The Living Joss

CHAPTER XX. WORK IS ENDED

AT nine the next evening, a Chinatown bus stopped at its usual corner. Hugo Urvin was among the passengers who left the vehicle. In his pocket he carried another package which he had taken from the hands of Chon Look, the Buddhist.

Half past ten. That was the hour when David Moultrie would be at home. Hugo Urvin smiled. He would hold no conference with the stock manipulator tonight. Instead, he would seek the seclusion of his own apartment, to consider the latest supply of funds that had come from Kwa.

A slouching, listless man had stepped from the bus with Hugo Urvin. This stranger bore no physical resemblance to the calm-faced person who had previously made the same trips that Urvin had taken. Yet there was a likeness. The silhouette that this man cast upon the sidewalk was identical with the one which the other had displayed.

A similarity which no one would ever have noticed. Yet it was the indication of The Shadow’s presence!

In another disguise, the master of the night had secretly been Urvin’s companion on a visit to Chon Look’s shrine.

When Hugo Urvin took the uptown subway, the stranger did not follow him. Instead, the man hailed a taxicab, and gave the driver an address. From a package which he carried — a bundle which was compact, yet not small — the disguised traveler removed a black cloak and slouch hat. He donned these garments in the darkness of the cab.

A piece of paper fluttered through the window, and landed beside the taxi driver as the man halted his cab near a corner apartment house. Picking it up, the taximan found that it was currency. Looking backward, the driver was amazed to see that the cab was empty. The passenger had mysteriously departed.

Meanwhile, Hugo Urvin was trudging through the door of his apartment. He lighted the corner lamp, and pulled the package from his pocket. Another gift from Kwa. Off came the wrapping. Urvin found a box within. It was a curious contrivance; one that appeared to have no opening.

No money? Urvin was puzzled. He picked up the wrapping paper and separated it. He read the message. It bore these words:

“Your work is ended. The final reward is within the box.”

Urvin became excited. He felt a strange sensation of relief from bondage. No longer a minion of Kwa, he could again lead a life of idleness, provided only that sufficient reward lay within that box!

Gold? No; the box was too light. Urvin smiled. He had visions of some valuable gem, a gift which could be converted into ready cash.

THE young man manipulated the box. He paid no attention to the flare which Kwa’s final message made upon the table. The box was a tricky one; it could be broken if it would not unlock. Urvin pressed the contrivance against the edge of the desk.

Snap! The box collapsed under the pressure. Hugo Urvin uttered a sharp cry as a powerful spring clamped upon his fingers, and he felt the jab of needle points. His left hand was caught in a trap. He managed to remove a metal snapper that had seized him. Angrily, he examined his fingers by the lamplight.

Red marks where the needles had jabbed. Livid marks that were becoming puffy. A sickening sensation gripped Hugo Urvin. He clutched the edge of the table. He felt his legs waver beneath him. He tried to scream, but his throat muscles seemed paralyzed along with the rest of his body.

There was a thud as Urvin’s form toppled to the floor. The young man moved no more. Hugo Urvin had received the reward of Kwa. His usefulness had ended. The victim of a virulent Oriental poison, he would no longer remain as one who had learned secrets of the Living Joss.

Something moved at the window. The spidery form of Chun Shi clambered into the room. The crafty slayer had been stationed here at Kwa’s command, ready to act should the poison have failed.

Death had struck without the aid of Chun Shi, but there were other duties for the creature to perform.

Swiftly, Chun Shi gathered up the odd objects which Hugo Urvin had received in the Buddhist shrine.

The wise monkeys, the green elephant, finally, the steel trap which had sprung its needle points of doom.

Even the unwritten half of rice-paper wrapping was not omitted. Chun Shi slipped toward the window with the clews in his possession. His form became a crablike object that went sidewise along the wall to the window of a deserted apartment.

There was further work for Chun Shi tonight. This minion of Kwa was a lone agent, now that Koy Shan had died in combat with The Shadow. Kwa was employing the aid of craft, since he had lost his mighty helper.

Yet Kwa, himself, had shown a subtle cunning in his final dealing with Hugo Urvin. He had played upon the unscrupulous young man’s greed for cash. He had known the secrecy that Urvin would employ in opening the package which contained the snare.

Through the simple medium of a gift from Chon Look, the Buddhist, Kwa had arranged a quick ending for the criminal career of Hugo Urvin.

Had The Shadow divined Kwa’s intentions? Had the master of darkness let Hugo Urvin go to the fate which he deserved? Only The Shadow knew, and he was elsewhere tonight. Hugo Urvin’s living room was deserted save for the lifeless body of the man who belonged there.

A motionless corpse, its features reddening under the touch of the poison which had delivered death.

Such was Hugo Urvin, the man whom Kwa no longer needed.

Hugo Urvin’s work was ended.