ollowing the death of the Fourteenth the new Phantom decided that position as Commander of the Jungle Patrol should be a secret. That tradition has been maintained. The Captain of the Patrol acts as the commanding officer, but his true commander is unknown even to him. The Captain may know the Phantom personally (as does the current C.O., Capt. Philip Horton), and may even suspect that the Phantom is his commander, but it is never spoken of.
The Secret Commander communicates with his Captain by an elaborate means. At the edge of the town, in a deserted mining headquarters, is a well that is marked as CONDEMNED. The Phantom rides the well-bucket to the bottom of the shaft, then proceeds down a long passageway that leads to a metal chamber underneath The Jungle Patrol headquarters. Here, the Phantom can receive reports that are dropped in a wall-slot inside HQ, and he can send messages to the Captain by a similar drop-slot that deposits directly into a locked safe in the secret commander's office. Only the Captain has the key to the office, and the only thing in it is the safe. The commander remains unseen, yet he always knows what is happening throughout the jurisdiction of the Jungle Patrol.