Tex Larch had used his head. Guns seldom appeared in fights on circus lots. His cry, passing along the line, had given immediate understanding. Townsmen, seeing that the real circus people were aiding the outnumbered deputies, came to give further aid. As the sheriff strode out into the midway, the fierce fight was coming to a sudden finish. Men of crime were conquered.
CLIFF MARSLAND had hurried toward the trucks of the Ten-in-One. He had seen two men running in that direction: Jonathan Wilbart and Luke, the tattooed man. Princess Marxia was in the rumble seat of Cap Guffy’s coupe. With one arm clinging to the snake box, she was beckoning with the other.
Wilbart reached the car and leaped aboard. Luke clambered to the wheel. Cliff fired wild shots as he cut across the midway. He saw the coupe roll from the lot. Cliff turned toward a sedan that was coming from rough ground. He shouted to the driver. The door opened.
Cliff leaped aboard to find Harry Vincent at the wheel. Lucille Lavan was in the back. Harry shot the sedan forward, to take up the pursuit. They reached the roadway a hundred feet behind the fleeing coupe. Cliff leaned outward with ready automatic. Then he uttered a wild exclamation.
“Look!”
The coupe had slowed to take the first turn in the road. Cliff stayed his fire. For as the sedan shot forward, he saw a black-cloaked figure spring from an embankment and land on the running board of the fleeing car, clinging on to it.
It was The Shadow! He had sped to intercept the flight. His leap had brought him to the side of the car, face to face with Jonathan Wilbart.
THE thud of The Shadow’s form brought swinging guns in his direction. One was gripped by Wilbart; the other by Luke.
Fingers pressed triggers. With split-second speed, The Shadow beat Wilbart to the shot. The arch-crook slumped; his unfired revolver dropped from his hand, while the echo of The Shadow’s shot sounded within the coupe.
With one hand swinging the coupe to the straight road, Luke aimed with the other. The tattooed man had acted with less speed than Wilbart. That proved his undoing.
The Shadow shifted as Luke fired. The shot whistled through a fold of the cloak as The Shadow moved sidewise from the door. The automatic barked its answer. Luke crumpled behind the wheel.
From the pursuing sedan, Cliff Marsland uttered a grim exclamation as the coupe left the road. Crashing through a fence, the light car toppled sidewise into darkness as its wheels skidded on the side of an embankment and went down the incline.
As Harry jammed the brakes, Cliff leaped from the sedan. He sprang to the embankment and stared toward the wreck of the overturned coupe. His flashlight showed one moving form. It was that of Princess Marxia, hurled from the smashed car. Beside her lay the snake box, its top broken.
Horror showed on Cliff’s face as he saw what happened twenty feet below. Marxia, crippled by the crash, was trying to rise. Rattling noises brought a scream from the woman’s lips. Cliff saw the striking heads of poisonous snakes. Moaning, Marxia rolled upon the ground and lay still.
The rattlers, poison unremoved from their fangs, had completed this grim tragedy. Jonathan Wilbart had died. So had Luke. Marxia — as murderous as the two men — had joined her companions in death.
A voice spoke beside Cliff Marsland. It was Harry Vincent’s. Cliff turned his flashlight. Harry was nodding and pointing to the sedan.
“The Shadow?” questioned Cliff.
“He’s all right,” answered Harry. “He landed clear when the coupe took the ditch. He’s in the car.”
“What about the girl?”
“She has left. I helped her up the embankment. She is cutting across to the lot, to inform them that she is safe.”
Cliff followed Harry to the car and joined him in the front seat. The sedan pulled away. Cliff, glancing into the rear, saw only blackness.
But as the car rolled on its way, a weird, whispered sound came to the ears of The Shadow’s agents. It made them tremble, even though its author was their friend.
The laugh of The Shadow!
Shrouded in blackness, traveling away from the scenes where he had conquered crime, the master of the night had uttered his grim triumph.
Mirthless, the laugh rose upon the silence of the countryside; then broke with quivering echoes that seemed to linger with the sighing breeze.
Evil schemes had ended. Minions of crime had died. Their insidious leader had perished. Justice had gained the victory over cross-purposes of crime.
Justice — through The Shadow!
GLOSSARY:
BALLY — A show given on the stand in front of a tent to attract the crowd. Short for “ballyhoo.”
BARKER — Man who speaks during a ballyhoo, or who attracts customers by his talk.
BLOOMER — A week or “stand” in which losses are heavy.
FIXER — Man employed by a carnival to square matters beforehand, to make arrangements with authorities so the games will not be stopped.
FLASHER — A carnival game in which blinking, changing lights attract players.
GAFF — A device attached to a game to prevent the player from winning.
GAFFED “Fixed” so a player cannot win.
GEEK — Pretended wild man who works in the snake pit. “Glommer” is another name for a geek.
GIMMICK — Contrivance that is used to make a game work for the operator. Also any important bit of mechanism.
GRIFTER — Man who runs a carnival game, particularly one who runs a “gaffed” game.
GRIND — Running a game on “nickel-a-play” basis.
GRIND STORE — “Joint” where a nickel is charged for each play.
HEY, RUBE — The circus battle cry. It brings out every one for a fight.
JOINT — A carnival concession, or game booth.
KIESTER — A suitcase.
LAYDOWN — Marked oilcloth along the game counter on which players make their bets.
MIDWAY — The main avenue of a carnival grounds.
NICKEL GOUGER — Operator who runs a grind store.
NUT — The cost of running a show. Salaries, moving, etc.
P.C. WHEEL — A “percentage” wheel, in which the player has a mathematical chance of winning.
QUEER — Counterfeiting term for counterfeit bills.
RED ONE — A week or “stand” in which a show makes money.
ROUGHNECKS — Circus followers, heavy workers, roustabouts.
SCOFF — Carnival term meaning to eat.
SHILLS — Pretended ticket buyers who start the crowd moving. Confederates who “win” at carnival games, to lure “suckers.” Fake players working with the operator. Short for “shillaber.” Old term: “Capper.”
SLOUGH — To close a joint when ordered by the law.
SLUM — Cheap, worthless prizes; also cheap articles sold on the carnival grounds. (Note: In some games, the operators promise a prize to each player, so the game will not be gambling. Most of the prizes given out are “slum.”)
SQUAWKER — Keg with rope attached. Drawing on the rope causes a growl or “squawk.”
TAKE — The amount of cash taken in by a show.
TALKER — Spieler.
TWO-WAY JOINT — One that can be worked fairly or set against the player.
VOICE — Spokesman for a band of crooks. (Particularly among kidnappers, the one who makes negotiations.)