“The first that I have seen hereabouts,” remarked Laspar. “Well, I must commend the pilot for his wisdom.”
“Why so” inquired Rex.
“Because this territory lacks landing fields,” explained Laspar. “But there are many rough clearings among the timber tracts. An autogyro is the one type of ship that could survive a forced landing.”
CONVERSATION ended as the three observers watched the whirling-topped ship pass low beyond the hazy green horizon. Then Laspar and Rex began new conversation about “Old Absalom.” Harry Vincent alone remained silent.
For Harry was thinking of the ship that had gone from view. He was confident that the autogyro had come prepared for a landing within a few miles of Lake Chalice.
For The Shadow, when he traveled on special missions, chose an autogyro for his journeys. In that craft, he could have come speedily from New York, almost overtaking Harry and Rex on their trip to Laspar’s lodge.
With his ship, The Shadow was equipped to land in one of the clearings that Laspar had mentioned.
From there he could come secretly to Lake Chalice, to keep an eye on whatever might transpire.
Wisely, Harry Vincent repressed all signs of the new confidence that he felt. Dangers that might arise from the past; trials that might be encountered in the future — both were lessened by The Shadow’s arrival.
That throbbing ship above the darkening waters of Lake Chalice had been a deliberate signal for Harry Vincent’s benefit. To the agent, it meant that The Shadow was at hand.
CHAPTER IX. AT THE CHALICE MINE
TWENTY-FOUR hours had elapsed. New sunset streaked the western sky beyond Lake Chalice.
Harry Vincent and Rex Brodford were smoking pipes on the verandah of the lodge when Cortland Laspar joined them. The magnate had come back from a visit to the lumber camp.
“Well, gentlemen,” observed Laspar, “it looks as though your first step should be a visit to the Chalice mine.”
“No information at the lumber camp?” inquired Rex.
“None at all,” replied Laspar. “I quizzed the surveyors again. They have no idea where the Quest shaft could be located. They told me about the shack that they used when in the hills. It will be easy enough to locate. A blazed trail starts from the gully.”
“Then we could find our way there by night as well as by day?”
“Yes. The shack is about two miles in from the lake. It has cots and mattresses that the surveyors left there. Also canned goods. All you will need is bedding.”
“We can go over there tonight, then, Vincent,” observed Rex, turning to Harry. “That will put us right on the terrain at daybreak.”
“Good,” agreed Harry.
“You seem anxious to lose no time,” remarked Laspar to Rex. “Well, I do not blame you, even though I doubt that your search for the mine shaft will be successful. But before you start along the blazed trail, pay that visit to the Chalice mine. You might learn something.”
“About the Quest mine?”
“Possibly. At least, you could gain some news regarding Old Absalom. He has not been around the lumber camp for weeks. That means that he has probably been visiting the Chalice mine. He has to go one place or the other to buy provisions.”
“A good idea,” decided Rex. “How is the best way to get to the Chalice mine?”
“Ordinarily,” declared Laspar, “I would suggest that you cut across the point and pick up one of the canoes. There are several of them beached there; it is only a short paddle from that side of the point.
“But since you intend to go to the shack on the Quest property, you would have to come back around the point afterward. So you will do better to take the motorboat. It is down at the dock, here in front of the lodge.”
“We’ll be gone all night, at least,” reminded Rex. “Maybe we will stay over at the shack for several days.”
“Quite all right,” stated Laspar. “I have no present need for the motorboat. Keep it as long as you want.”
“Thanks,” returned Rex. “All right, Harry. Let’s get ready. We’ll head for the Chalice mine first.”
THE young men went inside. Cortland Laspar remained on the verandah, smoking a cigar. Suddenly, the lumber magnate’s eyes became fixed upon the edge of the porch. There, beside a post, a shadowy streak of blackness was detaching itself and moving slowly away.
It was nearly twilight and the long line of darkness shifted uncannily beneath the afterglow. Laspar arose and strode to the edge of the porch. As he arrived there, the streak faded from view.
Laspar looked up and noticed moving clouds near the horizon. He decided that some odd freak of sunset had caused the phenomenon.
What Laspar did not see was the shape that had actually caused the shadow. Merging with the edge of the house, rounding a corner of the lodge to escape Laspar’s view, was a living form cloaked in blackness.
The Shadow, close by the verandah, had overheard the conversation that had followed Laspar’s return from the lumber camp. The Shadow, like Harry and Rex, had made prompt plans. Silently his figure shifted away among the trees. The Shadow was cutting across the point to find the canoes.
TEN minutes later, Harry and Rex returned with their equipment. They went down to the dock, accompanied by Laspar. There they boarded the small motorboat and took their luggage with them.
They started the motor and shook hands with Laspar.
“Keep well away from the point,” warned Laspar. “The lake is very shallow there. A sand bar extends across to the opposite shore.”
The motorboat chugged away. Following Laspar’s advice, Rex guided it almost to the opposite side of the lake; then swung in beside the gully that marked the boundary line between the Quest mine and the Chalice mine.
He pointed out the spot where the trail probably began; and Harry, also noticing the shore, called Rex’s attention to a battered, flat-bottomed rowboat that lay upside down among the trees.
“I guess the surveyors must have used it,” remarked Rex. “Well, here we are, rounding the point. I’m going to hug this curving shore until we strike the landing spot at the Chalice mine.”
The surface of the lake had become quite dark; but as the boat chugged along, both men could notice the blackness of the trees. The shore guided them for more than a mile. Then they spotted the whiteness of a little wharf, with a clearing beyond it. Rex headed the boat for the wharf; Harry turned off the motor.
They coasted to a landing and moored the boat to the white dock. As they stepped to the planks, they looked back and saw Laspar’s point extending like a long black finger out into the lake. They had almost completely rounded it.
“What’s that?” inquired Rex, suddenly. “Listen!”
Harry, complying, heard nothing. Rex laughed.
“Like the swish of a paddle,” said Rex. “It must have been a fish jumping. I only caught one splash.”
He turned on an electric lantern. With Harry following, Rex led the way toward the clearing. They followed a twisting path among some trees, then came suddenly upon a flattened space beside a slope, where hanging lanterns greeted them.
SEVERAL men were seated on rough benches in front of three small cabins. Hard-faced fellows, unshaven, they looked up as the visitors arrived.
Beyond the cabins, Harry spied a pair of heavy, slanted doors in the side of the slope.
These barriers were metal-sheathed and padlocked. They marked the entrance to the closed shaft of the Chalice Gold Mine, the property that was at present in charge of this skeleton crew.
A big fellow arose to greet them. His eyes showed suspicion in the lantern light. Harry advanced while Rex extinguished the electric lantern, that was no longer needed.