Shadow 230 - The Devil Master 09-15-41, The by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant [Grant, Maxwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Street and Smith
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“I CAN tell you why the mirror worked,” Orvel said, “even though I didn’t think of it myself. The only thing I hadn’t seen was my own face; that is, while I was small.”

“While you were small!” exclaimed Frame. He rubbed his neck. “Say - you were large enough when you tried to choke me!”

Orvel looked surprised. They had to explain all that had happened after his arrival. Something dawned on Orvel. He started to speak; then halted, to question:

“Will you give my story a fair hearing, no matter how absurd it sounds?”

Nods were the replies.

“I’ll start from the beginning,” declared Orvel. “As Mr. Frame has probably told you, I was looking for persons who might be interested in the deal that Prince Yeddo offered. I found one down in Washington. Gifford Wendyke.”

“The exporter!” exclaimed Frame. “Why was he down in Washington?”

“He was looking for some nice juicy subsidies,” returned Orvel, “and not getting them. You know Wendyke’s reputation, if it can be called such. He profiteered on European shipments during the last war. This time, he wants to clean up with shipments to South America and the Orient. But the government didn’t like his figures.”

Frame looked toward Cranston and saw his friend nod. Gifford Wendyke could certainly be classed as a candidate for partnership with Prince Fuji Yeddo. By taking shipments at normal rates, he would be in position to gain the excess profits through the deal that Yeddo offered.

“Wendyke started back to New York;” continued Frame, “so I came, too. I had a couple of leads that didn’t amount to much, but I went after them. One concerned a warehouse where Wendyke stores heavy shipments. I went there, and was grabbed -“

“By Japanese!” exclaimed Frame.

“No!” retorted Orvel, annoyed at the interruption. “By a batch of Chinamen! They weren’t working for Prince Yeddo. They were working against him. Their big boss was a Chinaman, too -“

“Professor Su Yeng,” put in The Shadow. “Your captors probably took you through a tea shop called the White Dragon.”

This time, Orvel accepted the interruption with a grateful nod. Finding that Cranston knew about Su Yeng gave him hope that the rest of his story would be believed.

“Su Yeng made me talk,” declared Orvel steadily. “The way he did it was to make me small, like a lot of living dolls he had. I swear he did it! He turned me into a thing so small that he could have squeezed me like that” - he clutched his hand in air - “if he’d wanted to. But he didn’t have to. I told him all I knew.”

Frame’s head was wagging disbelief. Sayre’s face showed new doubt as to Orvel’s sanity. Only Cranston’s countenance remained impassive. It seemed that he was willing to believe. Thus encouraged, Orvel resumed his story.

“Su Yeng promised to make me my right size again,” he declared, “and he did. But he threatened to put me back in the ant-hill league if I didn’t go after Frame. He wanted me to murder you” - Orvel swung to Frame - “and I said I would.

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