Read The Avenger 36 - Demon Island for Free Online

told you anything more?”
    “No, Fanny’s kept quiet,” answered the director. “I tell you, though, I have a feeling she knows more than she’s letting on.”
    “About what’s happened to Cole?”
    “Maybe that, I’m not sure. She’s covering up something, though. And I have a hunch she’s afraid of something. Fanny’s a tough little dame . . . excuse me. She’s not the type to get the jitters. I’ve never seen her like this before.”
    “Maybe there really are spooks on this island,” said Smitty.
    O’Malley said, “I’m starting to wonder if that isn’t true.”

CHAPTER X

The Second Death
    Tucker set the saucer containing five Ritz crackers down on the rickety table and placed the jelly glass of water next to it. “Here’s your dinner,” he told Cole.
    Cole said, “Am I to be put on bread and water from now on?”
    “We’re sort of running short of supplies.” Tucker began to untie the bound Cole. “So we’re having to do a little rationing of food.”
    The two men were alone in the underground room. Cole rubbed gingerly at his freed hands and said, “Seems to me you chaps are experiencing considerable hard luck in your treasure hunt.”
    Tucker stepped back. “What . . . makes you think we’re looking for treasure?”
    “Ah, well, to the ordinary man,” said Cole as he flexed his fingers, “all the shovels and picks, the night worklights and such paraphernalia might not seem out of the ordinary.” He tapped at his temple. “To one as astute as I am, however, it all adds up to a treasure hunt. I learned a bit about the fine art of detection from my good friend Nick Carter, who—”
    “You better keep quiet about it,” cautioned Tucker. “Stark wants to knock you off as it is. So don’t let on you’ve tumbled to the fact we’re hunting for Silva’s hidden dough.”
    “My lips are sealed.” Cole took a sip of the tepid water. “Apparently you lads don’t know the exact location of the elusive loot.”
    “Stark only knows it’s on this island somewheres. We figured to find it and get off before you movie people ever got here. Now we got to sneak around mostly at night to do our searching. It’s a pain in the neck.” He settled down on a camp stool. “And I really don’t like to be out there at night.”
    “I gather one of your associates met an untimely end.”
    “Yeah, poor Jepson,” said Tucker. “He fell off a cliff, got himself smashed to pieces. We buried him up in the woods.” He frowned at the damp stone walls. “I feel like I been buried myself. I don’t care for this setup much.”
    “Jepson’s accident,” asked Cole. “It was definitely an accident?”
    Tucker didn’t answer immediately. “Stark thinks so,” he said at last, voice lowered. “I’m not so sure. There’s something out there . . . at night . . . in the fog. I don’t know exactly what it is . . . maybe it’s a ghost. I’ve almost seen it, I think.”
    “I believe I overheard allusions to a young lady.”
    “That’s what I think I saw. Off in the woods among the trees. You can’t see too clear in this lousy fog . . . and this was just out of the corner of my eye. I’m pretty sure—”
    “What the hell is this?” demanded Stark as he came into the room. “A tea party?”
    “You said to feed him.”
    “I didn’t say to tell him the story of your life.” The husky man dropped a shovel in the corner.
    “No luck, huh?”
    “What do you think?” Stark reached out to grab a cracker off Cole’s plate.
    “Try the water,” said Cole, “it’s delightful.”
    “Shut up,” said Stark. “Get him tied up again, Tucker. Then I want you to go out and look around the south tip of the island tonight. Morrison is there now.” He snorted, shaking his head. “That guy is so clumsy, they’re liable to hear him stumbling around all the way up at the house.”
    “I’d be more than willing to lend a hand,” offered Cole. “I’ve always found night air invigorating