The Shadow - Death Ship Part 8

Perhaps The Shadow had made some complex calculation regarding the probable location of the Barracuda. Possibly he had followed one of his inspired hunches. Which, did not matter. The thing that happened to the light was more important.

Its feeble glow suddenly brightened. The lamp shone with sparkling brightness.

"The Barracuda!" exclaimed Prew. "It means that we have come within fifty miles of her! If Claudette -"

He paused, wondering just what conclusion to form. The Shadow supplied one.

"Whatever has happened to Claudette," he said, "she has not told Sergon of this device.

For the present, we must watch, and form our own conclusions."

Prew nodded. He drew a circle on a sheet of paper. Knowing the present speed of the Lamprey, he began to trace her possible course in reference to the Barracuda. One potential, however, was absent: the speed of the Barracuda.

The lamp went suddenly dim. Just how or why the Lamprey had lost the circle of the Barracuda looked like guesswork, until The Shadow suggested that they compare their own position with that of the steamship Darien, on the a.s.sumption that the Barracuda was headed her way.

Prew made a trip to the control room and changed the course. When he returned, The Shadow was still watching the dim light. Within ten minutes, it brightened again.

Then, with the same suddenness that had marked the lamp's first rising glow, came blinks ina quick succession of dots and dashes.

"It's Claudette!" exclaimed Prew. "She's safe! She's signaling us- giving the position of the Barracuda!"

FOR once, real elation showed on the maskish features of Cranston. Prew was right, and the flashes that came from Claudette were enough to show that they were headed directly along the trail of the Barracuda. If the other Z-boat loitered, as well it might, in seeking the Darien, the Lamprey soon would overtake her.

The blinks ended abruptly. Evidently Claudette had considered it unwise to signal further.

Her flashes, though, might come again. It was Prew who suggested that The Shadow remain to take any new message. The plan was satisfactory, until they heard Salvo shout from along the pa.s.sage.

Salvo thought that Prew had gone up to his cabin. Quickly, the commander closed the panel beneath the stairs and answered Salvo's call. Another shout brought bad news.

"Destroyer off the port bow!"

Prew rushed for the control room, The Shadow close behind him. As he stared through the periscope, the commander heard a question in his ear. The Shadow's tone was almost an accusation. Prew gulped a sincere apology.

"I thought more speed would help us," he began. "So I brought the ship nearly to the surface, leveling her off just awash. There's a scouting plane above that destroyer. I'm afraid she's sighted us."

Prew reached for the lever that controlled the horizontal rudders. He intended again to shove the Lamprey down into the long swells, keeping her at high speed. His hand was stopped by a firm grip. Clamping Prew's shoulder, The Shadow urged him to the corner chair.

Taking over, The Shadow ignored the rudder lever. Instead, he drew back the rod that controlled the Z-boat's speed. The speedometer needle flopped to the left before Prew's astounded gaze. The Shadow had deliberately cut the Lamprey down to twenty knots!

"It's suicide!" Prew was on his feet. "If that plane has sighted us, it will inform the destroyer -"

"The plane has already done so," interposed The Shadow. Hand on the wheel, he was swinging the Lamprey about. "The destroyer is heading for us, and the plane"-his eye was tighter to the periscope sight- "is flying off to report to other vessels."

"More speed, then!" urged Prew. "The destroyer will overtake us!"

The Shadow stretched a hand to press Prew back. Crew members, congregated in the doorway, looked ready to seize the interloper who called himself Cranston. But Prew waved them away. He didn't understand, yet he trusted The Shadow.

Yet the situation still seemed suicidal. If anything, The Shadow was lessening speed as he curved the Lamprey northward. He was keeping her awash, unquestionably in plain sight of the destroyer that Prew knew was heading for the Z-boat at double the latter's speed.

The hand on the speed lever tightened; Prew knew that the destroyer was very close. He watched The Shadow reach for the rudder control, then gasped at what he thought was a mistake. The Shadow hadn't started the Lamprey on a dive; he was lifting her completely tothe surface!

Prew thought the cause was doomed. He sagged back to the chair, motioned the crew to take their posts for the emergency soon to come. He knew that the Lamprey must have been mistaken for the Barracuda. That, plus The Shadow's action, seemed to seal the Z-boat's fate.

RIGHT then, the Lamprey took a forward lurch. The Shadow had yanked the speed lever to its limit. His other hand steadied, then reversed the rudder control. The horizontal fins reacted, tilting the Lamprey into a shallow, nose-end dive.

Despite what Prew thought was tardiness, the maneuver was perfect. With her surface lunge increasing the speed, the Lamprey had cut under, scarcely losing a knot.

Tense seconds went by, the speed dial roaming above thirty. Then came the thing that Prew had feared. A quiver shook the Lamprey; it came from a mighty concussion that affected all that stretch of sea. The destroyer had dropped a depth bomb.

Despite the blast, the Lamprey maintained her pace. Two minutes later, there was another tremor, but it was milder than the first. The third that arrived was scarcely noticeable. The Shadow had sent the Lamprey deeper, but still held her at top speed. In the quiet style of Cranston, his expression almost bored, he turned over the controls to Prew.

They were safe, and at last Prew understood The Shadow's strategy. Had he let Prew push the Lamprey at full speed along the surface, the destroyer would have kept right behind her, driving the Z-boat into the path of other ships summoned by the scouting plane. Even worse, the speed of the Lamprey would have been a giveaway of the Z-boat's incredible ability.

The Shadow had cut the speed to make the destroyer believe that the Lamprey was just another submarine. The final lurch along the surface, when the Z-boat gathered power, had been too short to reveal the submarine's real speed.

Timing its own calculations to suit an ordinary submarine, the destroyer had started dropping depth bombs just past the spot where the Lamprey had disappeared.

Hitting thirty knots, the Lamprey was by that time well away. Other destroyers, coming in to form a cordon, would calculate the Z-boat's speed as less than fifteen knots. The Lamprey would be gone from the circle when it closed in.

There was sure safety to the north, for it was dusk and night would cover Prew's undersea ship before it could again be sighted. To The Shadow went the credit for an escape that only his keen brain could have devised on such instant notice.

Yet escape, on this occasion, counted as defeat. Forced to reverse her course, the Lamprey had lost her chance to encounter the Barracuda.

Crime could proceed again tonight, despite the efforts of The Shadow.

CHAPTER XIV. THE SHADOW FORESEES.

BRIDGE lights, twinkling above the Golden Gate, gave but cold welcome to the returning Lamprey. She had reached haven before dawn and could slip into San Francis...o...b..y unseen, but Prew and his loyal men were doubtful of the news that awaited them.

Though The Shadow believed that all could have gone well, Prew had definite doubts. It would be his fault, he felt, if Felix Sergon had succeeded in attacking the Darien.Conversely, if the Barracuda had been trapped, any harm to Claudette Marchand would be Prew's blame.

Once the Lamprey was moored in her hiding place beneath the old dock, The Shadow ventured ash.o.r.e. He brought back news that he told Rusty to relay to Commander Prew.

That news was good. It fitted with a possibility that The Shadow had outlined.

The Barracuda had attacked the Darien, but had met with stiff opposition. At Panama, the liner had been equipped with guns and taken on a quota of marines. Proceeding without convoy, she had baited Felix Sergon and had almost hooked him.

Like the Yukon, the Darien had traitors aboard. Sneaking up on her, the Barracuda had unloaded its masked leader with the iron jaw. Sergon and his crew had found themselves suddenly surrounded on the steamship's deck.

Only luck and colossal nerve had saved them. Ordering his men to scatter, Sergon had led one flight into the depths of the ship, while others had chosen varied routes. Having to protect pa.s.sengers, the marines were handicapped.

Amid the scattered battle, Sergon and a few followers had actually reached the ship's strong room, but had gathered only a small amount of swag when they were discovered.

Bursting through a gangway on the opposite side of the Darien, the invaders had reached the Barracuda, which had come underneath the steamship to receive them. Sh.e.l.ls had been fired after the fleeing submarine, but she had dived in time to escape damage. Since then, she was unreported.

In return for several thousand dollars' worth of cash and valuables stolen, Felix Sergon had left a dozen of his followers dead aboard the Darien, shot down by the competent marines.

About the same number of persons were missing from the liner; they were the deserters who had joined up with Sergon.

All that day, The Shadow remained away from the Lamprey, getting more news. When he visited Commander Prew that evening, he brought tidings that the Barracuda had made another complete disappearance.

Remembering their own difficulties in the open sea, The Shadow and Prew had a long conference upon the subject of that new evanishment.

It seemed to Prew that Cranston's face reflected bafflement; that The Shadow had at last met with a mystery that he could not explain. Later, though, Prew decided that he was mistaken. He realized that he could never hope to a.n.a.lyze The Shadow's thoughts from studying Cranston's expressions.

IT was possible that the Barracuda had slipped into some harbor as the Lamprey had worked into San Francis...o...b..y. Such harbors, however, had become places of intensive search. Navy planes had insisted upon bombing a thousand-foot lumber raft that was coming down the coast from Oregon, on the chances that the Barracuda was using the raft as cover.

Seagoing tugs had pulled away, to let the planes smash the raft to kindling. Tons of bombs, millions of feet of lumber, had been sacrificed, only to learn that the Barracuda was not underneath.

With that failure to bring the pirate ship to light, a new rumor arose. It was one that touched off a batch of international complications involving the j.a.panese. The whole situation couldbe summed in one word: Mazatlan.

The port of Mazatlan had long been a matter of controversy, since the Mexican government allowed use of it to the j.a.panese fishing fleet that operated off the coast of Lower California.

Charges had been made that j.a.panese funds were secretly being used to improve Mazatlan harbor; those charges, in turn, had been denied and ridiculed by persons who declared that the harbor was nothing more than an open road-stead, that could never be equipped for use by navy vessels.

The question of the Barracuda, however, awoke new references to Mazatlan. Perhaps the Z-boat was using that port as its base. Possibly the j.a.panese fishing fleet knew something about the Barracuda. Agents with that fleet might be negotiating for the purchase of the mystery ship.

When The Shadow visited Prew the next night, he found the commander studying a big map. Prew pointed to Mazatlan, shook his head; then he traced a line up into the Gulf of Lower California.

"There are islands in that gulf," declared Prew. "The Barracuda could have her base there.

Sergon is clever-very clever!"

"Not clever enough to be in two places at once," objected The Shadow. "Hiding in the gulf and preying on coastwise shipping are two different propositions."

"Don't forget, Cranston, that he may be aided by the fishing fleet. Those j.a.ps are frequently about the mouth of the gulf. They could act as Sergon's eyes."

"Since you are interested in the j.a.panese angle, commander, read this."

The late newspaper that Cranston produced was opened, as usual, to the financial page.

But the column that The Shadow indicated had nothing to do with Wall Street. It spoke of a large transaction in international exchange.

For some months, exports to j.a.pan had outweighed imports from that country. The j.a.panese were settling up the difference. A shipment of gold, reputed to exceed five million dollars, was coming to San Francisco aboard a crack j.a.panese liner, the Shinwi Maru.

Prew read the news. His eyes took on their distant stare; a keenness tightened his features.

"It proves what I have said!" he snapped, suddenly. "This gold shipment, Cranston, is to cover the transaction with Sergon. He would be shrewd enough to demand gold for the sale of the Barracuda. A spare million would settle the deal."

"Do you believe, commander, that a million dollars is all that Sergon would demand?"

"It might be all that the j.a.panese would pay. Perhaps your friend Soyoto" -Prew's tone had a trace of sarcasm-"could answer the question. Provided, of course, that Soyoto would actually tell all he knew."

"I have not seen Soyoto recently. There are other j.a.panese, though, who might be interviewed."

THE SHADOW pointed in the news account. In the final paragraph, it related that certain prominent j.a.panese officials were aboard the Shinwi Maru, en route to Washington todiscuss international trade relations.

"There is the answer," insisted Prew. "Sergon has so definitely cla.s.sed himself as a pirate, that the way is now open for him to make a sale. Those men"-he tapped the paragraph-"are the ones who will treat with him.

"Sergon is pretending that he fears to attack any more vessels. A good enough bluff, since searchers are everywhere along the coast. But believe me, Cranston, after the Shinwi Maru touches at Honolulu, those j.a.ps will begin to talk among themselves, deciding how much to offer Sergon."

The Shadow said nothing to indicate that he was influenced by Prew's opinion. His silence, however, made Prew believe that the argument had scored. At last, The Shadow declared, as though stating simple fact: "Much might be learned by any one aboard the Shinwi Maru. Provided, of course, that such a person had a purpose in mind."

Prew's eyes showed eagerness. He would have liked to listen in on those j.a.panese conferences that he had mentioned. Realizing that such work was not his specialty, he shook his head.

"I belong here," he declared, "on the Lamprey. I am ready to clear port whenever needed.

Someone else -" He stopped, looked squarely at Cranston, who was smiling. Then Prew blurted: "You are going to Honolulu?"

The Shadow nodded. Prew reached out to grip his hand. He admired The Shadow's courage, but during that handshake Prew began to have qualms.

"You may accomplish something on the Shinwi Maru," he agreed, "but watch out for consequences. A misstep, you would be trapped. Much might happen to anyone alone among enemies on the high seas; even to The Shadow."

"I have foreseen that," declared The Shadow quietly, but in a tone that Prew did not quite understand. "Therefore, I intend to leave the Shinwi Maru before she reaches San Francisco."

"But how -"

"A ship will reach me at a time appointed."

"What ship?"

"Your ship, commander," replied The Shadow, solemnly. "This ship- the Lamprey."

While Prew was recuperating from the new surprise, The Shadow traced a large half circle on the map. It represented the cruising range of the Lamprey between dusk and midnight.

The Shadow brought a finger eastward from outside the circle, to represent the Shinwi Maru coming in from Honolulu.

"I shall send a radiogram from the liner," explained The Shadow, "to an agent here in San Francisco. He will contact one of your men, to relay the secret message. It will carry all the information that you need."

"Good!" decided Prew. "I shall tell my crew -" "Tell them," interrupted The Shadow, "that you are starting out again to seek the Barracuda.

Only that will be necessary."

CARRYING hat and coat across his arm, The Shadow ascended to the cramped conning tower. Prew followed; he was smiling in new antic.i.p.ation, while he raised the Z-boat toward the dock. He watched The Shadow don cloak and hat for his journey to the sh.o.r.e.

Just before the trapdoor closed in the dock above, Commander Prew fancied that he caught the echo of a laugh. The tone was one of prophecy that pleased the gray-haired commander. Prew was sure he knew its full significance.

He was confident that The Shadow intended to balk the very factor upon which Felix Sergon depended, which-as Prew had a.n.a.lyzed it- was the sale of the Barracuda. If The Shadow could acquire real evidence against the j.a.panese while aboard the Shinwi Maru, the game would be won.