The Shadow - The Shadow's Justice Part 11

Both were wrong. While they were going up to their rooms, another car was stopping outside the door of the Summit Lake Hotel. A new guest cautiously ascended to the veranda, and peered inside beforeentering. This newcomer grinned as he inscribed his name upon the register, and noted the signature of Carter Boswick.

For the new guest was none other than Stacks Lodi. He was one of the few who had scurried to safety in time to escape The Shadow's fire. He had been hiding among the trees when Harry Vincent and Carter Boswick had pa.s.sed. He had heard the reference to the Summit Lake Hotel.

In the woods, Stacks had been afraid to attack two men alone. Here, in a crowded hotel, he was also unable to act. But he had brought himself upon the definite mission of trailing these men whose lives Hub Rowley wanted.

The big shot's mob had been defeated; but strategy might succeed where ma.s.sed strength had failed.

Even with The Shadow as an enemy, Stacks Lodi was willing to play the spy. The man was grinning his evil leer when he went up to the room a.s.signed to him by the clerk.

His part was pa.s.sive now, Stacks knew; but sooner or later, the men whom he was watching would return to the zone of danger. Tomorrow, he would communicate with Hub at the Michigan road house.

From then on, any move by Harry and Carter would be reported to the big shot.

The Shadow's agent and the man whom he protected were still under surveillance by the cunning underling who served as Hub Rowley's spy!

CHAPTER XVII. OUT OF THE SKY.

LATE the next afternoon a strange ship of the sky appeared above the forested area north of the Wisconsin-Michigan border. Its flight was leisurely, due to the spinning blades that whirled horizontally above it.

The Shadow's autogiro was flying above the wilderness!

To the sharp eyes that stared downward from the ship, every feature of the terrain was clearly visible.

The autogiro settled slowly. Less than a thousand feet from earth, it hovered above one spot.

Directly below was the clearing with the miner's cabin in the center. No bodies were there now. They had been removed at dawn, through a cautious foray directed by Hub Rowley. The big shot had found his men at the cars, and had lain there throughout the night.

All gangsters were gone, however. The Shadow had ascertained that fact. All seemed deserted below.

The cabin was silent; the vertical mine shaft yawned, a square hole in the ground. These, however, were not the only objects that The Shadow sought.

In one brief flight, The Shadow was accomplishing something that had not occurred to Carter Boswick-a complete survey of all the territory about the cabin. The autogiro, after a slow hesitation that seemed a halt, turned toward the rising hillside. Beneath it was a structure that Harry Vincent and Carter Boswick had not discovered in their short survey on the ground.

This was a shack, halfway up the hillside. The building was sheltered amid the trees. Another unusual landmark was visible from the air. This was a path, so long forgotten that it could not have been noticed by a person on the ground, but which was slightly apparent from above.

The path began at the edge of the clearing by the hill. It ascended, past the shack, to fade upon the hillside. With strange precision, the autogiro seemed to follow that path until it reached a new angle of vision.This brought another discovery-one that could not possibly have been made upon the ground. A cracked rock revealed itself in the midst of a thick cl.u.s.ter of trees and dried underbrush. As the autogiro circled, slowly nearing the ground, the meaning of that concealed ledge became apparent.

So artfully hidden that only a thorough and prolonged ground search could have uncovered it, was an opening between the rocks-the entrance to a hidden mine shaft on the hillside!

The tones of a weird laugh mingled with the throbbing of the autogiro's motor. The ship poised, seeking a landing spot.

An ordinary plane would have taken to the clearing, and landed there with difficulty. But this windmill of the air was scornful. It descended with the easy motion of a parachute, and came to rest upon a flat ledge a few hundred yards away from the spot where the rocky opening was located.

The landing was rough. The giro's wheel b.u.mped as they struck irregular stone; but the hand that guided the plane used the utmost skill. The wheel made scarcely more than a single turn. The tilting ship righted itself, and rested in the barren spot like a huge bird come to earth.

THE SHADOW'S aerial inspection had been wisely planned. The conflict that had been waged in the clearing had caused a temporary withdrawal of the opposing forces. With a short interim at hand, the mysterious investigator had utilized air navigation as a method of observation.

Had an ordinary plane been used, its swift flight would have required more circling and interrupted study of the scene. With the hovering autogiro, The Shadow had gained quick results.

The darkening ground made excellent cover for the new progress of The Shadow. A black-clad figure appeared beside the plane. It glided stealthily along the ground, and reached a wooded area.

Feeling his way through the dusk, The Shadow, like a floating phantom, reached the clump of trees that his keen eyes had observed from an alt.i.tude of a thousand feet.

A flashlight flickered, and its rays showed the cl.u.s.tered barrier of wooden trunks. The position of the trees; the formation of the rocks; both conspired to completely conceal the opening which The Shadow sought. Even in the brightest light of day, a procession of men could have pa.s.sed by this spot with no chance of detecting the hidden opening. Only The Shadow's positive knowledge sufficed him now.

The probing light picked a course around jutted points of tree-protected rock. It found a twisting, natural path of stony base. The Shadow's form poised momentarily above an overhanging rock; then sidled to the right, and glided to the ground below. Twisting into a short crevice, The Shadow halted directly in front of a cavernous opening.

The flashlight gleamed distinctly now. It showed a narrow, rock-jutted course that extended at an angle into the hill. The figure in black seemed to hide the light, except for brilliant flickers which occasionally glowed beyond it. Then both light and form were gone, into the recess of the earth!

Silence pervaded the place where The Shadow had disappeared. The moon, rising above the horizon, threw an eerie glow over this hidden scene as the gathering night increased. A motion occurred beyond the clump of trees that guarded the entrance of the cave.

That sound might have been the plunging of some wild animal. At first, there was nothing to indicate the positive presence of a human being. But the constant effort to work a way through the barrier soon betokened the action of a person. Then came pauses while a man breathed heavily.

Had some one, spying from the ground, noted the arrival of The Shadow's autogiro? Had that person,heading toward the spot where the ship had landed, seen tokens of The Shadow's presence through the glow of the probing flashlight?

This seemed the probable case yet the searcher was blind in his efforts. He could not make further discovery. His plowing in the brush became a clamber over jagged rocks.

It was then that his form became momentarily visible in the fringe of moonlight. The second investigator reached one of the overhanging portions of rock that hid the cave.

Here, all search would have ended fruitlessly. Perhaps, by day, the second man might have readily guessed that some important spot was below; but in the moonlight, his cautious, creeping form was heading toward the other side of the rock, away from the important spot.

It was chance that aided this new searcher. As he reached a cl.u.s.ter of saplings, he paused and stretched beneath the trees, listening between heavy breaths.

A glimmer of light had caught the searcher's attention. This glow had come almost from beneath the rock that he had just abandoned. It was like distant lightning, obscured by a heavy cloud-a chance flash that revealed nothing, yet which gave positive evidence of activity.

AS the spying man watched, the light was repeated. Then the flicker came for a third time, and its glow gave the momentary sign of a blackened shape that was emerging from the rock.

That, however, was the last betraying signal. Had the spying man tried, he could not have gained an advantage over The Shadow. For the moment that the outside had been reached, the master of darkness extinguished his light completely, and became a being of seeming nothingness.

The watcher waited. He listened for something to indicate where the arrival from the cavern had gone.

No clew came. The Shadow, creeping through the blackness of the half-buried rock, was returning over his corkscrew course with the utmost skill. That being of blackness could feel his way over ground once established. The Shadow's caution was supreme.

Long, tense minutes pa.s.sed. The man who watched was breathing heavily. Lying still, he gave sounds that could reveal him to listening ears; but The Shadow, with silent motion, had faded into nothingness.

At last, after twenty minutes, the spy became impatient. He had seen no new trace of the light; he inferred that the person below had gone away through the darkness.

It was then that the watcher moved. He emerged from trees into moonlight, and cautiously urged his way toward the side of the rock. His own flashlight glimmered, focused on the ground. Step by step, it revealed a rocky path; and after short difficulties, the new searcher found himself before the opening in the ground.

A m.u.f.fled gasp of elation came from the man's lips. Probing cautiously into the gap, he used his light as a guide, and entered. Sure that the stranger of the night had departed, he could not resist the desire to conduct an investigation of his own.

After the second searcher had disappeared a new phenomenon took place. Silent motion occurred among the saplings where the spy had lain.

A soft laugh came from hidden lips as the form of The Shadow rose into the fringe of moonlight. Keen eyes glistened from beneath the brim of a slouch hat. The folds of a black cloak hung shroud-like from The Shadow's shoulders.Coming softly through the blackness, The Shadow had sensed the presence of the spy. He had waited, a creature of invisibility. It had become his turn to watch.

More minutes elapsed. The Shadow, aware of every action that the spy had taken, was waiting for the man's return. The patience was rewarded. A glimmering ray of light announced that the second prober was returning.

At last his figure became plain as he emerged from the cavern and picked his way, by lighted steps, back up the rock. When the man reached the saplings, The Shadow was no longer there. Flat upon a ledge of overhanging rock, the being of darkness lay invisible.

The second searcher nervously made his course off through the trees. Intermittent flashes showed the route that he was taking. All during that pa.s.sage a figure stalked close behind his heels. The Shadow was following him to his destination.

This proved to be the shack which The Shadow had observed from the air. Not far from the cavern, it formed a hidden abode among the trees.

The man's business there was brief but active. In the dim glow of an oil lamp, he gathered together various articles of food, blankets, tools. Bundling these, he extinguished the lamp and took it also. Then he emerged from the shack, and went back toward the hidden cavern, using his intermittent flashlight to guide the way.

Through the window of the shack, The Shadow's probing eyes had seen all. Now, once again, The Shadow was following the unwitting man who believed that he had gone. Observed had become observer. That was The Shadow's way.

WHILE the man laboriously lowered his burden from a ledge of rock, The Shadow's eyes still watched.

When the man had finally reached the entrance to the cavern, the one who peered from darkness still remained unseen. At last, the flickering of a flashlight proved that the man from the shack had entered the cavern to stay.

The Shadow had learned the man's purpose. The cave which be had discovered and probed would be his abode.

A low, sinister laugh sounded through the moonlit night. The Shadow, too, had probed that cavern. He knew and understood the purpose which had guided the man there.

For The Shadow, keenly watchful, had seen the face of the man who had entered the cave. He had divined the fellow's purpose. Well had The Shadow studied the motives and cross-purposes that were rampant in this vicinity, where crime and death had come.

New action lay ahead. The Shadow's weird laugh betokened the activity of his mighty brain. The way to wealth had been discovered. It could be laid open to Carter Boswick now.

The Shadow's aerial visit had been made with the purpose of nullifying crime. Its successful result had proven to The Shadow's liking. The presence of the watching man from the shack had proven an unexpected factor. But The Shadow included even this in his calculations.

A moving form of obscure proportions flitted through the trees. The figure stopped beside the autogiro, and noiselessly stepped aboard. The motor purred with rhythm. No ears could hear it now. The one man in this locality had buried himself beneath the earth.

The blades above the ship were whirling. The autogiro moved forward. Its wheel lumbered across asmooth extent of rock, headed directly for dangerous, jagged points beyond the flat ledge. Before the wheel reached those menacing barriers of stone, the autogiro was in the air. Its flight was tending upward.

It cleared the fringe of trees, and rose perfectly into the moonlight.

The ascent reached the vertical. The Shadow's ship hovered over the moon-bathed scene. The opening of the cavern was almost invisible now. The little shack, however, showed plainly among the trees. The cabin and the gaping hole of the vertical mine shaft were evident in the clearing.

Out of the air had The Shadow come. Into the air he had gone. He had learned the secret guarded by Houston Boswick; he had also witnessed another make the same discovery.

The plane headed rapidly southward. The Shadow had another brief mission on this night.

The loud eerie laugh that mingled with the whirring of the autogiro was the only sound that betokened The Shadow's purpose. That mockery, somehow, seemed to indicate that The Shadow's departure was only temporary. Soon he would return to this spot in the wilderness.

What then? What would be the outcome?

Would Carter Boswick and Harry Vincent find the long-sought wealth awaiting them? How did the man who had entered the cavern figure in the plot? What action would come from Hub Rowley and the unknown man who was working with him?

All depended upon circ.u.mstance; yet the guiding forces were the purposes of those who figured in this strange drama. The unraveling of twisted threads was necessary to view the future in an understanding way.

The Shadow, alone, had made such progress. Whether the future would result in complications, one positive result must be forthcoming; and could be, after The Shadow made his return.

The Shadow knew!

CHAPTER XVIII. THE SHADOW'S CHART.

HARRY VINCENT awoke with a start. The dim light of dawn was hazy through the window of his hotel room. Everything seemed dim and obscure. Sitting up in bed, Harry stared about the room. Had he been dreaming? Or had he heard his name whispered weirdly in his ear?

There was no sign of any one in the room. It would have been quite possible for a person to have entered, whispered that name, and then left while Harry was coming to consciousness. The door was closed, however, and Harry had not heard the slightest sound from that direction.

Two factors made Harry positive that he had been awakened by some one from outside. The first was that Harry seldom dreamed; the second, that he was constantly expecting some token from The Shadow.

Under the circ.u.mstances, he decided to investigate.

He turned on a lamp that rested on the table beside his bed. The light revealed an envelope lying beneath it. Harry knew then that he had not been the victim of imagination. The Shadow had come into this room at the Summit Lake Hotel, and had left a message for him.

The envelope contained a note, brief and explicit in its directions. The coded writing faded.

But the envelope also held another sheet of paper-one inscribed in black ink, which did not disappear.

Harry found himself staring at the detail of a well-formed chart-an exact map of the vicinity where heand Carter Boswick had found the abandoned mining cabin.

Without further ado, Harry carried the chart into Carter's room, and awakened his friend. They turned on another light, and examined the map together. A cry of elation came from Carter as he noted two cross lines, labeled, each in turn: Lat. 46 18' N.

Long. 88 12' W.

The mining cabin was located a short distance from where the lines crossed. From the cabin, a lightly dotted course extended up the hillside. It showed the exact location of the cavern which The Shadow had discovered.

Harry found another portion of the map, and traced his own course, leading from the distant road where they had parked the coupe, directly to the indicated spot upon the hill.

"My directions," said Harry, in a low voice, "are to the spot on the hillside, avoiding the cabin if possible.

We can do that without difficulty. If our enemies decide to return and watch the cabin, they will be guarding an empty bag."

"Great!" agreed Carter. "But what about this place on the hill?"

"The message stated that we will find a trail blazed for us. Tiny marks hewed in the trees and on the rocks, beginning from the barrier of woods marked near the entrance."

"Good," commented Carter. "Say, Harry, it looks as though we are getting somewhere."

"Sh-h!" Harry raised his hand in sudden warning. He arose and started toward his own room, Carter following. Harry crept to the door that led to the hall, and listened.

"What's up?" questioned Carter.

"Thought I heard some one in the hall," answered Harry.