"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 026 - Murder Trail" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

proved clearly that the man who had emerged from the panel could not have gained its end in the short
time allowed him between his departure and The Shadow's swift pursuit.

A tiny light gleamed in a blackened fist. The Shadow was moving along the passage in the envelope, his
flashlight pointing out spots on either side. Here were hatchways in the lower surface of the
dirigibleтАФplaces where goods could be taken in or unloaded. The Shadow's light stopped on the hatch
nearest to him.

The fastening of this opening was loose. Some one had opened the hinged door and left it loose after it
had swung shut. The Shadow's hands opened the light barrier. The blackened head and shoulders thrust
themselves through the opening.

The ground was more than a mile below. Tiny glimmering lights indicated the countryside. The flashing of
an air beacon showed the airway which the dirigible was following. The Shadow's keen eyes spotted that
intermittent signal.

Through those eyes, The Shadow gained a photographic impression of the ground beneath. In daytime,
the observation would have been difficult enough; at night, it was far more so. Yet, with the air beacon as
his guide, this strange observer was able to gain the exact location of the dirigible. The Shadow was
taking the position.
TOO late to overtake the man who had fled, The Shadow had gained full knowledge of the man's
purpose and action. Somewhere, now miles behind the dirigible, and thousands of feet below, a human
form was dropping to safety from the Munchen, with the broad surface of a parachute spread out above
him!

The Shadow's quarry had made a remarkable and well-planned escape from the moving dirigible. Of
passengers and crew, there was only one who had discovered the deed. That one was The Shadow!

No thought of pursuit engaged The Shadow as he made his way back along the passage toward the huge
main gondola. There was another task before him. The black-garbed shape flitted down the
companionway and entered the corridor of the gondola. It stopped before the secret panel.

Gloved fingers were at work, prying along the narrow crevice that marked the edge of the secret door. It
required less than a minute for The Shadow to discover the hidden mechanism. A click resounded as a
piece of metal entered the crack. The panel opened, and The Shadow stepped within. The door closed,
barely a second before footsteps came down the corridor. The officers were coming back along the
passage.

Half an hour passed. The first shafts of dawn, appearing over the horizon, brought a brilliant glint to the
silvery surface of the mighty German airship. Those first rays of daylight did not reach the windowless
central corridor. That passage was dependent upon the lights that glowed along its low ceiling. They were
the lights that showed the panel of the secret room reopening.

The form of The Shadow appeared in the corridor. The panel closed. The spectral shape was ghostly as
it made its rapid, silent way to the door of Cabin 28. The door of the cabin opened. The Shadow merged
with the gray dawn of the room within.

To-night, within the last hour of darkness, a murderer had left the Munchen to gain the safety of the
ground below. The dirigible had hours ahead before it reached Chicago. A thousand miles between the
Atlantic seaboard and the great metropolis of the Middle West! Somewhere, in that tremendous range,