Slade scowled. On his face was a look of mingled wonder and rage.
"Mr. Shei's orders are not to kill you unless necessary," he explained, "and I have been hoping you wouldn't make it necessary. Mr. Shei has the highest admiration for you."
"Thanks," said The Phantom dryly, and for a mere instant his thoughts went back to the ludicrous figure of Fairspeckle. "It's too bad I can't say that the sentiment is mutual."
Slade's scowl deepened. He seemed inclined to instruct his men to advance, but something evidently restrained him.
"You ought to know by this time that Mr. Shei is invincible," he declared impressively. "You are a wonder in some ways, but a fool in others. How you keep slipping in and out of this house is beyond me. Not that it matters, for you have sung your last tune. What have you done to Doctor Tagala?"
A thin smile hovered about The Phantom's compressed lips.
"I suppose you have kidnaped him," Slade went on, "but we will find him before long. You see, Mr. Shei foresaw even such a possibility as that, and prepared for it. He anticipated that pressure of some sort might be used on Tagala to make him reveal where the antidote is hidden, and so he prepared the trap you walked into a moment ago. The bottles, as you may have guessed by this time, contain only water. The real antidote is elsewhere, and Tagala is the only man who can put his hand on it."
"So I understand." There was a momentary flicker in The Phantom's eyes which indicated that Slade's words had suggested something of importance to him. "Mr. Shei is amazingly clever--but there is such a thing as being _too_ clever."
Slade looked as if he sensed a hidden meaning which his mind could not quite grasp. Presently he shrugged and fixed his frosty gaze on The Phantom.
"I'll give you just one more chance to surrender," he warned. "Throw down your pistol and tell us where Tagala is, and I promise you will not be harmed."
"Very anxious to learn Tagala's whereabouts--aren't you, Slade? Without Tagala you can't find the antidote, and without the antidote your beautiful scheme goes to pieces. It would be very awkward for you if you shouldn't be able to deliver the goods when your seven victims have come around to the point where they are willing to pay your price."