Chapter II: Part 2

With the entire country a white layer of blowing snow it was difficult to make out the sharp walls of granite that arose from the cup-shaped hole below. It was like a huge bomb crater, perhaps ten miles across. On the valley bottom was the smoothly swept blue-green of a frozen lake.

The plane banked abruptly and Lardner cut the motors. Drake felt the tenseness mount within the cabin. A fear was filling these State Street gunmen that had never troubled them before. The motors were silent. The ship dropped below the lip of the canyon wall and the wind died smoothly. Circling, Lardner gunned the motors again and roared in straight over the strip of frozen ice.

Try as he might Drake could see no sign of life or human habitation. Heavy fir trees came straight to the edge of the lake, standing guard stiff and frozen.

The plane zoomed up sharply and cut back over the lake leaving a black shadow against the ice. It sank down, bounced gently and rolled ahead. They went straight toward the high cliff at the far end of the lake.

"This guy better know what he's doing." Puffy clutched the chair ahead and held on grimly. "Or we'll crack up like a broken match against that wall."

Drake was silent. A murmur of anxious voices arose about them. They still rolled swiftly toward the cliff. Lardner seemed to make no attempt to cut speed. The plane took the bump at the edge of the lake, and then Drake saw the cavern ahead. It was huge and black, cut at an angle in the surface of the rock. A sudden blur of rock walls and they were in the darkness of the cave. The plane settled back roughly on its shock absorbers and stopped. Lights flashed on within the cabin.

* * * * *

George Lardner pushed through the small communication door between the pilot's cabin and the waiting gangsters. As he came, he jerked the helmet and goggles from his eyes. A hard smile on his heavy face left no doubt as to his frame of mind.

"Hello, Drake," the mouth a mask of expressionless hate. "I take my hat off to you. Never gave Cinderella Drake credit for being anything but a whiskey mill."

Jim stood up slowly, knowing these minutes might be his last. Fear was in his heart. Not for himself, but for the doom that faced Sylvia Fanton unless she could be warned of Lardner's coming. There was no doubt in Jim Drake's mind that this frozen valley was the home of the fox people and their queen.

Lardner wasn't the soft night club owner now. The man was short and stocky, but with bulging arms that were tensed for action. The dark face was filled with devilish purpose.

"I'd like to know why we weren't thrown out of the plane last night with the others?" Drake said quietly.

"Oh! That?" Lardner chuckled. "I knew you were headed toward this valley and I thought you'd appreciate the lift."

"For your information," Drake answered coolly, "we took the plane for Winnipeg. Where we are now I haven't the slightest idea."

George Lardner started toward the outer door. He whipped around savagely, his face twisted into a hateful grimace.

"All right, play boy," he snapped. "You asked for it. Now it's my turn. I know you helped Sylvia Fanton to escape. I know you had a part in stealing the diamond, and I also know you are in love with the girl. That, if you'll have the truth, is why you are with us now."

A hissing sigh escaped Puffy Adams' lips. He was beginning to understand now why Lardner had not shot them both long ago.

"So I am to act as decoy," Drake said. "If you think I'll let you torture that girl, you're a madman."

Lardner ignored him. He pushed the outer door of the cabin open and dropped heavily to the cave floor.

"Unpack your stuff, boys," he ordered crisply. "And keep an eye on our guests. I want them to be safe and comfortable."

The gangsters closed in, and some of them started for the baggage compartment.

A ring of steel closed about the pair.

"Out, quick," one of the plug uglies mumbled. "And don't try to get away."

* * * * *

To Drake's surprise the cave was warm, as though heated from some vast, hidden source of fire. Lardner was well ahead of them, going cautiously down the long tunnel. A flash-light sent its beam ahead of his outstretched hand. The baggage was handed down quickly and tommy guns came into sight from the instrument cases. They were smoothly polished and glistened under the dull light of lanterns. They followed Lardner slowly down the vast hall that led under the lip of the mountain. It was warmer and more humid now.

"The boss knows what he's doing," a voice said behind Drake. "These fox people can't do us any harm during the day. By night we'll be ready to blast them down in short order."

Unable to speak to Puffy, Drake was thinking plenty. If they went on to wherever the tunnel led them, it would be too late to face Lardner with any show of force. Drake knew that Sylvia Fanton would be caught off guard if she were here. Could he raise some sort of alarm?

The man at his side seemed a trifle sleepy and disinterested in what was going on. Making sure the man's gun was pointed away where he wouldn't jerk the trigger, Drake lifted an arm high, pointing toward the dark roof of the cave. Pretending fright, he shouted:

"Oh my God! Look!"

Before Lardner could control them, two men had raised their guns and sent salvos of lead screaming into the darkness. Lardner's voice, ahead in the shaft, shattered the silence that followed with wild oaths.

"Who the hell did that?" He stormed back toward Drake, but Jim was well satisfied with what he had done. The sound would carry for miles into the base of the mountain. If Sylvia or her people were here....

From far down the shaft a faint bark echoed clearly. It was the bark of a fox, followed in quick succession by more of the same sounds.

George Lardner faced him, neck red and arms akimbo.

"You're getting too damned clever for your own good," he shouted. "I oughta' knock some of the cockiness out of you."

Drake had a slow temper. But behind the Cinderella Drake who had soused himself so thoroughly in Lardner's whiskey still lurked the keen eyed air patrol cadet who had only six months ago put his body through every air battle on the west coast. Some of the old strength and nerve were coming back now. Coming with a rush of hot blood to his head.

Puffy Adams had sworn he'd stick by Drake until that spirit returned. Now, ringed in by steel death, Adams' face lighted with interest. Yet, he realized that Drake had small chance against these bums.

The cave was dead silent again. Lardner breathed hard, crouched like an oversized wrestler about to spring.

* * * * *

Drake's face was suddenly cold, emotionless.

"If your men weren't ready to shoot me down the minute I move," he said slowly, "I'd pound you within an inch of your rotten life."

Lardner's face lighted slowly and a sardonic grin crossed his face.

"Talk big, play boy," he urged. "I don't need lead to put you out of the way."

Drake's slim body shot forward with the suddenness of a catapult. His shoulders were low as they struck Lardner's thick belly. Caught off guard, Lardner's heavy, ape arms twisted about Jim's waist and he started to crush Drake's body against his own. With a quick twist Drake was loose, dodging backward as a light left caught Lardner on the chest. Lardner jumped in quickly, puffing hard. His right arm swept out and brought blood to Drake's nose.

The slim air cadet shook his head, feeling the sting on his face. He brushed an arm across his nose, and felt warm blood on his fingers. This time Drake went in low, caught Lardner with his left hand just above the belt. The big man bent over with a grunt as Drake's right climbed under his chin like a looping Spitfire. Jim Drake's right fist went home with the entire impact of his shoulder behind it. He felt a twinge of pain shoot through his arm as Lardner's head swept backward with a jerk. The fat man stumbled and sat down abruptly. He looked surprised and frightened, shaking his head back and forth like an angry bull.

"You dirty...." Lardner didn't attempt to rise. His face was flaming red. "Shoot the legs out from under him."

A tommy came up swiftly, trained on Drake.

"Hold it!" A harsh, almost frightened voice came from the shadows by the wall.

Puffy Adams stood, back to the granite, sweeping a tommy gun around on the gang of men. His trigger finger was poised easily, the gun slung carelessly in the curve of his arm. His voice, frightened for Drake, became cool as he saw the last gun drop toward the floor.

"One shot," he said, "and I'll poke enough lead into your boss to keep you rats from ever flying anywhere again."

Drake was at his side now.

"How did you manage it?" he whispered.

"Black-jack," Puffy grinned. "They were interested in you. It wasn't hard."

* * * * *

George Lardner was frightened. The tommy gun was aimed at his head and he knew Puffy Adams wouldn't hesitate when the time came to shoot. He sat up slowly, eyes on the pair by the wall. Then like a shot he rolled quickly over and over into the darkness beyond the lighted area. His voice, harsh and powerful shouted.

"Get them, quick!"

A hail of lead swept the air over his head as Puffy jerked backward.

"It's the firing squad," Adams shouted. He dropped to one knee and opened up wide.

Lardner was snarling something unintelligible. Guns swept around on the men by the wall. Then from within the circle of men compressed hell broke loose. Someone was opening up a deadly fire from within the ranks. Gunmen screamed in pain and turned their guns in every direction, trying to determine who had betrayed them.

"Run for it, Drake. Down the tunnel."

The voice was vaguely familiar. Drake didn't hesitate. He clutched Adams' arm and together they dashed into the blackness ahead. From behind them, the sound of gun shots ceased. Only loud groans of pain drifted to them as they went forward through the midnight blackness. Then, far behind, single footsteps followed them hesitantly.

Lardner was still alive. Drake had heard him curse softly as they passed him. He felt blood on Puffy's arm.

"You're hurt," he said quietly. "Where did it hit?"

"Just a nick." Puffy sounded game. "Glanced off the shoulder. A bit of shirt will fix it up. Say! That was a nice poke you took at Lardner."

* * * * *

The tunnel grew wider. Far ahead a pale shower of colored light tossed against the walls like a weak rainbow. There wasn't a sound ahead or behind them. Drake led the way swiftly. The light seemed stronger, drawing them toward its source.

Then they stood on the edge of a great chamber. From the walls of the circular room a barbaric curtain of rainbowed color sprayed down toward its center.

It flashed and changed as they watched with wide eyes, changing into rich shades of purple, gold, orchid and startling the eye with its everchanging spectrum.

In the direct center of the chamber on a raised dais stood the huge carved statue of a marble polar bear. It towered ten feet high, a magnificent standing beast with lifted outstretched paw. On the back of the bear a small throne had been carved. The blinding flood of color that converged on the throne, hid anything that might be seated there.

Drake clutched his companion's arm.

"Look!"

He pointed toward the low pit that surrounded the statue.

Puffy nodded.

"The biggest fox farm in the world," he said dryly. "Or I'm going nuts."

As their eyes grew accustomed to the changing light, the pit grew clear. The animals became visible against the floor of the pit. There were thousands of them lying about the chamber. They spread over the floor carpeting it with rich fur like a deep rug of precious black and silver.

One thing held Jim Drake spellbound. Every animal had its head lifted toward the throne atop the bear's back.

His eyes lifted again slowly. His vision broke through the bright haze of light. Stretched out in sleep across the stony back was the perfect nude figure of a girl. She seemed frozen in death, yet the bronzed flesh was alive and throbbing. It was the same girl he had saved from Wildwood Zoo--_Sylvia Fanton_!

* * * * *

He tried to take his eyes away from the vision but could not. Color seemed to splash and caress her body as though it alone gave her the power to exist. Then he knew what it was that made her look human. The light preserved her body during daylight hours, or she would have been forced to enter the body of a fox and mingle in the pit with her own kind.

A queen, Queen of the Flaming Diamond, doomed to lie dead until she could be restored to her normal life.

"What do we do now?" Puffy asked in a tense whisper.

"What I want to know first," Drake said wonderingly, "is who saved us from Lardner's mob?"

"Whoever it was," Adams offered, "he'll never escape them alive."

Soft footsteps came from behind them.

"But you are wrong!"

Drake pivoted, and faced the same man whom he had met in the apartment that night he lost the fur. The man who brought his last message from Sylvia Fanton.

"You see," the man went on quietly, "I am not your enemy. I asked you to stay out of this, but I could not desert you."

Drake's face was lighted in a relieved smile. His hand gripped the other's.

"Now you have saved our life, why did you do it?"

"Because," the man said simply, "you are human and you are good. Sylvia Fanton asked me to help you, and I am her brother."

Puffy Adams sat down abruptly on the cave floor.

"And I," he said unbelievingly, "am the keeper of Cinderella Drake, the sap who still looks for the silver slipper."

"But Sylvia is no fox woman," Drake protested. "She's too warm, too human!"

For a moment there was silence. Then a warm smile lighted the stranger's eyes.

"We are all human," he said. "We are early settlers who came to this valley and sought its sanctuary. Only the curse of George Lardner has spoiled our paradise and driven us into animal form. Perhaps you will see...."

* * * * *

He looked hurriedly at the light that was growing dimmer above them. The rainbow had faded swiftly and darkness was coming down on the cavern.

"I am Silvaris, King of the Fox People," he said swiftly. "On the Flaming Diamond depends our ability to exist. Night is almost upon us again, but unless the diamond can be restored to the paw of the bear, there will be no more night or day."

"But you have it!" Drake protested. "Lardner came here to get it back again...."

"Lardner came by mistake to this valley six months ago," Silvaris said brokenly. "We welcomed him as we welcome all people. He betrayed our trust and stole our life source. We took him to our hearts as Sylvia and I were taken many years ago."

"Then you aren't really of the same race?" Drake's voice was filled with relief.

Silvaris shook his head.

"We are here by our own choice," he went on. "Sylvia and I, lost children, found our way here from a trapper's cabin when we were very young. We never tried to leave. When Lardner stole our precious gem, she and I alone knew the ways of civilization. It was our task to return the stone to its rightful place."

"If that diamond is the solution of this mess," Puffy asked in a puzzled voice, "why don't we clean up the mystery right now?"

"Wait!"

Silvaris went slowly down the long steps to the fox pit. He climbed the steps to the side of the polar bear and his sister's lifeless body. From her armpit, he took a huge gem. As he came toward them, Drake knew it was the Lardner stone, flashing and alive in the semi-darkness.

He pushed it into Drake's hands.

"Somehow Lardner pawned a paste imitation of the real Flaming Diamond off on us that night in Chicago," Silvaris said sadly. "The real stone is the only gem that will make the transformation."

Drake examined the diamond curiously.

"Hey!" Puffy said excitedly. "Wait a minute. How come Lardner is so almighty hot after us, if he thinks we've only got a paste?"

"That I cannot explain," Silvaris admitted helplessly. "I purposely disguised myself to mingle with his men. He came to destroy us and yet he knows our life is short now that the diamond is gone. We cannot live long as animals."

* * * * *

Far away toward the mouth of the tunnel came the sound of an idling motor. Drake sprang into action.

"I think," he said, "that we can outplay Lardner at whatever game he's playing. He must be wounded. Perhaps too badly to fly."

The face of Silvaris, the Fox King, lightened.

"You are a pilot?" he asked.

Puffy chuckled.

"Cinderella can fly the blind spots off a Jap Zero," he said. "Just strap a pair of wings on him."

They charged toward the mouth of the tunnel. A few hundred feet from the entrance Drake stopped. He picked up a tommy gun where it had been dropped by the fleeing gunmen. Going forward more slowly they saw three men at the entrance, guns pointed into the darkness.

On one knee, Drake fingered the trigger. He picked up a large rock with his free hand and tossed it ten feet to one side. It struck with a loud thump. Immediately red fire cut loose around the place where the rock had hit. Drake brought his finger back lightly against the trigger and watched coldly as the men went down. They pitched forward like alley pins, bleeding and screaming with the pain. There was no time to lose.

Dropping the gun he went forward swiftly, whipping an automatic from his pocket as he ran. Then, seeing Lardner, he took a head dive into the deep snow as the vicious crack of lead whizzed over his head. He rolled over silently coming to his feet with a bound. Lardner, waiting by the plane, shot again and the lead burned into Drake's shoulder. He sprang forward as Lardner's foot lifted toward the open door to the cabin.

Clutching his foot, Drake jerked the man back into the snow with all his strength and they rolled into a white, seething mass of fury. With a short, terrifying blow on the chin he snapped the man's head backward. It twitched queerly and his eyes bulged. Lardner's neck was twisted to one side, stiff and broken.

"The diamond?" Puffy was at his side. Jim Drake bent over the dying man, watched his face as it twitched in pain.

"You want the girl," Lardner croaked. "You'll never get her. Even with the diamond, you'll never...."

His body relaxed suddenly, as though deflated of life. Drake pushed him back into the drifted snow, a look of disgust in his cold eyes.

* * * * *

"Give me that paste imitation," Drake said. "Perhaps somehow...?"

Silvaris nodded helplessly.

"It's of no use," he groaned. "We tried, but it has no power."

Puffy, a knife in his hand once more, was working slowly over the gem with its keen blade. His face was solemn and deep with interest. In spite of themselves, the two men stood close to him watching the thin, case-like stuff that he peeled away from the surface.

"This ain't paste," he said excitedly. "It's a kind of silicate. Lardner must have dipped the gem into it and let the stuff harden as a protective cover."

Drake took the gem eagerly.

"Then he realized that whatever the power was that this stone has, it couldn't work unless the diamond itself was clean and unprotected."

The late afternoon sun was fading slowly beyond the far end of the frozen lake. They turned and went into the cave of the Fox People. Perhaps the gem would work. But if it didn't, Lardner had died with the secret on his lips.

"_You'll never get her_," he had said, "_even with the diamond_."

At the edge of the pit they stopped. Silvaris spoke in a faraway, silencing voice.

"Our lives depend on you. I am no longer able to control myself. In a few hours we will all be dead...."

He hesitated and the voice trailed off into nothingness. Before their eyes the man fell away into a light mist. Instead, a large fox stood at Drake's feet, tail drooping and its eyes staring ahead dully. Silvaris the Fox King had returned to the stature of his people.

The chamber grew silent as death. The fox turned slowly and walked down the steps into the marble pit. He mixed quickly with the others and no movement came from below. The spot of color over the throne wavered and went out. The cave was black as pitch.

"Now or never," Drake muttered. His tongue was rough and dry. His hands shook under the weight of the diamond. It and it alone seemed alive and glittering in the cold unnatural tomb of the cave.

* * * * *

He went toward the bottom of the pit and gently forced his way through the sleeping animals. Up toward the throne his legs carried him step by step, and each step was a million years. A torture of uncertainty and hope.

He lifted the diamond and without hesitation pushed it with all his strength into the outstretched claws of the marble bear.

The Flaming Diamond suddenly glittered more powerfully than ever before. The claws seemed to grasp it tightly, as though the power of the gem must stay where it could never be stolen again.

Bright flames of every hue sprang from the surfaces of the stone. They bathed his body like colored lightning and he fell backward down the steps, his arm upraised in protection. The place came alive with sound. Pealing, silvery tones of rich bell-like music tore the air asunder and the light of the diamond flashed warmly against the flesh of the girl on the throne.

On his feet now Drake stumbled toward Puffy Adams at the entrance of the chamber. Puffy was on his knees, face blinded with the light.

"Holy Ned," he shouted. "Now look what you've done, Cinderella."

Drake didn't answer. His eyes had grown accustomed to the glare. The chamber was hot and brilliant with some new world born from the cold womb of the old. Men and women arose from where animals had been waiting for the end.

Silvaris, the Fox King, came toward them. His face was alight with thanksgiving. Looking over his shoulder, Drake saw something that made him lose all interest in the others. Something that he had prayed for was taking place atop the polar bear's throne-back.

Sylvia Fanton, her body alive and glowing, sat upright. No false modesty marred the perfect, classically molded body. She slipped down from the beast's back and caressed its side with slim fingers. Then she came toward him slowly.

* * * * *

The men and women parted as she went among them gracefully. Her eyes were wide and wonderfully warm as she came up the steps toward him. Her gaze never wavered from his. They had changed from a cold black to soft, gold-flecked brown.

"I knew you would come," she said softly. "It was necessary that we have each other."

With a happy sob she was in his arms. He only knew that her body was pressed tightly to his. That the warmth of the Flaming Diamond had brought her life, and that Jim Drake would never be lonely again.

Voices arose happily in the chamber. The heat, now, was almost unbearable. He heard Silvaris's voice say happily:

"It is good that the Ice Gods have played their part."

Strong arms were on Drake's shoulder. He stumbled after the men toward the open valley. Then, with his emotions under control, he saw the transformation that had taken place because he had done his job well.

"You have once more breathed life into a lost valley," Silvaris was at his side. "We will be forever thankful."

Drake looked down at the wisp of loveliness at his side. She was partly clothed now in a small fur jacket. Somehow it displayed rather than enshrouded her charms.

Away toward the head of the lake frozen cliffs jutted up to the sky from green, lush fields of deep grass. The valley had come suddenly alive. Trees waved gently under the warm wind that rushed from the cave. Small cabins were visible where they had been brought to life from under the deep snow. Deep flower-splashed meadows crept to the water's edge and the ice of the lake was gone. This, he realized with a lump in his throat, was the magic power of the Flaming Diamond.

"The plane is ready," Silvaris reminded him. "It is best that you leave while my people will let you. They are very grateful."

Jim Drake looked questioningly at the girl. Her eyes answered his with a smile. As much as she loved the Fox People, her place was with him.

They went slowly toward the waiting plane.

* * * * *

Drake looked back once as he sent the big ship skimming along the meadow at the far end of the lake. Silvaris and his people were gathered in a tight, worshipping little group, watching the bird plane take to the air.

At three thousand feet he leveled off. Something soft and warm brushed his cheek. He turned and saw Sylvia's eyes close to his, warm and promising.

The valley was no longer visible. From the air one could see only vast sweeps of snow and ice. The secret of the Fox People was well hidden.

"Well," Puffy said from behind them, "Tiffany will never see another diamond to equal that one."

"Everyone is happy," Drake answered.

Adams chuckled.

"Cinderella Drake found the silver slipper after all," he said. "And man, what a queen there was in it."

Sylvia blushed prettily.

"I'll try to dress a little more modestly in civilization," she offered.

"Not for me," Drake urged. "When a man comes home from a hard day's work shooting down Japs, he likes to see as much of his wife as possible. Namely, in a very small fox fur."

"Yea!" Puffy said. "Guess you're right. Excuse me while I go curl up with a good book."

He blundered noisily toward the row of empty berths at the rear of the plane.

* * * * *

End of Project Gutenberg's Queen of the Flaming Diamond, by Leroy Yerxa