Superman - Locomotive Crew Freed

Presenting Superman.

Up in the sky.

Look, it's a bird.

It's a plane.

It's Superman.

And now, Superman.

Just a few hours to go before the cracked train of the West Coast Railroad, the Silver Clipper,

lead Denver for Salt Lake City,

where the mysterious power through its agent to Wolf,

as warned she will never arrive.

And Superman, in his character of Clark Kent,

news reporter for the Daily Planet,

Superman was last seen being dragged down a flight of steel stairs

and thrown into the soundproof room

of the Wolf's hideout near the railroad yard.

It is late afternoon, verging toward sundown in the world above,

and still the gangster keynote works on the unresisting form of Kent,

bound and shackled to the wall before him.

Hey, listen you.

I'm getting tired of this.

How about talk?

I've already told you.

There's nothing I care to talk about.

Why, sky, hey?

Okay, we'll see how long you last at this.

Open the door, you know?

Okay, here comes the boss.

Where do you see what happens now?

Well, you know, what luck?

No luck at all so far.

You ain't doing much talking.

He's tough, boss.

Still, I was just going to...

Let it go, you know.

There's no more time.

I didn't want to know where he got his information,

but it won't matter.

That's what you think, Wolf.

That's what I know, my young friend.

What do you mean?

You'd like me to talk, huh?

Very well, I don't mind in the least.

In a few hours' time, Mr. Clark Kent,

the silver clippo will leave Denver for Salt Lake.

You recall what happened to the locomotive in tender last night?

Don't post, Wolf.

You didn't have anything to do with that.

They'll find that engine.

Possibly.

But they haven't found it yet.

And let me tell you this, Mr. Kent.

They won't find the silver clippo, either.

You know.

Yeah, boss.

We're leaving at once.

Well, what about this guy?

He'll stay where he is permanently.

What are you going to do, Wolf?

Nothing, whatever.

We shall leave you just where you are for all time.

Or until someone comes down here and finds you,

which may take a month or two.

You know, the persuader.

Oh!

Out like a light.

And when he comes to...

When he comes to, we'll be twenty miles on our way to San Joaquin.

Wait, boss.

He's plenty tough.

What if he breaks out?

Break out.

Don't be silly, you know.

The walls are solid sheet steel, three inches thick.

Then five inches of concrete.

Then more steel.

If he breaks out of that.

I'll put him in the sockets.

Okay.

Rick and he say, come, you know.

Goodbye, Mr. Clark Kent.

You'll forgive me if I do not say,

I hope we meet again.

But we will meet again and very soon.

And thanks for telling me where.

On the road to San Joaquin, eh?

I'll give you a little while to get clear of town.

And then I'll be seeing you, wolf.

Handcuffs, eh?

It's a good thing for you I wasn't feeling playful.

All right, you know.

From now on things will move.

Jump in, boys.

Take the lower road to the river.

And then up toward the pass.

Look, look, you know.

The sun's just going down over the railroad yards.

Hey, boys.

Of course.

There she is, the silver clipper.

Just in from shy.

Should I over a while and then hit the line?

It's all late.

And we'll be ready and waiting.

Let's go.

20 minutes.

That ought to give me time enough to get out of here, shot.

What was that he said about sheet steel?

Three inches thick.

You're a liar, wolf.

Two and a half at the most.

Look at those wolves, Ben.

Well, you might have kept Clark Kent in a vault like this,

but not Superman.

There goes the concrete.

And still more steel.

Well, I'll just put my foot through that.

And that's that.

Now, the stairs.

Won't go out in the street.

Track too much attention.

Just up to the roof from easy takeoff.

Oh, what's this?

A skylight.

And padlocked.

Here goes.

Halt into the night in the fresh air.

One jump and we're up.

And away.

Now then.

All I have to do is follow his car on the San Joaquin Road.

Oh, yes.

And a fellow called the wolf is going to put Clark Kent in the circus.

Here I come, wolf.

Hey, watch where you're going with your boys.

Take it easy, Kino.

In a moment, we'll be at the crossing of the San Joaquin River.

Do you know where that runs?

Sure.

Down through Skuna Canyon Lake to the dam at Walkill.

And you know how Skuna Canyon got its name?

Oh, it's interesting, Kino.

The canyon took its name from an old mining camp.

Now at the bottom of the lake.

I still don't see what a roaring camp, Kino.

Until they built the dam and turned the canyon into a reservoir.

It must have been tough to get to down in a hole like that.

They had a railroad, Kino.

They broke a tunnel through the canyon wall.

Layed the tracks through the tunnel.

And down the canyon wall to the camp.

Yeah.

Ah, now you're beginning to understand.

Exactly, Kino.

The camp is under a thousand feet of water.

But the branch line tracks still lead to the water's edge.

Through the tunnel, down the wall.

Hey, now there's new, don't think that you're aware of.

What was that?

I didn't hear nothing.

It sounded like a rushing of wind.

Or wings.

High over our heads.

Chicken hall.

At night?

Well, I don't hear it now, whatever it was.

Hey, what about the canyon?

Well, Kino.

That's where that spare engine went last night.

Into the lake?

Right into it, Kino.

It left the main line after my men had attended the switch,

shut down the grade, roared into the tunnel,

and disappeared forever in the waters of Schooner Canyon Lake.

Couldn't they stop?

No time.

And the rails of the branch line were thick with grease.

Oh, you can't do it again, it's wholesale, Mark.

What of it?

Not losing your nerve, are you Kino?

Look, we're here.

Hey, hey, hey, you left the road.

Naturally, naturally.

We're on the back road above the old junction.

Come along, Kino.

Where are we going?

Down the tunnel.

Just a few yards ahead.

I'll show you what's going to happen.

What's the matter?

Hey, what's that guy doing over there?

What am I working on, I suppose?

I have several.

I don't see him.

He dodged off again.

Listen.

Now, I don't like this.

Someone's sure to catch on.

Oh, who?

Don't be fooled, Kino.

The only outsiders, the two members of the train crew on the apron,

they jumped off last night just in time.

What, the engineer?

Well, where is he?

He'll never jump again.

Nor will five.

Well, where are they?

Up on the rocks above the tunnel.

Shackle down.

Later, they'll be found lying dead beside the tracks.

Sensation, Kino.

Imagine the mystery of the terror.

Train crew dead on the tracks.

No sign of an accident.

No sign of the train?

Oh, there he is again.

Look, look, he quiet.

Will you?

What are you talking about?

I've seen him.

A long red cape.

He was just flying.

You know, you're out of your head.

The conductor.

That's what the conductor saw.

Clear in the line for the continent.

The conductor was seeing things.

And so are you.

Come along.

Here's the tunnel.

I don't want to go in there.

Oh, yes, you do, Kino.

I want you to.

It's not far.

But I want you to see what happens to trains and to people.

People.

What do you mean?

You're a weak Kino.

You see things in the dark.

You might be tempted to forget who you're working on.

Oh, no, no, definitely.

But not before.

Well, we'll just make sure that.

Keep going, Kino.

I tell you to stop.

The devil.

The cold and human devil.

He's giving himself away this time.

I'll find those two women.

They're just the evidence we need.

Where are they?

Quick.

Love the tunnel.

Good thing I can see in the dark.

And through rocks.

Huh, there they are.

Shame down to die.

But they won't die.

Not this time.

They'll be the witnesses that hang you in the water.

It's all right.

It's all right.

I won't hurt you.

You got to break those chains.

Huh, one under each arm.

I'll find a ranch house and drop them at the door.

They won't know what's happened.

I think they crawled there.

And then back to get the police.

Up.

Up.

There, Kino.

We're at the end of the tunnel.

Look down the canyon.

It must be a thousand feet across.

And would you like to know how deep?

Three hundred feet down to water.

And a thousand feet more after that.

Yeah.

The lake of Schooner Canyon.

Huh, what's the time?

The fleshy light.

Huh.

Seven fifteen.

Seven fifteen.

Kino.

The silver clipper is twenty minutes out of Denver.

Twenty minutes out of Denver, roaring up the ruckus to the crossing of San Joaquin.

The crack streamliner of the West Coast railroad rushes through the dark at 80 miles an hour.

Destined for a watery grave at the bottom of Schooner Canyon Lake.

Meanwhile a strange figure hurdles through space.

Back the way he came.

But will he be in time?

He injured men warned the authorities and get back to save the train without revealing who he is.

Thrills, suspense, climax.

Tune in and follow the story of Superman.

The withers again for the next thrilling installment of Superman.

Up in the sky.

Look.

It's a bird.

It's a plane.

Superman.

Superman is a copyrighted feature appearing in Action Comics magazine.