leaving. As it pulled up to the steps, Prokop descended.
'Cab, sir?' called the driver.
Prokop stepped aboard. It never occurred to him that he was riding in the same cab that he had left. One
does not observe the distinctive features of a taxicab.
Prokop left the cab after a short ride, and walked briskly toward the apartment house where he lived. He
entered the door, and let it close behind him.
He glanced back as he did so; but saw nothing but the deep shadows of the entrance. He rode up in the
automatic elevator.
It was not on the ground floor when he pushed the button. Prokop did not see the shadowy form that
moved silently up the stairway to the second floor.
When the elevator stopped at the third floor, Prokop was in no hurry. He went slowly down the hall, not
looking behind him; hence he did not see the motion that occurred in the shadowy landing at the top of
the stairway.
A few minutes later, a taxi driver was standing in the entrance to the apartment house. He checked the
number of Prokop's apartment with the name that appeared beside it—Henry Propert.
Then the cabman left the building. He turned the corner, and reached his cab. He stepped in back, and
placed a black bundle beneath the seat. Then he drove toward the center of Manhattan.
He picked up a passenger on the way, and left the man at his destination, near Forty-second Street and
Broadway. The passenger paid very little notice to the driver when he paid his fare.
He had not the slightest suspicion that the man who had driven him was the most mysterious personage in
New York—that master of detection whose name carried fear to the hordes of gangIand—The Shadow!
CHAPTER XXIV. LATER THAT NIGHT
THE meeting of the Reds had been held early in the evening. Hence it was not yet midnight when the
mysterious cab driver rode northward in another cab.
But now he was a totally different personage. He sat in the back of a cab; he was faultlessly attired in
expensive tailored clothes; and he appeared as a young and well-groomed man—Lamont Cranston, the
millionaire.
The cab stopped in front of the home of Prince Zuvor, and Lamont Cranston alighted. He rang the
doorbell and Ivan admitted him. With a profound bow, the Russian servant conducted the guest to the
room on the second floor.
Prince Zuvor smiled when he stepped through the curtains. He seemed greatly pleased at Cranston's
arrival, and his first words carried a question.
'What transpired the other night?' he asked. 'Did any one appear to be following you?'
'Perhaps it was my imagination,' replied Cranston speculatively. 'I did fancy that some one was on my
trail. So I changed cabs, and finally borrowed a limousine of a friend of mine—which chanced to be
parked near Forty-second Street. I left it at the Landis Club, and I had no difficulty after that.'
'I am surprised that you risked another visit here,' remarked Prince Zuvor, with a slight smile. 'I told Ivan
to welcome you when you came again— and I changed that remark to 'if you came again.' For I feared
that you would be followed, and I imagined that it might discourage you.'
'Indeed not,' said the millionaire. 'In fact, I merely dropped in for a few minutes, to-night.
'I have a matter which I should like to discuss with you—not now, but at some later date. When would
be convenient to you?'
Prince Zuvor considered. His mind seemed to be formulating a plan, as though he was anxious to suit
both Lamont Cranston and himself.
'Suppose,' he said, 'we set it one week from to-night. At precisely nine o'clock! Would that be
satisfactory?'
'That would be excellent,' said Lamont Cranston. 'You will find that I am punctual in my engagements.'
'But let us consider to-night,' said Prince Zuvor. 'It was unwise of you to come so soon after your
previous visit. That is why I suggested an interval of a week before you come again. I think that to-night
you should leave more secretly.'
Prince Zuvor glanced at his watch; it was nearly midnight.
'Have you an appointment anywhere?' questioned Cranston.
'Oh, no,' replied the prince quickly. 'I seldom leave this house, as you know. I stay here almost all the
time—I and my servant'—he corrected his last statement—'I should say servants.'
'You have more than one?'
'Yes. Ivan Shiskin; the one who admitted you. The other is a German named Fritz Bloch. He is not here
at present.'
'Is it wise for him to go out?'
'There is no reason why he should not. He is simply a menial; he is not a Russian; hence he is not under
surveillance of the Red agents.'
'He might be approached by them,' observed Cranston casually. 'I should think you would be suspicious
of him.'
'Fritz is all right,' replied Prince Zuvor carelessly. 'He is reliable. I watch him a bit—so does Ivan.
'I don't think I shall keep him much longer—not more than a month. He has very little to do, and he is out
much more often than he is in.'
IT was well after one o'clock when Cranston finally arose to say good night. Zuvor, suave and courteous,
reminded him of the danger that lurked outside the house.
'Would you like to try my private exit?' he asked. 'It is a way that never fails. I have used it on several
occasions.'
Lamont Cranston expressed immediate interest.
'You mean the way by which the man you spoke of escaped?' he questioned. 'You know the one I
mean. Er—er—his name slips my mind.'
'Berchik?'
'Yes. Berchik.'
'Berchik had a long way to go,' said Zuvor. 'He is now en route to Australia. So I enabled him to leave
New York entirely.
'I assume that you wish to remain here in the city. So I shall explain to you the route which I have used
myself, and which I reserve for my special friends.'
Prince Zuvor rang a bell; Ivan Shiskin appeared. The man's face was expressionless. Zuvor spoke to him
in Russian. The import of the words was clear to Lamont Cranston, who understood the language
perfectly.
The prince explained that the millionaire was a friend of the late czar. When he added that Cranston
carried the token of the Seventh Star, Ivan's face lighted up in genuine admiration.
Prince Zuvor drew Cranston aside, and explained the method of escape.
'You will enter the side door of a house in back of this one. Go up to the third floor—the house is empty.
There you will find a ladder, leading to a hatch door in the roof.
'Next door to the building is a warehouse; a flight of steps will take you into the top of the
warehouse—the fifth floor. There you will find the entrance to an elevator. Ride down to the first floor.
