Death in the Stars s-197

by Maxwell Grant

  She found the front door too formidable. Skirting the Castle, she was nearing a rear door, feeling along the stone walls, which had a clammy touch. Her head brushed a strip of wood. Lifting her hand, she found the strip to be the ledge of a small window. Probing, it swung inward and upward; even better, it was loose!

  Lois paused long enough to reassure herself that no one could see her enter. She was wearing a dark-blue dress; her rubber-soled camp shoes were dark too, like her stockings. Her black hair helped; no one could see her face if she turned toward the window.

  Drawing herself up to the high ledge, the girl pushed her hands through and swung the sash inward. Its hinges creaked; then Lois was gripping the sill within. She was halfway through the window, when a horror froze her.

  In the thick gloom of that room, Lois was staring into a face that looked back with a gaze as petrified as her own!

  The face was chalkish, but it couldn't have been whiter than the girl's. Teetered on the window ledge, Lois felt balanced between life and death. With a valiant shove of her numbed fingers, she gave herself an outward thrust, landing on the turf beneath the window.

  She had a fleeting glimpse, as she went, of the other face, recoiling deeper into the room. That recollection saved her nerve. The horror, whatever it was, had been afraid of her; therefore, it couldn't have been as terrible as it looked.

  Was it an artificial spook, placed there by Scorpio to scare off prowlers? A thing actuated by the lift and fall of the sash, so that it came forward and then returned?

  Perhaps it was simpler than that. It could have been her own reflection, from a mirror that Scorpio had set inside the window. Yet Lois could hardly believe that her imagination had rendered her own face as hideous as the visage she had seen.

  Satisfied, however, that trickery was the answer, she resolved to try another entry, this time using the flashlight. Pushing her hand through the window, she pressed the switch. The light showed a small, square room, empty except for a cot in the corner.

  No mechanical ghost; no mirror. But Lois dropped outside again. There had been something in that room; something that lived. Perhaps the human horror was more afraid than she was.

  Lois listened. She heard it creep inside the house, along a passage. It was moving toward the rear door, past a corner of the irregularly shaped Castle. Lois could hear the grating noise of a bolt being drawn; the click of a big doorknob. A wave of triumph seized the girl.

  The horror was trying to escape her!

  Quickly, Lois rounded the corner, just as the door creaked open. She saw an upright oblong of blackness, then a white face that shifted outward. The door was creaking shut when Lois pressed her flashlight switch again. The beam spread squarely on the closing door.

  Against the shutting barrier. Lois saw the pasty, haggard face of Edward Barcla!

  THE man gave a snarl that carried fear with its challenge. Wildly, he hurled a missile toward Lois. The thing was a big ball, black and twirling, that some people would have mistaken for a bomb; but Lois had seen a similar thing at one of Scorpio's lectures.

  The sphere was a star globe, showing the constellations, like a map of the world. Barcla had evidently grabbed it as an improvised weapon.

  Glancing from the wall, well wide of Lois' head, the globe bounded with a tinny plunk and struck the ground. By then, Barcla was in full flight, tearing through the underbrush like a maddened deer.

  Lois hadn't a chance to follow him. She extinguished the flashlight and listened to his dwindling crashes.

  He was keeping to the back woods, traveling as if he expected a horde of demons on his trail.

  It wasn't all cowardice on Barcla's part, though Lois did not realize it. Barcla simply thought that he had met the living ghost of the night before; otherwise, The Shadow.

  As for Lois, she was considerably scared herself. She started to run, but she did not follow Barcla. Her feet simply took control and chose the easiest path-past the Castle and down the slope. Next, Lois was stumbling, rolling, fortunately escaping the trees. She wound up, laughing half-hysterically, near the water's edge.

  Sounds from the lake sobered her. Feeling safe, she considered what she had learned. This much was certain: Professor Scorpio had been harboring Edward Barcla, a fugitive from justice. Barcla was one of Scorpio's tools; probably the most important one.

  It wouldn't do to stay here for the meeting. Lois needed help; the one person she thought of was Niles Rundon. He was across the lake, at his cabin, expecting friends for a poker game. They always came on nights when Scorpio gave lectures, after leaving their wives at the community house.

  There was a way to get to Rundon's in Scorpio's speedboat. Lois knew the craft well; she had driven it when it belonged to Paula. It had no ignition lock, merely a switch that anyone could press.

  There it lay waiting some twenty yards from shore, a canvas already removed from the cockpit and lying over the stern. Probably Scorpio had intended to use it this evening, before the cabin cruiser came for him.

  Reaching the dock, Lois looked for a rowboat and found one, but it was chained and locked. There was a quicker and quieter way to reach the speedster: by swimming to it. Once in the motorboat, Lois could come back and scoop her clothes from the end of the dock.

  Lack of the dark dress wouldn't matter, for the lake, like the dock, was almost black and Lois expected no lights to come her way. She felt quite secure while preparing for her swim, for it was easy to watch the lake and make sure that no one approached. The speedboat was only twenty yards away; Lois could reach it easily.

  Lights of moving boats all were distant; in fact, the nearest of such craft was loitering at Paula Lodi's dock, almost a mile away. Lois heard its idling motor throb louder just as she was diving into the water.

  With the splash, there were sudden shouts from the shore, close by. Coming to the surface, Lois saw a flashlight lick from the direction of Scorpio's Castle toward the dock that she had just left. Some of the crooks had arrived for the meeting!

  They were rushing out along the dock while Lois made quick strokes to the speedboat. Nearing the boat, the girl took an underwater dip, came up beneath and gripped the boat's far side. The mooring rope was handy; Lois worked at it.

  She knew that the men with the flashlights had spotted the garments that she had left on the dock; but she had dived from the end and was sure that they would look in that direction first. They wouldn't know that she had veered to the left when she began her swim.

  The boat that had been at Lodi's dock was throbbing this way, but it wasn't operating its searchlight. Lois still had the benefit of blackness all about her.

  Two men were growling from the deck; Rufus and another. They had flashed their light straight out; deceived by the ripples, they thought that Lois had gone under the pier, as the nearest hiding place.

  Their light did sweep the speedboat while the girl was undoing the mooring rope on the other side; it moved away again. They did not think that Lois could have reached the boat so quickly.

  Then the rope was loose. Rolling over the low side, Lois drew back the sheltering canvas as she kicked the starter. The craft snapped into motion. There were snarls, as the light came its way. Over the stern, the men could see Lois' sleek back and shoulders as she crouched at the wheel. They yanked out revolvers and began to fire.

  Bullets ricocheted from the water like skipping stones. Rufus and his crony were hoping to explain murder by claiming that they were preventing the theft of Scorpio's boat; but they didn't come anywhere near a hit. The speedster was a whisking thing, as it shot out into the lake under Lois skillful guidance.

  The girl knew the boat. She veered it one direction, then the other. Even the flashlight lost its course temporarily. Then the foiled marksmen spotted it, whipping off to the straightaway, out of range. Over the stern, a girl's long, slender arm gave them a derisive wave.

  Lois wasn't going back to the dock. The canvas tarpaulin could make amends for her scarcity of raiment wh
en she reached Rundon's. The sooner she brought back aid, the better. Though Barcla was gone, there still might be time to trap Rufus and another, if they were foolish enough to stay near the Castle too long.

  Perhaps it was the swim that had cleared Lois thoughts. At any rate, reason told the girl that she wasn't out of danger. There could be crooks on the water, as well as on land. Looking back over her shoulder, Lois saw something that fulfilled her conviction.

  A speedboat had whipped in beside the Castle dock, from the direction of Paula Lodi's. It was the craft that Lois had seen while preparing for her swim. Spurts came from it-the jabs of guns. Foolish shots, thought Lois, for she was far from range.

  The flashing light was gone from the dock; the large craft, veering, was turning after Lois' boat. Its own lights went off, too, which made Lois think that the men on the dock had exchanged shouts with those in the pursuing craft, telling them to take up the chase. She didn't guess that they had exchanged shots, not shouts, to the detriment of the men on the dock.

  Lois needed no light. She was bearing on a darkened stretch of shore cater-cornered across the lake; that marked the location of Rundon's cabin. She was sure that she could outdistance the craft behind her.

  She looked for other boats, saw only one, indicated by tiny specks of light.

  It was coming from the community house, a slow boat, bringing Rundon's friends, which meant that it must be close to nine o'clock. That boat would take at least twenty minutes to reach Rundon's; Lois could make the trip in half that time. She recalled again that this speedster she was in was the fastest thing on the lake.

  Not quite. There was a craft that Lois did not know about-a slinking, silent thing that could slither through the lake with scarcely a wave behind it and touch speeds that would make it seem other than a man-made device.

  It was more like a fabulous sea monster, rampant in the waters of Lake Calada; a low-built streak, awash with the very surface that it sliced. The ghost, perhaps, of some prehistoric denizen from a forgotten age.

  Yet it was real, that monstrous craft, and it was actually in sight, had Lois known where to look and how to detect it. The thing was coming from another angle, gaining on the speedboat, as though hungrily seeking to devour it.

  The mystery ship had been bound for Scorpio's Castle, when it veered; its hidden crew were taking up Lois' trail. Only foamy ripples revealed that men of crime were again on hand, this time seeking to thwart a rescue before The Shadow could arrive!

  CHAPTER X. CRIME'S CHOICE.

  FROM the shore in front of his cabin, Niles Rundon heard the loud roar of a wide-open motor and stared out toward the lake. He was expecting visitors, but not in a boat that came with a rattle like kettle-drums.

  It couldn't be the crowd from the Community Center; they weren't due for a while. Besides, they had a plodding boat, and were conservative to insist on lights.

  Rundon had a rickety dock, but he wasn't near it and had no time to get to it. The thing that was roaring in his direction threatened to climb the low shore and crash the cabin, which was only a dozen yards back. Hastily, Rundon found his flashlight and spotted it toward the lake.

  He saw the boat and recognized it: Scorpio's speedster. The motor cut off instantly; the exhaust gave a chow, and the slim craft actually bounced toward the beach. Then, carried in by a sweep of waves behind it, the boat grounded violently. Its pilot practically hurdled over the bow, to land on the sand.

  Rundon gaped at a figure clad in what seemed an enormous dressing gown; then he recognized the garb as a canvas tarpaulin, with a piece of mooring rope for a belt. He recognized Lois in the crazy-styled creation, as she came tripping toward him. He seemed to think that the girl had come from a masquerade.

  "The skirt is too long," laughed Rundon. " I think a few tucks would improve-"

  "Quick, Niles!" Lois was gripping his arm with earnest hands. "You've got to listen! They're after me!

  They'll make trouble for both of us!"

  Rundon could hear another thrum from the lake. He took a quick look at Lois' improvised garb and turned her toward the cabin. He seemed to grasp much that had happened.

  "Get in there," he told her. "Put on some dry clothes. The old outfit's there-the one you used for the camping trip."

  "But you can't stay here alone-"

  "I'll handle this, Lois," interrupted Rundon. "Nobody from Scorpio can give me any trouble."

  Lois suddenly decided to obey. She saw Rundon reaching for his pocket, and thought that he had a gun.

  She didn't look back, as she stumbled toward the cabin. If she had, she would have seen that Rundon merely produced a pipe.

  All the while, Rundon was staring at the water; his flashlight had a broad range and he saw what happened very close to shore. He spied Denwood's speedboat, cutting a wide arc toward the flimsy dock. For some reason, it had veered away from Lois' course.

  It was swinging back again, and Rundon saw why. There was a glisten in the speedboat's wake; behind the shine, a long stretch of foam. The boat had made a remarkable zigzag between Lois and some craft that had pursued her speedster.

  A clever maneuver, and one that had proven very timely. Otherwise, Lois would have been intercepted by the mystery ship before she reached the shore. Then Rundon gave a call; too late. The speedboat, slashing back again to cut off the strange craft, had run into uncharted shoal some distance from the dock.

  There was a splintering, as the prow crashed the hidden rocks; a dying gasp of a motor. But Rundon, with a last sweep of his flashlight, saw the figure at the helm. The pilot of the speedboat added mystery to the situation; made Rundon momentarily forget the other water thing that he had glimpsed.

  The speedboat's pilot was cloaked in black; he wore a slouch hat. Rundon could see him no longer, for he had sprung from the wrecked boat and reached the shore past a batch of large rocks. All that Rundon glimpsed was the cloaked pilot's companion, a man in ordinary attire, who also dodged behind the rocks.

  A slight thump came from the opposite direction, near the dock. Rundon turned off the light to listen; then stole in the opposite direction. Hearing approaching steps, he ventured hoarsely:

  "Who's there?"

  LOIS heard the call, from within the cabin, where she was sliding into slacks and flannel shirt. She edged to a window, threw back her soaked hair and stared into the darkness. She thought she could hear mutters beyond where Rundon was, but they didn't worry her. She had heard the speedboat crash farther down the shore.

  Then, as Lois was stooping to tie the laces of her sneakers, she heard Rundon's shout;

  "Lois! Quick! Bring the rifle!"

  It was above the big fireplace, Rundon's gun, and Lois took it for granted that it was loaded. Yanking it from the rack, the girl dashed to the door; she could hear Rundon, trying to voice another yell. Men were struggling along the shore near the little dock, and Rundon was trying to get away, to break for the cabin.

  Lois dashed for the group. At that instant, a flashlight sent its gleam from behind a rock down the shore.

  From another angle, singularly close to the cabin, came a strident laugh that seemed to mock the fighters that the flash gleam displayed.

  There were half a dozen of those fighters-rough-looking men, who were trying to suppress Rundon's punches. They flattened him as the light came; at the laugh, they scattered, leaving Rundon on hands and knees. Some were shooting for the light; their bullets were merely bashing rock. Others were trying to locate the laugh.

  Their taunter aided them. He returned their fire, along with further mockery. His shots were like knife stabs; only the protection of trees saved his diving foemen. They were taking to the trunks of the huge pines, which were plentiful on this shore.

  Into the path of light came a cloaked figure, swooping like a gigantic bat. It was Lois' first glimpse of The Shadow, and her last for a while. His move was a feint to make the foemen shift. They were stretching past the trees, shooting hurriedly, as The Shadow reversed his t
wist.

  He was in darkness again, and he reached the corner of the cabin ahead of the aiming marksmen. From there, his gun blasted new responses, with results. Crooks had craned too far, and The Shadow winged a pair of them without even checking on their gun spurts. He simply jabbed his shots toward the sides of the trees, where he knew that they would be.

  The howls of the wounded men brought a barrage from the others; not toward The Shadow, for they were dodging him, but in the direction of the light. They finished it, this time, but they didn't get a victim with it.

  At The Shadow's order, Harry Vincent had simply perched the light on the rock and ducked away. He was already circuiting, to reach the cabin from the far side and join The Shadow at the sheltering corner.

  There came new evidence of The Shadow's strategy; something which none of the foemen guessed. His shots were steady, at carefully spaced intervals. He seemed content to keep the crooks where they were.

  Actually, Harry had taken over. Through darkness, The Shadow was making a swift, silent trip beyond the cabin, to come in upon the enemy from the rear.

  Cut off from the craft that they had left at the dock, the whole tribe could be routed. The Shadow was acting as a one-man squad, in a game that promised a complete clean-up. Unfortunately, certain circumstances were combining against him.

  Unwittingly, Lois was providing the first complication. She was creeping forward to where Rundon lay.

  He had found a tree of his own, away from the outspread path of fire. He heard Lois whisper, took the rifle that the girl handed him. Half gasping, he questioned:

  "Did you load it?"

  Lois suppressed a startled "No!" She wanted to creep back to the cabin; as she started, Rundon tried to follow her, but sank back with a stifled groan. Lois decided not to leave him, even to get the cartridges, for she was afraid he would be unable to use the rifle.

  Amid spasmodic shots from trees and cabin, she whispered what had happened at Scorpio's Castle. She had concluded that brief account, when the next situation came; the one that most seriously damaged The Shadow's plans.