October 9, 1938

he Crimson WizardCHABACTERSOF THE DRAMA

PETER QUILL. a hunchback, in- ERIC LAMBERT. deal~.r of .uper-.•••ntor of invhible Ul'htninl' with batt1 •• hip ••affinity for .xplo.iv •• and capabl. MAIDA TRAVERS, radio ainl'er,of de.troyinl' battl •• bipa. bo1ov.d by Lambert.

ALLAN TYLER, chief of IICret IVAN MOLOKOFF, ••• i.tant .nl'!-bureau. n.er of radio .tatlon.

SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING INSTALMENT• NaTal archin. building ia burned and Eric Lambert'. plan for•uperbattle.hip .tolen by .pie. of Red Circle. Allan Tyler enIiataradio for publicity campaign to de. troy Red Circle. decide. to holdinquiry into fire and robbery. and recein. radiogram telling him tolook out for the Firefly. beautiful and dangerou. agent of Red Circle,

By SPECIAL AGENT*(Secr.t Record •• File 6815.)

(Copyrirht: 1938, The ChiC&i'OTribune.)I.

N OPEN taxicab Is rollingalong Pennsylvania ave-nue. It is followed by a

oupe carrying two men. Onef these men holds a pistol. Ahird car appears. Suddenly theaxicab scuttles away in a rattlef gears. The coupe with theo men races in pursuit.Up the avenue these automo-iles run like mad; the taxicabathering speed, the coupe gain-ng; in the coupe the man withhe pistol leans coldly forward.Only a few persons are in theavenue at this time of evening.n the sidewalk there stands a

radio announcer with a portablemicrophone preparing to broad-cast one of those haphazard in-terviews with pedestriahs. Near

So swiftly as this can smallthings become the intensestdrama.

n.Almost before the police could

begin their work Allan Tylerwas' there. Nor was this mys-terious. Mr. Tyler consideredthat as chief of the secret bureauhe should endure no less laborthan his agents. He had spentday and night in his own car." Dwarf? " He repeated the

word that came to him of thestrange figure in the taxicab." Dwarf? " he said again. "Thenit was Peter Quill! "The police w ere returning

from the wrecked automobiles.Mr. Tyler glanced at the saggingform of the girl who had been

(Tribune Studio photos.)

him stands a policeman. Boththese men swing about andstare at the racing automobiles."Some one's going to be hurt,"

calls the radio announcer.Precisely as he says it the

third car makes a new burst ofspeed. In this third car is agirl, alone. Her face is devoidof expression, but her eyes areburning with a kind of eagernessand determination. The taxicabnow comes opposite the radioannouncer. He quickly surveysthe three vehicles as they shootpast."Look in the taxi! "The policeman I0 0 k s. " A

dwarf," he gasps. He has caughtonly the briefest glance at thecowering figure in the open cab.There he has seen a queer form.It is a form hardly human. Thehead is too great for the strange-ly small body."The girl!" This is a shout

from the announcer.He has hardly m 0 r ethan

formed the words when a crashcomes. The girl has sent hersmall motor car into terrificspeed. It bolts past the coupecontaining the two men. Thenshe seizes her wheel with a de-liberate left turn and swings hercar directly in the path of thecoupe. Both cars go tumblingover and over in a shockingmedley of discordant, splitting,and repellent crashes. Then itis qUiet.

·Since aecrecy ia the ba.i. of a my.tery,it Ie needle.. to point out that the char-acters here named are nonexletent. Infurtherance of the my.tery tempo SpacialAl'ent reU•• for intere.t upon Secr.t Rec-orda, File 8815, as noted above.

taken from the motor she hadso deliberately wrecked."Maida Travers!" he mut-

tered.Mr. Tyler did not -pause to

make more than a casual In-qulry. The two men whosecoupe had bee n wrecked byMaida T r a v e r s' unexpectedswing of her steering wheel werebeing led up. None was hurt.Both cars wrecked. Such thingshappen once in ten thousandtimes."Your name is what?" Mr.

Tyler fairly drilled one of themen before him with the Inten-sity of his gaze. .••My name?" said the man.

••It is Petrovich."Petrovich! Mr. Tyler's eyes

glinted with a new interest. Heswiftly scanned Petrovich fromhead to foot. A handsome fel-low. He was dark. His eyeswere dark and bold. His handswere at ease. There was nonervousness.••Foreigner?" Mr. Ty 1e r

framed the word as a questionand almost as an accusation."Attached to the embassy of

my country.""You have a pistol?""Yes," said Petrovich with

calm assurance, "and a permitto carry it. I was afraid therewas going to be a robbery."More squad cars had arrived.

Pennsylvania avenue was stillagain save for the curious groupof citizens who had gatheredabout the wreckage. Mr. Tylerstood quietly assembling the sin-gular circumstances of the acci-dent. He turned to Petrovich.

MurderChief Tyler's Inquiry Into Spy Plot Brings

a Strange Turn of Events••And this man with you?" heasked."My chauffeur," said Petro-

vich.Mr. Tyler's eye ran over the

crowd, Near a small tree werethree persons. One was a girl.One of the men with her carrieda violin case. The other held aguitar." Gypsy musicians," Mr. Tyler

mused. And his thoughts wentback to the robbery of the navalbuilding. A newsboy had seena girl and two men there. Thenhis mind coupled another fact.It was the radiogram warninghim of the Firefiy."Firefly," he muttered, and

turned to Maida Travers. whowas slowly returning to con-sciousness.

ITI.I! you had been standing near

the three musicians you mighthave overheard a strange con-versation. The girl was speak-ing rapidly. "They call us theRed Circle," she was saying."Well, they shall see that theRed Circle can become very hardto break."

II Tell me, Sonya," said theman with the violin, "what is itthat our country wants of him? "The girl called Sonya threw

him a look of impudence fromher black eyes. "Michael," shesaid, II you have been very im-portant to the Circle. You man-aged to get the battleship plansa week ago, didn't you? Thenyou should know that Peter Quillis the important thing, not theships. You have .stopped thebuilding of ships, because with-out plans there are no ships.But with Peter QUill there is hisdestroying electricity. We shallh a v e his invisible lightning.That will destroy all the ships."Michael Raclov, young, hand-

some, and attentive in his color-ful gypsy clothing, thrust hisviolin under his flowing cape and'made a gesture of caution. Sonyasullenly went silent. Then shemade a sign of departure withher pretty head. II Come, Mi·chael," she said softly. II Come,Vasily." This last to the guitarplayer.The three gypsies quietly made

their way out of the crowd.II Comrade Petrovich won't needus any more," said Sonya." I still don't see what we came

for," grumbled the one calledVastly,

II Of course not," said Sonya."But had Comrade Petrovichbeen successful in making theacquaintance of Peter QUilltheremight have been a need for wit-nesses. As it is there is no rea-son why we should expose our-selves to the foolish questionsof the pollee."The gypsies were out of sight

of the crowd and turning thefirst corner. "I hear some onecalling," this from Vastly,••Hurry," said Sonya.Mr. Tyler's impatience was no

small thing when he found thatthe gypsy musicians had gonewithout the permission of thepoliceman."I told them to stay," the of-

ficer repeated over and overagain.••So they went," said Mr. Tyler

abruptly. "They would havebeen useful in the inquiry. Pet-rovich is accredited to the em-bassy. I can't hold him."Petrovich and his chauffeur

did not offer to stay. They madeoff down the avenue.Mr. Tyler took Maida with him

in his squad car. He was begin-ning to wonder if the secret serv-ice inquiry he had called for thisnight was to accomplish any-thing. He would hold an opensession, that he was sure of. Hewas determined that the publicmust know all the truth. Thepeople must understand the dan-gers they are facing. The wholefabric of the foreign spy systemmust be exposed.

IV.Washington is beautiful in the

night lights. From the capitolthe city sweeps away in avenuesof magnificent buildings to thesilvery Potomac and over themists in the Virginia hills. Itis a city of light. It is a city offrankness and open dealing. Butit is a city of dark corners andsecrecy and espionage. But it

is also a city in which every onewatches every one else. It is acity in which each clerk watchesthe one next him and the onenext above and the one nextbelow. It is a city in which eachofficial shrewdly observes everyother official. It is a city inwhich each wife watches eachother wife, and particularly thewives of those above her. It isa city in which ambassadors andministers and attaches are sur-rounded by their own spies andby the spies of all the others.Spies are watching .spies. Oneuses the telephone with a feelingthat a form lurks in the base-ment with a listening device athis ear.Mr. Tyler's car drew up at

the secret service bureau. Hespoke briefly to the agent withhim. ••Take Miss Travers inwith you," he said. "I'll waithere."Once inside the bureau and

under the care of the matron,Maida was soon herself again.Mr. Tyler waited until he wasalone. When he was sure of thishe walked rapidly across thestreet. He stood in a doorwaywhere he could see the arrivalof the witnesses he had calledfor the inquiry. This seemed anunnecessary expedient, however,for the first person he saw wasEric Lambert. It was not hisintention to spy on Lambert. Hehailed him.••Walk with me to the corner,"

he said. ••I need some one to. clear my head."

" I don't think I can help much,Mr. Tyler. The fact is, I thinkmy own' nerves are getting me."Mr. Tyler smiled only with the

wrinkles at the corners of hiseyes. "Can I ask you an abruptquestion? Are you deeply de-voted to Maida Travers?"••What has that to do with--

I'm sorry. Yes, it is personal,Mr.. Tyler, but I suppose I cansay that we are engaged to bemarried,"Mr. Tyler nod d e d. They

walked slowly along the street.II I understand your nerves," reosumed Mr. Tyler. "You haven'tseen Maida Travers in severaldays,""That's it! How did you

know?" Eric Lambert graspedthe detective's arm. "She has

been gone all this week.She left Chicago.

She has

Then three quick pia-tol shots. like the rappingof .tee1 knuckle. on an oak table.

not been in the studio here. . . .She is sailing for Europe in aweek--"Mr. Tyler cut him of(. " Tell

me about Peter Quill," he saidgently.Lambert walked a few steps

in silence. II I know that Maidaholds a tremendous influenceover that fantastic hunchback.Well, he adores her. 0, it isn'tlove; not the love that you andI think of," he interposed quick-ly. ••It is a kind of prayer thatone would direct toward a divinoIty, if I make myself clear. Hethinks that Maida took him outof misery and gave him a humanmind. I tell you, it is the mostextravagant t h i n g you everheard of--"Again Mr. Tyler stopped him.

"The Red spies have got yourplans for the 75,OOO-tonbattle-ships. How long will it take youto replace them?"••Months,""And the Reds have got wind

of Peter Quill's formula andplans,"

•In the Dark I

MAIDATRAVERS. She ran into the room and stopped short. Then she drew back and .creamed.

" Are you sure that Peter Quillhimself hasn't go n e over tothe--""To the Red Circle?" Mr.

Tyler made a little hummingsound but offered no reply. Thenhe said: " If the Red Circle getsPeter QUill's devastating Inven-tion before your battleships canbe built it will be the end of us,won't it?""It will be the end of the

world, Mr. Tyler,"••Then," said the detective,

"that's the t h i n g to worryabout,"••But Maida--" Lam b e r t

began.Mr. Tyler's fingers clutched

his wrist. "Quiet!" he said. "Isthat Molokoff across the way?"He indicated a rapidly walkingfigure.

II Why, yes, of course. Theassistant engineer of the radio

tation. On his way toe hearing,"

"I sup-

pose heis," s aid Mr.Tyler. II Thank you forwalking with me. I think Com-rade Molokoff has just leftComrade Petrovich in the shad-ow of that tree at the corner. Itwas what I expected,"When Molokoff had entered

the bureau the two men turned." Petrovich?" Eric Lambert

stared hard at Mr. Tyler.••Comrade Petrovich," correct-

ed Mr. Tyler. "And he has justmissed kidnaping Peter QuilL"" Kidnaping Peter Quill? And

who prevented it? "They were entering the bureau.

Mr. Tyler led the way to his pri-vate office. Lambert continuedpressing his questions. " Rob-bery . . . arson . . . andnow kidnaping Peter Quill. Mr.Tyler, what can we do?""We can compliment the lady

who prevented the kidnaping,"said Mr. Tyler. And he thrustLambert forward toward a chairin which sat Maida Travers." Darling!" cried Eric.

" I couldn't help it, Eric," saidMaida. "Something told methey were going to harm thatpoor, wretched scrap of human-ity. And Molokoff--""Has he bee n threatening

Peter Quill?"II 0, not threatenirlg; frighten-

ing, rather. I tell you, Eric,there is nothing in the world sohorrible as fright. I know thatfrom watching the face of PeterQuill. Sometimes the look in hisface is so dreadful that he mustwish he had never been born."

V.Mr. Tyler had left the office for

the council room, where the in-qulry awaited him. A secretservice agent invited Lambertto the witness chair. He leftMaida hurriedly. She remainedalone in Mr. Tyler's office, thedoor of which was left open soshe might hear the proceedingswithout being seen. She heardEric Lambert retrace his stepsin the design of the giant battle-ships. She heard hiin tell whathe knew of the rubbery: how hisplans had been stolen; in whatdanger the country lay with thespies of the Red Circle contriv-ing plot and counterplot." And not only naval plans are

threatened," said he, "but themorale of the nation. Spies ofthe Red Circle are penetrat-ing everywhere--in colleges, inchurches, among citizens' socl-eties of every kind,"When he had concluded Mr.

Tyler called Molokoff to thechair. The witness was in anevil mood. He hall hardly begunto answer questions than heswung off into a veneer of sus-picious suggestions against PeterQuill."You called his name on the

radio," said Mr. Tyler sharply."Why?"Molokoff's face went livid. He

clutched the arms of his chairand drew himself upright. Hestared insolently abbut the in-quiry room. The faces of thespectators' went from shy grinsto a kind of terror."Peter Quill!" he half shout-

ed. "Wizard Quill . . . Red

Wizard ... yes, CrimsonWizard ..There was a click of an elec-

trical switch. The lights wentout. The room went black darksave for a dull yellow haze thatseemed to float from the vaguenight into the council chamberthrough an uncurtained window.There was a swift succession

of gasps. Mr. Tyler called outabove the indistinct murmurs,"Who turned those lights off?"There was a silence, as if an

answer were expected.Then three quick pistol shots,

like the rapping of steel knuckleson an oak table. An acrid odorof gunpowder stole into the nos-trils.Mr. Tyler roared: II Close the

doors! QUick! The lights! "The great chandelier hanging

from the center of the roomslowly glowed with the illumina-tion of twoscore bulbs. MaidaTravers ran into the room andstopped short. Then she drewback and screamed. She pointedto the floor below the long eoun-cil table.

II He's dead!"Mr. Tyler stepped swiftly to

her side. ••Molokoff!" he mut-tered in a gritty tone. Only theheavy breathing of the massedspectators attested their frozenhorror. There was the sound ofshambling, uneven footfalls. Allturned toward the door. It wasPeter Quill.Another moment of stillness.

Then, as if out of nowhere, therecame a long ripple of a woman'ssardonic laugh. Mr. Tyler ranto the door and threw it open.The corridor was empty. Heglanced a 11 about him, thendown. He leaned quickly overand snatched something fromthe floor. This he examined withexacting minuteness .It was a bit of paper fashioned

to represent a large, colorfulinsect.••Firefly," Mr. Tyler whispered

softly.

(n The Crimson Wizard" will con.tinue on W-G-N next Friday at 8p. m. and in next Sunday's GraphicSection.)

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