Story of the Phantom by Lee Falk

lesser man. The Crusher remained sprawled on the stones, his jaw out of shape. He was to remain unconscious for many hours. The crowd stared, not believing what they had seen. Once again, no sound from this pirate host. Only the lapping of waves and the sound of seabirds. The masked man glanced at The Crusher.

    "He will live. I have not come here to kill. I have come to return the Queen Natala to her home."
    He glanced up at the barred window where the beautiful queen was watching. Who was her mysterious champion, she wondered? Now the crowd turned to Redbeard. What would he do?
    Execute the brash stranger? But the stranger didn't wait.

    "I know your rules here, Redbeard," he said. "To head this pirate band, you must remain undefeated.
    And any man may challenge you to combat."

    Redbeard banged his silver goblet on the table and roared with laughter. Then he rose to his full height. This Redbeard was a giant, a head taller than the big masked man, and a foot wider. Also, he moved like a cat, and never in his young, violent life had any man defeated him at anything, including chess. Redbeard pulled a sword from the scabbard of a man next to him and tossed it to the masked man.

    "You are correct. That is the rule. I made it myself. I made it, because I like to fight, and I enjoying killing rivals. Let it be swords."
    20

    This was not a quick affair like the duel with Gillaim. Redbeard was faster and more skillful, and the battle see sawed back and forth. Both men received cuts and scratches as they barely avoided more serious wounds. Both were bleeding in a dozen places. In her tower room, Natala was no longer hiding her eyes, but watching with dread fascination. The crowd was no longer quiet, but roaring encouragement to their leader and following the fighters as they moved from the pavement, onto a wall, then downstairs and back to the pavement again, on tables and chairs, in doorways, and in the street.

    Then-a clang of steel, a flash of metal in the sunlight- as Redbeard's sword sailed out of his hand, and he was pressed against a wall with the masked man's sword at his throat.

    Now the crowd was silent. This, more than all the rest, was unbelievable. Redbeard, defeated? Was a change of leadership at hand? Redbeard, sweating and bloody, looked steadily at the masked man.
    He would not have granted mercy, and he did not ask for mercy now. All he said-panting for breath-was "Well done. Too bad I couldn't have stayed to know you." The masked man stepped back, and to the amazement of everyone, threw away his sword.

    "Put up your fists," he said. "This fight isn't over yet."

    Redbeard needed no further invitation. If the masked man was mad enough to miss his chance, he'd not get a second one. He sprang at the smaller masked man, pouncing on him like a cat. His powerful arms grasped him. Redbeard could break a man's spine as if it were a match. But not this man's. The body he held was like steel. Steel fingers gripped his throat, throttling him. And as he staggered back, a steel fist landed on his jaw, and Redbeard staggered. Before he could right himself, another blow, then another and another, crunched on his red-bearded jaw, and the pirate king toppled like a high tree, crashing his full length to the pavement. He lay not a dozen yards from The Crusher, who was still unconscious. The masked man grasped a sword and turned toward the watching crowd.

    "Is there any man among you who challenges me?" he said in a full deep voice. No one replied. He took a step forward and the entire circle of watchers retreated a step.

    "I will say it once more. Is there any man among you who wants to face me with any weapon, or bare-handed?"

    The crowd looked at Gillaim, at The Crusher, at Red- beard, and there was silence.

    "Then I am your leader. You will obey me in all things. Do you all hear?"

    "We hear," they replied in chorus.

    "Is there any man among you who does not agree?"

    Silence.

    "Bring Queen Natala to me," he