BORGO PRESS BOOKS BY JOHN RUSSELL FEARN

      1,000-Year Voyage: A Science Fiction Novel

      Anjani the Mighty: A Lost Race Novel (Anjani #2)

      Black Maria, M.A.: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #1)

      The Crimson Rambler: A Crime Novel

      Don’t Touch Me: A Crime Novel

      Dynasty of the Small: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      The Empty Coffins: A Mystery of Horror

      The Fourth Door: A Mystery Novel

      From Afar: A Science Fiction Mystery

      Fugitive of Time: A Classic Science Fiction Novel

      The G-Bomb: A Science Fiction Novel

      The Genial Dinosaur (Herbert the Dinosaur #2)

      The Gold of Akada: A Jungle Adventure Novel (Anjani #1)

      Here and Now: A Science Fiction Novel

      Into the Unknown: A Science Fiction Tale

      Last Conflict: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      Legacy from Sirius: A Classic Science Fiction Novel

      The Man from Hell: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      The Man Who Was Not: A Crime Novel

      Manton’s World: A Classic Science Fiction Novel

      Moon Magic: A Novel of Romance (as Elizabeth Rutland)

      The Murdered Schoolgirl: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #2)

      One Remained Seated: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #3)

      One Way Out: A Crime Novel (with Philip Harbottle)

      Pattern of Murder: A Classic Crime Novel

      Reflected Glory: A Dr. Castle Classic Crime Novel

      Robbery Without Violence: Two Science Fiction Crime Stories

      Rule of the Brains: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      Shattering Glass: A Crime Novel

      The Silvered Cage: A Scientific Murder Mystery

      Slaves of Ijax: A Science Fiction Novel

      Something from Mercury: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      The Space Warp: A Science Fiction Novel

      A Thing of the Past (Herbert the Dinosaur #1)

      Thy Arm Alone: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #4)

      The Time Trap: A Science Fiction Novel

      Vision Sinister: A Scientific Detective Thriller

      Voice of the Conqueror: A Classic Science Fiction Novel

      What Happened to Hammond? A Scientific Mystery

      Within That Room!: A Classic Crime Novel

      THE GOLDEN AMAZON SAGA

      1. World Beneath Ice

      2. Lord of Atlantis

      3. Triangle of Power

      4. The Amethyst City

      5. Daughter of the Amazon

      6. Quorne Returns

      7. The Central Intelligence

      8. The Cosmic Crusaders

      9. Parasite Planet

      10. World Out of Step

      11. The Shadow People

      12. Kingpin Planet

      13. World in Reverse

      14. Dwellers in Darkness

      15. World in Duplicate

      16. Lords of Creation

      17. Duel with Colossus

      18. Standstill Planet

      19. Ghost World

      20. Earth Divided

      21. Chameleon Planet (with Philip Harbottle)

      COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

      Copyright © 1947 by John Russell Fearn

      Copyright © 2007 by Philip Harbottle

      Published by Wildside Press LLC

      www.wildsidebooks.com

      DEDICATION

      To “Brooky” (Edwy Searles Brooks)

      CHAPTER ONE

      To refer to Betty Shapley as the ‘belle of the village’ might suggest a touch of the 1890s—yet what else can one call an attractive young lady revelling in the fact that she has three susceptible young men all hovering to respond to her slightest wish? Neither ‘siren’ nor ‘vamp’ could be applied to Betty. She had not the background to justify either term. One does not expect to find a sultry seducer behind the prosaic counter of a general store, or handing out stamps, cigarettes, or matches with an air of perfunctory detachment. So ‘belle of the village’ it must be.

      Langhorn village had seen Betty Shapley mature from a very tiresome shrieking child with blonde pigtails into a robust schoolgirl receiving her education—thanks to her winning a scholarship—at Roseway College two and a half miles beyond the village. This process, under the omnipotent eye of Miss Maria Black, M.A., had eliminated the tendency to shriek.

      Imperceptibly, Betty had grown up. Her pigtails had gone, and her frocks were decorously lengthened. Schooldays were gone. She had assumed the position of sub-post-mistress in the general store-cum-post-office owned by her father. The title was purely arbitrary, since in it she included serving tobacco, together with confectionery and green groceries. She felt it was a comedown after her education.

      Betty did not like postal work, and she hated routine. But Joseph Shapley had his own ideas concerning his daughter’s future—Roseway education notwithstanding.… So, being but nineteen and fully realizing that Nature had been generous to her face and figure, Betty did the natural thing—she opened her blue eyes wide in innocent appeal to every young man who bought cigarettes or chocolates. She cultivated a fluttering charm, and would often have difficulty in replacing the big covers on the toffee jars. This line always worked, ending with strong masculine hands doing what hers apparently could not.

      She had the power to make a request for mint humbugs seem like an event of world importance: there was a seductive pleasure in even being able to touch her hand accidentally when she held forth change. Old man Shapley, indeed, was agreeably surprised at the astonishing increase in his business returns once his daughter had come to help him. Having got past the age when feminine charm means anything, he put it all down to his own window displays and the cleanness of his offerings, looking quite beyond the curvacious girl with the bushy blonde hair who had stirred up such heart-throbbing among the young men of Langhorn.

      Mrs. Shapley guessed the reason for prosperity, mainly because there had once been a time when she had adopted similar tactics…and had finished up with stolid Joseph and his store of many colours.

      Betty numbered three principal rivals for her favours, and played one against the other with sublime disregard for their feelings. There was Vincent Grey, the young solicitor’s clerk who worked in Lexham—the nearest town—and towards whom she felt more serious than anybody else. Then there was Tom Clayton. He owned the garage two doors away and had the opportunity of seeing Betty in all her moods—even in the back garden in her worst mood when she tried to repair a puncture in her bicycle tyre. She sort of liked Tom; she was not sure. He was strong and grim and businesslike, and talked as though he did not want to give anything away. He was a bit of a student, too, with a liking for astronomy.

      Then