The Condor

CHAPTER XXI. DEEP STRATEGY

BEYOND the turn below the gate to Mountview Lodge, Sheriff Brock stood in the glare of automobile headlights. About him were grouped the thirty members of his posse. Harry and Hank were with the sheriff; Marquette had arrived with the rescued deputies.

Two men had been clipped by bullets. They were being carried to a car while Brock, his voice a heavy boom, was telling his followers the course that he intended.

“There’s thirty of us,” Brock declared. “I reckon we’re four to one against those inside that place. We’ll have another thirty men inside the next hour. Hank will get them after he takes those wounded fellows to the Southbridge hospital.

“I’m leaving the big gate open. We’re spreading off the road. We’ll watch along that fence. The moment anybody tries to leave that lodge, we’ll see them move.

“Move up there, men. Keep watch. We’ll have the word pass along if there’s any trouble. Right here below the gate is where I’ll be. This is where Hank will bring his reinforcements.”

Wounded men were aboard their car. Big Hank took the wheel and drove away. Deputies advanced; then spread in obedience to their leader’s order. Marquette talked with the sheriff. Harry stood a few paces away, beside an empty touring car.

A soft whisper brought The Shadow’s agent to the alert. The sound came from the car. It was a command in The Shadow’s strange, sinister tone. Harry heard the words, then whispered his understanding. He walked away and approached Brock.

“How about it, sheriff?” he questioned. “Wouldn’t it be a good idea if I went down to Paulington and told the burgess what has happened? He might send some men back with me—”

“That is an idea,” broke in the sheriff. “You’re right; the burgess ought to know what’s happened. Take one of those cars and head for town.”

Harry chose the touring car. He turned it about in the narrow road and swung off down the slope. He had followed The Shadow’s first order. Now came the whispered word from the rear of the open car:

“Report!”

Briefly, Harry recited the facts that concerned Carl Lieth and the detective’s surprising treachery. He told of Corey’s capture; how the man had been brought to Dowden’s office. The Shadow’s laugh came as a token of weird mirth.

A hissed voice gave instructions. Listening, Harry stared wide-eyed along the road that he was following.

He was amazed by the orders that The Shadow delivered. Yet he could do nothing but nod his assent.

The touring car was nearing Paulington. Harry drove slowly through the streets of the town and parked behind the old hotel. He heard a slight swish as The Shadow alighted; then he glimpsed the momentary outline of a cloaked figure. The Shadow was crossing the street; his figure blended with a blackened area.

Harry went into the hotel. He nodded nonchalantly to the clerk; then entered the solitary telephone booth and put in a call to a hotel in Southbridge. He gained connection with Clyde Burke and gave the reporter brief instructions.

That done, Harry called Burgess Dowden. He told what had happened at Mountview Lodge. He said that the sheriff could use a few picked men. The burgess promised four. Harry arranged to meet them in the hotel in fifteen minutes. His call finished, he sauntered to the street.

MEANWHILE, events were happening in the Paulington jail. A small, decrepit structure, the jail stood opposite the railroad tracks. The lone jailer kept vigil in a little office at the side of the building. He was there tonight, staring stolidly from the window as he jingled a chain of keys.

The jailer could see the railroad lights from his window. Suddenly a strange blackness obscured them.

For a moment, the jailer’s fat face showed perplexity; then he realized that the darkness was a reflection from the room itself. Some strange shape had come up beside him.

The jailer turned. He saw burning eyes — unreal eyes — from beneath the brim of a slouch hat. Then gloved hands gripped his throat. The jailer subsided under pressure. Limply, he rolled to the floor. The Shadow’s form stood above him.

Finding handcuffs in the jailer’s pocket, The Shadow used them to clamp the man’s wrists. He gagged the fellow with his own handkerchief; then used the jailer’s belt to bind the limp ankles. Hoisting the fat-faced man, The Shadow propped him in the corner; then extinguished the light.

The jailer, recovered, blinked at sight of a flashlight’s glow upon a desk. He fancied that he saw a white hand, writing something on a sheet of paper. Then glovelike blackness obscured the hand; the flashlight was extinguished.

The Shadow appeared in the lighted hall outside the little office. He watched the front door open cautiously. Harry Vincent stepped into view. Harry saw The Shadow and approached. The Shadow gave him the jailer’s keys; also, a sealed envelope. A gloved finger pointed toward the rear of the jail.

Harry nodded and marched in that direction.

A door barred progress. Harry found the right key and unlocked it. He stepped into a lighted cell room.

There were only two cells there; of these, but one was occupied. Corey’s face was that of a trapped rat as it showed white through the bars.

The Shadow had remained outside. Yet he was watching, listening, ready to note the result of this interview between his agent and the prisoner.

“HELLO, Corey,” greeted Harry, quietly. “Listen: “I’ve got a proposition for you.”

“Who are you to give it?” snarled Corey.

“My name is Vincent,” stated Harry. “I’m working with Marquette of the secret service; also with Sheriff Brock. You saw all of us up in the office today.”

“There was another wise guy there, too.”

“Lieth. He’s a detective. We managed to get him into Mountview Lodge. He’s putting up a bluff there.”

“Yeah? Well, he won’t fool the chief—”

“He is fooling him already, Corey. But we’ve had to change our plans. We’ve got to get word to Lieth. You’re the man to help us.”

Corey’s defiance changed to an expression of shrewd interest. Harry noted an evil, scheming glint in the man’s ratlike eyes. Corey nodded; he wanted Harry to continue.

“Your coupe is out back,” explained Harry. “The key is in it. I’m going up toward the lodge in a touring car; you follow and keep going right past me.

“The gate is unlocked. Barge right through it and don’t stop until you reach the lodge. After they let you in, tell them you escaped from here. Don’t let your chief know that you were set loose. Do you understand?”

Corey nodded wisely.

“When you get a chance” — Harry drew The Shadow’s envelope from his pocket — “sneak this to Lieth. Remember: it’s important; and nobody else is to see it. After this business is all over, we’ll see that you’re let off light. That’ll be your reward for working with us. Do you get me?”

Corey nodded as he took the envelope. Harry produced the cell key and unlocked the door. He led the chauffeur out into the hall. The Shadow had already gone.

“Remember,” said Harry, as they reached the outside air, “follow my touring car. I’ll swing past here after I leave the hotel. Keep right through when I stop.

“Some of the deputies may fire wild shots; but you just keep going through the gate. That will be to make it look like you were really running for it. There’s your coupe” — they were at the corner of the jail — “so hop aboard. Lay, low until I’ve passed.”

The rumble seat of the coupe was lowering as Harry spoke; neither Corey nor The Shadow’s agent spied its motion. Again, Corey was scheduled to carry The Shadow as a hidden passenger.

HARRY strolled on to the hotel. In the lobby he found four men awaiting him. They were the huskies whom the burgess had called. Harry took them to the touring car. Starting out, he rolled along the street past the jail, then swung about to cut over to the open road.

They had passed the fork when one of the new squad delivered a remark. The man was looking out the rear window. He had spotted trailing lights.

“Looks like somebody’s coming along with us,” said the townsman. “Guess maybe the burgess called up a couple more fellers.”

Harry grinned to himself. He was driving at an easy rate. He wanted to get back before Hank and the new posse from Southbridge, but not too long before they arrived. There was still a little more time to kill.

Harry skirted the hill and neared the Mountview road. The coupe was keeping close behind; Harry could spy its headlights in his mirror. Reaching the private road, he stepped on the gas, sped up a bit and reached the spot where the cars were parked.

Harry pulled over and leaped to the ground. He spied Brock and Marquette; they recognized him as he stepped in front of his own headlights.

“Hello, Vincent,” greeted the sheriff. “Back already, eh? Say — whose car is that coming up here?”

Corey’s lights had appeared. Harry made casual comment.

“Somebody else from town,” he stated. “The burgess probably sent some more men along.”

Brock stepped aside as the coupe approached. The car gave a sudden forward lurch; it shot by at increasing speed. Brock stared; then barked an excited exclamation:

“That’s Corey’s coupe! Stop him! He’s running for the lodge!”

The order was too late. As Harry joined Brock in a dash to the turn in the road, they saw the speeding coupe crash the huge gate. The unlocked barrier clattered inward. The coupe roared ahead.

Two deputies fired from the fence. Their shots were far too late. Fuming, Brock dashed up to the gate, then shouted for the firing to cease. The coupe’s tail-light had arrived near the side of the lodge. Harry saw the lights blink off.

“So he slipped us, eh?” growled Brock to Harry. “Well, I reckon it won’t do him much good, if we ever manage to get in there. Listen — I hear cars down below. Hank and his new men are here. Come on, while I post them.”

Harry followed the sheriff down the road. The Shadow’s agent felt a keen sense of coming triumph.

Corey’s run had succeeded. Brock might think it a lucky jail-break; Harry knew differently.

For the release of Corey had been a master stroke of strategy; one that The Shadow had devised to nullify the schemes of crooks. Already, unrealized by Sheriff Brock, potential victory was in the making.

Such was the depth of The Shadow’s strategy.