"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 074 - Bells of Doom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

Lamont Cranston had become a being of blackness. Thin gloves were slipping over his long-fingered
hands. His outline was that of a mammoth blot.

A hand drew the light cord. The blackened figure merged with the solid darkness of the room.
The door of the cabin opened. Out stepped the sinister form that had developed within. Silent in tread,
this shape moved along the deserted passage. A ghostly visitant was aboard the steamship.

MEN of crime would have faltered had they seen that figure. For this being was one of whom they talked
in hushed voices. He was no haunting ghost; he was a grim reality. This strange creature who had
replaced Lamont Cranston was The Shadow.

In places where danger lay; in spots where opportunity lured men of crime - there one could expect The
Shadow. Master of darkness, a fighter who battled evil, The Shadow made it his task to thwart the
hordes of crookdom.

Suspects aboard a P O liner - radioed reports of attempts to gain a fortune in jewels - these had been
sufficient to bring The Shadow from New York to Liverpool, in time to board the steamship Laurentic.

Scotland Yard had relied upon the strength of the ship's safe to guard Augustus Messler's gems. Men
had been stationed aboard as an added precaution. Messler was confident that his possessions were
protected; otherwise, he would not have talked.

But all the while, the rare gems were also under the guard of an unseen watcher. Safes could be blown;
detectives could be shot down. But The Shadow, his very presence unknown, could not be eliminated.
He was here, ready to step in where others might fall.

The voyage was nearly ended. The Shadow, ever-watchful, had decided that the jewels were safe. They
would reach New York; they would be carried to a place of safety; but the trail would not end there. The
Shadow could judge the future as well as the present.

Keenly, The Shadow knew that danger lay ahead. Already he could scent the plans of scheming minds.
Before the Laurentic docked, final ways of crime would be prepared. To learn of those arrangements
was The Shadow's present purpose.

The Shadow had dropped the guise of Lamont Cranston. In his chosen character of blackness, he was
stalking forth to learn the schemes that brewed.

CHAPTER II. TWO TALK TERMS
TEN minutes had elapsed since Lamont Cranston had strolled from the smoking room. A man was
coming along one of the narrow passages of the Laurentic. He stopped before the door of a cabin and
unlocked it. He turned on a light switch as he entered the room. The glare showed the features of Milton
Claverly.

The young man closed the door behind him, but did not lock it. He smiled in a somewhat leering fashion
as he drew a stack of bills from his pocket and deposited the money upon a table.

Forgetting his winnings for the moment, Claverly doffed coat and vest and walked to a wardrobe in the
corner of the cabin.