“They’ll get him! They’ll get him!”
Yates shouted in triumph as he saw Wheels Bryant swing directly toward the pier; then turn in the direction of the harbor. Cleverly, the big shot had managed to make the yachts speed past him; but he was heading directly toward a third big boat that was sure to block his course.
Then came a gasp from the helpless police who lined the pier. With the speedboat out of revolver shot, they could do nothing. They saw the glistening barrel of the big machine gun as it turned over the side of the boat.
The purpose was plain. Wheels Bryant was about to run the gauntlet; run it with the odds all in his favor. With that terrible instrument of death, the men on the approaching yacht stood no chance. Before they could deliver a single shot, their decks would be raked by a deadly fire!
THE speedboat made a new maneuver. With remarkable skill, Wheels Bryant turned the helm so that the ship pointed directly toward the spot where the yacht was heading.
With its greater speed, the escaping craft would cut across the bow of the yacht, swing by, and slaughter the unknowing yachtsmen. Then it would head to sea, outstripping all the harbor craft — away to safety, after wholesale murder!
With his new maneuver, Wheels Bryant was bringing the speedboat almost to a stop. It was brutal — fiendish — unnecessary — the plan of a demon in human form, who wished to gloat over victims whom he could well spare.
With a groan, Yates turned away. His pleading eyes — he knew not why — turned upward toward that brilliant tower, toward the silent being in black who had been forgotten in this new excitement.
The police chief stared at what he saw. The rifle had been raised; it rested against the shoulder of the being in black. The left hand was at the muzzle. The black glove — plain in the brilliant light — was pressing a pineapple-shaped object to the rifle.
The hand moved away. The bulging object remained. The rifle spoke. The projectile flashed as it shot on its way. In one split second, Chief Yates knew its meaning.