ann said, finally. "A lot of tourists go through Chinatown and I believe I'll have a good business."
"All light," the Chinese agreed. "Thutty dollar month. Gimme money. You can have key."
Ann paid the Chinese landlord a month's rent in advance. Next^ day, taking the key, she and Bobby went back down the street to wait for the delivery of some goods she had already ordered sent to her new address.
"Here we are," said Ann. "Right next door to Wu Fang's den, Dan says. Now you must be very careful, Bobby, not to say or do anything that will give our connection with the police away."
"I won't, Ann," Bobby promised earnestly. "I'll be real careful."
But already Ann's presence was known to Wu Fang. An almond-eyed spy had made his report.
"Ah, a white girl and boy are moving in next door," Wu Fang repeated thoughtfully, tasting each word. "You," he said, addressing one of his minions, "will offer your services so cheaply that they cannot refuse you a job. We must take no chances in our smuggling business.
Stroking his long mustaches, Wu Fang smiled evilly. His henchman answered to show that he had heard his instructions and would immediately go to carry them out.
Next day Ann was in the midst of moving in. Trucks were unloading furniture and supplies. She had quite a task to place everything properly. Before the day was over she was very weary of hearing the question:
"Over here, miss?"
To which she invariably replied, "That's right. Set it there!"
But Bobby didn't mind the work at all. He thought it was great fun, especially since they were not really and truly opening a curio shop!
When the emissary of Wu Fang arrived, and offered his services, Ann replied firmly:
"Well, I don't want to hire anyone. At least, not right now!"
"Me workee cheap," the coolie insisted. "Cook, washee, sweep floor —everything."
"I know you're probably a good worker," Ann admitted. "Come back again some other time. I don't want to hire anyone just now!"
"Me good worker," was the reply. "Me come back."
A puzzled frown furrowed Ann's pretty forehead.
"What's the matter, Ann?" Bobby asked.
"Hmm," she murmured. "I was just wondering. Maybe I'm too suspicious. Perhaps I can hire him, for I certainly will need someone to help with the dirty work."
Ann's next caller was none other than Fagan, who seeing a new show in the neighborhood, dropped in to look over the situation. Fagan was attracted by Ann's fresh loveliness, and attempted to impress upon her his importance. But Ann was cool and distant toward the man.
"Aw, her's just a cheap gangster," Bobby muttered when Fagan finally left.
"She's sure a little beauty," Fagan was saying to himself as he walked away. "I'm gonna make it a point to drop in to see her often."
Dan, disguised as the old man, had hovered in the background during Fagan's visit. He told Ann who Fagan was, and warned her to be on her guard.
When Fagan saw Wu Fang, the Great One asked:
"Ah, Fagan, did you know that white people have moved into the store next door to our place?"
"They're all right, Wu," Fagan replied. "Just a girl an' a kid, with an old uncle."
"In spite of what you say," Fang went on in his oiliest tones, "I don't trust them. I have sent one of my men to get a job in their place. In this smuggling business I have found that never to take a chance is the only safe way to carry on operations."
But he had no sooner spoken than the coolie returned.
"White people refuse gimme job," he told Wu Fang.
"So they wouldn't hire you, eh?" Wu Fang taunted. "You are a worthless one. Now it will be your duty to find out everything they do. Go!"
"Wu Fang, I'm tellin' yuh they are all right," Fagan insisted. "They're just a gal, a little boy. and an old man."
"Fagan, I will face no risks n° matter how slight. Their every move must be scrutinized with the eye of suspicion!"
When Ann told him about the coolie, Dan said:
"Don't let anyone come beyond the front part of the store. I'm going to start my investigations now— in the basement."
"All right, Uncle Blake, I'll remember," Ann agreed.
CHAPTER IX
Listening In
Taking some special apparatus with him, Dan Dunn, disguised as Unde Blake, went down into the basement of Ann's curio shop. He knew that Wu Fang had a phone, but he had not been able to locate any wires for it. He had sounded all the walls upstairs, but in vain.
This is my last chance," he told himself, getting ready to apply his device to the wall that separated him from Wu Fang's place. "Of course, I'm out of luck if Wu Fang's phone is not on our side of his house at all."
Adjusting his apparatus, Dan began to move the detector over the basement wall, slowly — up and down and across. It was the Wilson phone-tapping device, with which he could hear talking right through the wall. He had ear-phones on in order to listen in when he found the right spot.
"Ah, there it is!" he murmured excitedly as he found the place.
But just then a buzzer rang, pressed by Ann upstairs.
"There's Ann's signal. Someone has come in," Dan concluded, and abandoned his testing to go up and see who had entered.
It was the coolie, again applying for a job.
"But I tell you we don't need any help," Ann was saying.
"You gimme work anyway, see," the coolie insisted.
Dan broke into this colloquy with, "Boy, we don't need any help. Go on—get out of here!"
The coolie departed unwillingly, and Dan returned to his labors in the basement. After a little time, he again found the spot on the wall from which he could detect voices on the other side.
"She's working perfectly now," he assured himself. "Every word over their phone is as clear to me as if spoken directly to me. But so much of it is in Chinese that I shall have to get me an interpreter."
With this idea in mind, and feeling that he should waste no time about it, he went upstairs and donned his hat and coat.
"Now, Ann," he instructed, "you and Bobby stay right inside the store until I get back. I'll be gone only about an hour probably."
"All right, Uncle Blake," Ann promised.
Dan, looking like an old man such as Uncle Blake ought to be, went out into the street and shuffled with a broken gait down the sidewalk. As he walked away, a slinking figure appeared from a shadowy doorway and began to follow him. Wu Fang's spy was on the trail.
When Dan reached the corner, the caution that had been bred into him as a result of his long experience in shadowing and being shadowed, and the realization that he might be under suspicion made him take out a small pocket mirror that he used on such occasions. While stopping as though uncertain which way he was going to turn, he held the mirror up so that he could see over his shoulder.
"Hmm," Dan murmured. "I'm being followed. Those Chinamen certainly are taking n0 chances if they can help it. But I've got to get to Poo Sing secretly. I must shake this man."
A street car was approaching just as Dan was about to cross a street. He waited until the car was almost ready to start, after it had stopped for someone's signal, and then jumped aboard—too late for his shadower to do the same.
"Ha, ha," Dan chuckled, as he left the Chinese spy behind. "It'S an old trick of dodging. Doesn't that fellow look mad?"
Arriving at Foo Sing's, Dan demanded to see the Chinese merchant without delay. Foo Sing, however, did not recognize his caller.
"You wish to see me?" Foo Sing asked politely, but somewhat mystified. "May I inquire who it is that is thus honoring my household?"
Dan looked around furtively.
"Are we alone, Foo Sing?" he asked.
"Quite alone," was the puzzled answer.
"I am Dan Dunn."
Foo Sing made no effort to conceal his astonishment.
"But I thought, Mr. Dunn, that you were mortally wounded. However, I see that you are not, and I am glad to know that you are uninjured."
"Just a ruse of mine," Dan explained. "Now I have a favor to ask. A friend of mine has opened a curio shop next to Wu Fang's place. By means of a special device I am able to tap Wu Fang's phone and listen in on his conversations. But I cannot understand Chinese, and since Wu Fang occasionally uses that language—" Dan Dunn smiled, "I need an interpreter."
"Ah, yes, Mr. Dunn. You require someone very trustworthy, I know, and I have just such a man. He has been a member of my family for a long time and just recently came to San Fragel. He was in the laundry business. His name is Charley Con Lee. I shall lend him to yon immediately."
"Very good," Dan said.
Thanking Foo Sing for his cooperation, Dan hurried back to the shop.
"Ann, I've just come from' Foo Sing's," he said. "Watch for a man named Charley Con Lee, and when he arrives send him down to me. He will find me in the basement."
Shortly afterward the bell rang.
"That must be the man Uncle Blake's expecting," Ann said to Bobby. "Let him in."
The caller introduced himself, "I am Charley Con Lee. I am sent to see your Uncle Blake."
"Oh, yes, go right downstairs to the basement," Ann told him.
Dan was waiting for Charley, and quickly put the ear-phones on his head so that he could listen in. For a time nothing important was heard—merely some Chinese messages of innocent content.
But suddenly Charley tensed. "I hear," he said, "a Mr. Fagan talking to a Mr. Dick Hudson. Mr. Fagan says for Mr. Hudson to hold himself in readiness, that a ship will be coming in soon!"
CHAPTER X
The Next Shipment
For several days Charley Con Lee spent most of the time in the basement, listening for information about the next shipment of narcotics, but the exact details were not revealed.
"Charley," Dan said one day, "I've got a hole through into Wu Fang's basement. I'm going in there and scout around. Keep listening in on their phone."
"All right, Mr. Dunn."
Passing through the opening Dan had stealthily made in hisbasement wall, he entered a store room that had not been used for years. He stacked up some boxes against the door. It was fortunate for him that the door opened inward, for that meant that no one could enter suddenly and surprise him.
His barricade completed, Dan put his eye to a knot-hole, through which he spotted Wu Fang and Fagan in the room beyond, engaged in earnest conversation.
"What's that door, Wu Fang?' Fagan asked, pointing to the very door behind which Dan Dunn was crouching.
"That's an old store room, Fagan. Come. I want to test the secret doors."
"You don't use the room?" Fagan repeated.
Dan got out his gun and held it ready, lest those two decided to explore the store room.
"No," Wu Fang answered in an annoyed tone. "It is the secret passages which we use."
Dan found the knot-hole in the store room door a good place from which to wateh Wu Fang's basement. He hoped, however, that his pile of boxes did not slip. Should they start to slide, they would come tumbling down with a noise that would bring scurrying Chinamen by the hundreds.
"You see, Mr. Fagan," Wu Fang was saying, indicating a small recess in the stone wall, "I test these secret doors often so that they are always ready for use."
Inside the tiny recess was the head of a nail.
"What happens when you press that nail, Wu Fang?" Fagan asked, pointing to the nail inside the small cubby-hole in the wall.
"That is just what I am going to show you," Wu Fang answered in smooth tones of self-satisfaction. "You will see in another moment that Wu Fang has prepared everything, Mr; Fagan — everything."
Dan Dunn smiled with enjoyment when he realized that he was on the right trail at last, for as long as Wu Fang continued to explain his secret mansion to Fagan, Dan Dunn was bound to learn all about it too. The detective pressed closely against the door, and kept his eye glued to the knot-hole. He must not miss a single word or movement of that pair of scoundrels.
"When I press the nail," Wu Fang went on, actually pressing the nail to demonstrate, "the wall opens, as you see, and a tunnel is exposed. So cleverly is this door made that the police could never discover it!"
Little did Wu Fang know that, as he spoke, Secret Operative 48 had already discovered it.
Just then Dan's foot slipped and made a slight scraping noise.
"Wu Fang, did you hear a noise just now in that store room?" Fagan asked, turning suddenly to listen. "I certainly thought I did."
"Heh, heh," Wu Fang cackled. "You have too much imagination, Mr. Fagan. That noise is caused by the insignificant rats that infest this cellar."
Fagan let himself be persuaded that the noise must have been a rat, much to Dan's relief, for he wanted to hear more if possible.
But Wu Fang and Fagan walked through the opening of the secret door into the tunnel. Determined not to miss this chance, Dan cautiously took down his barricade of boxes.
"That must be the way they bring in their narcotics!" he told himself gleefully. "I'll just follow them and make sure I'm right. I'll never have another chance like this."
Suiting the action to the word, he slowly and quietly opened the store room door and followed.
Arriving at the secret door, Dan saw Fagan and Wu Fang about to enter an arched tunnel. He knew that it must be the passageway leading through to the other side of the alley.
"I'll get the goods on them now or my name isn't Dan Dunn!" he resolved.
As Wu Fang paused to make further explanation to Fagan, Dan was right behind them, within easy earshot.
"You see, Mr. Fagan, we're now in the basement of a house across the alley from mine. Come along, and I will show you the way upstairs and the alley entrance."
Slipping from corner to corner, and hiding behind packing cases or whatever offered any cover, Dan was able to hear practically all of this conversation between Fagan and Wu Fang.
"I ask you, Mr. Fagan, whether you have ever before seen such a cleverly constructed place as this?" Wu Fang spoke proudly.
"It's great,Wu, and no mistake," Fagan agreed enthusiastically. "You've got it worked out to the last detail. You say another shipment is due within two weeks?"
"Two weeks almost to the day," Wu Fang replied.
Dan decided that he had better be getting back to his own basement before he was discovered. When their backs were turned he made his silent dash for cover, and got back safely.
CHAPTER XI
Getting into Action
Charley Con Lee was listening in when Wu Fang was carrying on a most important conversation over the telephone, with Fagan standing at his elbow.
"Aren't you ever afraid that your phone may be tapped?" Fagan asked.
"Tapped?" Wu Fang repeated. "You mean spied on."
"Yeh, that's the idea," Fagan answered. "Supposin' they did tap it, what then? Where'd the smuggling business be?"
Wu Fang smiled craftily.
"I can see how your thoughts are running, Mr. Fagan, but you do not give me credit for being clever. I know that the wires of the marvelous telephone can be tapped, as you say, and I have done it myself to the phones of others—on occasion."
"Well," Fagan growled.
"My friend," Wu Fang went on, "not even the phone company knows the location of my instrument. And the wires connecting it are incased in a steel pipe. I have thought of everything, though you did not think I had done so."
"0. K., Wu," Fagan grudgingly admitted. "I guess you do think of everything at that."
But Wu Fang did not know of the special device Dan Dunn was using, for when he resumed his telephone conversation, which Fagan had interrupted, Charley Con Lee, at Dan Dunn's insistence, took down every word that was exchanged.
From the information thus obtained, Dan knew that the smuggling case was coming to its climax. He planned to take full advantage of that climax to put a stop to Wu Fang's underworld activities and to see to it that Wu Fang and Fagan were both put in jail.
Going upstairs, he put on his coat.
"Ann, it won't be long before we see some action in this case," he said. "I'm going to confer with Beardsley now. While I am away, be very careful, and under no circumstances allow Bobby to go down in the basement."
"All right, Dan," Ann promised.
Outside, Dan became aware at once that one of Wu Fang's men was following him. He would have to get rid of his shadower. One way to do it—and a way that usually worked—was to face the man and put on a display of indignation.
Turning about and walking back with his imitation gait of an old man, Dan shook a wrathful finger at the Chinaman.
"What do you mean by following me?" he demanded. "You'd better leave me alone, or I'll have to call a policeman. Beat it now!"
"No savvy English," the China man said, but he stopped trailing Dan.
Back in the store, Bobby's active mind was badgering him with a curiosity that began to be uncontrollable. Bobby wanted to be a great detective like Dan Dunn, and he thought he ought to know what was going on in the basement. Ann had told him that Dan did not want him to go downstairs, and that kept him back for a while.
Then an opportunity presented itself which Bobby could not ignore. The coast was clear, and no one would be any the wiser. Bobby decided that he would just go down and come right back upstairs—he'd be gone only long enough to look at whatever Dan was doing down there.
With this objective, Bobby tiptoed down the cellar stairs.
At the foot of the stairs, Bobby spied the hole that Dan had made in the masonry of the cellar wall.
"Boy!" Bobby exclaimed in an excited whisper. "Wonder what that hole is for."
Seeking to find an answer to his own question, Bobby went to the opening and peered into the dark depths beyond. It seemed very spooky. He began to think he should hurry back upstairs before Ann learned that he had disobeyed. He could come down again some time soon and see more—just now he did not like the atmosphere.
Beardsley and Dan Dunn (Uncle Blake) had an extended conference on the smuggling, particularly about the shipment of narcotics that was due any minute now.
"We'll need about fifty men to collar Wu Fang and his outfit— and we can also use the navy, if they'll co-operate. Do you think you can manage all that?" Dan asked.
"Just say what you want, Dan," was the reply, "and we'll take care of it. This ease is far too important to let it slip through our fingers now."
Next day Bobby had another chance to go down in the basement without being seen, and, having overcome some of his fear of the spookiness, he went. This time he spied the ear-phones of Dan's telephone-tapping device and put them on. Image his amazement to overhear a telephone conversation between Wu Fang and Fagan!
Fagan said the stuff would arrive in a week, and would be delivered three miles directly west of Ocean Harbor.
Bobby was then in a dilemma. He knew that he should give Dan this valuable information, but he could not do so without letting Dan know that he had disobeyed his wishes in going down to the basement and snooping around there.
Realizing the importance of hia news, Bobby finally screwed up enough courage to tell Dan. Because be had disobeyed, Dan reprimanded Bobby, but be did not punish him further, and he commended him for bravely conveying the information he had overheard.
Fagan and Wu Fang went right on with their plans, all unsuspecting that the old man next door was Secret Operative 48!
"Now listen, kid Fagan was saying to Dick Hudson. "This is gonna be a bigger load than the last—an' you'll have to make two trips instead of one with your car, see?"
"0. K., Fagan. I'll make a dozen, long's I get paid for 'em!" the lad asserted.
Just then Wu Fang walked in upon the two.
"Ah, I see you have a visitor, Mr. Fagan!"
"Yeh. Meet Dick Hudson. Kid, this is Wu Fang, our chief."
"You're the great Wu Fang, eh?" Dick rejoined, and added, "Huh, you don't look so hot to me!"
Wu Fang wasted but a few seconds on the young man.
"Mr. Fagan, I would have a word with you alone," the Chinaman said to his first lieutenant, "Come!"
Out of hearing of Dick Hudson, Wu Fang said:
I have another message from our ship—it will be here shortly— an as for that insolent young upstart, talking that way about me, I am going to—!
"Now, now, Wu Fang," Fagan soothed, "he's a swell-headed little kid, I admit, but he's awfully valuable to us. Cool off now and don't for get that!"
Wu Fang swallowed his pride in the interests of business, but it was obvious that DIck Hudson did not stand in his good graces from that time on.
Then came the radio message to Wu Fang's operator, that made Wu Fan purr in anticipation:
"Ah, it will soon be here. Half a million dollars worth! Tell the captain everything is in readiness."
CHAPTER XII
CLOSING IN
Dan Dun made careful preparations for his approaching raid on Wu Fang's house. The men of the narcotics squad were to arrive after dark, coming to Ann's shop by twos.
At the shop on the day of the raid, Dan went to the basement with a word to Ann to let him know as soon as the first narcotics men arrived.
Charley Con Lee said that he had heard Pagan and Dick Hudson using Wu Fang's phone.
"The shipment is coming in tonight, all right, Mr. Dunn. Fagan is leaving for Ocean View immediately."
"That means that they will be unloading at Wu Fang's place long before daylight," Dan estimated.
On the other side of the wall, the smugglers were making their last plans. They would have changed those plans drastically if they had but known that over the lonely road toward Ocean View a squad of narcotic agents was at that very moment racing in a high-speed car.
While they waited, Dan took another occasion to warn Ann:
Wu Fang's men will be watching everything, so be careful to do nothing suspicious," he told her earnestly. 'When everything is set you and Bobby leave the store, go around the corner, and get a cab. Go to your hotel and wait for me."
To his men when all was ready, Dan Dunn gave last instructions:
ivlen, you have your general instructions. Now get this—one squad goes with me through this hole into Wu Fang's basement, and the other squad splits and blocks both ends of the alley."
Out at Ocean View, another squad of government men watched Dick Hudson speed to meet the smuggling ship.
"Here he comes!" said the squad leader. "Dan said they would have to leave part of the narcotics here.
We're to let them take the first load in, but grab what is left."
Meanwhile, Dan and his men, the store room of Wu Fang's basement, waited tensely. Dan kept his eye glued to the knot-hole through which he had watched Wu Fang and Fagan one day.
Soon Wu Fang came along, leading a horde of Chinese men.
"Hurry, slothful ones," he said"Into the tunnel. Time is short and we have much to do!"
Outside Fagan and Dick Hudson arrived with the first of the loads.
"Drive around the block," Fagan ordered, "and wait until yuh get the signal. Then beat it up th' alley. Get me?"
"O. K., Fagan."
Dan spoke in a low tone to his waiting men:
"Wu Fang has sent men through the tunnel. That means the narcotics must have arrived. One oi you hurry and tell Miss Vare and Bobby to leave the store, as I instructed her to do. They must not be in this building when the fireworks start!"
As instructed, Ann and Bobby left the shop and walked down the street to get a cab.
"Now, you must act perfectly natural, Bobby," Ann warned, "so that they will not think we're run ning away." "That's easy," Bobby said. "I don't want to run away, or go away. I'd like to stay and see that raid."
As they droceeded down the street, a stealthy, slinking figure followed them in the shadows. One of Wu Fang's men was on their trail.
Bobby caught a glimpse of the figure behind them and whispered: "Sh! Ann! There's a Chinaman following us! Don;t look around!"
"Oh, Bobby, what will we do?" gasped Ann.
They began to walk faster, but the dark figure kept pace with them.
There's a cab! Run for it Bobby," screamed Ann, as the figure reached out to grab them.
"All right," answered Bobby? and in a flash he tripped the Chinaman, and dashed after Ann into the safety of the cab.
Inside Wu Fang's headquarters, the Great One was giving the final command:
siant-eyed henchmen, "go now and give the signal to the white boy, telling him that all is readiness."
The Chinaman slipped away obey the Great One's commands.
Seeing the signal for which he had been waiting, Dick Hudson, who had kept his engine idling, put in the clutch quietly and slipped up the narrow crooked alley back of u Fang's place. Here his load of oaicotics would be carried into concealment.
Watched from every vantage point, it was now only a matter of minutes before Wu Fang and his gang would be apprehended by the long arm of the law.
"It won't be long now, boys," Dan said, his eye still glued to the knot-hole. "I'll give the word."
Gun in hand, Dan was ready to uist in upon the smugglers, and gwe them the surprise of their wicked lives.
In the alley, Wu Fang's men were already at work, rapidly unlng Dick Hudson's car. Each Chinaman took an armful of the small packages, and they marched in a long line into the building, returning for more until the whole contents of the car had been removed.
Dick Hudson stood and watched them, a cigarette hanging limply from his sneering lips.
"A minute more and we'll go in," Dan whispered to his men.
We're all ready, Dan," they told him.
"Keep your guns handy," Dan warned, "and remember that the two men we want most to get are Wu Fang himself and his right-hand man, Fagan."
"We gotcha, Dan."
A minute ticked away slowly.
"All set?" Dan flung back over his shoulder.
"All set, Dan ."
The last of the Chinese carrying narcotics had taken his armful from Dick Hudson's car. The evidence was complete. Wu Fang's basement was filled with the stuff, and he and his men would be caught in the act of unloading it.
"Now's the time," said Dan. "Guns set. I'm opening the door."
He pushed the door open in front of him, revealing a large basement room partly filled with Chinese, some of them still with their arms full of packages of narcotics. Fagan and Wu Fang were conspicuous in the center of the room. The pair turned to face Dan and his armed men, feear and incredulity on their evil faces.
"Come on, men!" Dan's signal brought his men into action, close behind him.
"Stick 'em up!" Dan ordered. "Wu Fang and Fagan, you are under arrest!"
"Hands up, all of yuh," said the leader of the narcotics squad.
Wu Fang and Fagan put up their hands. They and their Oriental henchmen were in the hands of the authorities. Dan Dunn had caught them with the goods.
"I warned you that this Dan Dunn was a man that had to he watched," Fagan hissed.
"Warned me? It was that gir1 and her shop next door, Fagan. Your willingness to let a pretty face fool you is what brought us to this!" Wu Fang hissed back.
"We'll get even," Fagan vowed.
"Silence!" Dan commanded, seeing two whispering together. Put the bracelets on 'em, men."
Cornered at last, the smugglers yielded. Dan Dunn, Secret Operative 48, has them where he wanted them.