The plotters were uncovered by The Shadow. Murder had been stopped to-night; and future crimes of vast proportions had been nipped in the bud.
There was no escaping The Shadow's power. Neither Zubian nor Carleton, cowering wretches both, dared offer resistance to that terrible being in black.
IT was Devaux who supplied the unexpected action. Although he should have realized that the cause was hopeless, the cringing villain gained an insane desire for action.
With a wild spring, Devaux leaped forward upon the avenging form that towered above him. With no thought of the death that was awaiting, he sought to overpower The Shadow.
This act was not anticipated by The Shadow. Before the black-clad master could respond, the attacker was upon him.
The Shadow staggered backward in the clutches of the superfiend. A wild cry of triumph came from Devaux's followers. They leaped to action to aid in the battle with The Shadow.
The roar of an automatic thundered through the room. Stanford Devaux's form rolled to the floor. The Shadow had downed his fiendish foe.
Zubian and Carleton were coming forward; both had guns, and with them were the two gangsters. At the same time, Monroe, the detective, leaped for his revolver, while Shelton Milbrook pounced upon his own weapons.
Despite the plight of the man who had rescued him, Milbrook recognized another duty. Grasping the diamond belt and his brace of weapons, he seized Virginia Devaux and swept the girl to the safety of the adjoining room. He turned back to aid The Shadow, whose fierce fight was evidenced by the shots that still roared in the room behind.
At the door, Milbrook saw a scene of chaos. Douglas Carleton was Iying prone upon the floor; the two gunmen were sprawled beside him. Over beyond was Monroe, the detective, wounded in the fray.
Milbrook saw no sign of the masked man—the one whom The Shadow had called Felix Zubian.
But he saw The Shadow! Rising from the floor, phoenixlike, amid the huddled remains of his enemies, the black-clad fighter was pealing forth his mocking laugh of triumph!
CHAPTER XXVII. THE LAST SHOT
TURNING back into the room where he had left Virginia Devaux, Shelton Milbrook found the girl resting on the floor, her head buried in her hands. Virginia was weeping; the terrible events which she had witnessed were too much for her to bear.
Milbrook, no longer fearful of danger, bent over the girl and raised her in his arms. Forgotten were his weapons; forgotten the belt of diamonds. Millions seemed as nothing, compared to the girl he loved.
The firing in the next room had ceased, ended by the efforts of The Shadow. Milbrook's one thought now was to bring comfort to the tired heart of this girl who had learned the unhappy story of her father's fiendish schemes.
A sudden noise attracted Milbrook's attention. He turned quickly to find himself facing Felix Zubian.
The suave crook was no longer masked. His face was livid with rage. He had entered the room from the hallway, and Milbrook realized that he must have dashed there while The Shadow was engaged with the two gunmen.
With an ugly leer, Zubian leveled a revolver at the man before him. Holding Milbrook at bay, the crook picked up the belt of diamonds with his free hand. Then, instead of retreating, he came closer.
"You know too much!" hissed Zubian. "While you live, your life will menace mine. So you shall die!"
Milbrook saw that it was too late to offer resistance. A forward spring would only bring a quicker shot.
A cry would mean instant death.
Milbrook thought of The Shadow, in the other room. Probably the man in black had followed through the outer door, intent on Zubian's trail, not knowing that the supercrook had doubled back this way!
Although Shelton Milbrook made no action, Virginia Devaux supplied the attack that diverted Zubian from his fell purpose.
Leaping to her feet, the girl sprang bravely between the desperate killer and the man she loved. Her hands seized the revolver that Zubian held. She sought to wrest the weapon from him.
Milbrook came hurtling forward to Virginia's aid. Zubian's hand came clear. Swinging downward, his revolver struck Milbrook a glancing blow.
As the man fell, Zubian emitted a vile laugh. He flung the girl upon the floor, and with fiendish anger turned his gun toward her helpless body.
"You know too much, too!" he snarled. "You will die! You and your lover -"
The girl's form was Iying close to the door. Virginia was rising from the spot where Zubian had thrown her.
Raising his eyes, Zubian saw the tall shape of The Shadow, framed in the doorway!
THE crimson lining of the black cloak shimmered in the light. The obscuring brim of the slouch hat merged with the upturned collar of that cloak. The eyes of The Shadow glared through the opening, as the black-gloved hand thrust its terrible automatic toward the crouching form of Zubian.
It was then that Felix Zubian saw his doom. There was no chance to treat with The Shadow. To hesitate would mean death. Death would follow his last action, but Zubian would not desist. He meant to end the life of the helpless girl who had balked him by her bravery.
As the trigger moved beneath Zubian's finger, The Shadow was sweeping forward. Unknowingly, Virginia Devaux had blocked The Shadow's aim. Her body, directly in the path of Zubian's fire, prevented the man in black from effecting a rescue by beating Zubian to the shot.
Just as Zubian fired, the girl's body was whirled aside by The Shadow's sweeping arm. The man in black was dropping to the floor, a moving target falling away from the revolver shot.
Zubian's snarl became a cry of triumph as he saw The Shadow roll upon the floor. The slouch hat was carried away by the bullet. The head of The Shadow lay obscure beneath the folds of the cloak.
In that wild moment, Zubian thought that he had slain his enemy. He did not realize that The Shadow's plunge had enabled him to escape the shot; that the black hat had alone received the bullet.
Zubian was aiming to fire further shots, to make sure of The Shadow's death; but he never accomplished that final purpose.
An arm swept upward from the floor. Behind it came those glowing eyes; but it was not the eyes that stopped Felix Zubian. He was staring into the face of The Shadow—not the disguised features of Lamont Cranston or Henry Arnaud, but the visage of The Shadow himself!
What Zubian saw there; what expression on The Shadow's countenance made even that fiendish villain gasp in horror; no one could ever know. For Felix Zubian knew his last moment of life in that fateful instant.
His trembling finger faltered on the trigger of his gun. The Shadow's unfailing hand did not yield. The last shot that was fired on that night came from The Shadow's automatic.
When Virginia Devaux recovered her senses a few moments later, she was amazed to find the room silent, and still. She arose and crossed the room to where Shelton Milbrook lay. The man opened his eyes as the girl bent over him. He raised himself to his feet and stared about the room.
The Shadow was gone; but his departure had marked the end of crime. The belt that contained the diamonds lay on the floor at Milbrook's feet. Not one stone in the precious collection had been lost.
In the center of the room lay the form of Felix Zubian. The man was dead, thwarted in his last attempts at brutal slaughter. He had failed in his final effort, this man who had faltered when he had seen The Shadow's face.
The orgy of crime was ended. Murderous men were dead. Gats Hackett, Squint Freston, Douglas Carleton, Stanford Devaux—all had perished in conflict with The Shadow.
After them had died the most dastardly of the entire crew. Felled by the final shot, Zubian had resisted to the last. It was not until all others had been slain that Felix Zubian had fallen.
His passing marked the end of The Shadow's shadow!
THE END
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Document ID: 9ab54866-45c5-4087-9fcf-c11bf82f85f3
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 25.5.2012
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calibre 0.8.53, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6.6 software
Document authors :
Maxwell Grant
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The Shadow's Shadow s-23 Page 16