Adventures by Morse, Carlton E. Morse presents The City of the Dead, featuring Captain Friday. If you like high adventure, come with me. If you like the stealth of intrigue, come with me. If you like blood and thunder, come with me. Nine o'clock on the morning of the third day in The City of the Dead. The most harrowing night in the lives of Phyllis Carroll and Jimmy Parker is past. During this night of terror, the following incidents have taken place. Captain Friday has disappeared. Jimmy Parker is convinced that it was Mayor Friday whom he and the captain saw digging in Ernie Morton's grave just before Captain Friday disappeared. One of the black pearls belonging to the collection of Theodore Beverly, Phyllis's grandfather, was found under her pillow. It was placed in the mayor's care and within half an hour was taken from him by some mysterious person. Then in conclusion, the inmates of the mayor's cottage including Jimmy, Phyllis, old doctor, tuner and the mayor, watching the dawn break from one of the windows, saw old clothwood captured and carried off by someone unrecognizable in the dim light. But the night is behind them. The warm morning sun has become a tonic to the shattered nerves of the group and has done much to dispel the terror of the night hours. Phyllis alone is still a bed with her wounded shoulder. Jimmy. Well, hello there sleepyhead. Good morning. Jimmy. Lie down, Phyllis.  Oh. See, I told you. Now you lie still. I forgot. Jimmy, is everything all right? Right. It's rain. But old clothwood was kidnapped. All the better. We don't have to worry about him anymore. I just remember you saying that. And I guess I went back to sleep. What happened after that? Not a thing. Dr. tuner and Mayor Friday went out, but they couldn't find a trace of anything. Clawfoot and whoever captured him had vanished. How long have I been asleep, Jimmy? Four hours. It's just past nine now. I feel an awful lot better now. Hungry? Mm-hmm. Ah, gee, Phyllis. Good to hear you laugh again. It seems ages since we've had anything to laugh at. Well, things are going to be all right now, aren't they, Jimmy? I don't know, Phil. I hope so. What? What's the matter? Has something else happened? No, thank heavens, no. Everything is just as mixed up as it was last night. It just doesn't seem so bad in the daylight. Oh. And Phil... What is it, Jimmy? I hate to tell you. I suppose I ought to. Of course you should. Everything. Well, the Mayor called up the police station in the city this morning. Jimmy! I tried him. He tried to get him not to do it, and so did Dr. tuner. Well, does... does that mean we've got to go to jail? I don't know. I didn't hear what he said on the phone, but... Well, you know how he feels toward me. Well, don't you worry about it. I know you haven't done anything.  They can't. I know. They can make it awfully hot for us, Phyllis. We did dig in Ernie Morton's grave, and the next morning Burt Arnold's body was found buried there. How can we possibly prove that we didn't murder Burt? Where are Dr. tuner and the Mayor now? Well, the Mayor's gone down into the city of the dead. Dr. tuner was out in the kitchen just a minute ago. I suppose he stepped outside. Anyway, Jimmy, if the police do come, we won't have to spend another night in this terrible place. We wouldn't anyway.  He's been antagonistic toward us ever since we first came here asking for help. He's got an awful guilty conscience or something. Do you suppose he's been looking for the pearls himself? That would explain why he'd be jealous of us. Dr. tuner must be in on it, too, then. Oh, no, I'm sure he's not. He's so friendly and gentle. I don't think he knows anything about what the Mayor's been up to. How could he help it? Hasn't he been coming down to the city of the dead for the last 20 years to visit his old patients buried here, he says? Yeah, and I reckon that's the truth, too, son. Hey, Dr. tuner. How long have you been standing there listening? No, no, Parker. Ain't no use to get all worked up on a nice sunshiney morning like this. Well, just the same, you had no business eavesdropping. Well, Parker, I reckon you've got a lot to learn. It ain't always the best policy to jump at conclusions. You're young, yet someday you'll find out diplomacy is a mighty fine trait to cultivate. Well, facts are facts. Yeah, I reckon they are, my boy. Just the same, I venture to say that three-fourths of your trouble here has been of your own making. What? What do you mean? I mean you should have done your best to make the Mayor like you. Instead of irritating and badgering him, you ain't had any considerations from his feelings right along.  But I've never accused Mayor Friday of anything that wasn't perfectly apparent on the surface. No, of course you haven't.  Yeah, but I told the truth. Yeah, I reckon you did. That ain't the point. You've made the Mayor dislike you all along. Now, when there comes a time when you want him to trust and believe in you, he naturally turns against you. What time will the police be here? Oh, I don't reckon there'll be anyone down before afternoon. Is he going to turn Phyllis and me over to him? Well, the Mayor don't do much talking, not even to me. But you don't think we've done anything wrong, do you, Dr. Turner? Well, I calculate. I'd rather not say what I believe, Miss Carroll. But say now, I've been standing here lecturing you two when I come in to see about breakfast. Hot cake batter's all mixed up in the skillet's pipe and hot. Mm, hot cakes. Are they the sour milk kind? Mm-hmm. I reckon sour milk hot cakes are the only real hot cake there is. Oh, I adore them. Oh, come on, Jimmy.  No. I suppose so. Miss Carroll, you're lucky to have a young fellow like Jimmy Parker. He sat by your bed all the time you were asleep. He just wouldn't move from your side. Oh, Jimmy, you shouldn't have done that. Haven't you had any sleep all night? No, forget it, Phil. I feel fine. Well, I'll go out and put on a batch of hot cakes. Oh, by the way, Miss Carroll, do you like your egg straight up or over easy? Oh, isn't he, dear? Mine straight up, doctor. One straight up, one over easy. I got you a mighty fine home-cured bacon for you, too. Jimmy, it was awfully nice of you to sit beside me while I slept. I think that was why my dreams were so sweet. Oh, Phil, dear, you were so lovely sleeping.  I wondered what you were dreaming about. Don't you wish you knew? Phil, dear, what was it? Listen, Jimmy Parker, you go get me a pan of warm water and a comb and a mirror. You're our finders. I'll bet you'd have let me eat breakfast without even pottering my nose. Yeah, I guess I would. But Phil is... Hurry, Jimmy, your doctor tuner will be in here with the hot cakes before I'm ready. They're browning nicely. I got a good do on them this morning. Oh, here comes the mayor, doctor tuner. I caught a glimpse of him through the window. Well, I'll put a couple more eggs in your pan then. Good morning, Mayor Friday. Good morning, Miss Carol. How do you feel? Oh, much better. Thank you. Mayor Friday, are you going to turn Jimmy and me over to the police? Oh, now, Miss Carol. But we only parked Jimmy's car near the city of the dead. I think if you understood about us... Miss Carol, I think you and I ought to have a good, long talk together. Why, what about? Here comes young Parker. We'll talk about it after breakfast, huh? Here you are, Phil. Oh, Mayor Friday. Yes, it's me. Here, Phil's a base in the water, soap, wash rag. Thank you, Jimmy. Now, if you'll get me a comb and a hand mirror... Sure thing. Comb and a mirror. All right. Here you are. Thanks. And now, if you two men will go out in the kitchen with doctor tuner, so a girl can have a little privacy. Sure, okay. Come on, Mayor Friday. We'll get together after breakfast, Miss. Yeah. Pretty good cook, if I do say so myself. Smells good. Well, there's a stack of cakes about ready. Oh, hello, Mayor. Ready to eat? You ready as soon as I wash up? I put the table in beside Miss Carol's bed so he could be sort of sociable.  I can jump up from the table and try it out here in the kitchen easier than you. No, I reckon I'm the hot cake expert. Say, doctor, do you feel a difference this morning? I can't explain it. I feel as though a great weight had been lifted. Well, I reckon I know what you mean, Parker. I feel chipper this morning myself. It's as though we had passed through a nightmare and now the danger's over. You don't suppose it's because old clothwood isn't hanging around any longer, do you? Well, I don't know as I can say this. Oh, Jimmy. Jimmy. Oh, coming, Phil. Well, it didn't take you very long. It was hard to get the powder on straight when I had to hold the mirror and popped up against my knees. Hi, doctor. Phil's ready. Bring on the bacon and eggs. And oodles of hot cake. Breakfast coming up. Everyone sit down. Miss Carol gets her plate in her lap. Right side up, though, please. I'll sit here by the bed so I can hand things to Phil. No hot cakes for me, doc. I think too much of my own side. Why, Mayor, they're lovely. Really, they are, Dr. Tuner. Now, don't you feel bad?  I ain't been able to make him eat a hot cake in all the 20 years I've known him. He simply ain't got the taste for him. Well, they're great, doctor. I was up to Lamy Fink's cabin this morning. That is what's left of it since it burned down. Lamy Fink? Mayor Friday. Just who was Lamy Fink? An old fella I had working for me in the city of the dead. Kind of adipated, but he was a good worker. Loved flowers. Well, what about it, Mayor? Why did you go to his cabin? Made the trip for nothing. Everything fell into the cellar when the building burned. I couldn't get to the bottom with all those burned timber, cookstove, and other junk that crashed down into the basement. Couldn't tell how many bodies really was in the place then, huh? No. Oh, listen. The church bell. Well, that's the first time I've heard it ring in the daytime. That's strange. Mighty strange. I heard it a couple of times already this morning. Now, look here. If it keeps up, we should be able to trace it in the daylight. Been thinking about that. Yeah, I think we should go right after breakfast. Don't you, Mayor? One of us ought to.  I'll stay with Phyllis. No. But look here, Mayor, surely you don't think I'd run away and leave Phyllis? You know as well as I do that with that knife wound in her shoulder, I couldn't possibly move her. Gonna keep you under my eye until the police get here.  No. Well, Mayor, I'll go look for the bell alone if you say so, but I'll tell you flat I ain't hankering for it even by daylight. You know how the fog comes up in the middle of the day. Every night when that miserable stuff settles down in the city of the dead. I ain't asking you to go alone. You take Parker with you. But look here, Mayor, I promise Phyllis I wouldn't leave her again, and I'm not going to. Jimmy, maybe you'd better do what the Mayor says. You want me to go and leave you here with this... with Mayor Friday? Oh, no. Well, that is... Oh, please, Mayor Friday, just Jimmy, have to go. Yes. Well, I won't. Oh, no, Parker. What was I telling you this morning? I reckon you'd better come along with me. Dr. Tuner, you don't want me to leave Phyllis with this... this man? Why not?  And if I should leave Phyll and... if anything should happen, I'd never forgive myself. Well, I reckon the Mayor is just as capable of looking out for Miss Carol as you or me. Yeah, but look here, if I can't stay with Phyllis, why don't you stay here, Dr. Tuner, and let Mayor Friday take me to look for the phantom bell? No. You're going to do what I say. Well, I guess it'll be all right, Jimmy. You go along with Dr. Tuner. Something's wrong. Why do you want to separate Phyllis and me? Oh, no, Parker, nothing's wrong. Look here, young fella. I'm going to tell you something for your own good. The quicker you learn not to suspect the people around you, the better you'll get on in this world. You're keeping something from us. No matter what you think, Parker, you're going out with Dr. Tuner. And that's final. Supposing I refuse to go. You haven't got a chance of refusing. You're going with Dr. Tuner, even if he asked to walk behind you with a gun. Please, Jimmy, I'll be all right. Honestly, I will. I don't like it. Well, I reckon you're... Hello, what in the tongue had made that shadow? Where's the sun? Going behind a cloud, I suppose. No, Tate, it's a fog coming in. What, already? Saw it coming from way off when I was up at Lamy Fink's cabin. Looks as though we're going to hunt that church bell in the fog. Shouldn't have no trouble if it keeps her ringing the way it has been. Oh, dear, and I was feeling so much better. And hot cakes, Parker? No, no more. What about you, Phil? No, thank you. Oh, mighty skinny appetite. Well, if everybody's finished, let's just carry the table back into the kitchen. Grab a hold there, Mayor. Yeah. As soon as we get the dishes stacked, Parker and I will go on down to the old church.  That gun business is all hooey. Dr. Tuner wouldn't shoot anybody.  It'll be all right. Really, it will. Only, well, I wish this fog wasn't settling down on us again. It makes me cold inside just to think of it. Listen, Phil, I found this knife out in the kitchen. Jimmy! It's the one you were stabbed with. Oh, take it away. No, no, Phil. Take it under the cover with you. Oh, no, I don't want it. Shh, don't let Dr. the Mayor hear. Please take it. Hide it under the covers. I'll feel a lot better if you... If I know you've got something to protect yourself with. I hate the sight of it. It's a terrible weapon. We'd be glad enough to have it if you were fighting for your life. What do you mean? Nothing. Nothing really, Phil. Only, well, here, take it. All right, but are you...  Wait, put it under the covers and don't tell anyone. Oh, I, I hate it. There. Now, if anyone gets funny, you can carve your initials on him. Why is old Mayor Friday so intent on having Phyllis to himself? What is it that Jimmy fears for her? And beyond all else, what will Jimmy and Dr. Tuner find in taking up the trail of the Phantom Church bell? And the missing Captain Friday? But more of all that in just a moment.  I won't rest a bit while it's under the covers with me. Use it if it's necessary. Here's something else. What is it? A whistle. Where did you get that? It's a police whistle Captain Friday left here. Take it. Why, what for? To use if you're in danger. Do you think something's going to happen to me? Not if I can help it. But, but with this knife and, and the whistle. I don't want to frighten you Phyllis. Honest. I don't know of a single thing that might happen. But, well, you know what a time we've had so far. Yes, I know. Well, and you take this whistle. If you get suspicious that things aren't going right. Or you become frightened. You just blow this police whistle as hard as you can. You'll be surprised how far it'll carry. Do you think you could hear it anywhere in the city of the dead? I think so. Anyway, we won't be out of range of it very long. That does make me feel safer. To know that I can call you. Watch it. Now, Parker, get your hat and let's get started before the fog settles too thick among the tombstones. All right. I'll be right with you. Now then, Miss Carol, don't you worry. You aren't in any danger and nothing's going to happen while we're away. You just see if you can't get a lot of sleep today. If everything goes as it should, you'll be up and walking around another day or two. You're sure I'll be all right, Dr. Tuner. Of course you will.  I don't reckon we'll be out any longer than we can help. Mayor, you're going to take good care of Miss Carol now, ain't you? I reckon me and Miss Carol are going to get on right smart, ain't we, Miss? Oh, yes. Yes. Me and her have got a lot of things to talk about. Don't get so interested talking. You forget about your job as nurse, Mayor. Well, I'm ready, Dr. Tuner. All right, Parker. Goodbye, Phil. Remember, don't take any chances, will you? No, Jimmy. I promise. Come along, Parker. Come along. Look there, Dr. Tuner. There's Ernie Morton's grave just ahead. Let's look at it a minute. You're getting pretty foggy, Parker. We ought to keep moving. It won't take but a minute. Look here, Doctor. See, this is where Captain Friday and I were lying just before he sneaked over to the grave and still see the impression of my body in the grass. Mm-hmm. Looks so all right, son. Of course it's so. If that bell keeps ringing like this, we shouldn't have any trouble following it.  Come along. But I want to prove to you that the grave was opened last night. Yeah, how do you do that, Parker? Here.  Yeah, what's that prove? Look, the grass is still fresh and green when I turn it over. If that sod had been lying bottom side up since Captain Friday opened the grave three nights ago, the grass would have wilted, wouldn't it? Mm-hmm. Looking all right, son. Of course the grave was opened last night. You know what I think? Man, come along. You can talk as we're moving along. I think that it was Mayor Friday himself digging in that grave. Well, that ain't nothing new. You've been intimating that that's what you thought right along. Well, I never came right out and said it before. Well, there's the old church looming up down there through the fog. We must be getting near the bell. Doesn't sound much closer, though. What sort of woods are those behind the church? Well, hardwood mostly. Oak and beech, I reckon. Shall we go on down to the church and make that our starting point? All right. Hey, will you keep cocking your ears back toward the house, for Parker? You can't hear anything down here. I don't know. I thought I might. That's a good thing to say. What do you expect to hear this far along? Well, never mind. Well, where are we going to look for this bell? Well, I reckon the best thing we can do is sneak down there alongside of the church and just sit and wait till we hear it. That'll give us a clue to work from. Yeah, but we might sit all day. There you are now. Listen. Gosh, can't tell anything about it, can you? Don't seem to come from any direction at all. That's a fact. Listen. It seems to be coming from the church, don't you think? Well, it ain't possible. The mayor and I gave the place a good going over and sold it Captain Friday, and the bell ain't in the ruins. Listen. Stopped again. Look, Parker, I've sort of had an idea that that bell might be out there in the woods and back of the church. What do you think? Well, maybe. Sounded in the church to me. Well, now just supposing it was hanging out on a limb of a tree in the woods and was swinging free. The wind could blow it or rock the tree and ring soft like off and on just like it had been. But what would a bell be doing up in a tree? Well, it ain't any explaining a good many things down here in the city of the dead days, Dave. Well, why these long waits between the ringing? Sometimes it's been hours. Well, perhaps there hasn't been enough wind during it. Well, there's as much breeze now as there was a moment ago when the bell was ringing, and that isn't any. Well, I... Here she goes again. Now listen carefully and try to place the direction the sound's coming from. That's the same as before. I'd say the church. It does sound so, but it can't be, I tell you. Still, if it was out in the open, we ought to be able to walk right straight toward where it's ringing. Well, are we going to stand here all day, or are we going to scout around and see what we can find? That burning fog would have to come down just now. Dang, if I know which way to turn. Look here, Dr. Tuner. Let's go inside the church and listen. Maybe we'll get some clues that way. Might as well, I guess.  The pesky stuff? Up in San Francisco, I rather like the fog. This is miserable stuff down here, all right. I've hated it ever since I can remember. Decade atmosphere, that's what fog is to me. A nice day that's begun to rot. That's a pleasant thought. Can't help it. I always get the grumps and the creeps and the sniffles in the fog. Worst nightmare I ever had was about fog. Well, here we are. Might as well go in. Good thing I brought a pocket flash along. Go ahead, but mind your way. Them floorboards are rotten as punk. You're likely to break your leg. You want a lead?  Here's your idea. Here, you can have a flashlight. Well, okay. This is a miserable hole, isn't it? Everything wet and mildewed. Shhh. Why, the bells fader in here than it was outside. I reckon I was right after all. Quick, let's get outside. Now we're getting somewhere. Look out where you're going, fella. You'll blow through the floor. Come on, Doc. Come on. I've got the flashlight. Turn to me. Doctor. Dr. Tuner, don't carry on, so I'm all right. Duncan, was you making them ghastly groan? That wasn't me, Doc. Wasn't you? No, there's someone else down here. I'm looking for my flash. I dropped it when I went through the floor. You say there's somebody else down there? Hey, Doc, stop asking questions and come and help me. I'm down in the basement. There must be a door to the outside someplace. Basement? By George, that's right. This place has got a basement. Let's go inside and see if you can find a door to it. It's blackened pitch down here and something's down here with me. The door to the basement's right outside. I'll be right with you.  We'll blame it all where I dropped that light. Doc ever gets that door open. Me? Yes. What's the matter? Is the door locked? The hinges rusted too bad. I'll have to break the door down. Are you still all right? Yes. Hurry and break it in. I can't find my flashlight. This groaning is getting on my goat. Hang on. We'll go to it, Doc. This is great. The bell! Hey, Doc! The Phantom church bell's here in the basement.  No, I'm not. Here's my flashlight. There. There's your church bell. Look. Look there in the corner. Yeah. A man bound in gag. Come on, Doc. So that's where them groans come from? You know them? They were shown before in life. One time. Look over here. He ain't only bound in gag. He's roped to this too before in the wall. They weren't taking any chance on his getting away. Poor chap. He's unconscious, isn't he? What's the matter with him? Looks mostly like starvation. But is it that lump here on his head? We'll have to carry him up to the house.  His heart ain't showing much signs. Stand aside, Parker. Go bell, Doctor. Standing here on its rack, just swings clear of the floor. I can't figure out what made it ring, Parker. I've got it. This man was ringing it. It was the only way he could call for help. Look here, Doctor. See, he was tied to this two by four. When he stretched out his bound feet just as far as he could reach, the tip of his toe would just touch the rim of the bell. He'd give it a shove, and the bell would ring a few strokes. He was unconscious on account of this crack on the head. That had to count for the spells of silence. Now, then, you ready? There, you take your shoulders, and I'll take his knees here. All right. Let's go. Careful. He's bumping his head down the door, Jan. Yeah, all clear. What'll we do? Leave the bell as it is. Sure, Parker. Ain't nobody gonna touch it. Just strike off through the tombstones and keep on the grass. It's easier walking. Poor guy. Looks more like a corpse than a living man. Yeah, so that was the answer to the Phantom Bell. No wonder we couldn't locate where the sound was coming from. By the time it got outside the cellar walls, the sound was so broken it seemed to come from everywhere. Funny, you were the mayor didn't think of looking in the basement when you came down here three nights ago. Yeah, is it? Did you think of looking in the basement for a ringing church bell? Had to fall right in on top of it before you got the idea, didn't you? Just call out if you want a rest. Well, if we knew as much about Old Cloughwood as we do about the bell... A whistle! That's Phyllis! Hey, don't drop the man. It's Phyllis, Doc! Something's happened to Phyllis! Hi, Parker, come back here! Something's happened to Phyllis! Don't you hear the whistle? I've just heard the ninth episode of The City of the Dead, written for radio by Carlton E. Morse. Next week brings you where the pearls were hidden, the tenth and final episode of this adventure thriller. Next week you will know the identity of Old Cloughwood, the name of the man who rang the bell, what really became of grandfather Theodore Beverly, who the murderers were, who the grave looters were, and what became of the famous collection of black pearls.


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