The PRINCE of VEGA

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 226, 24 September 1938, Page 34 (Supplement)

The PRINCE of VEGA

Thrilling Serial 2y M. Thorpe Clark

SYNOPSIS. Popper, became enmeshed in »ka mystery of John Smith «nVwiomS? assassin ,3 trying to obtain Ved! ; n ; 7 th «. boys to accompany h!m u Ik w0 h'B Unclo Afa in Melbourne. On the wav a hn truck hears down upon them and only by a miracle rjld Pon ih! tarn drivor, mrnaqos to pu || (nt 0 b rt ßnk and »° Prevent what seemed an inevitable cash another attempt, on Vodi'a l.fo' j. frustrated. What will happen? " ;|il tlt.ni ii—i"il 1 |. . 1 "• Ii'"I'll'"-1!!<>\ I ; V . "'!•! of ' r • K " ,l| * , I' "I'll out of |l,n ninl n ~■ M(t t unii'il l„. r Ihwc t" w a rd.s t ho rit \ . I'IIAPTKK vr. The rof-t. nf the journey into the fitv wra uno\ ,->nt ful, hut' „ p \ 0 r 111 e - l«ss, the excited buzz of talk. „ )n . ip<l on mainly by Xick. Pepper ; ,n,l 15,.„ lastM until they reached their des. tniai i..n. Peter. i„ hi, Ml|li HM-ntly r,'\ icu iug ,be IMtun , ' >0 case A prince. a fort 11M(> in l 1"-"";' 5 . a life nil,l death st rugi'lc a'.'n:i,at unknown forces were „ 1; , t J",,,.s 't k ,"" u '' f " r I"' 1 !"'' ntlPi.tio,,. not' J no liiilf-I.HkP,I fllorts „f hi,n „„,| his. pal.s, I ho enn-t ;i nt. nr, „>■ t 1,0 too, ~ ] 111 lII] I',', I fot.l to the granty of til,, situation. 'I'll ;i t \ edi should 1 1 111 cp them in a safe cl" p-i t, de.pite his crrn ndfa t lier's v i-hp = , which, after nil. were only the outcome of nil enfeebled 01.l a,'e, v>a = , he fplt, tlip .-oi,~il,)c tliinjr to ,lo! But it seemed there wprp certain island laws that, exacted i m j >1 ioi t obedience to tlip kin-, especially fmm members nf tlip IJoyal fa mil v, and p 'li felt that thorp waw.nl v onp course oppn to him - to wear thr> pearls as long m his grandfather desired ami his enemies would allow. Vpdi, too, hail lit Hp to siv. For the most part, lip sat -ilpi t'lv staring out at tho ;rras*y paddocks. a worried frown creasing his forehead. It was only as they were* nearing flip end of their journey that hp spoke. "It* uncanny," hp said, "the way they learn every move 11111-t have even known what sort of a vphicle I'd be travelling in, and that Top's egjj-shell wouldn't stand a chance against a two ton truck. If — if it hadn't been for Pepper—you might have all been killpd—through me," he shuddered. "I gues.s I'll havp to go my way alone aftpr this—can't drag you chaps into danger." "Yon haven't cot any fay now, old hoy," Peter Mid; "if I don't breakthat truck driver's nose before I've

I'll reckon I' m not fit for a I ,:l l'Pttcr wearing bed Ml know him asain." Pepper i X "| 1 'I : "hail a bit of a inn — i I Vi hi | -]| oup.'' I " 1 ;''!<! i ~h one?" the prince asked I '| u i' k ly. I "\'' s pin, Iv of it. too!" ; all right:" .Tnh n " ,,,p evilcl. "1 was p re 11 y l, n f nro j, |]t nrnv |. (Jl _ lain." 1 "''"lie other cli.ip wa= vmnll and ! dark. IVpp,. r w.-nt on: "wnnldn't be i-<'d it he was the monkm un I he I i f e." ' 1 " I hat'- more than likeh the prince agreed. H.v time they were approach | ing the outskirts of the city, and -.noil uptp w I*mlitlioir way up and . <l""'n 1 he .| uief -treets of a very 1 p-ppetablp suburb, in search of the boa 1 ding house that the prince's nude, rtylcd for the moment Wilinni Smith, had decided upon. Tie had chosen a -nhurh, John said, so • a>s to 1«> as unobtrusive as jxissible. • It was not Inn;.' before they found the place, a two-storey buiidin? with 1 usual notice. ''Hoard and Lodg'M - in the front window. Mr. Smith s room is an upstairs the landlady told them, in answer to Pepper's 'rin- of the bell. \ ps—-the ™pii! lenia n's at home -hp to],l me he was e\t>ectiii'jf a \isitor." She stressed the visitor. and looked doubtfully at the plurality of 'bent. That 11 \ e pairs of boots 011 i her clean stairway was a different ! affair from one, was plainly in her mind. ' Tptpr looked que.stioninply at .Tohn. 011 didn't 'phone your uncle to tell him that you were bringing us with you?" he asked. "N'o. there was no need " the prince i-miled. "I know he will be delighted <0 meet you all—lie's always been interested in niv doings—been like 1 father to me." Keassured they commenced to mount the stairs. Pepper talking in j that high-pitched, broken voice of his that wheezed like an old mouthorpan. "Bet the old boy'll have a fit when j he learns how near lie was to losing | you,'* ho said, with conscious pride [that ho had averted the disaster. "Bet he—" .I«din Smith held up a warning finger. They were at the door. In the sudden quiet Ppter thought hp lipard a (fuick scufTlp on thp other -idp. then a creaking of a door—perhaps that o£, a cupboard. It was fully three minutes before their knock wae answered and a tall, mus-

' ciilar. hut slightly bent, oldish man i a ppoarod. Although his cyw roamed : I'ii.m mie to tho otlirr with an inquiring gaze lip sop mod unsurprised at tlio number of his visitors, which was : not -1 range. Peter reflected. conxiderill ir tluit I'opixT liad been blowing hi- liii rn pot pro: t y loudly. | lli> invited tliom in vory onur-tfou-ly. although tho ealmnet-s of his manner seemed a little hard and t'o lii ■ d. i " I'll p old boy's rattled." Popper whi-poroil in Peter'* oar, and I'otor promptly stepped nil his littlo too. which ho know had a corn, to silonoe h i m. Huf unfortunately hi* aim was not. ; very uitiirato. and Popper misunder- ! -I« ■<>• 1 tlio ijill. "f;<it tho hoobeojeehee* soing all of ns. I moan,'' he explained. k 1 iuhlly londor. Peter stopped on his whole foot i then, and Pop|>or subsided into a \ hurt silence. during whioh he rested jehook-wisp on one foot. j I'luler cover of the introductions ' Motor studied William Smith, otherwise Afa of Vega. Ho was not w hat ho had imagined •Tohn Smith's uncle would he. Ho was darker than his nephew, more of the real islander and much older than Peter had expected. Must he at least HO. ho decided. Rut what impressed him most whs that restless darting to and fro of his hiaok eves, as though ho would pierce tho very walls to see what lurked beyond. They were frightened eyes. Tie listened in silence to his nephew's recital of their narrow osoape from death—showing no signs of throwing the fit Pepper had talked about. He kept hi* eyes fixed now on his shoes, and the silence continued as the prince finished. "It would have been wiser if you had come to see him, sir," Peter said. breaching the gap. "Yes—yes. you're quite right." the old man agVoed. somewhat hastily, but speaking excellent English. "But. of -■nurse. one doesn't always think of those things." Peter nearly . grunted aloud then. It seemed to him that it paid to think of everything when it was a ques tion of life and death. "Very well—" The old man seemed to shiver as lie rubbed hi* hands restlessly on hi* knee*, and Peter looked beyond him to where he saw that the door leading out on to the balcony was about two inches ajar. "You're cold, sir!" he said, jumping up: "you're in a draught—the door's open." "No no!" Afa hini-elf half rose hurriedly. "Not a bit cold. I —l like the cold."

Vedi himself chuckled then. "First time I've ever heard you *sy that, uncle," he teased. "You've always said that Melbourne was the coldest s.pot on earth! You'd better close the door. Teter, now that you're on your feet —when this uncle of mine •jots a hold in the head he's 'orrid to see." "Xo—no—" Afa started to remonstrate again. but thought better of it, and as Peter fastened the door it flashed across hie mind, without any apparent reason, that it had been open just wide enough for an eavesdropper to listen comfortably. '"Well. I'm sure I don't know what we're going to do now —to safeguard Vedi. T mean." Afa said, as Peter Hgain dropped into his chair. "What about police protection, sir?'' IVter said. "Ye-; that's the idea!" Pep|>or put in excitedly, "firnh ! T guess if we 'phoned lic<id<|ua rters now the patrol would ill catch the truck, (iosli! those policc Daimlers can buzz!" "No—no—nothing of the sort!" Afa spoke sharply. "We don't, want any of this trouble to leak into the newspapers. It's bad publicity for a country—oven n little island like nurs -we must handle the matter ourMllvCv" ''Don't think the police would he of much lMe." Yedi put in: "the blighters would simply sheer off until the coast was clear again." "Well, anyway, you can depend on us, sir."' Peter told Afa. "After today's happening. 1 guei-s we'll never let the Prince out of sight. If anything happens to him it won't be for want of on our part." There was an earnest note in his voice, and Afa turned from his study of his feet to stare at him. And Peter suddenly went hot. He felt that this man was measuring his strength, sizing him up. so to speak, and, though the idea was ridiculous, he felt that that measuring was hostile! He stared back, his steady grey eyes unflinching, but he knew that at the side of him, the Prince, too, was watching his uncle, his eyes puzzled. Tt was only a short while later that Afa ordered tea and cakes to he brought up, and the conversation turned to more general topics. He asked all sorts of questions about the school, their sports and activities, talked about Melbourne. his trip from Sydney, his own schooldays, anything, in fflct. but, the incident that had just parsed and still filled their minds. Peter sensed an almost, feverish desire to keep off that subject, and. when they announced that thev must, be getting back to school, he knew their host was relieved. "Which way will you go?" Afa asked, as they clipped into overcoats. ''.Vot by the road we came," Peter s"id briskly. "(Juess Pop can think out a new route a mighty lot, more difficult for strangers than the main road." "That's right." Afa said. "but. still, danger from that, source is—at least, should be—over, especially if, as you say. thnt truck is out of commission." | (To be continued.),