“Say” — Cap turned to the sheriff — “I’d forgot about that trunk. It gives me an idea. It belongs to a pair that jumped the show — The Solvas — and I got a letter from them asking me to ship it to New York.”
“Well?”
“Well — I ain’t had time to ship it. Suppose, now, that Zoda is down at the station. He may be on the look-out. But if he sees me drive up to the baggage room and unload this trunk, he won’t think I’m after him.”
“What then?”
“I can sneak out of the baggage room and squint along the platform. He won’t know it.”
“That sounds all right. Wait here until I get a deputy.”
Cap Guffy grinned as he looked at the trunk in the rumble seat. His idea evidently appealed to him. The sheriff’s approval seemed to his liking. The deputy arrived promptly; he and Cap entered the car and started for the station.
CAP pulled up at the baggage room. He and the deputy unloaded the trunk. Cap checked it and dropped the check in his pocket. He watched the trunk go aboard the baggage truck. The baggage master started the truck along the platform just as a whistle sounded to announce the approach of the train. Rails began to click.
“What about the fellow we’re looking for?” questioned the deputy, anxiously.
“Now’s the time to spot him,” responded Cap. “Come with me.”
The pair edged to the platform just as the train arrived. Brakes brought the string of cars to a grinding stop. Cap saw Tex Larch step aboard, lugging his heavy bags. He looked in the opposite direction and observed the trunk going in the baggage car.
“All aboard!”
The conductor’s cry brought a shake from Cap’s head. The owner of the Ten-in-One turned to the deputy and spoke in a disappointed tone.
“Zoda didn’t get on that train,” he announced. “I’d have spotted him, sure. We’ll have to look for him back on the lot.”
“And if he isn’t there?”
“One man missing,” stated Cap, as he took the wheel of the coupe. “It’ll be the sheriff’s job to find him.”
Cap smiled grimly as he phrased this decision. The deputy nodded as they started back along the road to the circus grounds. Cap’s manner seemed to indicate that the disappearance of Zoda was a matter of grave consequence.
A watching figure was shrouded in the darkness behind the Ten-in-One. Keen eyes saw Cap Guffy wave the deputy away. They watched the showman lift the canvas and enter the rear of the tent.
Those were the eyes of Zoda, the missing mind reader. They were also the eyes of The Shadow. Noiselessly, the blackened figure moved away. The Shadow was heading toward the big top, where the shouts of barkers were urging the slim crowd into the show.
The sheriff and three other men were entering the main tent when The Shadow spied them from a darkened spot near the office. Two of the sheriff’s companions were deputies. The other was a squatty individual — the bank watchman who had come to identify the robbers.
A soft laugh whispered from hidden lips as The Shadow circled past the big top. Grim duty faced The Shadow. He was seeking a wedge with which to plan a counterthrust to coming crime.
CHAPTER XIII
THE SHADOW’S CHANCE
THE path which The Shadow had taken was fraught with danger of discovery. Tenseness ruled the circus lot tonight. Flashlights glimmered here and there about the big top as roughnecks maintained a ceaseless vigil.
This was the circus custom. It was the duty of the roughnecks to keep a clear space about the big top. Usually, they nabbed boys who were trying to crawl under the canvas. Such captures were followed by admonitions of “Beat it, you punk.” But the roughnecks — whether genuine circus folk or camouflaged mobsters of Croaker’s crew — were apt to deal harshly with adult prowlers.
The fact that the circus lot was virtually under quarantine had caused much speculation around the big top. Stuffy had instructed all the roughnecks to grab any one who had no business near the main tent. This had followed a suggestion by the sheriff. It was a ruse to cover up the fact that he was searching for crooks among the people who belonged on the lot.
The Shadow, as he glided onward, was cunning in his stealth. He was seeking to avoid any encounter; as a result, he chose a zigzag path to escape the patrolling roughnecks. A light glimmered from ahead; one showed from the other direction. The Shadow chose the cover of a wheeled cage.
Human beings had not discerned The Shadow’s presence. But in his present move, the black-garbed venturer came within sight of huge green eyes that glowed from within the cage. A roar resounded in the night. Massive paws clanked against the bars at the front of the cage.
“Ganges,” the ferocious tiger, knew that someone was lurking close by. The rumble from his furry throat told of his discovery. The vicious growl was repeated. Then came a low hiss that reached the tiger’s ears.
The creature dropped back from the bars. The hiss came again, in a low, commanding tone. Muffling his growls, Ganges backed angrily away from the bars. He did not roar again. His eyes were blinking as he squatted, half cowering.
A GLOVED hand rattled the padlock that held the door of the tiger’s cage. A steel pick clicked while The Shadow probed. The lock yielded.
The door of the cage moved inward. Ganges growled but made no move as The Shadow silently closed the door and sprang the lock in place.
The hiss sounded close beside the tiger. With a catlike whine, the big beast shifted its position. It raised one paw, as though in final protest. The hiss was repeated. Ganges moved to the bars and settled there; his striped head between his paws.
Four roughnecks had reached the cage. Their flashlights glimmered upward between the bars. They revealed the crouched body of Ganges; but they did not show the shaded figure that was stooped against the solid back of the cage.
Sight of the new intruders inspired Ganges to lift his head and show his teeth in a whining growl. He clattered at the bars with one big paw. A roughneck jumped back at another’s warning.
“Look out for Ganges!” The tone showed dread. “He’s a man-eater, that cat. Even Wernoff has trouble handling him.”
“He’s a killer,” came another comment. “So it’s Ganges that was growlin’, eh? Huh. He’d raise a roar if he saw a shadow. There ain’t nobody around here.”
Lights were sweeping along the ground about the cage. Every bit of area was being covered. The roughnecks resumed their conversation.
“Say,” suggested one, “maybe somebody hopped in the cage.”
“With Ganges?” The man who answered gave a snort. “If he did, there’s no use botherin’ about him. He’s dead.”
“The door is locked,” put in a third speaker.
“Come along then,” decided the first. “That cat was just actin’ mean.”
“Like he usually does.”
The men moved away. As the lights flickered, Ganges arose to deliver a parting roar. He paced angrily. Then came the commanding hiss. The roughnecks were too far away to hear it. They were also too distant to witness the effect on Ganges.
As a blackened hand loomed before the tiger’s nose; as hidden lips repeated their weird hiss; as burning eyes met the tiger’s greenish gaze, Ganges cowered in complete submission. He watched the eyes move backward toward the door. He heard deft hands click at the lock. The door opened as The Shadow moved outward. The door swung shut; the lock clicked in place.
The master of the night was gone; yet Ganges remained cowed. The tiger was a killer; like humans who dealt in death he had felt the dominating power of The Shadow’s amazing presence. Other animals in near-by cages seemed to know that Ganges had been vanquished. Complete silence persisted as The Shadow moved forward into the night.