"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 128 - The Shadow's Rival" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

The Shadow gave a quick upward kick that reached Joe's gun wrist. There was
leverage in the swift move.
Joe went plopping back into the living room. His gun was pointed upward
when he fired. The bullet found the ceiling above the stairway door.
Leaving the crooks to the headquarters squad, Cardona took to the stairs,
in pursuit of his unknown antagonist. The Shadow was at the top before Joe had
come five steps upward.
Reaching the roof, The Shadow closed the trapdoor and hooked a metal
catch
in place. That would hold Cardona for a few minutes; all that The Shadow
needed.
Reaching the corner of the rail, The Shadow slashed the thongs that held
Herk. As the fellow squirmed to rid his arms and legs of their numbness, The
Shadow clipped the gag. His automatics beneath his cloak, The Shadow gripped
Herk and hauled him to his feet.
As the thug gulped at sight of The Shadow, he received a greater surprise
than his release. Into Herk's fist The Shadow shoved the crook's own gun. For
a
moment, Herk gaped at the weapon; then, with a snarl, he raised it to aim for
The Shadow. A gloved fist jabbed the side of Herk's jaw.
Spun clear about, the roof guard went staggering toward the trapdoor,
trying to catch his footing. He sagged to one knee; he came up half groggy. He
was facing the trapdoor when it bounced upward under a hook-breaking heave
from
Cardona's wide shoulders.
Coming out upon the roof, Cardona saw Herk. He took the crook for the
adversary on the stairs. He thought that Herk's effort to raise his gun was
the
challenge of a thug who wanted battle. Joe piled upon the groggy lookout and
flattened him upon the roof.
Herk could not ease his fall. The back of his head thwacked the roof.
Knocked cold, the last thug was Cardona's prisoner.


WHILE Joe was pounding upon the already helpless thug, The Shadow went
over the rail. The wire whined as the cloaked rider zimmed downward to the
next
roof.
Cardona did not hear the faint sound. Looking around his own roof, Joe
saw
that it was deserted. He hauled Herk through the trapdoor and dragged him
downwards.
It took The Shadow only a short moment to cut the wire and haul it
inward.
He descended through his own building and watched an alleyway out back. Soon,
a
cellar door came open from the adjoining building. Cardona and his squad
appeared, marching more prisoners ahead of them. They had captured "Plugger"
Kilgey and the downstairs gun crew.
After the police had gone, The Shadow headed through darkness. A few