were a tight-fitting black, whose head was covered by a dark skullcap.
The man's back was turned. The face of The Black Master was not yet revealed. The Shadow waited.
The hand of the visible man rested beside the desk. A low, venomous chuckle came from the lips of the hidden face. The hand moved upward.
Simultaneously, the unexpected happened. The entire window seat upon which The Shadow crouched gave way! The hidden man was precipitated into empty space, so rapidly that he had no chance to save himself!
But even in that instant of total surprise, The Shadow did not fail. His finger pressed the trigger of his automatic. In his sudden fall, the shot went wide, although the bullet struck the wall less than a foot above the skullcapped head of The Black Master.
The thought dominated The Shadow's mind as he plunged into the space below. Whatever his fate might be, he had given the alarm. The police who surrounded the house would come to the capture of The Black Master.
Headed by Cardona, their surprise attack had chances of success and rescue. The signal had been given!
The Black Master was at bay!
The falling man struck the bottom of the pit. His fall was broken by a thick mattress. His lithe body withstood the shock.
The Shadow raised himself to his feet and groped the sides of the cell about him. Then nauseating fumes swept through the air. The Shadow made one last effort to find his way to freedom. It was hopeless.
Superman though he was, no escape was possible. The overpowering gas found its victim. The Shadow sank into unconsciousness, an outstretched form garbed in flowing cloak, his features still hidden beneath the forward- tilted brim of his soft hat.
From the opening above came a low, mirthful chuckle. The Black Master was gloating over the capture of his foe!
CHAPTER XX. THE MASTER MAKES TERMS
THE bottom of the pit moved upward. It was the flat lift of a small elevator. Upon it lay the body of the man in the black cloak.
He was motionless at first, but as the elevator reached the top of the pit, he stirred slightly. He was too weak for concentrated action.
The front of the window alcove opened. The room was semidark and a form bent over the body of The Shadow. Then the mattress upon which the semiconscious man was lying became a wheeled vehicle.
It moved forward, a noiseless, rubber-wheeled truck. It was pushed through the smaller room, into the apartment with the hanging curtains. There, in the center of the room, the black-cloaked form was rolled upon the floor.
The helpless man did not move for a while. Then he stirred and rose to a sitting position. His black cloak spread and covered his legs.
He had the appearance of a half-formed man, growing through the black carpet of the room.
The dim light changed. It became a wavering blue - a fantastic light in which the man in the black cloak seemed strangely unreal. Beneath that light, his figure cast no shadow!
There was a motion in the curtain at the end of the room. The Shadow rose to his feet. He faced the spot in front of him.
Then came the illusion of a bulging curtain - a black form that had no shape of its own. A white, blurred face appeared - even the keen eyes of The Shadow could not observe its features.
'At last!' came the monotonous voice of The Black Master. 'At last we meet!'
The Shadow did not respond.
'You are here' - said The Black Master - 'here to do my bidding!'
There was an answer now. A low, mocking laugh came from beneath the broad black hat. It was a laugh of scorn and defiance, a challenge to the man who called himself The Master.
Never - even in his moments of greatest triumph - had The Shadow laughed so tauntingly. The sound reverberated through the room. The billowy curtains seemed to ripple as the echoes resounded.
'You laugh now,' said The Black Master. 'Later, we shall learn if you have cause to laugh!'
The blue lights trembled and cast their uncanny glow. The Shadow remained defiant and undisturbed.
'In this room,' said The Master, 'I have met men who have chosen to live. I have met some who have chosen to die. Which do you choose?'
There was no answer.
'One man,' he continued, 'chose neither life nor death. Is that your choice? Your silence will be regarded as assent!'
Still - no answer.
'Very well! You have made your choice!'
The shape advanced from the curtains, its arms extended. Before it hung the crystal globe that sparkled with vivid light. The blue illumination flickered. The form of The Shadow trembled from the shock. The man in the black cloak was riveted to the spot where he stood.
The charges of fascinating electricity shot back and forth through the mystic globe. It was the same test that had dazzled Harry Vincent and had destroyed his will. Now it came in much greater degree, a whirling, sparkling mass of terrifying brightness.
Closer and closer moved the globe, until it pressed against the rim of the broad-brimmed hat. The Shadow wavered. He seemed about to fall. His form relaxed.
The brightness ceased. The blue lights no longer flickered. The globe, sparkling gently, moved back to the curtain and disappeared.
Again The Shadow laughed, with his same defiance. He had met the test of The Black Master and he had ridiculed it!
'You have withstood my power,' said the voice from the curtain, 'but that is not all. Wait!'
The curtains began to close, forming a smaller space in the center of the room. The blue lights flickered and The Shadow's form wavered.
His mind could resist all that the enemy had to offer, but his physical being could not withstand the currents that swept through his frame. He stood numbed and powerless. The curtains were close about him.
The blurred white face had vanished. Only a black shape remained, outlined against the front of the curtain. An arm came from the curtain. It reached forward and plucked the black hat from The Shadow's head.
A low sound of amazement came from the curtain when the face of The Shadow was revealed.
'The secret of The Shadow,' came the monotonous voice. 'At last it is understood! The man of many faces - with no face of his own!'
The hand replaced the hat upon The Shadow's head. The flickering of the lights was ended. The Shadow was free to act, with his enemy but a few feet away. He made no action.
He knew too well the powerful forces at the disposal of The Black Master. One false motion would mean instant death.
'Perhaps you wonder why I do not kill you,' said The Black Master, in a low, unchanging voice. 'I shall tell you why! You are the only living man whom I have not cared to kill!
'You have sought to ferret out my crimes. You have discovered some of them - but not all. Let me ask you - and you may reply if you wish. Why do you seek to destroy me?'
The Shadow laughed in a low, hissing tone.
'I seek to destroy you,' he said, in a sibilant, whispering voice, 'because you are a creature of crime!
You have brought death upon those who have not deserved it!'
'You, too, have resorted to crime,' replied The Black Master.
'Not unless the end has justified the means!'
'With me' - there was a chuckle from the curtain - 'it is the means that justifies the end.
'You are the only man in all the world who is like myself. Why should we care for human life? To me, human beings are stupid, useless creatures, with which the earth is overburdened.
'I know no pity. You, too, are pitiless.'
