The Hydra Monster Read Online Free

smiling. "She didn't object to Devil?"
"They have two kids," said Diana. "She didn't think Devil could be any more destructive than they are. Of course, I had to tell them he was a police dog." She nodded at the grey wolf stretched out in front of the empty fireplace.
The Phantom laughed. "You're sure you don't want to go back home? I don't know how long I'll have to be here in San Francisco."
"No, I'm quite content," said Diana. "What have you found out so far?"
"Well, I've found out the police think I'm a crank," he said. "At least I'm pretty sure Lt. Gores does. There's a Sgt. Pronzini who's a little more open-minded about the Hydra."
"You really believe this . . . this ancient gang is back in business?"
"It's too soon to tell," answered the masked man. "So far I have only a few facts and a large hunch. The hunch tells me Hydra is very much in business."
"You didn't learn anything new from the police?"
"Only that the dying man, pretty definitely, did say 'Hydra'. I talked to the officer who got there immediately after the killing. He didn't have anything new to contribute, though. I'm going out shortly to find the cab driver who might have witnessed the shooting."
Diana asked, "The Phantom has fought the
Hydra before?"
"Yes," he said, "on several occasions over the centuries. You've been to S KULL C AVE in the D EEP W OODS, Diana. You know about the Phantom chronicles?"
"Every Phantom since the first has recorded his exploits in those books," said the girl. "So it was there you first heard about Hydra?"
He nodded, saying, "The Phantom of his day fought the Hydra when it first emerged three hundred years ago. And it was a later Phantom who destroyed the last remnants of the group in the middle of the last century. So, you see, if the Hydra is back in existence . . . well, it's my duty to wipe it out."
"I understand," said Diana. "And you're going out again tonight?"
"Yes, I have to," he said. "IH be taking Devil with me."
The big grey wolf rose to its feet and trotted over to his master's side.
Mac saw the man in the trenchcoat and the dog. They were standing on the corner in a swirl of fog. The man hailed him. The young, black cab driver hesitated, then slowed and pulled up at the curb. "Hey, is that dog housebroken?"
The Phantom didn't get into the cab. Instead he walked around the front of the car, stopping beside the driver's open window. "You're MacQuarrie, aren't you?"
    Mac touched at a sore, scraped spot on his
cheek. "Look, I'm in business," he said out into the night. "My business is driving this cab. You want to go someplace, get in."
"I want to talk to you."
"Nope, no sir." Mac reached up to shift the car back into DRIVE.
The Phantom caught his arm. "You found Est- ling near here the other night," he said. "I want to know if . . ."
"You don't want to know nothing," said Mac. "Because I got nothing to tell. I found a stiff, he was already dead. He didn't say a single word. Not one word to me. Now come on and let loose of me, man."
The Phantom asked, "What happened to your face?"
"I fell down on the sidewalk."
"Somebody got to you. Somebody told you to keep quiet about Hydra."
"I never heard that name before," insisted Mac. "Go away from me, man."
"Who worked you over?"
Beside the Phantom, Devil snarled.
The Phantom tinned to see a young man in dark glasses moving through the night mist toward him. "Having a little round table discussion, are we?" he said, smiling evenly. "I'd like to join in."
Mac licked his lips. "We weren't talking about nothing. This guy's drunk or something, doesn't know where he wants to go."
The young man had one hand, his right, inside his coat. "Is that so?" he asked the Phantom.
Mini's funny, because I had the impression you two were chatting about something that is none of| your damned business."
"I'm keeping my mouth shut," said Mac. "You guys got no need to follow me around, man."
"Me? You must have me mixed up with some one else," smiled the young man. "I've never laid eyes on you