Presenting the transcription feature, Superman! It's a plane! It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from the planet Krypton, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can leap tall buildings of a single bound, raise a speeding bullet to its target, then steal in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice. And now to our story. Things have taken a serious turn at the Bartlett Logging Camp, deep in the Northwood, where Clark Kent and young Jimmy Olsen are involved in a baffling mystery. Not only have four lumberjacks met death at unknown hands, but the legend of the White Plague, said to be responsible for the death, now seems to be seeking vengeance from Kent and Jimmy. When we last saw them, they were driving a horse-drawn sled back to the camp, a sled carrying the lifeless body of a lumberjack, who had suddenly and mysteriously collapsed. Without warning, a rifle began blazing at them from the woods adjoining the trail. Shouting to Jimmy to keep low, Kent sent the horse into a gallop, as steel-jacketed bullets whirmed about his head. Stay down, Jimmy. Whoever's handling that rifle means business. Get up, boy! Be careful, because you can't shoot your head. Don't worry about me. Stop shooting. Yeah, but keep low until we get around this bend. There, okay, I guess we can pull up. Whoa, boy! Floating! Whoa! There it is. Close call. Who do you think it was, Mr. Kent? I don't know, Jimmy. But if they think we're going to take this lying down, they're crazy. They can believe that the White Plague kills off people mysteriously if they want to, but the White Plague doesn't shoot a high-powered rifle. You know, I'd almost swear that a couple of those bullets bounced off your back. Oh, now look here, Jimmy. Well, I admit it's impossible, but that's how it seems. Every time there was a shot, I heard the bullet whiz by. Every time except twice. Then there was a little thump, and he sort of stiffened up and... Oh, forget it. I'm just nuts. I'm beginning to think so. Well, what do we do now? Well, since sitting here, we might just as well go on to the camp. I'd like to sneak back and see if I can find some trace of whoever was shooting at us. Well, let him have another shot at you? Yes, I know you've got a lot of courage and all that, but good grief, you're not Superman. Oh, no? I mean, oh, no, no, of course not. Well, let's head for the camp, but don't mention this shooting incident to anyone, Jimmy. And not even to Mr. Harmon? Not even to Mr. Harmon. He has plenty to worry about, as it is. Let's keep it quiet for a while. Okay. Get up, boy. Come on. Get up. Fire sure feels good after spending most of the day watching your men chop trees, Mr. Harmon. Yes, I suppose it does. Kent, I am at the end of my rope. This last thing, Sam Green's death, is all I can stand. I'm riding into town tonight to wire Mr. Bartlett that I'm closing up. You can't do that, Mr. Harmon. That's quitting in the face of a little trouble. You call this a little trouble? Four men dead under strange circumstances and every human being in the camp in deadly fear that he'll be next? You call that a little trouble? Well, I admit it's puzzling, but there must be a solution. This nonsense about the white plague seeking vengeance on your men because they've been cutting trees with snow-covered roots is so much childish superstition. Yes, I know. But you can't convince the men of that. Some of them are getting ready to leave now. What does Dawson say? What can he say? Bill doesn't believe it any more than you or I do, but he's helpless. Matter of fact, you and young Jimmy have no right staying here. What if something happened to either one of you? Oh, nothing's going to happen to us. By the way, where is Jimmy? Why, Nancy took him out back to show him the baby raccoon she's penned up. Come in. Oh, it's you, Olaf. Yeah, I bring back rifle, Mr. Harmon. All right, just set it in the corner with the others, Olaf. Thank you. And if you see Mr. Dawson, Olaf, ask him to step in. Yeah, Mr. Harmon, as is. Was he one of the felling crew Dawson had out this morning, Mr. Harmon? The crew Sam Green was with? Yes. Where did he get the rifle? Why, each crew takes one along in case of wolves or bears. And that rifle went along with Dawson's crew? Now, I'm sorry, Kent, but frankly, I'm in no state of mind to answer unimportant questions. What difference does it make what rifle went with what crew? Haven't we more important things to think about? I wonder. Where are you going, Kent? Which of these rifles did that Swede just return? Uh, well, the one on the right. This one? Yes. Here. Smell this barrel. Burnt powder. This rifle's been shot recently. Well, what of it? Is there any law against firing a rifle? Yes, if you fire it at human beings. What are you talking about, Kent? Well, I hadn't intended telling you this for fear of worrying you further, but someone tried to kill Jimmy and myself today, Mr. Harmon. What? Well, Kent, you don't mean that. I'm afraid I do. When we were driving the sled back to camp, someone fired at us from the woods with a rifle. This rifle. Someone fired at you? Yes. Quite a number of shots. But why, Kent? Well, that's not important at the moment. What is important is that this rifle was used to fire the shots. You can't be sure of that. We have four rifles in camp, all of them the same make. They may have all been fired today. At Wolves. Well, we can find out, can't we? The crew Jimmy and I were with had no reason for using a rifle. That is up to the time we left. Suppose you call that Swedish logger, Barry. He should know whether the rifle was used. That's a good idea, Kent. I'll put my Mackinac on and get him. This is simply terrible. I'll be right back. I wonder whether the person who used this rifle was smart enough to reload it. Well, only one way to find out. There's a brand new, full, five-shot clip in here. He was smart enough. But he didn't bother to clean the barrel. And that's what may hang all this on him. Well, you didn't waste any time, Mr. Harmon. There isn't any to waste. Olaf, this is Mr. Kent. I've been glad to meet you, Mr. Kent. How do you do, Olaf? That's the rifle you just returned, isn't it, Olaf? The one Mr. Kent is holding? Yeah, I think so. It's the one you brought back a few minutes ago and placed in the corner. Yeah, yeah. Was that rifle used today, Olaf? You mean, was shot, Mr. Harmon? Yes, I mean shot. Oh, no, that's the rifle she know was shot today. No, no. Are you sure, Olaf? I've been sure. Used like I've been sure my name, Olaf Johnson. Nobody shot this rifle? Yeah. You mean somebody did shoot it? Oh, no, no. You got me twisted, Mr. Harmon. Uh, Kent, you'd better take over. I, I can't even think straight. Olaf, you say the rifle wasn't shot all day. Is that right? Yeah. Mm-hmm. How do you know it wasn't shot? Where was it? Leaning on stump. I haven't seen it 20 times, maybe. I understand. You saw the rifle leaning against the stump. All right, but someone might have picked it up and shot it. No, no. Did you hear any rifle shot this afternoon? Yeah. Oh, but you're sure they didn't come from this gun? Yeah. Hmm. Now, Mr. Harmon, either he's lying or he's mistaken. Olaf, never lie. What do you mean when you say that? Now, say, take it easy, Olaf. Mr. Kent didn't say that you lied. Yeah, I've been here. He may know he's deaf. I punch him in his nose. I'm sorry, Olaf. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I hurt your face with punch and nose if you say, Olaf, tell him lie. All right, Olaf, all right. You can go now. Well, Olaf, say rifle, no shot. Rifle, no shot. Eh, not the light. I always knew Swedes were sensitive, but not that sensitive. Well, now what, Kent? Looks like we're up against the blank wall again. While you were getting Olaf, I examined the rifle, Mr. Harmon. Whoever used it took the precaution of reloading it with a new clip of cartridges. That convinces me this was the gun employed. Well, assuming that it is, what good does that knowledge do us unless we know who pulled the trigger? Oh, I wish Dawson would get here. Maybe he knows the answer to this. Well, didn't he come back with the crew? Yes, but an ice jam developed on the river. He went down to blow it out. Oh. We're due to float 10,000 feet downstream tonight because it must reach the mill by next week. Well, he should be back shortly. Kent, I don't think I can stand much more of this. Come on, now, buck up, Mr. Harmon. It'll straighten out. I suppose so. In the meantime, I... I can't take it. I'm not as young as I'd like to be when trouble starts brewing. I've had my share of it all my life and managed to squeeze by, but... When you're going on 55, Kent, you feel as though you've got a right to sit back, relax. You'll get that chance, I'm sure. I'm worried about Nancy, Kent. When I take things hard, it upsets her terribly. I know she hasn't slept a wink these last few nights. I hear her get up, come out, and sit by the fire. It's not right. Hey, by the way, where are Jimmy and Nancy? I didn't realize it, but it's almost dark. Hey, I told you, they went out to look at the raccoons. Yes, but that was almost an hour ago. Where are the raccoons? The wire pen out in back. Here, this way. Yeah, there's the pen next to that shed. Well, I don't see either of them. Jimmy! They may have walked down around the cabins. Nancy knows my whistle. She'll answer it. That's funny. I'm going to look for them. It'll be pitch dark soon, right? Now, wait a minute, Kent. Look at these footprints in the snow around the pen. One set is Nancy's, and the other set must be Jimmy's. Yes, it is. We can follow them. Come on. Where do they lead to? Back of the shed. What's there? Nothing but a little cleared land and a pine woods. Well, the prints are headed right for the woods. I don't like this, Kent. Nancy would never wander away like this. Wait a minute. Hold up. Why, what is it, Kent? Look. They never got to the woods. The footprints end here, right out in the open. No, they must have gone back or turned off. Those are the only footprints in the snow besides our own. But, Kent, it's impossible. They couldn't just vanish. Where could they have gone? According to these footprints, there's only one place they could have gone. Up in the air. Now, what strange, baffling thing has happened to add to the mystery surrounding the logging camp? Where did Jimmy and Nancy Harmon vanish to, and how is it possible that their footprints in the snow ended abruptly? Can you figure it out? If you can't, don't fail to listen to the next episode of Superman. Don't forget. Tune in again for the next thrilling episode with Superman. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman. Superman is a copyrighted feature appearing in Action Comics magazine. It's a plane.
