The Shadow - 22 - The Creeping Death by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant [Grant, Maxwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1933-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

In the midst of this dramatic scene, one man was experiencing a fantastic terror. It was not Vic Marquette, who calmly watched the men who were deciding his fate. The worried individual was Jose.

With eyes still upon the floor, the squat, greasy man stared at the mysterious shadow that lay before him.

The shadow was alive! Backward and forward it moved—a silhouette without a human form to cast it!

To Jose, it was a sinister creature that seemed to view him with invisible eyes!

Both superstitious and intuitive, Jose was convinced that unseen eyes were watching him. He was sure that here, in this strange country, he had come under the domination of one of those weird phantoms of another world—a being that could strike him dead!

Jose, brutal and uncouth, feared no human enemy. But all that lack of physical fear was counterbalanced by his terror of the unknown.

Here, at this cottage, he had been obsessed by shadows. Now one was alive, and at his very feet!

As the long shadow moved toward him, Jose cowered away, almost expecting to see it rise and materialize into a black being that would overpower him with ghostlike clutches!

In another moment, Jose would have betrayed his terror with a wild, frightened scream. But as he watched, the shadow on the floor began to move away. It dwindled toward the window, and both horror and relief dominated Jose’s superstitious mind. He trembled as he saw this convincing demonstration that the black blotch was alive; he panted in relief because it was no longer haunting him.

Now orders were coming from Morales—orders which Jose must obey. The leader was calling for a rope to bind the prisoner. Manuel responded before Jose could recover from his inertia. So Jose remained on guard, the muzzle of his rifle against Vic Marquette’s ribs.

From the corner of his eye, Jose watched the floor. The weird silhouette did not return.

Manuel arrived and bound Marquette’s arms. Morales took a coil of rope. He signified for Armagnac to accompany him.

Under the direction of Morales a procession left the cottage and crossed the clearing. First was Vic Marquette, his arms tightly roped behind him. Jose followed with the rifle, forcing Marquette onward.

Then came Armagnac, suave and interested.

Last of all was Morales, carrying an automatic in his right hand, a coil of rope about his arm, and a flashlight in his left hand.

THE illumination of the electric lantern showed a vague path ahead. Vic Marquette walked stolidly along it. Strange, grotesque shadows shimmered across the path. Jose noticed them and shuddered.

The path went off into the woods away from the gorge, a distance of a quarter mile. It came to an abrupt ending by a large mound of rock.

Morales gave a low command. Dropping his rifle, Jose drew a huge handkerchief from his pocket and gagged Marquette.

Morales held the rays of his lantern on the scene, with the automatic ready. Jose tumbled Marquette on his back; then took the coil of rope from Morales. The henchman used it to bind Vic Marquette’s legs.

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