does Lardner need so many guns for?"

"To finish murdering a race of people," Drake answered coldly. "A job
that he started when he found the Flaming Diamond. If he has a chance,
he'll finish the task to get it back again."

"Shut up, back there!" A lean, sharp nosed individual in the seat
ahead turned slightly. "No talk now. You'll have plenty of chance
later on."

A ripple of hard laughter went through the cabin.

George Lardner was an expert pilot. More than that, he was familiar
with the country over which they were flying. Realizing that any
attempt to escape now would be futile, Drake tried to memorize the
layout of the small valley into which Lardner seemed to be heading.

With the entire country a white layer of blowing snow it was difficult
to make out the sharp walls of granite that arose from the cup-shaped
hole below. It was like a huge bomb crater, perhaps ten miles across.
On the valley bottom was the smoothly swept blue-green of a frozen
lake.

The plane banked abruptly and Lardner cut the motors. Drake felt the
tenseness mount within the cabin. A fear was filling these State
Street gunmen that had never troubled them before. The motors were
silent. The ship dropped below the lip of the canyon wall and the wind
died smoothly. Circling, Lardner gunned the motors again and roared in
straight over the strip of frozen ice.

Try as he might Drake could see no sign of life or human habitation.
Heavy fir trees came straight to the edge of the lake, standing guard
stiff and frozen.

The plane zoomed up sharply and cut back over the lake leaving a black
shadow against the ice. It sank down, bounced gently and rolled ahead.
They went straight toward the high cliff at the far end of the lake.

"This guy better know what he's doing." Puffy clutched the chair ahead
and held on grimly. "Or we'll crack up like a broken match against
that wall."

Drake was silent. A murmur of anxious voices arose about them. They
still rolled swiftly toward the cliff. Lardner seemed to make no
attempt to cut speed. The plane took the bump at the edge of the lake,
and then Drake saw the cavern ahead. It was huge and black, cut at an
angle in the surface of the rock. A sudden blur of rock walls and they
were in the darkness of the cave. The plane settled back roughly on
its shock absorbers and stopped. Lights flashed on within the cabin.

* * * * *

George Lardner pushed through the small commu