'That you, Snakes?'
'Yeah,' responded the arrival. 'Lay low, Ruff.'
'What do you think I'm doing?' came the gang leader's growl. 'You haven't seen anybody snooping around, have you?'
'No,' returned Snakes, as he crouched beside Ruff in the shelter of the alley. 'Things look O.K. We're going to keep them that way. You've got everybody set?'
'Sure thing. But what I'd like to know is why this guy is so important. The guy Gray Fist wants to get.'
'We don't know who he is.' Snakes was cautious in his tone. 'He might be anybody, Ruff. Besides that—he might have some other bimboes with him.'
'He'd have to have a regiment,' growled Ruff, 'the way you've ordered things. Say—maybe you've forgotten how big those emergency orders were.'
'I haven't forgotten.'
'Well, then you're sure of one thing. There won't be no cops butting in. Boney's up ahead with his mob.
Woody has a crew inside the Black Ship. Farther out, we've got -'
'Never mind, Ruff. I know the lay.'
'It's up to Gray Fist to pay the freight.'
'Don't worry about that, Ruff.'
'I figure he wants to see how the emergency orders work. Well, he'll get what he wants. Stick around, Snakes. The only trouble is that it will all be over so quick -'
Snakes Blakey shot out a hand in interruption. Crouched near the entrance of the alley, the sneaky gangster was watching toward the parked sedan. The rear of the car was close to one of the few dimly-lighted portions of the narrow street.
SOME one had stepped into the sphere of light. A tall man, dressed in evening clothes, had made a rather sudden appearance by the parked car. It was impossible to discern the stranger's features. His attire, however, seemed incongruous in this locality. Tucked beneath his arm, the arrival held a briefcase.
He paused to stare inquiringly at the sedan. He was apparently noting that the car was empty.
With deliberate action, the stranger opened the door of the car, and stepped within. The door closed after him. Snakes Blakey, sensing that Ruff Shefflin was watching beside him, spoke in a low whisper.
'That's the guy,' said Snakes.
'You've seen him before?' questioned Ruff.
'No,' returned Snakes, 'but it's him all right.'
'He might have got somebody else to come instead -'
'Yeah? Down here? Not a chance. I was wondering whether he'd have the nerve to come himself.
Say—it's pretty close to midnight, ain't it?'
There was the flicker of a match as Ruff edged back into the alley to consult the dial of his watch. The gang leader grunted his corroboration.
'Only two minutes to go.'
'What about the men for the car?' quizzed Snakes.
'They'll be along,' replied Ruff, as he returned to his post beside Snakes. 'I put Jake and Caulkey on the job. Jake's taking the wheel. Caulkey will be beside him.'
Several moments passed, then, as if in proof of Ruff's statement, two men appeared upon the street.
They approached the parked sedan simultaneously, one from the sidewalk, the other from the opposite side of the thoroughfare.
Jake and Caulkey had arrived. They were entering the car where the stranger was seated. Ruff growled a laugh as he saw the gleam of a revolver in Jake's right hand.
'There won't be any fooling,' he decided. 'See how neat those boys handled it? Woody's got a gorilla watching from the Black Ship. He's seen Jake and Caulkey sure enough. That means the sharpshooters will be closing in from up the line.'
Snakes snarled his understanding. Already, the sharp-eyed watcher could detect a movement far up the street. Hiding hordes were moving out from alleys and from empty buildings. They were forming a blocking group at the rear.
But these meant nothing, compared to the crowd ahead. 'Boney' and his mob, though not in view, were waiting there until the sedan might appear. Ruff knew what Snakes was thinking. He added a comment.
'Maybe Boney won't get a chance,' laughed Ruff. 'Jake'll be driving slow when he comes this way.
These birds with me'—he was nudging his hand back toward the alley—'are handy with the rods. I've got some other sharpshooters across the way, too.'
'It's time the car was starting,' observed Snakes.
'Give them time,' growled Ruff. 'Give them time.'
Snakes was staring. He fancied that he had seen a motion at the side of the sedan. Was some one lingering there, in the darkness of the car? The stoop-shouldered watcher growled his disapproval of the delay. Ruff came back with a laugh.
'I've fixed that all right,' he remarked. 'If the car don't start, we'll know why, quick enough. See—there's a guy looking in now!'
A tough-looking rowdy had arrived alongside of the sedan. He had crept up from the sidewalk. Another was approaching from the opposite side of the street. One was reaching for one front door of the sedan, the other for the door opposite.
The doors opened simultaneously. A startled growl came from Ruff Shefflin. Out of one door tumbled the sprawling form of a man. A similar figure dropped from the other. Jake and Caulkey, Ruff's two watchdogs. Both had met with disaster the moment that they had entered the sedan!
What was the answer? Only that the stranger had not trusted the two men sent to drive him away.
Despite the caution of Ruff Shefflin's henchmen, the two had been knocked unconscious by unseen blows dealt them in the darkness of the car!
ANOTHER advancing gangster had leaped forward with the two who had opened the doors to let Jake and Caulkey drop out. This man was the gang leader, 'Woody,' who was serving as Ruff Shefflin's lieutenant. Ruff and Snakes saw Woody yank open the rear door of the sedan, and throw the rays of a flashlight inward while he held a revolver in his other fist.
Even from the distance of the alley where they watched, Ruff and Snakes could see the answer. The glare of the flashlight showed the interior of the sedan in all completeness. The car was empty!
Snakes Blakey realized the truth. The person who had entered the sedan had slipped out the other door after knocking out Jake and Caulkey. He was hiding there now, in the darkness at the side of the car. If Woody would only throw the flashlight's beam to the street side of the sedan!
In answer to the thought, Woody performed the action. The farther door of the sedan swung outward.
The glare of the flashlight hit the street; with it came other rays from new torches that approaching gangsters threw toward the focal point.
Of a sudden, the left side of the sedan was illuminated. It was then that a cry came from Ruff Shefflin's harsh lips—a cry that was echoed from other spots along the silent street.
Moving swiftly from the car, swinging straight into the center of the focused lights, was a weaving form in black. Like a hideous specter of the night, this strange creature had come into view.
For one brief instant, amazing suspense hung over all. It was upon that instant that Ruff Shefflin shouted forth his realization of identity—the name of the being whom he had been set to trap. The gang leader's cry was filled with fury, yet the venom of his recognition was tinged with the note of uncontrollable fear.
For the name which Ruff was uttering was one which the underworld held in awe.
'The Shadow!'
CHAPTER X. THE SHADOW'S FLIGHT
RUFF SHEFFLIN had recognized The Shadow. So had the others who now thronged the street. All these men of mobland were amazed, with one exception—Snakes Blakey.
The sneaky gangster who served as Gray Fist's emissary had known the identity of the stranger who had
