"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 243 - Room of Doom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

the
house, The Shadow went down by the back stairs in order to cut him off.
There was no car available except The Shadow's limousine, which was well
down the driveway. However, The Shadow started in its direction, to intercept
Nevlin should he try to reach the limousine and intimidate the chauffeur.


LIGHTS blazed suddenly from the driveway, right in front of Aldriff's
house. They came from the taxicab that was arriving to report on Kelburn's
flight. Nevlin jumped right into the glare, waved his gun at the driver and
climbed into the cab.
Tom Demble, the taxi driver, wasn't the sort to argue with a gun. He'd
let
Kelburn have his way, and thus was still alive; so he used the same policy
with
Nevlin.
Before the cab could pull away, Nevlin heard a laugh from the darkness
ahead. Frantic, he thrust his gun from the window just as the cab was
starting.
Demble gave a quick turn of the wheel as a shape like a mammoth bat wheeled
into
the glare of the headlights then swooped away again. It was gone, that weird
figure, when Demble straightened the cab again.
Nevlin saw the figure in black and began to shoot; his aim wide by dozens
of yards. He was shooting at a forward angle, whereas The Shadow had cut to
the
rear of the cab. Nevlin might have seen him had he turned around; but Nevlin
didn't look back.
Just within the glow from the front doorway of the house, The Shadow was
taking deliberate aim at the figure shooting from the rear door of the cab.
The noise of Nevlin's shots drowned out crunches on the gravel. Men flung
themselves upon The Shadow as he fired, and his bullet merely dug a chunk from
the driveway.
Wrestling with these new attackers, The Shadow heard the cab roar rapidly
ahead - Nevlin's shots spurring Demble quite as effectively as if the fleeing
secretary had kept the gun muzzle against the cabby's neck.
Nevlin was off in the flight he wanted, making one less witness to the
things that had happened in the Aldriff mansion. In flight, Nevlin was
carrying
with him the story that he should have told to - The Shadow!


CHAPTER VII

JOAN FINDS A FRIEND

THE struggle in the driveway was brief; much like one in which The Shadow
had earlier engaged. For he was dealing with the same tacklers who had proven
themselves quite soft: Aldriff's servants. This time, there were only two of
them, and The Shadow spilled them without trouble.