s eyes to close from vision the
swollen, lacerated face of his friend. Fury surged through him as he
jumped to his feet. He knew intuitively that Murphy was the victim of
"Gink" Cummings' brutality. He wanted to kill Cummings with his hands.

Sobbing, he ran from the room and dashed to the nearest telephone. He
called the receiving hospital, telling the attendant to rush the
ambulance at top speed. He waited at the street entrance to the rooming
house until the ambulance arrived, its shrill siren whistle clearing a
pathway for it through the traffic. Slowly, gently, they lifted Murphy
from the floor and, placing him on a stretcher, carried him down the
stairs to the ambulance. A morbid crowd, attracted by the sight of the
ambulance, thronged the sidewalk.

John sat beside the stretcher with the white-clad attendant as the
ambulance sped up Third street to Hill and turning to the right stopped
with a creaking of brakes in front of the hospital door. He waited
anxiously for the surgeons to make their examination. Two detectives
hurried from central station to the hospital and getting what
information John had, dashed out to a waiting automobile.

In his anxiety as he waited for the verdict of the surgeons he only gave
the detectives Murphy's name and the address of the rooming house. They
were gone before he could tell them he knew Murphy had been "bashed" by
the "Gink's" men.

"He's in bad shape," the chief surgeon told him. "Skull fracture; arms,
jaw, ribs and nose broken; internal injuries; cuts and bruises; lost a
lot of blood."

"What can be done to save him?" John asked.

"An operation is about the only thing," the surgeon replied. "He's
pretty far gone."

"Operate then," said John. "Get the best surgeons in the city to help
you. Spare no expense."

An hour later Murphy was on the operating table with three of the most
capable surgeons in Los Angeles working with all their skill and science
to hold the flickering life in his body. Not knowing where to find
Brennan, John telephoned to P. Q.

"I'll get in touch with the mayor and have him tell Sweeney to put
every available detective on the case," the city editor said. "Do
everything you can for Murphy. Be careful yourself. If the 'Gink' knows
what Murphy has done he knows that you and Brennan were with him. He'll
not stop at anything. I'll try to find Brennan."

While Murphy was in the operating room, Chief Sweeney, with a squad of
detectives, appeared a