"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 336 - Blackmail Bay" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

swirled in from the gloom just in time to supply another upward jolt as the
second barrel loosed its load.
That left Hobbs standing with an empty shotgun and staring puzzled at
another person whom he knew quite well: Lester Blake. By then, The Shadow had
again wheeled into darkness and Margo realized that the others had probably
been too far away to gain as good a glimpse as she had. The sole exception was
Judge Kroft, who was as close by as Margo and also probably aware of The
Shadow's presence. In any case, Kroft showed magnificent style, beckoning all
the persons toward the porch, as though holding court there. Turning first to
Hobbs, the Judge said drily:
"Congratulations on your bad aim, Ezra. Now, may I ask the purpose of
your
surprise visit?"
"You wanted the windmill pump fixed," replied Hobbs, "but I've been busy
working on my car. Tonight, I've got a mechanic working on it, so I brought
along my tools" - he gestured to the satchel - "and fixed the pump. I was
coming in to tell you."
"Why did you bring your shotgun?"
"In case I ran into a wildcat or some other varmint," rejoined Hobbs.
"Guess I just got confused, judge."
Judge Kroft gave the case a gesture of dismissal. Then:
"Glad to see you here, Earl," he said to Torgesen. "Just how did you
happen to stop by?"
"I had a package to take to Miss Moffat's," returned the store-keeper,
pointing to a handlebar carrier on his bicycle. "I rode up there with it, but
nobody was home. So I decided to stop here coming back and see if Miss Lane
knew where Miss Moffat had gone."
"And I," put in Miss Madge, without waiting for the judge to quiz her,
"thought maybe Earl forgot to bring the package, so I walked down to the store
by the old Indian trail, which is a lot shorter than by road. The store was
closed up tight, so then I walked up here thinking you could phone Earl and
wake him up."
Judge Kroft turned to Lester Blake: "Next!"
"I was up on top of Hiram's Head," explained Blake, "painting a long
range
view, when I realized it was getting dark below. I started down the back way
and
slid off a ledge." Showing his torn shirt sleeves and scratched arms, he
added:
"Got all chewed up by tree branches and lost my sketches. Hurt my knee, too,
so
I thought I'd better get to a phone and call a doctor."


JUDGE KROFT nodded as though he accepted everybody's story; then invited
them all in for coffee. While Hulda was preparing it, Hobbs offered an abject
apology to both Madge Moffat and Lester Blake for his berserk behavior with
the
shotgun.
"Around noon today," Hobbs said to Blake, "I drove you up to Moffat Point