The Yellow Hoard - The Avenger, Bk 2 Author:Kenneth Robeson The hidden gold of the Aztecs, a gang of criminals kill to find it-and unleash the wrath of the Avenger. — Smitty sees a house explode, and grabs a suspicious character and takes him to Mac's drugstore. Drugged and hypnotized, the man reveals that a small, peanut-shaped bomb was used in a plot to get 5 clay bricks originally from southern Mexico.... more » The bricks are archeological artifacts found by Professor Archer Gray, distributed among some of the expedition members for safekeeping. Gray is killed for his 2 bricks, and the gang murders and uses the small bombs to cause other explosions. Gray's daughter, Nellie, is slow to trust Benson, but helps the trio pursue the criminals. She also acts on her own, roughing up criminals independently. The bricks each contain a segment of golden belt inscribed with directions to huge Aztec treasure. Both Justice Inc. and the criminals have enough information to take them to the vicinity of the treasure in Mexico. In a battle involving hidden temples, Aztec gold, secret passageways, traps, escapes, etc., the criminals are thwarted and fall into their own traps. Justice Inc. ends up with the largest amount of gold in the world to finance its activities.
A personal tragedy, the loss of his family and all facial expression and coloration due to shock and nerve damage, left Richard Benson swearing vengeance on the underworld. Justice Inc., his quirky crime fighting crew, included a petite young woman (Nellie), a mountain engineer (Smitty), a scottish chemical expert (Mac) and a married black couple (Josh and Rosabel). Benson had the ability to disguise himself by twisting his dead, malleable features into others' faces.
First published in The Avenger pulp magazine in 1939.
Paul Ernst writing under pseudonym Kenneth Robeson.
Kenneth Robeson: a house pseudonym used by Street and Smith Publications- used by Lester Dent, Paul Ernst, Ron Goulart, Will Murray« less