There was a door that led into an adjoining house; it was probably the route used by Pinkey and other secret visitors. There was another exit, however, that pleased The Shadow better.
It was a fire escape outside the window at the end of the hall. It had a metal ladder leading to the roof, and The Shadow raised his head above the edge, to learn facts for future reference.
One thing that he saw was a trapdoor that evidently topped the hidden elevator shaft. That was something that could prove useful later. His inspection finished, The Shadow descended by the fire escape.
TWENTY minutes later, The Shadow was in Greenwich Village; near an alleyway that afforded entrance of the side door of The Hayrick. Looking along the street, he saw a man loafing near the corner; another, shambling along in aimless fashion.
These were agents of The Shadow. He had summoned them through a short wave
radio call to Burbank. With his agents on the watch, The Shadow could later receive reports on any outside developments.
Entering the side door, The Shadow stopped for a view of The Hayrick.
The place formed one big barnlike raftered room, with the stacks of hay around the sides. There were about forty tables, half of them occupied by customers. In the center was a dance floor; an orchestra dressed as farm hands occupied the far end of the room.
To his right, The Shadow saw a little stairway that led up to a gloomy balcony. Beyond the rail were the doors of small private dining rooms, which explained why Pinkey had chosen to meet Maude here. By using the side door, Pinkey could reach one of those little rooms unnoticed by the patrons on the main floor.
The Shadow took the stairway to the balcony. He entered the first empty room and closed the door behind him. Using a tiny flashlight, he decided that this room was probably unused, for its table and chair were stacked in a corner.
There was a connecting door next to the little room. It was locked, but The Shadow opened it with a skeleton key. Again he found a little-used room; so
he took another door into the third room in the row. There, the gleam of his flashlight showed a table set for two.
Positive that this was where Pinkey intended to dine with Maude, The Shadow approached the table, his flashlight cleaving a path before him. He hadn't taken five steps, before there was a click from beside the partly closed
door that led to the balcony passage.
The room was filled with light. Just inside the doorway stood a striking blonde, whose large blue eyes were fixed upon the center of the room. The girl was Maude Revelle.
She wasn't the type that The Shadow expected her to be. She was attractively attired in a black velvet evening gown that sparkled with a line of small rhinestones from neck to hem. That decoration was tasteful; quite different from the cheap finery worn by the usual racketeer's moll.
There wasn't any question, though, regarding Maude's identity. She recognized The Shadow when she saw him, and the sudden narrowing of her eyes told that she knew him to be the arch-foe of crooks like Pinkey Findlen.
Whatever else happened, Maude intended to make sure that Pinkey didn't walk into a surprise meeting with The Shadow in this room.
Nervily, the girl ignored the gun that The Shadow whipped from his cloak.
Yanking the door fully open, she made a dive to the balcony, at an angle which took her from The Shadow's range. As she went, Maude delivered a long warning scream. The Shadow reached the same doorway, hoping that his arrival would cause the girl to end her tactics. His move proved a bad one. Hardly had he leaped out to the balcony, when someone turned on another string of lights.
Those bulbs glimmered along the balcony, revealing The Shadow where he stood. Tough faces bobbed suddenly among the patrons of The Hayrick, while quick fists went for guns. As The Shadow wheeled to find cover, he faced along the balcony toward the stairs. There, he saw another menace. On the steps stood
Pinkey Findlen, revolver gleaming from his lifting fist.
Luck had reversed the trap. Pinkey had attained an advantage over The Shadow!
CHAPTER VIII
MAUDE FINDS A FRIEND
THE next two seconds provided The Shadow with one of the tightest pinches in his long career. By all the laws of ordinary chance, that interval should have produced his doom. This predicament, however, was the sort that urged The Shadow to extraordinary measures. In the emergency, he took a long-shot method.
The Shadow didn't halt to beat Pinkey in a gun duel. That would have been suicidal, with other revolvers coming up to aim. Nor did he wheel away to make himself a more difficult target. That would have worked with the more distant crooks, but not with Pinkey.
The Shadow took the one direction that offered sure surprise. He drove straight for the spot where Pinkey awaited him. By the very swiftness of his lunge, he accomplished the unexpected. He arrived by the time that Pinkey's gun
was leveled at him.
Not Pinkey; but the rising gun muzzle, was The Shadow's focal point. At the last instant, he gave a twist that preceded the blast of Pinkey's gun. The bullet scorched through The Shadow's cloak, so close to his body that Pinkey thought he had scored a hit.
Pinkey's triumphant shout made others believe the same. So did The Shadow's own course. He didn't slacken as he reached the steps.
Shoulder-first,
he took a plunge straight downward. To the enemy, that topple indicated that Pinkey's shot had reached The Shadow.
Even Pinky didn't realize that The Shadow's fall would be broken. It was Pinkey, himself, who became the buffer when the black-clad fighter hit his shoulder first. The two went rolling down the steps together; and with the finish of Pinkey's raucous shout came the sudden burst of The Shadow's mocking laugh.
A gun blow settled Pinkey for a while to come. That stroke was swung for the racketeer's skull; through sheer luck, Pinkey partly warded it, with upraised arm. He flattened, groggy at the bottom of the steps, and The Shadow promptly forgot him, to wage battle with others. They were coming across the floor - half a dozen mobbies planted here by "Bugs" Hopton, Pinkey's strong-arm
crew leader. They expected victory through that rush; instead they put themselves in trouble. By deserting the tables, they came clear of innocent patrons. That give The Shadow full opportunity to fire.
Two automatics in his fists, the black-cloaked battler sent shots through the stairway rail. Crooks began to spill; their fire was belated when they tried to return flying lead.
Two of them reached the balcony, jumped up, and hauled themselves over its
high rail. Maude was in their path, trying to stop the conflict; they hurled the
girl aside and started for The Shadow.
He was up the steps to meet them.
Instead of wasting bullets that might be needed, he came like a living avalanche, before the pair could aim. The foremost thug took a hard stroke on the head; his companion made a desperate grapple with The Shadow.
Bold patrons who peeked from beneath tables saw a mass of blackness heave upward, hoisting a struggling thug above. The crook took a long, sprawly dive over the balcony rail; the jolt that the floor gave him left him senseless.
BY this time, new fighters had arrived.
Bugs Hopton and a trio of picked gorillas had dashed in through the side entrance. They aimed for The Shadow as they snatched up Pinkey, to haul the big-shot out of danger. Guns spoke anew, The Shadow's quick shots hurrying the crooks in their aim.
Amid that preliminary barrage, a new attack came from the side door. The Shadow's agents had closed in, to surprise Bugs and his crew with a rear attack.
Mobsters turned, hoping to reach the door. Into the melee came a batch of waiters, thinking that they could drive out the trouble-makers.