Maxwell Grant - The Shadow 022 by The Creeping Death

Author:The Creeping Death
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-11-15T00:41:22+00:00

Jose carried Marquette to the mound of rock. Morales beckoned, and Armagnac followed. As they reached the mound, Morales held out a warning arm. The Frenchman stopped. He was at the verge of a clearing, dull moonlight bathing the vista beyond.

Morales stooped and picked up a small stone. He tossed it in the air. It disappeared as it dropped in the clearing. After long seconds, a tiny plunk came from below.

Armagnac understood. They were at the edge of a precipice, with water far below.

"A quarry," whispered Morales. "A straight drop of a hundred feet; filled with stagnant water and slime.

There is no one near here, but a splash is better than a gunshot, which might be heard for miles."

"The body?" questioned Armagnac.

"Jose is taking care of that," responded Morales. "See? It will remain at the bottom for a long time."

In the dull moonlight, Jose was affixing heavy stones to the body of Vic Marquette. It was now that the secret-service man realized the death that threatened him. He writhed upon the ground. Jose dealt him a tough blow. Marquette, half-stunned, lay still.

"Come," whispered Morales. "It is better not to wait."

"Why not?" questioned Armagnac.

"The road," replied Morales. "It is not far away. We will go there and make sure that no one is parked near there. Sometimes cars stop."

Morales spoke to Jose, cautioning the underling to wait several minutes before proceeding. That would allow time for Morales and Armagnac to return, should they spy any one in the neighborhood. The sound of a heavy splash might carry to the road through the woods.

The flashlight glimmered through the trees as Morales and Armagnac retraced their footsteps. In the moonlight, the squat form of Jose was monstrous as it worked above the prisoner, taking care to attach the stones so that they could not possibly come loose.

Pierre Armagnac had passed the death sentence; Alfredo Morales had given the orders; Jose was to be the executioner of Vic Marquette, who was doomed by these fiends to a terrible death.

Only the moonlight showed on the mound of rock above the quarry— the moonlight which brought flickering shadows and among them a long, motionless silhouette which neither executioner or victim could see.

A blotch at the edge of the great quarry—nothing more than a shade of night. Such a trivial, formless object alone lay between Vic Marquette and the death which yawned below!

CHAPTER XII. THE SHADOW THAT LIVED

JOSE'S task was completed. The powerful henchman of Alfredo Morales had applied the sinking stones to the ropes which bound Vic Marquette. Crouched over the form of his intended victim, the squat, greasy-faced man paused to listen.

There was no sound from the woods behind. Long minutes had gone by. Morales and Armagnac had not returned. Obviously they had found the road deserted, and had gone back to the cottage. There would be no witnesses to the death of this bound man. The judges had washed their hands of it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.