his leg.
The shark was but little longer than Tom Too. For a moment it seemed the pirate king would escape. Then a larger sea killer closed upon the human morsel.
Tom Too's distorted face showed plainly before he was submerged to his death.
The features were those of slender, dapper First Mate Jong of the ill-fated liner, Malay Queen.
IT was dawn, and the sun blazed a flame of victory in the east. The fighting was over. A cowed, frightened cluster, the surviving pirates had been herded upon the beach and were under heavy guard, awaiting consignment to a penal colony.
The planes had managed to land on a level portion of the beach. Juan Mindoro had boarded the big junk. He was striving to express his gratitude to Doc Savage and the other five adventurers who had done so much for his native land.
'I have just received a radio message from Mantilla,' he said, addres,ing Doc. 'Thanks to the information in Tom Too's records, which you gave us, the pirates in Mantilla have been captured, almost to a man. They even got Captain Hickman, of the Malay Queen. There is only one thing bothering me — are you certain Jong was Tom Too?'
'Positive,' Doc told him. 'The records disclosed that. Jong, or Tom Too, undoubtedly bribed Captain Hickman to sign him on the Malay Queen as first mate.'
Mindoro ran a finger inside his collar and squirmed. 'Words seem very flat when I try to express my thanks to you. I shall ask the Luzon Union government to appropriate a reward for — '
'Nix,' Doc said.
Mindoro smiled, went on: ' — a reward which I think you will accept.'
Mindoro was right, for the reward was one Doc found entirely satisfactory. It consisted of a simple bronze plate bearing the plain words, 'The Savage Memorial Hospital.'
The plate was embedded in the cornerstone of a structure that cost millions. Other millions were placed in trust to insure operation of the hospital for years. The institution was to operate always under one inflexible rule — payment from no one but those who could afford it.
The laying of the cornerstone was accomplished with ceremony before Doc and his men left the Luzon Union.
Monk, uncouth in high hat and swallowtail coat, perspired under the derisive gaze of the dapper Ham throughout the ceremony. He was glad when it was over and they got out of the admiring crowd.
'Fooey!' snorted Monk, and made a present of his high silk hat to a brown-skinned, half-naked street urchin. 'It'll take a good fight to get me feelin' like a human being again!'
Monk was going to get his fight, even if he didn't know it.
