PD: Golden Age Origin: Jack Bradley/Famous Fearless Flint

[dans]

Jack Bradley is an independent troubleshooter with an international reputation. He actually still works for the FBI but poses as an independent operator. He is currently investigating suspected sabotage in the efforts at constructing the Monument at Mt. Rushmore.

As the story starts, Jack was using an air hammer to do some of the more 'delicate' carving of facial features on the head of Thomas Jefferson when he broke through the cliff wall and fell into a cave, the entrance to which had apparently been sealed by an avalanche many years ago. The cave wasn't empty; inside were perhaps a dozen statues of weird part-human beings, carved from a shiny red stone, covered with dust. In the dim light he could see that one had two faces, another the head of a buffalo, yet another looked more like a beaver than a human, another had wings and the beak of a hawk. He scrambled to climb out.

"This almost looks like a Sioux temple of some kind. I have to stop any further blasting until we're sure this place will be preserved. I'll have to throw my weight around!" Jack announced decisively as he stuck his head up out the hole he'd fallen through.

The bosses in charge of the project hadn't liked it when the FBI had told them that as long as the investigation was ongoing, they had to help Jack in any way he requested - but the orders had come from J. Edgar himself, and when he said 'Jump' the only smart response was 'How high?'.

Today's blasting was scheduled to start in 20 minutes. That should give him plenty of time to scramble out of this hole and reach the foreman.

Somewhere, as close as a dream and yet farther than the farthest star, a group of spirits was sitting in a circle, intent on a game of dice, as the winners of the last round collected and the losers paid their bets. The next player, seemingly a man with the wings and face of a hawk, pulled a handful of small flat tokens from a pouch on his belt. They were carved from stone in a variety of animal silhouettes, and were mainly white on one side and mainly black on the other. "For the next round, we use Sioux dice*." The last player, who resembled amazingly the bust of Teddy Roosevelt being carved on Mt. Rushmore, nodded and pocketed his own pair of D6 for use next time it was his turn to choose.

Their game was interrupted when, infinitely far away, Jack fell into the cave, and they all watched him as he looked around in awed astonishment and then rushed to scramble back out.

"This young man has spirit worthy of a warrior of the Lakota; he would save our sacred site if he could. It seems a shame that he is about to perish," the hawk-faced one said sadly.

"We could assist him," a being with the face of George Washington offered. "Though it is almost too late!" 

That far off cave shuddered and the scene began to fragment. Back in the Black Mountain cave, Jack was slammed violently back to the floor of the cave and he could hear the sounds of a massive explosion nearby, and the room around him started to collapse as a portion of a rocky wall disintegrated and the roof collapsed. One of the nearby statues shattered and he was covered in flint fragments and coated in flint dust.

"And we have," intoned a being who had the upper body of an American bison and the lower body of a man. He waved his hand - and a second explosion threw Jack back through the hole he'd blasted, and he fell down past the ciff he'd been working on and crashed onto a ledge not far beneath. Rubble rained down on him, most of it bouncing off the growing mound covering his body and joining the avalanche that was now roaring down the mountainside far beneath. "He shall survive - though our sacred site is no longer..." The beings in the group shook their heads sadly, then returned to their game, making wagers on the next fall of this new set of dice.*

*We might call these Sioux dice "D2" - two sided dice, or essentially coins. This part of this particular craps game involved throwing 6 of these D2 and betting on the pattern of 'heads' and 'tails' that resulted.

A pair of Jack's coworkers rushed to position ladders and climb to the ledge where Jack lay buried in a rocky cairn. They were astounded when, as easily as if he were throwing aside a quilt, Jack pushed through hundreds of pounds of shattered stone debris and casually sat up, as if awakening refreshed from a quick nap. He could see his arms, and he frozen in horrified amazement. "What has happened to my BODY!?" he yelled.

The explosion had shredded his shirt, he was bare from the waist up. His skin was dark red. He had no signs whatever of injuries. Amazed, he touched one hand to the other arm - and his skin was as hard as, well, as flint! The two men started at him in amazement; both had come from the quarry industry, one a laborer and the other one of the supervisors with over 40 years experience. Neither had ever seen a man buried in a collapse such as this one who had ever survived.

"Why, his body - it's flint - red flint! We used to mine it all the time in Wisconsin and Ohio. This is amazing!" This was the foreman who Jack had wanted to stop the blasting.

"It's IMPOSSIBLE!" the other quarryman replied, emphatically.

Jack was alive, he felt more healthy than he had ever felt, and he suspected someone had just tried to kill him. If he was right, he wanted to make that someone pay - regardless of his current condition. "Do you know what caused that explosion?"

"We've had our eyes on two of the newer workers for several days - think they might be the saboteurs you've been called here to find," the foreman noted.

The other looked surprised - none of the workers had so far suggested that certain recent incidents had been anything other than accidents. "I seen the two of them up here earlier," he snarled. "They shouldn't'a been here, but they was gone before I could ask 'em what they was doin'."

Jack hurriedly began descending one of the ladders, racing as fast as he can back toward the temporary base camp where the workers were housed. In his hurry, he made a misstep and fell, crashing down a steep mountainside for almost a thousand feet before he landed on the valley floor - his new form totally uninjured! Two of the other workers were running desperately away from the temporary barracks, headed out into the Black Hills, presumably to escape. They hadn't counted on anyone being able to reach them by simply falling down the mountain, rather than making a tedious descent!

Jack quickly discovered that in his new, flint form, that he was both faster and immensely stronger than a normal human. He almost instantly caught the fleeing workers... both of whom appeared to be Polynesian. He knocked down first one, then the other. "Better tell me what you guys are up to, or I'll stop going easy on you!" he stood over them and snarled, fists clenched.

As they looked up at him in fear, their expressions changed to hopeful wonder. "His magic leaves him!" one exclaimed in his native tongue. Without warning, Jack's body had almost instantly become human again. The saboteur dove at Jack's legs in a powerful, well-executed tackle, while the other picked up an axe that had carelessly been left lying around. "I'll kill him!" he yelled in the same language, and swung the axe powerfully at Jack's spine as his partner held the agent's legs.

The axe smacked into Jack's back and glanced off, throwing sparks as steel struck flint! The change to his new form, which would soon be famous as 'Fearless Flint', was even more instantaneous and unexpected than his revision to normal had been.

"Now I'll teach you two saboteurs what happens when you try to destroy American property!" he yelled in triumph as he quickly flattened first one, then the other, of the saboteurs.

A quick search found a telegram in the pocket of one of the saboteurs; one of the other workers remembered that a Western Union courier had visited this guy last night. The telegraph itself was long and rambling, but someone had circled words in the text - the fourth word in the first sentence, 4th word in the second sentence, etc, and the circled words said "New worker federal agent eliminate immediately"

It took a while to grill the saboteurs, who appeared to only speak broken English. They claimed that the orders came from someone they called the 'Lava Man', who was apparently a god who lived in the volcano Mt. Alo, in the center of their South Sea island of Tanna, and that this Lava Man had ordered them to go to States and sabotage the work on Mr. Rushmore.

By now, Jack's FBI superior had flown in from DC, and heard the whole story - including Jack's new and amazing powers. "There's the potential for plenty of trouble in those South Pacific islands. A troubleshooter like you, with your new powers, could be really useful in cleaning up a great deal of it! Would you be interested in a new assignment?"

Jack nodded, thoughtfully. "That's a great idea! I'll get ready and leave as soon as possible. I'll leave immediately, and find out what's behind this so-called 'Lava Man' and the sabotage ring!"

What will FEARLESS FLINT find on Tanna Island? Can even HE previal against the terrible power of the LAVA MAN? Thrill to the daring exploits of this amazing human dynamo next month!

[dans]

It was tedious getting from Mr. Rushmore to a Polynesian Island. Using his FBI authority, Jack Bradley commandeered a staff car and driver for a 12 hour drive to a small Army air base nearby where he caught a small plane to a larger airfield in Nebraska, then a hop to the West Coast to another Army base where he hopped onto a flight for Hawaii. From Hawaii, a Navy Seaplane flew him to Tahiti, where he rented a small cabin cruiser to take him to Tanna Island, part of a 2 island group that was the site of a British-owned plantation - and perhaps the home of the Lava Man... With waits for the next available military flight going in his direction at each of the stops, it took almost 2 weeks until Jack finally motored out of the harbor in Tahiti and headed for Tanna Island. About 4 hours out, he started having engine trouble.

"I'm never going to get there," he complained to the motor as he worked on it as best he could with the meager toolkit that came with the boat. It had been running rough; perhaps there was a problem with the timing or the carburetor adjustment, things his current tools allowed him to tinker with. He tried starting the engine again and it caught. He could see an island that was probably his destination in the distance - it seemed more likely he'd get there than he'd get back to Tahiti if he turned around, so he pressed on. His attention was split between babying the engine to keep it running and pondering the puzzle of his mysterious transformation to flint back on Mt. Rushmore. So far, it hadn't happened again, regardless of what he tried. He'd come to the tentative conclusion that either what ever had cause it had worn off, or it had been related to being on or near Mt. Rushmore.

"Too bad, too - being stronger than a dozen men and unbreakable would be pretty damn useful in my profession!" he mused. Reluctantly: "Well, I got along just fine before as plain old Jack Bradley... I'll do just fine in the future, too!"

He was pleased when the wind picked up behind him and pushed him faster toward the island, especially when the motor conked out again and nothing he did would restart it. He could just drift in... and then he saw danger ahead! A dozen armed men, each carrying several ranged weapons along with machetes and shields, waited for him on the docs and they didn't look friendly! A bit closer and the strongest of the warriors on the dock launched a rain of spears at him! Without a motor, there was no way to stop from drifting close enough so that these islanders could skewer him before he even made land!

"I'll give the motor one more shot, and then I'll have to swim for it!" he decided, and bent to take the cowl off the motor - maybe a few more quick adjustments would help? A spear buried itself in the cover he was lifting and unbalanced him; he fell forward and threw out both arms to brace himself - and one hand smacked into the motor head - and instantly, Jack was once again the invulnerable Fearless Flint, the Famous Flint Man. He leaped toward the island - his powerful leap carried him into the shallow water just off the beach and he strode out of the water like an avenging god, battering the hapless islanders left and right.

"Try and stop me from coming ashore NOW!" he roared, as he flattened two men with one powerful blow, as a spearhead shattered against his back. "I'll teach you fellows a few things about CIVILIZED fighting!" he vowed, as half a dozen men tried to stab him with their spears, breaking the heads, and another snapped his machete trying to cut him in half! He picked up the man closest to him and threw him into the next closest cluster of men, knocking them down and forming a temporary barrier of human bodies that slowed the other islanders who still tried to close. Which was less than half of them; the others were fleeing, and it wasn't long before the rest were similarly routed. Pretty soon, Jack was the only person left on the beach in front of a small group of huts near the island's dock. Shortly after he'd routed the natives, his body had once again returned to normal...

His boat had been pushed against the dock by the wind; as he lashed it fast in place, a man furtively peeked out of one of the huts, then walked cautiously down to the dock, ready to turn and run at the slightest provacation. He approached Jack warily, while trying to look in all directions at once. He spoke; his accent was definitely British.

"Good work routing those savages, my good man! My name is Lewis Stanley, and I'm one of the owners of the plantation on this island." When the islanders didn't return, he became more effusive, and shortly Jack had the short version of the longer story.

Stanley and his partners, Sam Livingstone, John Anderson, and Amos Pendleton, were the owners of two islands, Tanna and Conajee, and they had established plantations on both islands, and until recently, the native islanders, who lived on Conajee, had worked for them peacefully. But recently the islanders had grown restive, and then, Pendleton had disappeared!

"Now it's too dangerous for us to remain here any longer," Livingstone repeated emphatically for perhaps the seventh or eighth time. "My partners and I need a stout fellow like you to help us escape these confounded islands!" He continued the horror story. "Anderson did some scouting on Conajee Island and he recently discovered what's stirring up the natives. Every night, the volcano at the middle of Conajee Island, Mt. Alo, rumbles and belches smoke and flames. We thought it was extinct! But what's even worse, a demon appears from a cave partway up the mountain and demands that the islanders obey him, or he will cause Mt. Alo to erupt and destroy them all! And he wants them to kill every 'white' on the islands." He was drenched in sweat and shaking by this time. "The demon calls himself the Lava Man! His warnings, and those volcanic eruptions, are nightly occurrences. We MUST escape before he destroys us all!"

"That Lava Man definitely has YOU all balmy. But we'll soon find out what's back of it all!" Jack tried to soothe the terrified plantation owner. Stanley was somewhat reassured by Jacks calm demeanor and unruffled demeanor - but then, he pointed in renewed terror.

Conajee Island was less than a quarter mile away. Both men could see the volcano spitting fire, and outlined against the flames, Jack got his first glimpse of the Lava Man - a bulky humanoid figure, seemingly much larger than a man, though he couldn't make out the details. Crowded around the mouth of his cave, they could see dozens of armed natives.

They couldn't hear the Lava Man haranguing the islanders from a quarter mile away, but that won't keep us from listening! Though they wouldn't have understood what he was saying anyway - he was speaking in the tongue of the native islanders. Or trying to, anyway. Though his voice was deep and powerful, he used the language like a three year old might.

"Wakai and warriors will burn huts of the white men to ground! Or volcano spit fire and vomit lava and all die!!!" He turned and stomped into his cave, while the flames spewing from a volcanic vent nearby jumped higher and the rumbling noise got much louder... and then gradually died away.

Chief Wakai, who had once been the absolute ruler of the native village, spoke to the tribe. He spoke the same language the Lava Man had butchered. "You heard what the Lava Men said. He will destroy us and our home unless we burn the huts of the whites. We strike NOW!" With a bellow of cheers and war cries that the 'whites' could hear from a quarter mile away, the islanders headed for the huts of Pendleton (recently abandoned) and Anderson, both of whom lived on Conajee.

"If those savages aren't stopped, June Anderson and her father will be KILLED!" Stanley wailed.

"WHAT!" Bradley yelled back in anger. "You didn't tell before that there's a GIRL in DANGER?" He raced to the shore and dove in.

"Come back!" Stanley's yell followed Jack into the water. "You'll NEVER survive crossing that channel!"

Years back, Jack had trained with the great Johnny Weismuller, and even given him a decent race now and again. Adrenaline added to his speed, and he was across the channel in a jiffy - but he was too late. Lying motionless on the ground outside a still unscathed hut was a man, surrounded by islanders with spears and knives. But as they approached the body, a woman leaned out the window and fired a rifle at the men!

"I'll kill ANY ONE of you devils who tries to touch my father!" She had black hair and a British accent, and she meant business - the islanders were peppered with buckshot - which seemed to incite them even more.

"I have to help!" Jack thought as he raced forward. Her rifle barrel swept in his direction. "Courage, Miss Anderson! My name's Jack Bradley and I'm here to help! I'm an AMERICAN!" he hollered at the top of his voice, frantic to keep her from shooting him as well!

One of the islanders turned and threw; a long spear with a wicked iron point struck Jack's chest just above the heart - and suddenly he was no longer merely Jack Bradley - once again his skin turned into red flint, and his mighty strength returned!

"OK, you guys ASKED for it - and now you'll GET IT!" he exulted as he waded into the crowd of island warriors.

One of the natives was apparently giving orders to the others. Jack knocked down a half dozen men, breaking some noses and shattering some jaws in the process, while shrugging off spear and machete strikes like a gentle rain. He didn't know it at the time, but this man was Chief Wakai. Jack grabbed him around the neck and squeezed until the Chief's eyes bulged out, the demanded answers.

"What's going on here? Who's behind all this?" he shouted as he shook the man violently.

Chief Wakai was not an native English speaker, nor had he ever been educated in the language. He was struggling to regain his composure and his breath after his life had just passed in front of his eyes seconds ago, and he was in the grip of an incredibly powerful monster who was shaking him so violently he knew something inside would break while roaring in anger in his face. It's not surprising his reply was in broken English; it was much more surprising that he could even find English words right now!

"IT was Lava Man. Lava Man promise Chief Wakai great power if drive off or kill whites!"

"Well, here's MY promise," Jack snarled in anger. "I will end the Lava Man's reign of terror if I have to kill every native on this island!" He slammed the Chief to the ground, then turned and began advancing on the other islanders - who broke and fled! "Get out of here and DON"T COME BACK!" he roared after them. "If you value your lives!"

As Chief Wakai climbed laboriously to his feet and staggered away, Jack raced to the side of the woman who was kneeling next to her father. "Are you all right, Miss Anderson? I'm sorry I didn't arrive sooner!" As soon as he'd turned away from the Chief, his Fearless Flint persona had vanished; it was the very human Jack Bradley who spoke with such sadness.

She was sobbing so hard she could barely reply. "Yes, I'm alright, thanks to you, Mr. Bradley - but my poor father. They got him! But wait - he's still breathing! Oh, help me, we MUST get him inside!" Between them, they managed to get the injured John Anderson into his bed, still alive. "If only dad's partner, Mr. Pendleton, was here - he knew how to work with the islanders, and he could have prevented this uprising!"

"Yeah? It's too bad Pendleton disappeared so mysteriously!" Jack replied.

Before he could continue, they heard a rumble, and Jane led him to the porch. "Oh, look! That horrible roar from Mt. Alo again! The Lava Man is talking out of the active volcano again - they're going to be more trouble soon, I just know it!"

"I'll admit," Jack admitted, "there's something UNCANNY about this whole affair! I'm going to see if I can find out more!" He set off toward the volcano with a determined stride.

"No! Jack! You mustn't go. They'll KILL you!" she begged him not to follow.

"Chief Wakai and the Lava Man are determined to kill me anyway," he replied. "I've got to get them... before they get me!"

Can even FEARLESS FLINT survive against the combined menace of Chief Wakai, the island warriors, and the demonic LAVA MAN? Watch for Jack's astonishing thrill packed adventures NEXT MONTH

[dans]

I have been trying to rewrite this story as closely to the original as possible, while making the plot coherent and removing the references we no longer consider acceptable. It sure is boring, sometimes. The story tries to be like a Saturday movie serial, with a cliffhanger at the end of every episode - but the episodes are only 6 pages long, and they have to start with last episode's deadly situation, and then have Jack accidentally turn to Flint, and save everyone, and then change back to Jack and fall into another deadly situation. Sometimes it seems like the change lasts for a short time, and other times, maybe only seconds. But it happens over and over and over again... I hope I've evened it out somewhat.

I'm doing this because I want to add Fearless Flint to the heroic population of Earth PD, which I am working on. (I am pretty sure Flint will be the last WWII era hero I add!) But because Fearless Flint IS in the Public Domain, anyone who wants to make use of the character, please feel free.

[dans]

The islanders had been terrified by the immensely powerful Famous Flint Man, but they knew their home territory well - their trail led into a swamp, and Jack had to backtrack and eventually circle around it to find safe passage to the other side of the island. Meanwhile, Chief Wakai had climbed to the ledge near the top of Mt. Alo, where the Lava Man usually appeared, and was currently being berated viciously by the volcanic demon.

Translated from the island tongue - the Lava Man is apparently not a native speaker...

"Chief want absolute power of village back, chief will lead villagers and slaughter white fellas! Me restore chief's power, otherwise chief stay lackey!" The mountain rumbled and the flames flaring up from a crevice behind him added emphasis to his angry screams.

Wakai quickly slunk away - than re-entered the village and began exhorting his people.

Translated from the island tongue...

"Brave and mighty Conajee warriors, the Lava Man has promised you great rewards after you have killed his enemies, the white invaders." He wasn't having much luck convincing them. Many were injured and thinking that Stanley was a doctor, and after he had set up a clinic, their health had improved significantly, Also, they had only recently been battered and absolutely terrified by the awesome fighting prowess of Fearless Flint, and many were at least as terrified at the prospect of facing him again. Wakai began yelling even louder, making ever greater promises in the name of the Lava Man...

When suddenly, Jack in his human form raced into the village and tackled him. The chief roared in anger and shook free, jumped to his feet and called his fellows for aid. Seeing only a single human - and not the intimidating, red-hued Man of Flint - they rushed to the aid of their chief, and several of them grabbed Jack. He was near a fire pit; near the pit was an iron pot. Jack twisted and lunged - and crashed head first into the pot. It might have killed a normal man, but instead, Jack was instantly transformed back into Fearless Flint!

Several of the islanders broke and ran as Flint surged to his feet. He picked up one man; that one's friends and relatives decided they couldn't abandon him, even to a evil demon with supernatural powers, and these turned to fight. The chief tackled him, almost breaking his collarbone on the stone body; a half dozen others piled on. It took Flint several seconds to struggle free, and again the combined efforts of the islanders was enough to restrain him, and struggle though he might, they pinned him down until he turned back to Jack... a beaten, listless Jack.

The chief triumphantly declared that they should take him before the Lava Man and be granted their reward. His captors dragged and prodded him up the side of Mt. Ato, carrying him more than he walked, and he picked up some quick lessons in cursing in the island tongue - which he hoped might come in useful in future episodes - always assuming he survived the current episode!

There was a path of sorts up this side of the volcano, which zig-zagged back and forth across the rocky mountain side. The eventually reached a ledge not far below the peak; between part of the ledge and the final rise to the crater, there was a deep crevice, and the cliff face behind the crevice was darkened with soot, and the hardy grass and bushed which had taken root in sparse pockets of dirt between the rocks were dead and dried, but farther away, these same types of plants still lived. There was no evidence of any recent lava flow or other volcanic activity. Apparently sometime in the past, the islanders had built a minor shrine on the ledge, a slab of rock laid across two cairns of piled stones, perhaps an altar of some sort. Behind the altar stood an imposing figure, which looked perhaps like a hairless gorilla built of lumpy black blocks, with upper and lower fangs protruding and ears the size of saucers: finally, Jack was face to face with the Lava Man!

Before the chief could present his prize, Jack yelled. "I was RIGHT about this all being phony! This volcano hasn't erupted in YEARS!" He stopped in front of the Lava Man. "So YOU'RE the fraud who is terrorizing the islanders by preying on their superstitious beliefs in a volcano god? I think you're nothing more than a fake!"

Before he could say more, the Lava Man interrupted with harsh orders, in his broken command of the island tongue. "Chief, you kill evil spirit for Lava Man, get big reward!"

Several times before, Chief Wakai had wondered why this demon spoke baby talk - but each time, he'd been convinced of the Lava Man's power by the rumbling of the mountain and the fire it had spewed. The chief had finally decided that the Lava Man must converse with his fellow spirits in a different tongue, and had never bothered to fully learn the island tongue. And on cue, as the demon harangued him, there was a roar and the plateau shook and flames shot up from the crevice. He instantly leaped forward and stabbed Jack with his vicious dagger - a gift he'd received from the 4 plantation owners when they had 'purchased' part of the islands he'd ruled to set up their plantation.

"The white monster lives no more!" he crowed as he drove the finely sharpened blade home into the base of Jack's neck from behind.

"That's what YOU think!" Fearless Flint roared, as he effortlessly snapped his bonds. "You didn't think I let you bring me here for NOTHING, did you?" He knocked the chief away with a wicked punch, then turned and lunged at the Lava Man.

The Lava Man instantly leaped backwards, cringing in alarm, and stumbled and fell, then squirmed desperately to grab the upthrust rock that had tripped him, now terrified that he might roll off the edge of the ledge. Fearless Flint tripped over the squirming body of the volcano demon, and himself went over the edge, bouncing and rolling down the much steeper, more rocky and barren face of the mountain 'opposite' of the face they had climbed earlier.

Wakai and the Lava Man crawled carefully to the edge of the ledge and looked down in awe at the thousands of feet to the sea. There was a small avalanche still cascading below them, but nowhere could then see the red of Fearless Flint's body.

"Where him go?" the chief asked, using the baby talk the demon was familiar with.

"Him down at bottom now - him NO MORE!" the Lava Man exclaimed triumphantly. "Now chief and villagers kill other invaders, and Lava Man reward them!"

Several hundred feet down, Flint was buried under a small mound of rubble. He struggled to free himself - and soon afterward changed back to Jack. As he began to climb down the rest of the way, he came to a concealed path. It followed natural ledges as much as possible, but someone had only recently used modern equipment, probably dynamite, picks, hammers and chisels, to provide man-made ledges when the natural ledges weren't adequate. The rest of the trip down the backside of the volcano was quick and easy. There was a dock at the base, in a natural cove that would only be visible from sea level to one circling the island in a boat. Jack appropriated a large rowboat, and as quickly as possible, raced back to the dock where the Andersons lived.

Joan and John saw him coming and left their hut to greet him - and outside they could hear the excited shouting of a band of warriors approaching.

"Jack! What happened?" Joan yelled.

"Plenty!" he shouted back as he ran towards the hut at top speed. "I've got some definite ideas about the Lava Man and his mad scheme!" He turned; the islanders were closer. They were armed, carrying torches, and Chief Wakai was exhorting them. They all knew enough of the native tongue to realize the chief wanted them dead! "We haven't a moment to lose!" he yelled, and pushed the Andersons to begin running to the dock.

"It was Pendleton's job to deal with the natives!" John Anderson huffed "Nothing like this ever happened when he was around. I can't understand his sudden disappearance."

"Umm... never mind your partner, eh, dad?" Joan huffed back. "He can't help us now! Just keep running!"

Fortunately, Chief Wakai stopped the advancing war party to set the huts of Pendleton and the Andersons aflame. They had almost reached the dock when John stumbled and fell, perhaps alarmed by the spear that had just whizzed by his ear.

"Oh, Jack... we'll never make it," Joan wailed as she turned and saw her father sprawled on the ground, the nearest warrior not far away and approaching on the run.

"We MUST!" Jack replied as he pushed her onward. "You go ahead, take the rowboat, and I'll help your dad!" He turned back and hefted Anderson in a fireman's carry, and then raced toward the dock at the best speed he could muster. Joan had the boat free and was ready to start rowing as soon as they were aboard, when Jack tripped on the uneven planking. He fell against the side of the boat while Anderson tumbled into the shallow water.

The rowboat had iron oarlocks. As Jack fell into the boat, he landed on one of the oarlocks. For a normal man, such a collision with the heavy iron oarlock would probably have punctured his chest and broken some ribs, at minimum, but instead, Jack instantly transformed to the powerful, almost invulnerable, red-hued form of... Fearless Flint!!! He leaped into the water and threw John Anderson into the boat, then gave it a tremendous shove out to sea, then stormed onto the beach to confront the war party.

"So, you guys just don't know WHEN TO QUIT!" he yelled as he flattened the chief and 2 others with a single blow. He picked up the chief and threw him into the rest of the islanders, then yelled at Joan. "You get out into the channel, head for Tanna, while I take care of these guys!"

Half the party was already retreating in panic at once again facing the mighty stone demon who their chief had assured them was dead, and none of the others could stand long before the stony super powered fists of the mighty Famous Flint Man! In a matter of minutes, Fearless Flint raced to the water, and though he turned back to Jack, he caught up with the rowboat and climbed aboard.

"We must pick up Stanley and Livingstone, and then I have something astounding to show you that may explain this whole thing!" he promised the Andersons as he picked up the second set of oars. (*Writer: I didn't name the other plantation owners - those names are from the original story!)

"That was AMAZING fighting, my boy!" Anderson complimented him! "Oh, Jack, I'm SO GLAD you escaped!" Joan agreed.

With two rowing, it didn't take long to get back to Tanna Island - where the huts of Stanley and Livingstone were nothing more than charred ruin. Jack recovered the charred bodies of the two plantation owners, and carefully laid them out under a tree, covering them with a small tarp take from their rowboat. He noted that the small 'field hospital' formerly administered by Dr. Stanly was also aflame, though a short trail of random small items outside the door presumably indicated it had been looted first.

"Oh, they're both dead, Stanley and Livingston," Joan wept.

"Yes, the last of my partners," Anderson mumbled. "I wish I knew what happened to Amos!"

"You had better worry about what's GOING to happen to US, Dad!" Joan admonished her father.

"Yes, we can't stay here!" Jack agreed. "As soon as they get together and realize we're still alive, they'll be back for us!" He pointed at the other island. "We need to go back to Conajee so I can show you what I've found, and we need to keep investigating!" All three took oar this time, and they rowed around the island to the hidden cove Jack had discovered earlier.

"Now I'll show you SOMETHING!" he exclaimed exultantly, and started leading his small party up the hidden path up the forbidding cliff that was the side of Mt. Ato.

What will FEARLESS FLINT discover at the end of the hidden path up the mountain? The answer to this mystery, or ever more danger? What will happen when FEARLESS FLINT returns NEXT MONTH?

[dans]

They quickly came to a portion of the trail that was set back into the cliff face. John Anderson pointed out some round grooves in the wall, then indicated other unusual marks in the wall and floor. "Someone drilled here to place explosives, and then used other modern tools suck as picks, hammers and chisels to fashion this section." Jack agreed; he had noted some of these clues on his way down earlier. "It's like they were building a road up the side of the mountain!"

"That's EXACTLY what they were doing!" Joan agreed excitedly. She pointed at the loose debris on the floor, which sported ruts made by something or somethings with wheels. "They have been hauling heavy stuff along this 'road'." Jack was impressed; he'd come to the same conclusions, but he hadn't expected them to notice the same clues so quickly.

"I'll bet the Lava Man first appeared when they started doing the blasting," he offered. "They had to do something to keep the natives from wondering about the noises."

"We first noticed noises and flares from Mt. Ato about 5 years ago, but the islanders assured Pendleton that the mountain has been acting that way off and on for as long as their ancestors have lived here, which is many lifetimes," Anderson added. "But there are no stories of it ever erupting during those same lifetimes, so we ignored it."

"But then Pendleton disappeared..." Joan mused. "I wonder if he somehow found out the real story - and the Lava Man had him killed?" She shuddered with the thought of another one of her father's partners, men she'd known for years, being killed at the hands of the islanders. "We MUST hurry!" she urged her companions. "If we were ever caught... it would mean our FINISH!"

The three continued to theorize as they climbed. The patterns of the ruts indicated that periodically, something heavy was hauled down this makeshift road and the wheeled vehicles returned back to the top, with the most recent passage being the return.

"I'm sure there's a lot more to this setup than we realize yet! I hope to find the answers to this whole Lava Man mystery at the top!" Jack declared. It wasn't long before they rounded the final bend in the path, which led to an overhang, and set in the back wall of the overhang was a heavy slab of stone carved in a door-shaped rectangle. "I knew we'd find something!" Jack exulted. "A stone door!"

Jack estimated quickly that the door probably weighed almost a ton and a half. Then he noticed that there was a heavy iron bar set above the door attached to a rope and pulley, which appeared to be a counterweight to offset the weight of the door. He stepped closer, laid both his hands on the massive block of stone and prepared to push.

A sudden shift of the rock beneath his feet didn't give him enough warning to jump out of the way. "Look out, Jack!!" Joan screamed, and she and her father watched in horror as the iron bar, which probably weighed about 500 pounds, crashed down on his head and shoulder. This certainly would have disabled and almost certainly killed any normal man, but sparks flew as the iron bar smashed against... FLINT!

"I'm alright, folks!" Jack assured his relieved companions. "That was JUST what I needed." He easily bashed the door down.

"Oh, don't go inside, Jack!" Joan tried to slow down the charging Fearless Flint. "You can't tell what's inside!"

"And that's just what I'm going in FOR!" he insisted. "Come on! Follow me!!"

"But... where are you going?" Joan tried again to instill some caution in the Famous Flint Man.

"IN! The door was there to conceal SOMETHING vitally IMPORTANT! I believe it's what I'm looking for." He rushed ahead, and they had no choice but to follow.

They were in a spacious cavern, once a smooth lava tube, but now cluttered with stalagmites and stalactites that had grown in the millions of years the volcano had been dormant. A path in the floor of the tube had been cleared and leveled, and just inside the door several large, hand drawn wagons were stored. In some of these wagons there was debris - dried and broken leaves and stalks of plants, the random remaining detritus of whatever had been transported. 

Anderson was studying the dried plants closely. "This looks like it might be areca palm, the source of betel nuts," he mused. "When we did our initial survey of the islands to determine what to grow in our new plantation, I did spot some areca palm trees mixed in with the bamboo. But areca palm trees grow all over the islands and Southeast Asia - what would make betel nuts from OUR islands worth killing men for?"

"A new mystery to add to all the others," Jack agreed, and urged them onward. He was back to his human form by now, but plunged forward as recklessly as ever Flint had. The group was unaware that they were being watched, and quietly followed, as they ran through the dark tunnel.  Until they came out into a large vacuole in the lava tube, a cavernous room, well lighted by torches, and containing something unexpected in a cave...

"Jack! Here's a huge furnace!" Joan pointed out a coal-fired furnace next to a tremendous pile of coal and half a dozen temporarily-discarded shovels.

"Ah HA!! That's where that phony fire comes from that creates the illusion of Mt. Ato threatening to erupt. And it apparently can be used with this giant boiler!" Next to the furnace was a boiler which looked like it might be used to deliver heat and hot water to an entire skyscraper. "But why would then need that much heat on a tropical island?" Another mystery...

"And this is probably of assistance in the illusion as well, my boy! A giant diesel generator, which drives these two devices!" He pointed to a giant engine, they could make out the manufacturer's name: "Cooper Bessemer". When it was running, it likely was what caused the mountain to rumble. It could be connected to drive a giant fan, connected by a system of pipes to the boiler, or another device which looked like the compressor for a giant freezer.

"Intense heat and intense cold, both generated from this very room. 'Curiouser and curiouser', said Alice," Jack mused aloud. "The heat is partially explained by the volcanic illusion, but what did they need the cold for?"

At that moment, they were jumped by a group of men, all of whom seemed to be of Southeast Asian descent, armed with daggers and blackjacks. Joan and John were quickly overwhelmed, while Jack struggled against 4 of the men. "Let those people go or I'll brain you!" he blustered, but the attack continued. As he was wrapped up, one of his captors gloated: "Now we throw you into a very strong cell until Lava Man comes." They didn't notice, but at the mention of the Lava Man, Jack's struggles became more subdued, and shortly, the three were led away.

"How could these coolies be here without me and my partners being told about it?" Anderson wondered, intense anger in his tone. "The islanders must have kept it secret from Pendleton. That fool! He always assured us that he was in complete control of the natives!"

Anderson assumed that their captors were Chinese. Jack was not fluent in any Asian tongues, but his training had included exposure to many of them, and he was sure he identified some Korean, some Mandarin, and some Japanese, at least, as the men spoke amongst themselves.

"They're working with the Lava Man - they must the ones smuggling the betel nuts!" Jack deduced.

There was a hut, similar to the huts the Englishmen had formerly inhabited on the island, next to the generator and furnace. They were led inside, where Jack lunged, trying to reach... "A RADIO set! Let me at it!" But the men around him restrained him. In front of them he spotted the cell - a small, barren room fronted with iron bars... and he warned his fellow prisoners: "Be ready!" Then he lunged, broke free of his captors, and crashed into the bars with his shoulder - an impact that might have broken bones in a normal human - but which only produced a shower of sparks from the invulnerable body of the Famous Flint Man crashing against the iron.

"Run! Joan and John, RUN!" he ordered the Andersons as a bunch his captors swarmed him. But several of the gang kept their heads, and Joan and John were led away, daggers at their throats, out of the hut band back into the cavernous room.

Flint made short work of the gang, and threatened the only one remaining conscious: "Tell me where you took those two, or I'll floor you!" The terrified man pointed out the door - and Flint 'floored him' anyway, then raced out into the cavern to find his companions.

Some of the debris on the cavern floor had been scuffed recently as if some reluctant humans had been dragged this direction by other humans - so Flint hurried in that direction. A hundred yards further on, it was Jack who was following the trail, as he had changed back yet again. The floor narrowed; he was on a ledge between the rough wall of the lava tube and a deep crevice - and two men lunged from a hidden niche in the wall as he passed. One slugged him in the head with a double-fisted blow while holding a heavy rock between his hands. Some bones in his hands were shattered when his 'mallet' struck Jack's skull, while Jack was knocked instantly unconscious and off the ledge and into the crevice, where he tumbled into the swiftly flowing underground river far below.

Is THAT enough action for you, readers?! Will the unconscious JACK be able to survive in the freezing cold of the savagely rushing underground river? What atrocities will John and Joan Anderson suffer at the hands of the merciless LAVA MAN? Be sure to rush out NEXT MONTH for the next exciting episode in the adventures of FEARLESS FLINT!!

[dans]

Doubly stunned, first by the tremendous blow to the head and then by impact with the water, Jack sank to the bottom, where the current savagely slammed him into every boulder that had fallen into the river over hundreds of thousands of years, and it seemed as if he were likely to drown without ever regaining consciousness... until he was slammed into a mass of rusted machinery that had only resided on the river bed for a few years, carelessly left too close to the edge when the furnace, giant diesel engine and radio hut had been constructed. The man who had lost the valuable building tool had been executed on the spot - and now the lost machinery granted new life. Fearless Flint resisted the current, planted both feet on the bottom of the channel, and leaped. He zoomed upward through the swirling water, predating submarine-launched ICBMs by a quarter century, and when he flew into the wall of the crevice, high above the river, he slammed a punch into the wall, driving his fist into the solid stone to anchor him from falling back - and then proceeded to climb out of the crevice, slamming hand and footholds into the rock as required. He raced down the ledge, and slammed through a very narrow crack in the wall into another chamber were the Andersons were imprisoned.

They returned to the radio room - by now, Jack was back again - and they entered at just the same time as the Lava Man. Jack attacked! He leaped on the demon's back, but the Lava Man shrugged free of his grip and threw Jack against the metal table supporting the radio equipment. Once again, sparks flew - and Fearless Flint was back! Joan and John ran to his side, and together the three advanced on the Lava Man!

"I warn you - not a step closer!" When speaking to these three, the Lava Man spoke perfect English - with a distinct British accent, even though he spoke in a low, rumbling, almost unearthly tone. Jack and the Andersons kept advancing; the Lava Man touched a button in the wall next to him, and the floor fell out between the advancing trio. Flint managed to catch the others and cushion their fall, and then he turned back to Jack.

There were in an insulated room - and it was COLD! There was ice lining the walls and floor. In one corner, there were a half dozen bales of something, encased in ice, and embedded in the ice covering the floor were leaves and stems of areca palms, as well as an occasional betel nut. "They're shipping the whole plants, not just the nuts!" John Anderson exclaimed. "They must have discovered some way to refine betel juice from the plants themselves! And there must be something unique about the soil on our islands that makes the refined betel juice more potent than what is normally produced, everywhere else in the region, or they wouldn't go to such lengths to get OUR areca palms!"

There was a large ceramic pipe coming through the wall in one corner of the room, more than two feet around, with icicles dripping from it. "They must send steam in here to coat bales of areca in water and then freeze them for shipment! That must be how they get it to retain its unusual potency as they transport it to their refineries, wherever they are!" Jack deduced.

"Do you suppose that pipe leads to the furnace room?" Anderson asked.

"I certainly DO suppose," Jack replied emphatically. "And I'm getting OUT through that pipe!"

"That's terribly risky, Jack!" Joan objected, more by rote than anything else. She was already sure that nothing she could say would stop the reckless Jack Bradley from any course of action he decided on, regardless of the risk.

And of course she was right. "Perhaps, June, but we're not going to be able to climb up the icy walls of this freezer. And if they start pumping more steam in here, we'll be coated in ice and frozen solid, just like those bales. It'll be worth the risk if it aids in our escape."

He was right about the steam - far above, in the radio room, the Lava Man ordered the leader of the Asian men: "You turn steam into freezer cellar, Chong Wong, and give plenty more ice. We freeze white people to death!"

As always, Chong Wong was insulted at the Lava Man's language - he had been educated in Singapore and was fully fluent in the King's English. But his leaders in the drug ring had convinced him to restrain his anger until they no longer needed the Lava Man's assistance - and promised he would be in charge of the phony demon's destiny when that time came. He bit back his anger and ordered his men to stoke the furnace and start the diesel. Almost instantly, water in the boiler began to steam, the big fan began to turn, and steam was blown into the upper end of the ceramic steam pipe, while the compressor started pumping coolant through the coils in the freezer room far below!

Jack was forced back out of the pipe like a champagne cork! He tumbled and slid across the icy freezer floor until he smashed into one of the coolant coils. Sparks flew as flint struck iron - and Fearless Flint slammed his feet down, shattering the ice covering the rocky floor, and climbed to his feet. Already the freezer temperature, which had been chilly when they had originally 'dropped in', had fallen another 10 degrees, and Joan and John Anderson were huddled near the mouth of the steam pipe, out of the path of the steam, trying to keep warm.

"When the steam fills the room and then freezes, we'll die!" John announced fearfully. "We'll all be FROZEN!" Joan agreed.

"Don't worry, Joan - I'll get you out of here!" Jack announced.

"It will have to be quick - we don't have long!" she warned him. Flint might not be vulnerable to sub zero temperatures, but the Andersons were - and they had been living  in the hot, humid South Sea islands so long that they were extra vulnerable to the chill!

Fearless Flint flexed his knees and then sprang - and rocketed into the air and easily smashed through the closed trap door they have fallen through earlier. "Now he'll put the Lava Man in his place!" Anderson announced with satisfaction. But first...

Joan stood on John's shoulders, and the Famous Flint Man was able to reach her and pull her out. While they searched for a rope, Flint turned back to Jack, and the two of them used the rope to pull John up from the freezer. The radio shack was currently empty - Joan searched and found a padlock and a board that could be used to bar the door from the inside, and while she was barricading the entrance, Jack was trying to work out the radio controls. What he discovered was that this was not a radio - it was a PA system. His twiddling caused a squeal of feedback that came from outside the radio hut.

"I know that squeal!" Anderson shouted in excitement. "We've often heard it on the island, and speculated on what still-unknown species of animal made such a horrific noise? This must broadcast to speakers all over the island!"

"In that case - watch my smoke!" Jack yelped in satisfaction. "You speak the island tongue, right?" he asked Anderson, who nodded his head doubtfully. "Not very well, eh? Well, that should be perfect." He thrust the microphone at John. "In their tongue, speak what I tell you too - as closely as possible. Don't worry about whether you get it exactly right. You're the Lava Man right now, and he can't be bothered to speak their tongue correctly!" He made some other adjustments to the controls. "This will distort your voice - you should sound enough like him to fool them all!"

Anderson shouted into the mike, trying his best to sound like the demon, and the electronics further distorted his voice.  "Brave fellas stop killing white men and bring me Chief Wakai. Chief has lied to brave fellas all along, and caused many other brave fellas to join ancestors! I, Lava Man, will punish evil Chief!"

Outside the hut, the Lava Man ordered the Asian work crew to break in. "Get that man! Slaughter them all!" Chong Wong, the leader, threw a bomb at the shed - probably not what the Lava Man preferred, but Chong Wong didn't really care. The explosion smashed down the wooden wall - and a piece of shrapnel struck Jack in the middle of the forehead - once again a blow that would have killed almost any normal human, but instead turned ordinary Jack Bradley into... the indestructible, incredible, Famous Flint Man... Fearless Flint!

As the gang rushed in, Flint allowed himself to be surrounded - and then casually picked up the men, one or more at a time, and tossed them through the shattered trap door into the cellar freezer. "This'll cool YOU off!" he quipped as the last of them, Chong Wong himself, joined his fellows. The Lava Man ran in fear... Flint turned back to Jack as he raced after his fleeing foe. The Lava Man raced out through a cave entrance on to the plateau with the altar - where Chief Wakai raced to meet him, followed by the rest of his village - who were shouting for vengence against their traitorous chief.

Wakai yelled as he raced forward to attack. "You! Lava Man! Try to take over the island and steal everything for yourself! Try to get Islanders to kill Englishmen - and then plan to kill islanders!"

"Now I kill YOU, for revealing secrets!" the Lava Man screeched back, his normally rumbling voice sounding thin and whiny.

"You double cross me to my people!" Wakai yelled again as he swung a large club, studded with iron inserts, like a baseball bat and caught the Lava Man upside the head. There was a sickening crunch, and the demon collapsed in a heap.  "And now for demon fella!" Again, the maddened Wakai swung his club, this time slamming it into Jack's rib cage - and it bounced off, as the iron chips threw sparks when they smashed against Flint. Flint easily ducked the next swing, and then struck back with a straight left that buried his hand in the chief's ample stomach, knocking him backwards. He stumbled and fell, and rolled into the hands of the approaching crowd of islanders - who picked up the traitor and returned to their village for judgement and punishment - if he lived that long!

Meanwhile the Andersons were kneeling at the sided of the flattened Lava Man. John reached out and grabbed his head, twisted, and pulled, revealing... a mask! He yanked it off to reveal the face of...

"Dad! It's your partner, Amos Pendleton! No WONDER he disappeared so suddenly and we could find no trace of him! He's been the Lava Man all along!"

"You greedy bastard!" Anderson snarled. "We were getting rich from the plantation, but that wasn't good enough for you! And then you discovered that the areca palm trees could be refined into a more powerful and addictive form of betel juice, and you had to kill us off so we wouldn't discover your evil trade and stop you - and you'd get even richer on the drug trade!"

"It wasn't like that... to start, John..." he gasped. "I'm not long for this life, but perhaps confession will ease my way in the next life... At first, I just wanted to get rich so I could take revenge on the other branch of my family... the ones who always remained in England, while my great great great great grandfather Elias Pendleton came to the American Colonies... who took us back, hundreds of years later, when our family's plantation in Cuba was burned to the ground by the monster, Teddy Roosevelt. The family that treated us like peasants - no, worse than peasants. I was going to use my riches to ruin them. But it was taking too long, splitting the profits 4 ways with the rest of you. Yes, I decided that I had to have it all. When you were all gone, I was going to turn the entire plantation over to growing areca palm. I would easily have been rich enough to buy all of the Pendleton holdings in England - and throw them all out in the streets, penniless! And now it's all lost - I'm disgraced, just as every other Pendleton son descended from Elias has died in disgrace. You can read it all - it's all recorded in my diaries..."

"Wait!" Jack yelled. "You brought about your own death by sending your island slaves to America to sabotage the construction of Mt. Rushmore! The monument has nothing to do with with revenge against your family in England. If you hadn't sent them, I would never have become Fearless Flint and never come here to investigate - and your scheme would have succeeded and you would have become as rich as your wildest dreams..."

"Not just revenge against the Pendletons," Amos gasped; they had to lean closer to hear him. "Ancestors Elias, Levi, Issac, and Edwin demanded revenge against the memories of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt, who destroyed and disgraced the New World Pendletons. Finally got rich enough to start that scheme too... destroyed my own dreams and my great plans... thanks for nothing, demon!" He tried to spit, failed, gasped once and fell silent and unmoving. All three of those around him had some first aid training, but nothing they tried would help. Amos Pendleton, once the feared Lava Man, passed away. Who knows if his confession had eased his passing?

No one was satisfied with this ending. Joan and Jack Anderson were shamed by the way Amos had enslaved the islanders in their names, and they had failed to notice the evil doings going on around them. Chief Wakai and Pendleton were both dead. The islanders refused to work for the Andersons any longer; the Andersons decided to remain on the islands and use their wealth - the wealth Pendleton had stolen from them - to improve their conditions.  And Jack had newfound superhuman abilities - but they seemed beyond his control. No amount of experimenting would change him into Fearless Flint again, while he remained. Finally he decided to return to New York City and his old life as an international troubleshooter for the FBI. But at least, he had the satisfaction of reading the whole story of the sabotage plot against Mt Rushmore in Pendleton's diary - he could wrap up this case and count it as a spectacular success in the FBI records. That story is here: A Stunning Betel Juice Vision!

"You'll never know how grateful we are to you, Jack! You gave us our lives back, and a new purpose besides!" John Anderson spoke heavily as he shook Jack's hand.

"I wish you'd stay here with us, Jack," Joan agreed wistfully. She was developing quite a romantic attraction to the American troubleshooter, and she could tell that he felt something similar. Yet it wasn't in his make-up to settle down, at least not yet. Last night, she'd tried to get him to agree to come back in a few years, but he'd avoided making any promises. "You'll be married and starting a family before then!" he'd predicted confidently.

"Thanks! But I must be off to put down lawlessness in some other part of the world." They exchanged hugs and handshakes, and he climbed into his rented cabin cruiser (with fully repaired engine) and shoved off for Tahiti - and the long trip back to his New York home.

And there it is, readers, the Origin of Jack Bradley, the FAMOUS FLINT MAN, FEARLESS FLINT! But it won't be the end of the adventures of FEARLESS FLINT! What new adventures will he find when he returns to New York? Will he ever learn the secret of his powers? Be here NEXT MONTH to follow the new adventures of FEARLESS FLINT!!

[dans]

This is what Jack and the Andersons read in the diary of Amos Pendleton:

"Chong Wong suggested I try a very small dose of the refined betel juice." The diary began...

"Of course, the evil devil was trying to get me addicted so he could control me, but I instantly saw through his plans. The drug generally produces pleasant effects, and I continue to use it occasionally when I wish to relax, but I have closely monitored my intake and it is obvious that it produces no addictive effects on me. My keen intelligence remains intact; I retain my pleasant, somewhat detached personality, and my day-to-day interactions with those around me are unchanged... The effects vary, seemingly without a pattern, usually a feeling of general well-being and relaxation, leaving a residual feeling of intense competence and self-confidence, which has carried over into the execution of my plan. Never before have I undertaken such a far reaching plan; never before have I come close to scaling the heights of success I am currently achieving. My first use was also the most intense, a vision in which I was visited by my father and some of his ancestors, a vision which helped set me on my current spiral of success..."

*****

Amos, Lord Pendelton, Duke of Essex, was relaxing in his richly appointed study when 5 distinguished-looking men, dressed appropriately for several different periods in history, appeared before him. He instantly recognized his father, now departed these many years, and all of the five had a strong familial resemblance. Amos was immediately aware that all of these were his direct ancestors, extending back to the Colonial era.

"You have done well by our family, son," his father began pompously. "There is even hope that your son will exceed your success and marry into the Royal Family, and your grandson might well become a future King of England!"

"Damn you, Father! Death hasn't changed you! Nothing I do is ever good enough for you. Well, just look around you! I am the Duke of Essex, I live in the manor and am rich beyond measure. You died in an outhouse on the estate of your distant cousin, barely tolerated as the poorest, meanest member of his 'great' family. I have achieved more than you have ever dreamed of. It is YOU who was never good enough. If you have come for naught but to mock me, I say again, look around you. And then slink away in the shame you deserve!"

Another stepped forward. He wore a red waistcoat and tight white knee breeches, and a tri-corn hat in the colors of the British Empire. "You have a sharp tongue, grandson, and though it may be deserved, you should examine your own 'successes' more closely. There are debts owed to the Pendleton line that remain outstanding, and you have the means to collect on those debts. Your success will not be considered complete, by us, your ancestors, until those debts have been paid, with interest."

This angered Amos mightily. "Who are you to question my successes?" he yelled back.

"I am Elias Pendleton, and I was born in 1840 in the colony of Virginia, on the Pendleton estate, the largest and most successful plantation in the New World," the spirit replied proudly. "You are my great great great great grandson. I was ever loyal to the Crown, and it led to my downfall. I was aide to Benedict Arnold when he commanded the fort at West Point, and we planned to surrender the fort to the British, thus ending that silly and unfortunate 'Revolutionary War'. Unhappily, he was discovered and managed to escape; I was captured and hanged for treason by George Washington's command. Washington is legend, I am disgraced and forgotten. No Pendleton of my lineage can ever be truly successful until that stain is wiped from our honor!"

Another, similarly dressed, stepped forward. "I am Levi, the son of Elias, the next of your great grandfathers. Though my father was dishonored by the great villain George Washington, I was equally dishonored by another great villain, Thomas Jefferson. Through great diligence and effort on my part, along with my natural brilliance, I was able to work my way to the high position of Chief of Staff for the Vice President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr. At one point, Burr made arrangements with the British to sell a large tract of land to Britain, in return for governorship of this land. This transaction was deemed as traitorous by President Thomas Jefferson, and though Burr was found 'Not Guilty' when there were no credible witnesses against him, Jefferson ordered that I be executed as a traitor. Jefferson is legend, I am disgraced and forgotten. No Pendleton of my lineage can ever be truly successful until that stain is removed from our honor!"

Yet another took up the tale. He was wearing the uniform of a general in the Army of the Confederate States of America. "I am Issac Pendleton, your great great grandfather. I was Lord of the great Pendleton Plantation in Virginia, the richest, most successful plantation in the South, at the time of the Civil War. Sherman had just begun his march to Atlanta and was burning everything in his way. I had just received my Commission as a General in the Army when Sherman's troops, under orders from President Abraham Lincoln, burned the great Pendleton Plantation and executed me for treason. The survivors of my family took everything they could carry and fled to Cuba, where the could rebuild." By now, Amos knew what was coming. "Lincoln is legend, I am disgraced and forgotten. No Pendleton of my lineage can ever be truly successful until that stain remains on our honor!"

The last man continued. He was smaller then the others, much thinner, and his clothes were ill matched and in poor repair. "I am Edwin Pendleton, your grandfather. After years of strife and striving, diligent and tremendous effort, and endless suffering, the Pendleton Estate was established in Cuba - and it was growing and producing riches for our family, until it was invaded and burned down by the troop of villains known as the Rough Riders under the command of Theodore Roosevelt, who later became President of the United States. I was executed by hanging for resisting the invaders. The rest of may family, left almost penniless, was forced to return to England and throw themselves on the mercy of the Pendleton family who never left the company. They gave us an old barn to live in, and treated us as lower than the peasants in Essex."

Amos actually knew this part of the story; he'd grown up on that estate in Essex, in the old outbuilding, and endured the scorn and disdain of his 'family' - as had his father. He'd spent his life acquiring the power and riches required to beggar those relatives, and every day, he stopped by their barn and laughed at him. He'd always felt that he'd succeeded at the single most important task of his life... and there was a good chance his grandson would be King of England before he died. How DARE these feeble spirits suggest he was anything less than a success?

And yet, Edwin wasn't finished; he finished with the refrain the others had repeated. "Roosevelt is legend; I am disgraced and forgotten. No Pendleton of my lineage can ever be truly successful until our honor is cleansed of that stain!"

Amos had endured enough. "I have achieved greater success in one short lifetime than the 5 of you together. Begone!" he roared in anger! The spirits vanished as if they had never been there - and then the study had vanished, and the Dukedom of Essex, and all of Amos's successes along with it, and he awakened in the dark, dank, hot bedroom of his hut on Conajee Island, sweating and furious.

"I'll change the future so that scene NEVER occurs!" he promised himself. "The next time those spirits appear, they will bow down before me in awe, as I will remove the stains of their abject failures from the family honor! I will avenge myself and my ancestors against the memories of our greatest enemies, the Presidents Four! I have the money and the power to set a plan in motion - and when they return, I will rub their noses in their own failures, which will be my greatest success!" He returned to sleep, exhausted emotionally - and the next day, sent wo of his new islander slaves to America to sabotage the great memorial to he Presidents Four, the grand enemies of his family... Mt Rushmore!

And thus planted the seeds of his own great failure and disgrace - although this observation never made it into his diary!