Steadily, unflinchingly, this guardian of the sanctum waited in readiness for a new attack, should its victim show the slightest sign of regaining consciousness.
A telephone rang in the apartment below.
No one answered it, although there were three living beings within hearing distance.
One, Hassan, lay bound. Another, the man in black, was unconscious. The third had become a statue of bronze.
CHAPTER XIX. THE MASTER APPEARS
THE door of the elevator slid open at the fortieth floor. Doctor Palermo stepped out. He paused while he looked at the silent, calm-faced operator.
The man was apparently forty years of age. He wore an expression of indifference. His pale-gray eyes expressed no interest as they met the physician’s gaze.
“You are a new man here?” asked Doctor Palermo.
“On duty a few days, sir,” came the reply.
“What is your name?”
“Burbank, sir.”
“From now on, Burbank,” said Palermo, “do not bring the elevator to this floor, unless I summon you.
That is a rule of the apartment house. I chose the fortieth floor so that I would not be disturbed.
“I want no visitors tonight. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
The elevator door closed. Doctor Palermo, with a short laugh, twisted the push button beside the elevator door. The button screwed tight.
In so doing, it operated a secret mechanism which the physician had never before utilized. Until he should choose to release the button, it would be impossible for an elevator to come above the thirty-ninth floor.
Palermo rang the bell of his apartment. There was no response. The physician drew a peculiar key from his pocket and inserted it in a crevice between decorations of the door. The barrier opened.
Palermo stepped into the apartment. He stumbled over the bound form of Hassan. He evidenced no great surprise.
From the inside pocket of his full-dress coat, he drew a folding knife. He opened the instrument and cut the straps that bound the Arab. Hassan rose sheepishly.
“He came tonight?” questioned Palermo, in the language familiar to his servant.
The Arab nodded.
Palermo waited a moment; then pointed to the telephone. Hassan nodded to indicate that the instrument had been ringing.
Palermo laughed. He beckoned to his servant to follow him.
They went to the sliding panel. Doctor Palermo gave the finger snap. The opening appeared. The two men ascended to the Chinese room.
Palermo instantly observed the black-clad form that lay, face down, upon the floor, its arms outstretched.
The evil smile began to play upon the physician’s lips. It became a leer as the man turned and surveyed the image of Chong, which still stared steadily at the body on the rug.
The master spoke in a strange tongue. The idol came to life. It clambered from its perch and disappeared through a gap in the tapestries.
Palermo pressed his hand against the wall. A panel slid back. A carrier moved forward, bringing the genuine bronze image to the top of the pedestal. The metal idol was a perfect replica of the hideous dwarf who had just gone.
PALERMO removed his coat and clapped his hands. Hassan came forward with the red robe that bore the golden dragon.
Palermo moved to the throne; there he discovered that the mechanism had been operated. He clapped his hands. Hassan went to the throne, to adjust it to its former condition. Palermo took his place on the throne.
Now he began to evidence real interest in Chong’s victim.
Palermo had withheld his curiosity regarding the man in black. The expression on his face showed that he was realizing something that he had long anticipated.
He clapped his hand and pointed to the black cloak with the form beneath it. Hassan picked up the man’s body as though its weight were trivial and set it in a chair. He turned the seat around so that the unconscious man faced Palermo.
The Arab drew down the black collar of the cloak, so that his master might see the face of The Shadow.
This act revealed the features of Harry Vincent!
A slight expression of surprise came over Palermo. He studied the man in the chair. He had seen that face the night before, in the home of Doctor Brockbank.
Harry’s eyes opened. He stared weakly toward Palermo. The sight of the man’s red robe puzzled him.
Palermo noted his perplexity, but attributed it to his sudden recovery of consciousness.
“So!” Palermo spoke with the solemnity of a mandarin. “The Shadow has come! I am surprised to find him such a youth. But I have heard that he assumes disguises.”
Harry tried to frame a sentence. His voice failed him. Palermo read the message on his lips.
“Where is Burke?” asked the man in the scarlet robe. “He is here, awaiting you. He was surprised last night, as you were surprised tonight.
“I must congratulate you, however. You were far more wary. You avoided all my traps — save one.
“A few weeks ago, you might have succeeded in your mission. But recently I decided that my snares had a failing. I had no way of observing any victim who might enter this well-planned lair.
“So I placed a new trap — one that could see and hear as well as act—”
He stopped suddenly. He observed that Harry Vincent did not understand the full significance of the statements.
Palermo realized that the victim had no idea what had happened to him. The thought brought a chuckle from the physician.
“We can return to that matter later,” he resumed, indulgently. “For the present, let us consider your agent, Burke.
“When you left him in charge of me last night, he was completely within my power. I might mention — if you have not already guessed the fact — that Doctor Brockbank and Doctor Palermo are one and the same person. When I assume the role of Brockbank, I am quite as careful as at present.
“Here”—he waved his hand—”I have many curios, and most of them spell destruction for the man who makes a mistake in handling them.
“Doctor Brockbank’s little sanctum is unpretentious, but effective. Its carpet simply covers a thin wire screen that becomes charged with electricity by the simple procedure of pressing a lever underneath the desk. The spot by the desk is not wired.
“So, while I was at the desk, Burke became my victim. He was stunned by the shock that he received. I took him away with me, through a hidden door at the back of the closet.”
Harry Vincent sat dumfounded at these revelations.
“The Brockbank house,” said Palermo, smiling, “connects — through the cellar — with an old storeroom. A box was shipped from the storeroom to-day. It came to this apartment. It contained Mr. Burke, who was in a drugged state.
“He is now in the laboratory. Hassan will bring him up presently.
“I might add that you were nearly at my mercy last night. Had I known, then, that you were The Shadow, I might have dealt with you.
“I thought, however, that you were merely another agent, and that The Shadow would arrive later. So I notified the police to wait his arrival. You covered your identity well, last night. I have kept Burke to lure you here. You may wish to know what I intend to do with him. You shall learn. It will interest you — since your fate will be the same as his.
“I have dissected many bodies, Friend Shadow. Your man, Burke, has seen my collection of brains, which includes that of Horace Chatham. But I have seldom had good subjects for vivisection. In fact, some of my experiments have been forced to wait on that account.
“Tonight, I shall be able to work as I have long desired. Burke will be my first subject. You will be the next. Hassan!”
THE Arab appeared. Harry, roused to desperation, tried to scramble to his feet. He reached for his automatics. They were gone.