“Glad I tested the synchronizing mechanism this afternoon,” he thought.
His heart was pounding. He waited a moment to be certain that his hand was perfectly steady. The slightest tremble would ruin the picture. In another moment he had gained complete control of his nerves. Steeling himself, he said in a loud, curt voice:
As he had anticipated, the command electrified the three men. They whirled to face the camera.
Flash pressed the trigger. The shutter clicked and the flash went off. He had his picture!
A gun roared heavily and a bullet whined past his head and crunched into the wall.
Hugging his camera close against his body, Flash ducked and ran. The beam of a flashlight followed his course and singled him out.
“Get him!” a voice snarled. “And that picture!”
Flash dodged out of the circle of light just as another bullet sang past him.
He glanced back over his shoulder and plunged squarely against a thick coil of rope lying in his path. Thrown off balance, he tried frantically to keep from falling, but could not save himself.
Down he crashed on the cement. Even as he fell, Flash’s mind kept working. He couldn’t hope to save himself now, but he might save his picture!
Directly in front and a few feet above him was a cellar window unprotected by grating. A reflection from an alley light made it an easy target.
Scrambling to his feet, Flash took aim. With all his strength he hurled the camera straight at the window.
There was a resounding crash. The camera smashed the glass and sailed into the alley.
Flash had no chance to get away. A heavy hand grasped his coat. Whirling, he tackled his assailant just below the knees, and they went rolling over the floor in a threshing, writhing tangle of arms and legs.
The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull. Blood trickled down across his eyelids. His hold on his assailant’s knees loosened.
As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
“Come on! Come on! We’ve got to get out of here!”
And then Flash became aware of another sound—the opening of an upstairs door, then footsteps treading on the landing. A powerful flashlight beam played over the wall.
Flash felt the muzzle of a gun pressing hard into his ribs.
“Keep quiet!” he was advised in a whisper.