The Shadow 094 by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

IT was Nigel Chiswold. Face strained, but alert; hands extended before him, like menacing cudgels, Nigel looked prepared for any encounter. The Shadow saw him glance toward the stairs. Then came the faint, indistinguishable buzz of voices from the study. Nigel heard and turned. He stole to the very listening post that The Shadow had so recently occupied.

Luval and Lodera had resumed their discussions; but this time it was Nigel Chiswold, not The Shadow, who was hearing the details. One interloper had replaced the other. The Shadow had no alternative; he was forced to leave the field to Nigel.

Yet the gleam of The Shadow’s eyes was indication that he had heard enough for the present. He was willing to let Nigel listen. The Shadow knew that this episode would cause one crosspurpose to meet another.

Nigel had carried through his plan. He had come down from the spy room in the turret, to study matters in Chiswold Castle. The shrewd smile on his face showed that he was learning facts that suited him. Whatever Nigel’s purpose was here, he was gaining results.

New footsteps. The Shadow heard them; but Nigel did not. The tread, though unguarded, was a soft one, coming up the stairs. The Shadow knew that it must be Gwendolyn Ralthorn. The girl’s room was on the other side of the hallway. Chances were that she would not glance in the direction of the study.

Gwendolyn appeared at the top of the stairs. As The Shadow expected, she started in the direction of her own room. It was Nigel who spoiled his own chances of escaping discovery. He heard the footsteps in the hall. He spun about, alarmed.

The slight sound of Nigel’s move caught Gwendolyn’s ear. The girl stopped short. She looked squarely toward the door of the study. Against its background, she saw Nigel’s pallid face. The girl quivered in terror; then gasped, aloud.

“Geoffrey!”

Like old Jeremy, Gwendolyn had mistaken Nigel for his cousin; and her reactions were the same. She thought that she was viewing the ghost of Geoffrey Chiswold. But Gwendolyn had greater reason to be horrified. Not only was the apparition inside the castle itself; but the appearance of the supposed ghost came as an added shock to one that she had already received.

Gwendolyn had not forgotten the blackened shape that she had seen upon the lawn in the moonlight. Despite Lord Cedric’s skepticism, she had retained her qualms. Upon spying Nigel and taking him for Geoffrey, Gwendolyn had immediately connected this appearance with that of last night’s.

“Geoffrey!”

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