 On through the night, speed the blue beetle in his fast motor car. As he nears the carnival, he parks his car in a hidden spot and approaches John Doar's tent on foot. So you won't sign up, eh? No. Not for any crooked schemes like yours. Okay, it's your funeral door. Work on it, Frenchie. No, no! I'll part it, Doar. The answer is still no! Give it to him again, Frenchie. No, no! So you won't sign, eh? But they seem all the same. The blue beetle. Yes, the blue beetle. Oh, there is no blue beetle here. It's a trick. Doar's got a phonograph planted someplace. That's so. Well, here's something planted. And it wasn't a phonograph. So, hey, Frenchie, what is it? Me? I do not know. I see nothing. Well, maybe you can see stars. Come on. Come on. Let's get out of here before I go up me nut. I can't fight ghosts. Wait a minute. Let me help you on your way with my foot. I'll get going, both of you. And if the blue beetle ever sees you again, I'll blast you wide open. Come on, Frenchie. We gotta tell the boss about this. Are you all right, Doar? I don't know. I can't see you. Am I blind? No, Doar. You're not blind. Now, do as I tell you. Own police headquarters and report what just happened. All right. I will do it. And don't worry. The blue beetle's on the job. I'm going to trail those men. Maybe they'll lead me to their hangout. I'll get going. The blue beetle's got a lot of nipping to do. Will the blue beetle catch up with the thugs who are beating John Doar? What about the invisible paint? Will it wear off before the blue beetle reaches his destination? What will he find when he gets there? How do the carnival grounds dash the blue beetle? Just in time to see the two thugs drive off in a long sedan. Jumping into his own car, the blue beetle gave chase. Until out on the river road. Those thugs are taking the road that leads to the old haunted house. That must be the headquarters. I'll have to take a chance. My invisible paint is wearing off. I'll force them off the road and they'll have to stop. Right, you thugs? Off out and make it snappy. That's the blue beetle. Oh, I can see him now. Come on. Let's get him. This time, we know if I go. Come on, me hearties. I'll take you both at once. That's for old man Doar. And that's for law and order. Oh, no, you won't, Frenchie. That'll take care of you. Put up your head, bloke beater, I'll tell you so. Not tonight, you won't. Here's a face full of knuckles for you. Well, he's done for a while. Let's see, I'd better not use my invisible paint. I may need the little it's left to use later. How can I get into that house up there? I think I'll just take one of these thugs over here and... What are the blue beetles' plans? Is the haunted house the headquarters of the crooked slot machine racketeers? Let's look in on this weird and mysterious looking... Look through the peephole and see who that is, Maggie. Okay. It's Croker and Frenchie. All right, raise the iron panel and admit them. Okay. Hello, Chief. Me and Frenchie's back. Yeah, so I see. What have you to report? Well, Frenchie and me, we went to see Old Man Dua like you told us, and we gave him the works, but he wouldn't sign up for the machines. Did you tell him the duke sent you? Sure, boss. Why didn't you use further persuasion? We was just going to, and suddenly there was a funny humming sound in that crackle. Go on. Well, from out of the air, a voice said he was the blue beetle. Told us to lay off the old man. Was it dark? No, it was light enough, but we couldn't see nobody but the old man. Go on, then what happened? The blue beetle started slapping us around. Ah, ridiculous. He must have been drunk. Can't be word, Chief. We were sober as a judge. Am I right, Frenchie? We. It is as you say. Huh? What's the matter, Frenchie? Why don't you raise your head? Well, my neck, she is hurt. The blue beetle, he hit me hard. Yeah. Now, like I said, Chief, when we couldn't see no one to fight, we beat it out of there. But the blue beetle followed us in his car, and just down the road here, he forced us over to the side, and we had to stop. Then he rushed us, and before we could plug him, he conked us both on a bean and we passed out. When I come to, I was in the car, and Frenchie here was driving. And the blue beetle? He had disappeared. A likely story, Grugger. Suppose you step aside. I want to talk to Frenchie. He'll tell you the same story. Chief, boys, we've got to be ready. The blue beetle may be here any minute. The blue beetle is here. What do you mean? Frenchie. Take off that hat and coat. Chief, the blue beetle himself disguised as Frenchie. Yes, the blue beetle, and he is going to... Have you heard of the blue beetle? I've got you covered. Put away that gun. You can't injure the blue beetle? The blue beetle seems fond of appearing and disappearing. Every time he does appear another bunch of rats have brought to justice. I'm happy at last to have met the blue beetle face to face. But I regret that the meeting must be so brief. I have seen you. I wish to see you no more, sir. Here, down you go, blue beetle, through the trapdoor into my subterranean sewer. You'd like to chase the rats, as you call them. Well, you can get your stomach full of them down here. Maybe they'll turn the tables and chase you, Mr. Blue Beetle. You and Kroger close the trapdoor. Sure, boss. Yeah, sure, anything you say, boss. Man, listen to me. You'd better get this straight with no bungling if you don't want to join the blue beetle. Not me, boss. It was Frenchie's fault the other time. He didn't slug the old man high enough before the blue beetle showed up. I don't want any excuses. I want results this time. Yes, boss. You go and see John Dore again. Tell him there's no other way. Tell him there's a grand awakening for him if he signs up with us. If he refuses again, tell him the blue beetle's dead. Offer to prove it to him by bringing him here. Go easy on him this time. If I did, I'd get his signature to a contract to install our slot machines at the carnival or bring him out here. Have you got that straight? Sure, boss. You better have. Now, one thing more. If you don't come back with Dore's signature or with Dore himself, you'll be pushing up daisies when spring comes round again. Hey, listen, boss, that's a cop. Yeah, how did they find out? You stupid fool. You must have left that frame a mile wide. No, boss. Nobody saw us put the blue beetle. You hide, brother. Behind that screen over there. They've got nothing on me. I'll meet them this night. All right, boys. You got your guns? Here we go. Come on. Good evening, gentlemen. Calling rather late, aren't you? The law is on the job 24 hours a day. Admiral, is something wrong? Yes, you. Me? What have I done? Your thugs have tried to kill an old man and you were trying to install your crooked slot machines at the carnival. I assure you, you've made a mistake, Sergeant. I ain't, Sergeant. It's plain officer mannequin and we ain't made no mistake. The blue beetle folded us 10 minutes ago. Now I know you're mistaken, officer mannequin. The blue beetle couldn't have fallen you here. The blue beetle. Excuse me, sir. Yes, the blue beetle. It must be a ghost. The blue beetle? No, not dead. Just invisible. No, no. It can't be. I saw him drop down that wall. What's that you're trying to say? He's trying to tell you, mannequin, that he saw me drop to my death through that trap door you're standing on. How many mores has he never noticed and had to get off quick? Hey, where are you, blue beetle? I'm here. There. Everywhere a criminal tries to hide. Let me out of here. Let me out of here. Not till you confess to this crime. Oh, I don't know what you're talking about. Come on, confess you crook or I'll choke it out of you. No, no, no, no. Take me away from here. Take me to police headquarters. I confess. Only don't let the blue beetles go. Get me. All right, guys. Put the hands up, sir. All right, mannequin. Very good work, blue beetle. Wherever you are and thanks. But don't forget, someday I'm going to catch up with you and when I do, I'm going to run you in just on general principles. That's okay with me, mannequin. But remember, you first got to catch me. So long, mannequin. Give my regards to the commissioner. And so the blue beetle broke up another racket that was preying on unsuspecting amusement seekers. What happened when he fell through the trap door? How did he escape from his living tomb? Let's look in on Dr. Franham's little apothecary shop where Petroman Dan Garrett is relaxing after a strenuous night. Danny boy, you sure have luck, don't I? You know when I felt myself falling, I twisted myself so I landed on my feet. The twist must have thrown me to one side so that instead of landing on the concrete floor, I landed in a fairly deep stream of water that flows under the cellars of that haunted house. Remarkable, wasn't it? What did you do then? Well, I let myself be carried along by the stream, keeping my head above water whenever I could. And how far did it carry you? Oh, about 500 feet underground. When I came up in the open, I quickly covered myself with your invisible paint, rushed back to the house and entered with the police. Excuse me a minute. Someone's out front in the store. Hello, doc. I wanted some coin. My youngsters got a touch of the flu. Here, here, I'm sorry to hear that. Just a minute. Here you are. That will be 10 cents. Here's a quarter. See, did you hear? That mysterious killer on horseback has killed another cop. Another one? That makes the sixth in as many days. Here's your change. Thanks. Yup. Strange, a police can't seem to do nothing about it. Well, here's one policeman that's going to do something about it. Oh, so it's patrolman Dan Garrett. Yes. So long, doc. If Managhan calls, I'm over at police headquarters. What is this new scourge that has struck the city? Six policemen shot in one week by a mysterious horseman. Undoubtedly a strange, deadly maniac. Will Dan Garrett run him to earth? Or will it take the blue beetles to avenge these deaths? These questions will be answered in the next episode of the Blue Beetle. And now here's the Blue Beetle to say a few words. The moral of this story is that courage will often win against any and all odds. If you are right, stick to your gun through thick and thin, and you'll come through somehow. All of the real leaders of our day in every human endeavor have courage. With nerve, bravery, whatever you will, but acquire it if you haven't already got it. And hold on to it for it's very, very precious. This country we live in was built on courage. The Blue Beetle is a copyrighted Fox feature appearing in Mystery Men Comics magazine and the Blue Beetle magazine on sale at your newsstand. The Blue Beetle is on the air twice a week on this same station. Consult the broadcast schedule in your local newspapers. And don't forget to listen in to the Blue Beetle.