"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 168 - The Lone Tiger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

THE LONE TIGER
by Maxwell Grant

As originally published in "The Shadow Magazine," February 15, 1939.

When the law failed; when a $100,000-reward offer brought no success, The
Shadow set out to capture The Lone Tiger.


CHAPTER I

JUSTICE RENDERED

THERE was a murmur, a stir, throughout the well-thronged courtroom.
Buzzing sounds were silenced by the stern rap of the judge's gavel. The quiet
that ensued seemed chilled with fearful omen, particularly to the three
prisoners who awaited the verdict.
The judge's eyes were fixed upon that trio. His gavel looked like a
weapon
more formidable than any that these prisoners had ever before faced. Those
raps
that the hammer had delivered were fateful strokes that ended all hope of
future freedom.
Steadily, grimly, the judge droned the names of the defendants, adding
the
aliases that the three men had used in crime. Then, to emphasize the identity
of
the culprits, he added:
"You are the last members of that notorious band that styled itself the
Tiger Mob. Seven others of your outlaw organization have already received the
penalties that they deserved. I need not repeat their names, nor the details
of
their individual capture.
"Suffice it, that you three managed to avoid justice during the two-year
period while the others were being apprehended. With your arrest, the score
became complete. Law and justice have gained a tenfold victory!"
There was a pause. The judge's austere face retained its solemnity, but
his expression indicated that he was thinking of other persons, and
contemplating past events.
"Most heinous of the crimes committed by the Tiger Mob," resumed the
justice, "was the raid upon the home of Joseph Mileson, esteemed New York
citizen and philanthropist. Not satisfied with the large loot obtained through
that robbery, the ten fiends subjected Mr. Mileson and his family to gross
mistreatment.
"The Milesons, together with their servants, were locked in an airtight
wine cellar, to await their fate. It has been pleaded" - the judge's voice was
cold again, his eyes returning to the prisoners - "that the criminals did not
realize that they were leaving helpless persons to die. But the law can make
no
allowances for the oversight of individuals engaged in crime."