The Shadow - 17 - The Five Chameleons by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1932-10-31T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XIII. THE SHADOW SPEAKS

IT was midnight. Martha Delmar was alone in her boudoir. Reclining in an easy-chair, she was trying to read a book. The effort proved unsuccessful. She laid the book aside, and her eyes wandered to the table, where two framed pictures stood.

One was a photograph of her father; the other of her fiance. Roland Delmar was dead. Hubert Salisbury was in jail, awaiting trial on charges of robbery and murder.

Martha’s face was sad; but as she stared tearfully at the pictures, a look of defiance came over her countenance.

She had suffered much, this girl, since that tragic night. Every friend in the world had deserted her. Even her relations - all distant cousins - had ignored her. The rich of Middletown had felt the failure of the County National Bank. In retaliation, they had ostracized Martha Delmar from their society.

Two reasons alone kept this brave girl in Middletown. One was the recollection of her father; the knowledge that he was innocent of any wrong. The other was the plight of her lover; for Hubert Salisbury had no friend beside herself.

Bitter thoughts surged through the girl’s mind. Strongest of all - for it was most recent - was the thought of her foolhardiness in giving an interview that afternoon. A reporter had baited her, that she might express her bitterness for all the town to read.

Why had she revealed her secret thoughts? Martha chided herself for the great mistake. She thought of her wild appeal - her statement that she was anxious to call upon The Shadow for aid.

The Shadow! On her last trip East, Martha had heard of that mysterious man. She had heard his voice, in fact, over the radio; but, like most of the public, she had merely supposed that she had been listening to an actor.

Yet the voice had haunted her; and when people had talked of The Shadow, Martha had listened. They told amazing stories of The Shadow - a personage clad in black, as dark as the night itself, who matched the guns of criminals with the sword of justice - who triumphed over the hordes of gangland.

She recalled a small adventure in New York. On the outskirts of Greenwich Village, a man had accosted her and had tried to seize her pocketbook. Her cries had brought another man on the run.

IF The Shadow were only here in Middletown! Martha sighed as she realized the hopelessness of that wish. The Shadow could not be everywhere, superman though he might be.

How could she expect him to come here, even though great crime might be rampant? His great work lay in New York.

Perhaps The Shadow might lend ear to her plea if she could only reach him. But that lone paragraph, printed only a few hours ago, would go no farther than the region about Middletown. It would bring her only ridicule - not the help for which she longed.

Martha sighed wearily. She was very tired; but she could not sleep because of worry.

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