Already, the counterfeiting game was known. But it had been put on the shelf, at Croaker’s order. The best way for The Shadow to learn Croaker’s new game of crime was to let it go unmolested on the first attempt.
THE big top was coming down. Cliff joined other roughnecks on the stakepuller. This was a long shaft that projected from an axle between two wagon wheels. A roughneck grabbed a chain that hung from the other side of the axle and wound it around a stake that had been driven deep in the hard ground.
Then Cliff and the others grabbed the high end of the shaft and bore it downward. The leverage yanked the heavy stake clear of the ground. The wheels revolved as the roughnecks rolled the stake puller along to make another hitch.
While Cliff was aiding on this job, the last show finished in the Ten-in-One. The freaks departed from their platform. Princess Marxia’s snake boxes were carried from the tent.
While Cap Guffy was out calling for roughnecks, Zoda remained alone. Unobserved, he detached the microphones and packed them. Then he strolled out along the midway, where the concessionaires were packing up their joints.
Jubo the Geek was working with the ticket seller who ran his tent. He had become a very tame wild man; but that excited no comment among the circus folk. They knew that all geeks were fakes. Thus Jubo, rolling canvas, was an object of interest only to the few townsfolk who were staring from the fringes of the circus lot.
As Zoda’s tall figure stopped near a tent close by the office trailer, Cap Guffy strode into view. Tex Larch was talking with Stuffy Dowson outside the office. Cap came up with an angry scowl on his face.
“Say, you!” he hurled his challenge at both Tex and Stuffy. “What about them roughnecks that’s supposed to be tearing down my top? Where are they?”
Tex Larch stared. Neither he nor Cap Guffy had patched up their differences since they had left Marlborough. Both had been reasonably cordial, but Guffy’s outburst looked to Tex like an effort to widen the breach.
“Don’t stand there like a couple of hicks,” roared Guffy. “Where’s the roughnecks? It’s your job to supply them. That top of mine is ready to come down.”
“What about the roughnecks, Stuffy?” questioned Tex, turning to the general agent.
“They ought to be up at the Ten-in-One,” returned Stuffy. “I had eight men on Cap’s top.”
“Hear that, Guffy?” challenged Tex. “You’ve got eight roughnecks waiting for you.”
“Have I?” demanded Cap. “Have I? Well, you go up and count them. Maybe you can make two and one add up to eight. There’s three roughnecks using the stake puller. That’s all I’ve got.”
“Take a run up there, Stuffy,” ordered Tex.
Stuffy nodded. He departed.
Neither Tex nor Cap knew that Zoda was watching them as they resumed a silent feud. Each showman was curbing his temper. Cap Guffy stared sullenly while Tex Larch bit the end from a cigar and applied a match to the stogy.
A FEW minutes passed; Stuffy came back on the run.
“Cap’s right, Tex,” informed the general agent. “Only three roughnecks there.”
“What do you say to that?” quizzed Guffy.
“Nothing much,” retorted Tex. “When you need roughnecks, ask for them. If you give us reasonable notice, we’ll have them when you want them.”
“I didn’t know they were gone,” growled Cap. “I saw them around a while ago. They came in the Ten-in-One. They shilled for the shows. They didn’t blow until the top was ready to come down.”
“That’s just the time when they would blow,” returned Tex, coolly. “Go down to the big top, Stuffy. Yank five roughnecks off of it and send them up to the Ten-in-One. Does that suit you, Guffy?”
“All right.” Cap’s tone seemed mollified. Turning on his heel, the owner of the side show stalked back toward his tent. Tex Larch grinned sourly as he watched Cap’s departure.
Zoda was not the only witness of the scene. Peering from between two trucks, another person was looking on. The keen eyes that burned from Zoda’s masklike countenance saw the pasty face of Cleed. The man whom The Shadow knew as Croaker Zinn turned suddenly and headed back toward the Ten-in-One.
Cliff Marsland, coming up with four other roughnecks whom Stuffy had delegated to the Ten-in-One was just in time to observe Zoda’s tall form moving into the tent that had once been The Solvas’.
But neither Cliff nor any of the others saw the tall, black-garbed figure that later emerged from the canvas flaps. When they had finished tearing down the Ten-in-One, they dropped the small tents also. Zoda’s bags went aboard a truck along with the rolls of canvas.
Once more, The Shadow was strolling unseen about the circus lot. His figure was invisible as it kept away from the scattered spots where lights aided the roughnecks who were loading the trucks.
Five men had left the lot tonight. The Shadow knew that they had fared forth on crime. But The Shadow was unperturbed. Like Vic Marquette, he was biding his time. Like Vic, The Shadow was waiting to spot the big shot whose hidden hand was guiding the deeds of Croaker Zinn.
CHAPTER XI
CRIME’S AFTERMATH
“LAST town was a red one. This will be another bloomer.”
Cap Guffy made the statement from the front of the Ten-in-One. The show was on the new lot, outside the town of Hamilcar. Evening had arrived; yet the crowd was straggling.
“There’s an hour yet before the big show starts,” observed Stuffy Dowson. He was standing beside Cap Guffy. “You’ve got to give ‘em a chance to come on the lot.”
“Yeah?” questioned Cap. “On opening night? Say — this midway ought to be jammed. Look at it, though. There ain’t a wheel clicking. Listen, Stuffy; sometimes I’ve squawked because Tex wouldn’t let me start my show until after they got going in the big top. But I ain’t kicking tonight. It won’t need big figures to count up the ‘take’ that’s coming in tonight.”
“Tex wants to see you down in the office, Cap,” remarked Stuffy, in a conciliatory tone. “Thought maybe I’d better tell you a while before you opened.”
“All right by me,” returned Cap. “Say — does Tex think I’m still sore about them roughnecks? I ain’t. This new crew is better than the old one.”
“That’s good, Cap. No, the roughnecks don’t matter with Tex. I guess some of the five that blew are back again. We weren’t short-handed when we set up the big top today.”
“Moving around, eh? Well, that’s the way with roughnecks. You can’t count on them.”
“Hank may have taken on some new ones,” admitted Stuffy. “He’s the guy that keeps tabs. Well — it’s up to him. That’s one job he can keep — watching the roughnecks. I don’t want it.”
As Cap Guffy strolled in the direction of the office, keen eyes spied him from a tent beyond the Ten-in-One. That was Zoda’s tent; but it was a different shape than Zoda’s that moved forth into the thickening gloom.
A blackened shape against the darkening sky, The Shadow was moving toward the truck to which the office trailer was attached. He was choosing that vantage point to observe what happened in the office.
Other forms appeared among the tents after The Shadow had followed Guffy’s path. One was that of Jubo the Geek. Another was the figure of Cleed. Passing roughnecks chanced to observe these prowlers. They paid no attention to them. It was customary for the freaks to stay away from the midway while the crowds were gathering.
CAP GUFFY entered the office with a bang. He let the door slam as he closed it. Tex Larch looked up from one of the desks and gave an affable nod. He laid a newspaper aside. Cap approached and glanced at it.