"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 252 - Judge Lawless" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

came heaving upward, sideways. Flung into the midst of three attacking
gunners,
it staggered them, while off in the opposite direction ricocheted a shape in
black - The Shadow!
He hadn't ducked behind the curtains; instead, he had dived to the bench.
Using it as a missile, he was blocking three fighters with it, while making a
drive into the trio on the other side. The Shadow was amid those three,
slugging hard with his automatics when Dave next glimpsed him.
Again revolvers barked, once more without result. Crooks were sagging as
they fired, and The Shadow, reserving ammunition for new combat, wheeled about
with another taunt to blast doom upon the three who were hopping over the
upset
table.
They fired as they came, but The Shadow's shots were sooner, and
accurate.
Two stabs of his guns felled a pair of wild-shooting opponents; side-stepping,
he downed the third with a sideward swing of his gun.
Too late, Dave tried to shout a warning. Judge Lawless had drawn a gun,
and weapons were flashing from the hands of Menz and others. They were driving
for The Shadow, intending to blast at such close range that they couldn't
miss.
But The Shadow didn't need the warning that Dave couldn't give in time.
He
was already on his way to a new position; this time, he was actually choosing
the alcove beyond the curtains.
The Shadow yanked those curtains as he reached them. Crooks close on his
heels saw the curtains coming their way, rod and all. The foremost was caught
in the tangles, while those behind them blasted shots into the alcove. The
answer was The Shadow's laugh; not from the space where bullets bashed, but
from an inner corner of the room!
He'd tricked them again, this human streak in black, reversing his
direction as he flung the curtains. Flanked by The Shadow, they were in for
trouble - or would have been if they hadn't come around at a shout from
Lawless. The gray-haired man with the uncanny eyesight had again spotted The
Shadow's course.
In that moment came Dave's chance for action.
It concerned Fleech. Out from the triangular niche that was to have been
his death spot, came the condemned man, snatching up a dropped gun from the
floor. He jostled Dave as he passed him, and from the fellow's wild manner, as
well as the direction of his drive, Dave guessed the fellow's objective.
Fleech was seeking to kill The Shadow!
Dave didn't wait to guess Fleech's reasons; the fellow's purpose was
enough.


WITH a long lunge, Dave intercepted Fleech and grabbed for the man's gun.
The shot that Fleech fired did more than rip wide.
Swung about by Dave, Fleech turned his gun in a new direction - toward
Judge Lawless. Coming around when he heard the shot, Lawless took it that Dave
had acted in his behalf, not The Shadow's. Seeing that the strugglers would