Harry’s words were restraining. Their truth was evident. Drew Wresting had stretched on the rough floor of the corridor. His breath was coming in long gasps. Carter Boswick’s attitude changed instantly.
“Drew!” he exclaimed, in a kindly tone. “What’s the matter, old man? Tell me — how did you get here?”
Carter was at his cousin’s side, he was clasping the hand that Drew weakly proffered. Harry Vincent arrived beside the pair. Both he and Carter could see that Westling’s face was deathly pale. They propped the frail young man against the side of the corridor. Drew Westling smiled weakly.
“Guess it’s all” — he paused to draw a breath — “it’s all — been — too much of a strain for me. Thinking — you had gone. Trying to do it — all alone—”
“Tell us about it,” suggested Carter.
Drew pointed to the pit. Harry turned his own flashlight downward. The glow revealed a large flat slab at the bottom of a five-foot pit.
THE edges of the slab had been mortared to the rock. Tools lay upon it. Drew Westling had been working to pry the slab loose.
“It’s yours, Carter!” gasped Drew. “Whatever is under there belongs to you. I came here — not to get it for myself — I came to get it — for you.”
“I though you were with the gang,” said Carter, in a tone of remorse. “Steady, Drew. There’s a lot I’ve got to know. Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I’ve got to explain, Carter,” declared Drew, becoming suddenly calm. “—Maybe I should have told you before; but I was afraid you wouldn’t understand. I came here to help you. Carter, because I knew there was danger.”’
“Go on.”
“You found the note, didn’t you?”
“You mean the directions — latitude and longitude? Yes, I found it — but it was stolen. What do you know about it?”
“Stolen?”
“Yes. Right after I found it. I went to the library when Farland Tracy left the house, my first night home. I thought maybe you had taken it, Drew.”
The pale young man shook his head. He moistened his lips and stared squarely into Carter’s eyes.
“Let me tell you the beginning,” he said. “I’ll be brief. There’s work to do. But we had better understand.”
Carter nodded.
“Lode Houston did not trust me,” declared Drew Westling. “I knew it for a long while. He did not approve of my way of living. Sometimes he became so enraged at me that I wondered if he might be losing his mind.
“He talked about his estate — that it would go to you, if alive; otherwise to me. But he minimized his wealth — so outrageously that I could not believe him.
“One night, some months ago, he went into the library. He slammed the door behind him, and came out a short while later. He went upstairs, and I went into the library myself. I was a trifle apprehensive, Carter. I wondered what he had been doing.
“He had been talking about you as his heir; and the thoughts of old times impelled me to take down that old copy of Dumas. Running through its pages, I came across an envelope. I fingered the flap, and it opened. It had just been sealed. The glue was not quite dry.
“I knew that Uncle Houston had left it there. That must have been his purpose in the library. I opened the envelope and found the message. Latitude and longitude. I wondered what queer quirk had made him put the message there.”
Drew paused reflectively; then, noting Carter’s intense interest, proceeded.
“I came here for a few days last summer” continued Drew. “I couldn’t understand why Uncle Houston had left a message naming this locality. I couldn’t find a clew here. But later, when Farland Tracy called at the house, I heard Uncle Houston say something about money that no one could find.
“That was just before he took his trip to Florida. When he returned, he claimed that some one must have entered the house during his absence. He was very angry. He summoned Tracy.
“That night, I listened outside the door of the study. It was then that I heard him speak of hidden wealth; in a place that only his heir could find, because he would leave a clew for either you or me.
“Then I understood. The message in the Dumas book! How easy it would be for him to leave some word that would guide either of us to it! The night you came home, I was afraid you might not learn. That was why I brought up the subject at the dinner table.
“But as soon as Tracy left — I figured he had brought you a letter of some sort — I saw you start for the stairs, and I imagined that you were going to the library instead. You seemed worried that night. I felt sure that you had found the message. The next morning, you announced a trip to Europe. I was positive that you would come here instead.”
“Why didn’t you tell me so?” demanded Carter.
“Because I feared that you would not understand,” answered Drew. “I owed money for gambling debts — my own fault — and Tracy knew about it. I was afraid that he had mentioned the matter to you I couldn’t forget that I would have been the heir if you had not returned. I didn’t want your money, Carter.
“But to admit that I had pried into your father’s secret; to try to get in on a search for wealth that might perhaps have come to me; to bring up a matter concerning which you had preserved absolute silence—”
“I understand now,” nodded Carter thoughtfully. “I understand now, because I know I would not have understood then.”
“Besides that,” added Drew, “I feared for you. I knew that some one — somehow — had learned of this hidden wealth. It might have looked as though I had squealed — if you came here and ran into trouble—”
“So you came here alone?” interrupted Carter.
“Yes,” admitted Drew. “I knew of the shack on the hill. I came here, to watch — to try to protect you. I saw you and your companion come to the cabin. That night, I crawled down to investigate. I was just outside the cabin—”
“That’s what I heard” interposed Harry, nodding as he turned to Carter Boswick.
“—outside the cabin,” went on Drew, in a monotone, “when the firing began. I laid low. When you two came around, I didn’t know who you were at first. I didn’t know until I ran, Carter. I saw you were ready to shoot. I kept on, hoping that you would not recognize me. I was afraid you would not understand my motive, my being there at that time.”
“I didn’t,” said Carter grimly.
“So I stayed in the shack,” explained Drew. “I waited there, hoping you were safe, afraid that the others would come to search if you did not return. Last night, an autogiro landed near this spot. I saw a light flickering among the trees. It came out of the cave on the hill.
“After the person with the light was gone, I discovered the cave — the spot for which I had searched last summer! I was sure, then, that the enemy had found the place. So I came in here immediately.
“I have been working, trying to uncover what is under the slab — to get it out before they came. I wanted to save it for you, Carter, and there was no time to lose. When you two came in here tonight, I thought you were the others. That’s why I came up within the gun.”
Carter Boswick thumped his cousin on the back. Harry Vincent sat in silence. He knew the significance of the autogiro. He thought of that corkscrew entrance to the cave. Invisible to eyes on the ground — visible to the eyes of The Shadow from the air!
A SLIGHT sound interrupted Harry’s reverie. The noise seemed to come from back in the main shaft. Harry reached forward, and extinguished the lantern. He spoke softly in the darkness.
“I think we’re safe enough,” he said. “I know who it was who found this place for us, Carter. The enemy can’t know about it. Just the same, it would be wise to go back to the shaft and look about a bit. Come on. I’ll turn on the light when we reach the main shaft.”