"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 231 - Garden of Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

It missed The Shadow's shoulder as he rolled to his feet. Scooping up the gun with one hand, The
Shadow grabbed coal lumps with the other and flung them, to keep the orangutan busy. In turn, the ape
snatched chunks of the broken partition and hurled them back.

From far outdoors came a peculiar sound, the hoot of a great owl. The Shadow heard it, and so did his
ape foe. To The Shadow, it could have been an imitation hoot, delivered by a human throat; to the
orangutan, it meant a signal that the creature was trained to obey.

The prolonged "Hooooo" was repeated, and before The Shadow could bring his gun to aim, the
orangutan turned and bounded off through the cellar.

Rapidly, The Shadow followed. He could hear the hoot repeated; steadily, from the far corner of the
grounds. There were shouts outside, several of them indicating that the new detail of two patrolmen had
arrived, joining with Cardona and the others. They'd heard the terrific smashes from the cellar and were
coming to learn the trouble.

It would be more than trouble if they met the orangutan. Firing after the creature, The Shadow tried to
wound it before it could escape but his aim was badly off. Unscathed, the ape went out through the cellar
window, and The Shadow followed, still shooting. His daze cleared as he reached the night air.

The owl hoots were coming from the direction of the apple tree, and the ape was making toward the
spot. Steadying, The Shadow pulled his trigger, this time with better aim. His shot was spoiled when a
blue-clad foeman sprang upon him. With a quick grapple, The Shadow managed to fling the cop aside.

Cardona and the others didn't hear that scuffle. They were shooting from around the house, their target
the orangutan, which they mistook for a human figure, as The Shadow had. The ape was traveling too
fast for them, so they ran after him, losing their quarry in the shrubbery near the apple tree.

The Shadow was sure he heard the crackle of the hedge, but Cardona and his men stopped beneath the
tree. The cop that The Shadow had tossed was coming up to join them, thinking they were after the
fighter who had grappled him. Hoots were still coming from the tree, and Cardona fired two shots into
the air as a warning to the accomplice in the branches.

Amid those shots, The Shadow heard the whine of a departing car and knew that men had met the
orangutan beyond the hedge, to take the creature away. The situation was almost the duplicate of the one
that The Shadow had provided that afternoon. Marauders were gone, with no chance to overtake them,
except for the one in the tree.

"COME down, you!" Cardona was addressing the accomplice in the tree. "If you don't, we'll let you
have it!"

A derisive hoot was the only answer. Cardona repeated his command, and received another hoot in
return.

"All right!" announced the inspector grimly. "We'll bring you down!"

Aiming upward, Cardona and his men aimed for the next hoot they heard. Poor business for the
accomplice in the tree, to keep up his fakery after a final warning.

Cardona was right; the shots did bring him down. The hooter descended, along with falling apples, and