The Shadow's Justice

CHAPTER VI THE SHADOW’S STRATEGY

THE Southern Star was plowing northward. The first night out of Havana, new passengers were making friends, and old ones were renewing acquaintances. Only the more experienced seafarers were in the smoking room, however, as the weather was rough, and the rolling of the ship was none too pleasant.

Two men — apparently chance acquaintances — were seated in a corner of the smoking room. One was Cassalta; the other Bolano. Each had picked up his ticket without reporting to Stacks Lodi. This was their first meeting, and they had not yet interviewed their chief.

Bolano was raising a glass of liquor to his lips. Suddenly be stopped, and his hand trembled. Cassalta looked in the direction of his companion’s eyes. There, approaching the table, was their fellow villain of the night before — Herrando.

Both the seated men repressed gasps of astonishment as Herrando joined them. They noted that their returned comrade was pale; that his right arm was held stiffly at his side. But he smiled in the villainous fashion of Herrando.

“You thought I was dead, eh?” he questioned, in Spanish. “Well, comrades, you were wrong!”

“But you were shot.”

Herrando still smiled as he heard Bolans’s muffled exclamation.

“In the shoulder,” he said calmly. “A flesh wound — that was all.”

“You fell through the rail?”

“Yes. A nasty tumble. It shook me terribly, but did not injure me.”

“But the man at the door?”

“He fled. The police were coming. I, too, was able to escape. It was most fortunate.”

A pause followed. Bolano and Cassalta gulped their drinks in silence, wondering at the miraculous escape which Herrando had made. Then their newly arrived comrade spoke again.

“I have seen Senor Lodi,” he announced quietly. “I talked with him but an hour ago. He gave me a message. He does not wish to talk with any of us at present.”

The others nodded. They knew that this policy was a wise one.

“The weather is rough tonight,” continued Herrando. “It is lessening, so the captain has said. Therefore, tonight would be best for the — let us say accident — that we propose. I am confident that the Americano will not recognize us, if we keep well away from him. I spoke to Senor Lodi about last night’s mishap, and he agrees.

“Senor Boswick has an outside cabin. It is likely that he will come to the smoking room tonight. Afterward, he will probably go by the door over yonder. When he shows such signs of departure, I shall precede him. You, my comrades, will follow.”

More nods of agreement. Herrando arose to go away, giving his last words of instruction.

“Senor Lodi will be here to give the signal for each of us. Keep apart, senores.

With that, Herrando went across the smoking room. Cassalta and Bolano separated. The three were apart and obscurely situated, when Carter Boswick entered the smoking room. Stacks Lodi came later, and joined a group in a card game.

The gambler was wise. He did not care if he might be recognized as a card sharp. The offense would be passed over; and it would free him from connection with the other work.

IN Carter Boswick’s mind, last night’s events were a muddle. He knew nothing of what had caused the trouble at the Barcelona Club. He remembered very little concerning any of his assailants.

He thought the whole affair had been a matter of mistaken identity. Furthermore, he was elated by a letter that he had received on shipboard just before sailing.

He produced the letter now. It was from his father in New York, and it filled Carter Boswick with gladness, despite a tinge of apprehension that it had also created.

He looked at the message.

The odd phraseology of the letter was startling to Carter Boswick. He read the message over and over; still, he wondered at its hidden meaning. He thrust the letter in his pocket, lighted a cigar, and lapsed into a reverie of the past.

Stacks Lodi, seated at the card table, was watching Carter Boswick from the corner of his eye.

There was another for whom Lodi was watching — Lamont Cranston. He did not know why; he simply wondered if Cranston were about. He had learned that the man had booked passage on this ship. Not seeing Cranston, Lodi decided that the man must be in his stateroom. Many of the passengers had kept to their cabins tonight.

Carter Boswick was finishing his cigar. Stacks Lodi sensed that he would soon leave the smoking room. The gambler was pleased when a timely lull occurred in the game. He got up from the table and walked to the bar. On the way, he flashed a quick signal to Herrando.

The South American arose and left the smoking room. But he did not stop when he reached the outside deck. He moved swiftly, despite the roll of the ship, and gained a near-by cabin. It was not the one that belonged to Herrando. It was the cabin engaged by Lamont Cranston.

A few moments later, a figure emerged from the cabin door. Tall, black, and spectral, it loomed like a ghost from the brine that swept the deck. Herrando, the man who had so strangely come back to life, was no longer Herrando. He was The Shadow!

Had Stacks Lodi been there, he might have understood. Lamont Cranston had come aboard, and had left the ship later. Then Herrando had come on board in his place. So far as any one knew, both men were on the Southern Star; in reality, both men were one!

Within the smoking room, Stacks Lodi saw Carter Boswick arise and start for the door that made the shortest way to his cabin. Stacks was pleased to note that no one else seemed to observe Carter’s departure.

From the bar, Stacks caught the eye of Cassalta, and made a slight sign. Then he spotted Bolano, and repeated the action. The two men, surreptitiously, followed the path that Carter Boswick had taken.

Stacks Lodi, his fingers gripping a revolver in his pocket, grimly resolved to follow also. He wanted to be sure that his assassins did not fail tonight,

CARTER Boswick, when he reached the deserted deck, did not go directly to his cabin. Instead, he stopped beside the rail and watched the surging sea that swirled and battered at the side of the plunging ship. In this action, he once again played into the hands of enemies.

The door opened behind him. Carter did not hear it. An instant later, Cassalta and Bolano, recognizing their intended victim, leaped forward with no thought of where Herrando might be. They caught Carter Boswick unaware.

The young man felt his body lifted upward by the rail — in another second, he would have seen hurled out into the ocean, but for the intervention which occurred.

A mass of darkness swept upward from a spot beside the rail. A living creature conjured from nothingness, The Shadow flung himself into the fray. He sent both Cassalta and Bolano spinning. Carter Boswick plunged safely to the deck, and lay there, half stunned.

The South Americans, sprawling, did not know what had struck them, until they glanced up, terrorized, to see the strange being who had balked them in the fight of the night before.

These men were at The Shadow’s mercy; but it was now their turn to gain by intervention. Stacks Lodi, stepping from the door with gun in hand, saw The Shadow. The gambler, versed in the lore of New York’s underworld, recognized this terrible foe. He raised his revolver to fire.

But The Shadow, turning, saw the menace. The black-gloved hands shot forward. They caught Stacks Lodi with incredible swiftness. The gun went spinning across the deck. Stacks and The Shadow were locked in a furious tussle.

Cassalta and Bolano sprang to their feet, and rushed to aid their chief. As they arrived, Stacks shot head foremost along the slippery deck, skidding up against the rail.

The two South Americans hit The Shadow at once, from behind. The black-gloved hands caught Cassalta’s wrists. The Shadow’s body seemed to crumple to the deck; then snapped upward like a whipcord.

The mighty effort succeeded with amazing results. The Shadow had taken no direction in his aim. His purpose was merely to fling Cassalta away. But the twist of his body headed the assassin directly toward the rail.

As the ship rolled, Cassalta went spinning through the air like a huge missile flung from a catapult. Timed with the sidewise descent of the ship, The Shadow’s terrific heave sent the assassin a dozen feet through the air, clear over the rail by a space of a full yard, and on out into the raging sea!

Bolano had no inkling of his comrade’s fate. He and The Shadow were rolling across the deck. Bolano’s hand fell upon Stacks Lodi’s gun. With a savage cry, the second killer gripped the weapon and sought to press the trigger.

His effort was successful, but not with the result that he expected. The hand of The Shadow caught his wrist as he was about to fire. A twist occurred just as Bolano discharged the gun. Bolano groaned and crumpled away, the bullet in his own body. His fingers lost their grip, and the revolver bounced upon the deck.

Stacks Lodi, disarmed, had seen the amazing fight. He heard the shot, and saw The Shadow rolling free. With a gasp of terror, he ran along the deck, turned into a door that led to a corridor, and made his way back to the smoking room.

THE SHADOW arose. He saw the form of Bolano, dying on the deck. He reached the spot where Carter Boswick lay, and helped the groggy young man to his feet. When Carter Boswick fully regained his senses, he found himself lying on the berth in his own stateroom.

The aftermath of the strange fray began later that night, when a steward discovered the body of Bolano with the gun beside it. Stacks Lodi was still gambling in the smoking room when the news broke.

An investigation followed. It was learned that two men were missing — both South Americans — Cassalta and Herrando. Nothing else could be ascertained; but it was decided that all three — Bolano as well as the missing men — were of questionable character.

The report was that a quarrel must have occurred; that two had united to throw the third overboard. Then the two had battled: Bolano, shot by his antagonist, had managed to hurl him into the sea.

Carter Boswick wisely kept his peace. There was much that he did not understand about the attack which had been made upon him. He knew only that a mysterious stranger had once again appeared to beat off his antagonists.

It was Stacks Lodi who maintained a trembling silence. He, too, was perplexed. He wondered what had happened to Herrando. He believed that The Shadow must have dispatched that villain before he attended to the others. He never dreamed that The Shadow had assumed the guise of Herrando!

Stacks Lodi did not see Lamont Cranston on board the ship. The reason was that Stacks Lodi seldom left his stateroom. He lay in hiding, hoping only that his share in the strange events had not been known by the dread avenger.

For Stacks Lodi had recognized The Shadow. He had terrible news to bear to Hub Rowley. There would be a new menace to confront the big shot’s schemes.

The Shadow, master mind opposed to crime, had shown his hand. Now, hidden and mysterious, he was permitting Stacks Lodi to carry back the word. Contemptuous of the criminals whom he opposed, he had spared this skulking underling.

The Southern Star plowed on through lessening seas. Each day was indicative of approaching calmness on the ocean. But when the steamship landed, there would be no quietude ashore. Then forces of evil would be met by the hand of The Shadow!

During this strange lull, Carter Boswick, entirely unconscious of the cause, still wondered why he had been attacked by unknown enemies. Little did he know of the turmoil in store for him.

He had been saved by The Shadow. Would that same hand strike again to rescue him when hidden danger came?

Only The Shadow could answer!