Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 234 by Maxwel l Grant

Author:Maxwel,l Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf

CHAPTER X. WITHOUT A TRACE

AS Margo Lane closed the library door, she took a look along the hall and saw that it was quite empty.

Then, the door shut, she turned toward the table at the entrance to the corner alcove. Looking past her friend, Lamont Cranston, she realized how he had discovered the Book of Thoth.

From this angle, one was able to look at the higher shelves of the alcove. Though Margo couldn't quite see the spot where the leather-bound book had been lying on its side, she realized that Cranston, taller than she was, had been able to spy the volume. Placed carefully where people would not be apt to find it, the Book of Thoth had naturally roused his curiosity.

Margo felt very tense. She wasn't worried about unseen forces, for the present. She was wondering what would happen if Monak came to the library and found Cranston poring over the secret volume.

She could still picture Monak as a murderer, though she had transferred much of her suspicion to Gorth.

Monak's servants were quite as formidable a crew as Gorth's men of the grove - if the latter band really belonged to Gorth.

It could readily be that Gorth feared Monak, and had therefore ordered men to be on hand in case of trouble. Perhaps Gorth had foreseen murder and feared that he, not Calbot, would be the victim. Margo was just beginning to think of Ravion's possible reactions to such a setup, when Cranston's quiet tone ended her reflections.

"Sit here, Margo." He gestured to the chair beside him. "Be ready to take over if anyone comes."

"To take over?"

"Yes." Cranston spoke with the slightest of smiles. "You see, you are a member of the Ammon Cult, whereas I am not. You, at least, have a right to open the Book of Thoth. Should the door open, I can step into the alcove and leave you with the book."

Margo looked at the alcove. Its depths were dark, though she could make out the forms of tall books along its high two-foot shelves. The only trouble with the alcove was that there was no way out of it. The same was true of the other alcoves; they were like cells, with books for walls, each with an opening that served as doorway.

A curious prison, with its rooms of books! A prison, indeed, considering that all the volumes of this library dealt with occult and metaphysical subjects. Whoever entered any of those alcoves and began to delve, would become a captive of his own intense imagination, under the stimulation of the literature at hand.

Watching Cranston turn the pages of the Book of Thoth, Margo saw that they were inscribed in Greek.

Probably this was a translation of the earlier Egyptian. Whatever the case, Cranston was having no trouble with the text. However, he was referring quite frequently to illustrations which showed pictures of temples. He pointed one out to Margo.

"Interesting, this," he stated. "A temple that opens its doors when a fire is kindled on a pedestal in front 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.