Cautiously they peered in. It was a place of gloomy shadows, but on the
far side Mortenson caught a glimpse of a shimmering curtain of blue. He
knew what it was instantly. The phantom bandit was transferring himself
back to their own world, leaving them without further resistance.
With a bound the scientist was in the shack. His pistol spat twice into
the blue haze. He turned to Steckel.
"He's going back to our world, Chief!" he cried. "Call your men and
we'll follow him!"
While Steckel bellowed to his men, Mortenson glanced around the shack.
On the hard-packed floor lay piles of silver coin. Empty bags littered
the floor in one corner. Stacks of currency of all denominations were
piled neatly to one side. The phantom bandit had certainly made use of
his ability to strike and vanish. Untold wealth lay on every hand in
the unclean hut, but it would have to remain there for the present. He
withdrew his fascinated eyes from it, as the men filed into the room.
"The crook has just returned to our world, men," Mortenson informed
them crisply. "We're right on his trail! Press the first two panel
buttons together; then press the third. We'll find ourselves within
arm's reach of the killer. Be ready to shoot him on sight! Ready? Here
we go!"
Instantly the shack glowed with the peculiar pale blue luminosity cast
off by the electronic apparatus. As one the men vanished, wondering
where they would next appear. Within five seconds vague shapes began to
dance before them. Then out of the jumbled maze of dancing, tottering
forms they beheld familiar buildings. The dull rumble of traffic
reached their ears above the drone of the apparatus. They emerged from
the Fifth Dimension to find themselves standing directly in the middle
of an intersection. The traffic was at a standstill while the corner
signals changed.
Instantly the crowds scattered. Women screamed and fainted. The traffic
cop went into action, sensing something was about to happen, and held
up the traffic. The bandit's pistol cracked. Mortenson felt a stab of
pain in his right shoulder. He dropped his automatic and sagged to the
street, a black nausea swept over him. He felt himself dropping into a
yawning hole as a machine gun rattled almost in his face. Dimly he saw
Barton standing over him, his machine gun spitting flame and death.
For an instant the nausea left him, but the pain in his shoulder
increased. Dazedly he looked around. A man was sagging limply near
the curb. He was covered with blood and seemed dead on his feet. Then
Mortenson recognized the phantom bandit as the man slumped from the
curb and fell face-forward into the street. The pain in his shoulder
intensified. He fainted.
When he regained consciousness, Chief Steckel and Police Surgeon Wagner
were standing beside his cot in the receiving hospital. After a moment
he spoke:
"Did you get his corpse, Wagner?" he inquired weakly, his brain still
foggy from an anesthetic.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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