Mystery Of The Sea Horse by Lee Falk Read Free Book Online Page A

glow, which must be the burning launch.
"Diana!" he called again.
A faint answer came from off in the fog.
He called her name once more, but got no reply this time. The Phantom began swimming in the direction the voice had come from. The mist clinging to the night sea swirled up as he passed through it.
"This is about the spot," he told himself after swimming a few yards.
The girl was not there.
The Phantom inhaled air through his mouth, then dived beneath the surface.
He circled through the cold darkness. Something brushed against his side.
Reaching out, the Phantom caught hold of the girl's wrist. He slipped one arm around her and pulled her up with him.
When her head was out of the water, Diana blinked. "I thought . . ." she said. "I thought I could . . . stay afloat. . . but—"
"Never mind," he told her. "Are you hurt?"
The girl thought. "Not physically injured I don't think," she answered. "But I feel awfully . . . worn out, I guess."
"Relax now," the Phantom said. "I'll get us back to the coast."
"It must be-miles and . . ." She stopped, then said, "Yes, I'm sure you can."
Holding her with one arm, the Phantom began swimming.
"I thought Chris—I didn't think he . . . wanted to kill me."
The Phantom did not reply.
"Kit," said Diana after a moment. "I hear something."
The masked man had heard it, too. "Sounds like a boat. Your friend Danton may have come out to make sure his booby-trap worked. Be ready to duck underwater if he passes close by."
The sound of the boat's motor grew louder behind the mist.
Diana took a deep breath and held it.
"Mr. Walker! Mr. Walker, are you around here anyplace?"
The Phantom grinned. "It's the curious Cap Nordling," he told the girl. "Yes, over here, Cap," he called.
"Who's Cap Nordling?" Diana asked.
"The man who's going to give us a lift home."
The lights of Nordling's craft caught them. "I been circling around out here," he said, killing the engine and bringing his boat up beside them. "Got to admit, I took to wondering what was going on over on San Obito. So I stuck around for a spell. When I heard that explosion, I said to myself, I bet that's Mr. Walker. I bet he borrowed one of them boats and—'" "Help her in." The Phantom lifted the dripping Diana up toward the boat.
"Evening, miss." Nordling got hold of both her hands and pulled her in. "My name's Cap Nordling. Usually on Sunday nights, I devote myself to viewing a private-eye show I'm fond of, but I-"
"We appreciate it," Diana said.
Nordling moved to a cabinet. "Yeah, here's one." He tossed her a large fish-patterned beach towel. "Dry off some."
The Phantom was climbing into the craft. "It would be a good idea to get back to land as soon as we can." j #
"Might be more explosions?" asked the fat boatman, starting his engine again.
"That's one possibility," replied the masked man.
Nordling looked him up and down. "I still got them clothes you left," he said. "Are you . . ." His voice trailed off.
"Yes?"
"I was going to ask why you was dressed up like that," Nordling said. "Decided it's none of my business."
They headed for the mainland.
Diana, with the borrowed towel round her shoulders, leaned back in the passenger seat of the Phantom's Alfa Romeo. "So Chris Danton put the keys in that launch," she said. "Figuring we'd then take the other one."
"A simple trick," said the Phantom. He was wearing his tan raincoat now and dark glasses. "I should have recognized it."
"It's all right," said the dark-haired girl. "We're back safe in Santa Barbara and I'm off that island. All's right with the world, more or less." She put her hand on his.
The Phantom headed the car into the hills. "Danton may make another try," he told the girl. "Once he finds out we weren't killed."
"As soon as we tell somebody about him," Diana said, "the whole business will be all over. I mean, they can raid San Obito and they'll find the secret rooms and so on."
"When we reach your uncle's, IH put through a call to a friend of mine up in San Francisco," said the