The Shadow 248 The Devil's Feud by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant [Grant, Maxwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1942-05-31T22:00:00+00:00

“I understand, Connie.”

“I’ll do as much for you,” added Connie, “if I ever can!”

Margo felt sure that Connie would soon have her chance, though it would be difficult for her to really help. Whether or not The Shadow escaped from his present pursuers, there was going to be plenty of talk when Corbey announced that his black-clad prisoner had been none other than Lamont Cranston.

As Cranston’s friend, Margo would be right in the thick of embarrassing questions, and would certainly need whatever support Connie or anyone else might offer.

Shaking off pursuers was usually quite easy for The Shadow, but in this case, the lightning flashes were playing hob.

Off at the side of the house, The Shadow was in the middle of a lawn, with deputies spreading everywhere. Each flash of lightning gave them a fresh view of their fugitive, and they were shouting to one another that he was the same mysterious marauder that they had encountered at Granmores.

The deputies were shooting as they shouted, but tonight they lacked their devastating shotguns, serious weapons at this close range. Sheriff Clemming hadn’t expected any trouble at Mandon’s, for Corbey had indicated that everything was under control. He’d brought five deputies simply because that many happened to be around. They were all regulars, who preferred revolvers.

The deputies were wasting their fire. They hadn’t a chance to wing a darting target like The Shadow. By the time they glimpsed him, a lightning flash was ended and they were simply shooting into the dark.

Corbey would have fired, too, if his gun hadn’t been empty. Instead, the chauffeur was shouting suggestions, and his words made sense.

“Cut him off from the front!” bawled Corbey. “Box him in back, among the hedges!”

SHERIFF CLEMMING certified the order, and the deputies did their best to follow it. The task proved easier than they expected, for The Shadow, too, heard Corbey’s shout, and it made sense to him as well.

Cutting for the rear corner of the house, The Shadow was going right where the deputies wanted him, when they saw him by another streak of lightning.

Then The Shadow was in among the hedges, and the deputies were learning that he, not they, had profited by Corbey’s suggestion. Though the rear garden was cramped, the hedges furnished the very cover that The Shadow needed.

Each lightning flash showed deputies peering over hedge tops, looking for a fugitive who had purposely lost himself in the maze by the simple expedient of crouching low.

During intervals of dark, the deputies plunged about, running into each other and getting nowhere. The storm was almost on the hill, and a wind-swept drizzle promised torrents of rain that would make the hunt hopeless.

Crawling along the line of a hedge, The Shadow rolled beneath the brambles as a deputy blundered past.

Finding an opening in the hedge stumps, The Shadow worked through and sneaked for the other side of the house.

He knew that if he reached the front, a short dash would take him to ample clumps of shrubbery that adorned the sides of the curving driveway which led up into Mandon’s.

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