"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 166 - Crime Rides The Sea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

at
the wheel. He was alone now.
The third officer wasn't concerned with the fog or anything else outside.
He was working feverishly near the binnacles that contained the ship's
compasses, with his eye on a panel that held the automatic steering indicator.
While Harry knew very little about ships' controls, he soon guessed what Pell
was doing.
Veering slightly through the sea, the Ozark was taking a new course under
Pell's guidance; and while the freighter shifted, the third officer was
adjusting the indicator so that the change would not be noticed.
Harry needed to know no more. He moved away before the other officer
returned. Reaching the hatchway that he had before, Harry hurried down the
ladder and found the telephone that gave him contact with The Shadow.
It was fully ten minutes before Harry received a reply to the
intermittent
pushes that he gave a button beside the telephone. The interval indicated that
The Shadow had not returned to his cabin until the moment he finally answered.
Harry's tenseness ended when he heard his chief's whispered tone. He gave a
terse account of what he had witnessed.
Two words constituted The Shadow's answer:
"Report received!"
Those were enough. Harry went aft to the passenger lounge, confident that
The Shadow would rectify any damage done by Pell.


DURING the next few hours, Harry noticed no alteration in the freighter's
course. That was not singular, for he knew if The Shadow nullified Pell's
action, he would certainly do it as artfully as the third officer had
performed
his own deed. What bothered Harry was the fact that he couldn't see any reason
for Pell's original action.
There was no island to which the crooks could sail the Ozark, there to
rifle her two million-dollar strong box. As for a possible rendezvous with
some
modern pirate ship, it would be more sensible for the other craft to cut
across
the freighter's path.
 The whole thing baffled Harry to such a degree, that he took little part
in the merriment among the passengers.
They were making the most of this first night, and from their chatter, it
seemed that they intended to stay up until dawn. Maybe the fog would be gone
that time, they agreed, and that would allow them a look at the ocean. Harry
noticed, however, that Ruth Eldrey seemed very tired. She was seated deep in
her chair, staring at a corner window.
A sudden sparkle came from the girl's eyes. Her lips went momentarily
tight. She had seen something at that window; but it was gone, when Harry
looked.
Had it been a face? Perhaps Pell's?
Harry could picture the sallow-faced third officer sneaking along the
decks, peering into cabins to see what the passengers were doing. Perhaps the