Danger Trail #3 is an issue of the series Danger Trail (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1950.
Synopsis for King Faraday: "Thunder Over Thailand"
King Faraday flirts with a beautiful woman at a New York City cafe. His would-be romance is cut short by a man falling from a building. Instantly killed, the man's only clue to his murder is a little toy elephant. King takes the woman on a moonlit stroll, but his date leaves after he spends more time thinking about the dead man than the live woman beside him. Was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder?
The next day, one of Faraday's government friends takes him to the Great Salt Desert to witness an atomic bomb testing. The government friend, Ed, explains that this particular bomb's design was copied from blueprints captured from a secret Nazi weapons facility during World War II. This cache, however, was missing several top secret weapons documents. Colonel Nego, a ruthless Nazi officer, had appropriated these weapons plans and fled to parts unknown, plotting against America and her allies. The dead man King witnessed the previous day, a Lieutenant Matt Taylor, was an informant on Nego's trail; obviously, he got too close to his target. Ed asks King to take Taylor's place, find Nego, and stop him for good.
The following day finds Faraday landing in Lisbon to meet a contact named Walt Smith. He arrives to find Smith dead from an apparent accident, a tiny toy elephant in his hand. King wires Ed with this information and heads for Bombay for the third contact: Phil Peters. Again, the contact has already been killed, tiny elephant in his hand, but, this time, the assassins are late in leaving. Faraday kills the assassin and pursues the second. The killer attacks the detective, speaking in a conspicuous German accent, and they crash through the skylight of another apartment. The would-be assassin is killed by his own knife, and his open palm reveals a tattoo of an elephant.
Faraday eludes the questions of the police and the apartment's owner, Vilma Hobart. He woos Hobart and takes her to lunch. On his request to buy her a diamond necklace, she takes him to the Street of the Seven Moons toy store. Faraday notices a toy elephant and asks to buy it, but the owner refuses. He saves all to elephants for a particular client, William Winters, and is sending him a shipment of them tonight. Faraday boards the flight the shipment is on and heads off for destinations unknown.
Flying over Thailand, Faraday is confronted by his neighbor, revealed to be Vilma. As a reporter, she smelled a story and decided to tail King. King talks to the pilot and discovers that Winters lives deep in the jungle and that the shipment is being parachuted down at that moment. Faraday grabs a parachute of his own and takes off after the package.
King's parachute catches in the thick jungle foliage, and a gunman, who strangely speaks German, attempts to kill the trapped detective. King drops the man with a well-aimed shot and escapes his predicament. Unfortunately, he is cornered by another man who is revealed to be William Winters, better known as Colonel Nego. Nego reveals that he has used one of his weapons of terror to destroy a jungle village, converting it into a factory to produce more weapons to use against the outside world. Faraday makes an escape attempt, and the crazed Nego shoots at his own men to stop the detective. King throws a well-placed grenade into the arsenal, blowing it up. Nego is found killed in the rubble, and Faraday walks out of the jungle to find Vilma Hobart waiting for him.
Appearing in King Faraday: "Thunder Over Thailand"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Vilma Hobart
Antagonists:
- Colonel Nego, aka William Winters
- Nazis
Other Characters:
- Ed, a government agent
- Lieutenant Matt Taylor
- Walt Smith
- Phil Peters
Locations:
Items:
- Toy elephants
Vehicles:
- Airplane
Synopsis for "Battle Flag of the Foreign Legion"
La Belle, the flag of the French Foreign Legion, observes its soldiers charging to meet a group of Toureg tribesmen of the Sahara Desert. Sgt. Lejac, the leader of the French forces, pushes his men into what could prove to be their deaths. The French press up the sand dunes without being fired upon. They reach the top of the hill to find La Belle surrounded by dead Touregs. The men wonder what happened, but only La Belle can tell the story.
The flag begins to tell of an American, John Douglas, who joined the Legion. Because of his ability, Douglas is made flag bearer. Patrolling through the unbearable heat of the desert, Douglas refuses to relinquish his duty. On the snowy peaks of an extinct volcano, the Legionnaires are ambushed by Touregs. Under fire for the first time, Douglas abandons his post of flag bearer, hiding like a coward in the snowdrifts. The soldiers survive the ambush, but Douglas is a pariah for the rest of the march back to camp.
Back at Fort Valor, Douglas is given the new duties of potato peeler and shoe shiner. Still shunned by his comrades, the American cries out to La Belle to be given a second chance to prove himself. News arrives that the Desert Hawk, the man behind the previous ambush, has attacked a caravan. The Legion rides out to meet the desert nomads, but Douglas and La Belle are left behind because the coward and his previous actions would only bring bad luck. Douglas soon hears the news that the Legionnaires are walking into a trap. He sneaks out of the fort at night and rides to the rescue.
Passing his regiment in the night, Douglas finally reaches the Desert Hawk's encampment. The tribesmen are amused to see one man, a coward at that, riding towards them alone. They are amused, that is, until Douglas pulls out the machine gun he had concealed in La Belle. He singlehandedly defeats the tribesmen and, as a joke, decides to put the dead bodies in positions of attack to fool his soon-to-arrive comrades. Suddenly, the Desert Hawk, not yet dead, pulls a knife and, with his last breath, stabs Douglas. The Legionnaires arrive and find Douglas' body and manage to save him. After being nursed back to health, the American has regained his honor and is again made the official flag bearer of the regiment.
Appearing in "Battle Flag of the Foreign Legion"
Featured Characters:
- La Belle, the battle flag of the French Foreign Legion
Supporting Characters:
- John Douglas
Antagonists:
- Desert Hawk
- Toureg tribesmen
Other Characters:
- Sgt. Lejac
- French Foreign Legion soldiers
Locations:
- Sahara Desert
- Fort Valor
Items:
- Battle flag
Vehicles:
- Horses
Synopsis for "Hawaiian River God"
On vacation in Hawaii, Tom Grant sees a beautiful woman on the excursion boat. He introduces himself and finds the woman's name is Kay Fielding. The pair are joined by Major R. M. Kirby, a recent retiree from the Bengal Lancers. The major reveals himself as an archaeologist. Tom is in the same field but keeps the information to himself; three's a crowd, so Tom leaves. Suddenly, he hears a scream and is set upon by men who believe him responsible for the theft of Kay's pearl necklace. He fights off his attackers, but, while Major Kirby believes Tom is innocent, Kay is still convinced he is a thief. Alone with Tom, the major reveals he knows the real thief. The men search the ship and locate the real thief. The captain is informed of the real criminal onboard, but the man protests his innocence. While Tom is happy to be back in Kay's good graces, he feels guilty that the so-called thief could truly be innocent.
The next day, the excursion reaches Pala Island. Unfortunately for Tom, Kay is more interested in listening to the major's tales of adventure than surfboarding or mountain climbing with Tom. On the climb, Tom overhears the major falsely describing the islands, making the archaeologist suspicious. When they reach the grotto of the river god and see the famed statue of Killilao, Tom is surprised to hear that the major knows quite a bit about the god and his mythology. The statue is meant to give warning of river flooding, and its covered third eye contains an emerald of great value.
Suddenly, the idol begins to move, and Kay passes out. Tom finds shards of green glass and climbs the idol to attempt to solve the mystery. Reaching the top, he finds that the hands of the statue are easily moved by a pulley system and that the emerald is missing. Climbing down, the island police suspect Tom of the crime and search his person, finding the emerald. Tom pulls a fast one and takes the officer's rifle, declaring he will find the real thief. Ascending the idol again, Tom sees Peter, the major's servant, scaling the statue, revealing his identity as the real thief. Peter makes a mistake, shifting the statue's arms, and falls to his death on the floor.
Reaching the floor of the grotto, Tom informs the officers that the servant has the real emerald and had stashed several fakes to deflect attention from himself. The major pulls a pistol and reveals himself as the mastermind behind the plot. The emerald and pearl necklace found on innocent victims were planted to make others take the fall for the major's crimes. Kay sneaks up behind the major and knocks him out. In the end, the criminals are arrested and Tom gets the girl.
Appearing in "Hawaiian River God"
Featured Characters:
- Tom Grant
Supporting Characters:
- Kay Fielding
Antagonists:
- Major R. M. Kirby
- Peter, the major's servant
Other Characters:
- Ship's captain
- Island police
Locations:
- Pala Island, Hawaii
Items:
- Killilao statue
- Pearl necklace
- Emerald
Vehicles:
- Excursion boat
Synopsis for "Ghost Ship of the South Seas"
On Mango Island in the Marquesas, Jim Harkness is searching for clues to solve the death of his close friend Tom Jansen. That night, the ghost ship appears, and a passing yacht is blown up, the third victim of the ship in the past week. Harkness' suspicions are raised; Jansen's boat had been blown up as well. In a flashback, it is reavealed that Harkness first met Jansen after being shipwrecked. Tom nursed him back to health and helped him regain his footing in the South Pacific shipping trade. Back in the present, Harkness rereads a letter given to him at the scene of Jansen's death: Tom has hidden a fortune on Mango Island, and his relative, Victor, is coming to claim it.
In order to find out more information about the ghost ship, Jim picks fights across the island's bars until he is finally confronted by Rudy Feyda, an oyster farm owner who hires Jim for his navigation skills. Jim takes the job and, at the farm, meets Feyda's beautiful secretary Vicky. Harkness is immediately on the alert, because the woman is wearing Jansen's coral ring. He also notices that she and Feyda talk long walks after dark.
The next day, they set out for Mango Island, but the ghost ship appears. Harkness notices that there's a revolving antenna on the deck and that the ship is riding high in the water. Suddenly, the ship claims its fourth victim, and Harkness is ordered to sail to the X marked on a map that Feyda thrusts at him. Harkness recognizes the map as Jansen's and notices several X's are marked. The distraction provided by the exploding ship allows Feyda's diving crew to search for the fortune undetected. They plan to search the fifth and final location the next day.
Back at the farm, Harkness attempts to steal the map but is beaten to the punch by Vicky. She offers to partner up and split the fortune with him. He agrees but is double-crossed when Vicky steals a boat and speeds away. Harkness alerts Feyda and his thugs, who board the ghost ship to pursue Vicky. Jim tags along, hanging to the ship's rudder. A British patrol boat closes in, and Harkness jams the rudder. The thugs shoot at him but are unable to take him out.
The sailors arrest Feyda and his men, and Vicky is revealed to be Victoria Blaine, the "Victor" mentioned in Jansen's letter. She recalls how Feyda threatened her uncle, so, when she arrived in the islands, she infiltrated his operation to find out what was happening. The British captain explains that Feyda's divers attached thermite bombs on the targets that were detonated by a beam sent from the ghost ship. Harkness, however, isn't listening. He's too focused on his new "partnership" with Vicky.
Appearing in "Ghost Ship of the South Seas"
Featured Characters:
- Jim Harkness
Supporting Characters:
- Victoria [Vicky] Blaine
Antagonists:
- Rudy Feyda
Other Characters:
- Tom Jansen
- Mike, an hired thug
- British sailers
Locations:
- Mango Island in the Marquesas
- Simmue Island
Items:
- Pearls
Vehicles:
- Ghost ship
See Also
Links and References
