Page:Weird Tales v02 n01 (1923-07-08).djvu/76

Rh against one of these men, Mr. Jerome. The first of them to go was caught in that end window. It is an invention of mine, arranged with weights and multiplying levers: The window frame is of steel. I brought the body over and placed it in one of your beds, for the sake of the psychological effect. I knew that some of these men of yours were ignorant and superstitious, Mr. Jerome, and I wanted to shake their nerves! I succeeded. The body of the man whom you left on guard when you followed me across the marsh, tonight, will be decently buried. He encountered one of the watchers at my gate—"

Monte cried out hoarsely as he entered the bedroom. He picked up a heavy chair and made for the wall, from behind which the voice came. As he raised the chair, the voice spoke once more:

"I think the replica of the famous pendant will interest you. I had two of these imitations made. This one I placed in the bureau drawer downstairs. I knew that the man who found it would try to hide his discovery, and I counted on his being observed. I fancy. that is what happened—"

With a bellow of rage, Monte brought the chair down. It struck the wall, and crashed through laths and plaster. Another blow cleared the debris away, and he was able to see the mechanism from which the voice proceeded.

"Another invention of my own," the metallic tones informed him. "An adaptation of the loud-speaker principle, plus a dictaphone. This has enabled me to catch much of the conversation that has gone on in your cottage, and to follow you and your friends from room to room. I had everything prepared before I went into the city to visit the art exhibition. This was the only house near mine, and I felt certain you would secure it! I shall now bid you farewell, Mr. Jerome! It is necessary for me to depart!"

Monte Jerome gritted his teeth and fought off the despair that assailed him. Ah Wing would almost certainly go south to the ferry. And Monte would catch the boat via the interurban.

ALF AN HOUR later muffled in a rain coat with a high collar, he was standing among the passengers on the lower deck.

Somewhere ahead was the blue limousine, which contained two passengers beside the Chinese chauffeur. Monte kept behind till the boat was approaching the city slip, when he made his way forward. His plan was to charter a taxi.

Suddenly he paused. From the machine belonging to Ah Wing a tall figure had descended. Monte saw the Chinaman speak to the man at the wheel, then join the commuters on the front platform.

The crook’s mind worked fast. He was sure the other passenger in the limousine was Colonel Knight. If Ah Wing left the boat on foot, as he seemed on the point of doing, it would be impossible for Monte to follow both the Chinaman and the white man Which one ought he to stick to?

Without hesitation, he decided that Knight could wait and that Ah Wing would have the pendant.

The Chinaman was off the moment the rope dropped. It was a foggy morning here in the city, and presently Ah Wing struck off up a side street lighted by yellow gas lamps. There was no one in sight now but the two men, the ono leading, the other following.

Monte gripped the pistol in his side pocket and increased his speed. He wanted to face this terrible being who had created such havoc among the wolves.

The street before them tipped steeply up, and on a corner Monte saw the red-and-gilt ornamentation of a Chinese restaurant. They were entering Chinatown, and involuntarily the trailer increased his speed. Distinctly, the crisp footsteps of the man before him floated back. Monte was within thirty feet. He drew the pistol from his pocket—

Ah Wing turned into a narrow passage between two ancient buildings. Monte broke into a run and reached this turning. The Chinaman must have run, too, in the moment he had been invisible; for now he was far along toward the opposite end of the passage. Monte threw up his pistol and caught the sights. In the same instant Ah Wing seemed to melt into thin air, and Monte sprinted forward.

Half a dozen rotting wooden steps led down to an arched passage.

Monte paused. Would the Chinaman come out this same way? Perhaps he had come to this place to hide the very thing Monte had determined to take from him—

At that thought, the crook stepped boldly down into the arched doorway, turned to his left, and began to descend an inclined passage.

For a time he could hear steps going on ahead of him. Then they grew faint, and Monte realized that the man he was following had turned into a side corridor. He hurried on. The passage was growing more and more uncertain as to light and footing. He reached a cross tunnel, and paused.

A sound came from the right. Monte took a few steps in that direction and again paused to listen.

The feeling came to him that he was being watched. He whirled, and in that instant something struck him above the ear.

Without a sound, the crook crumpled to the floor.

H WING stepped out of an alcove and looked dispassionately down at the man lying in a heap at his feet.

Stooping, he took from the relaxed grip of the wolf a heavy automatic. This he dropped into his coat pocket. Then he gathered the limp figure of Monte Jerome into his arms and continued his underground journey.

The way dipped steeply ahead, and the tall Chinaman advanced cautiously. Presently he came to a place where roof and walls had started to crumble. Shifting the weight in his arms, Ah Wing drew out a flashlight and sent the pallid beam into the darkness. A fragment of cement detached itself, and clattered to the glistening floor.

Ah Wing swung on till he detected signs of life in the burden he was carrying. Pausing, he placed the bandit on the wet floor and walked back along the passage till he was again within sight of the place where the ancient masonry was giving way. Drawing the pistol from his side pocket, Ah Wing deliberately fired three shots into the roof.

The effect was instantaneous: with a roar, the rock walls came tumbling down, completely shutting off this means of retreat. Ah Wing eyed the result with apparent satisfaction, then tossed the pistol in among the debris.

As he approached the spot where Monte had been lying, he saw that the wolf was sitting up, staring with bloodshot eyes into the light of the electric lantern.

"Ah, my friend, so you have come back from the land of shadows?" the Chinaman inquired. "I was sorry to have to resort to so crude a method of dealing with you, but time presses. The play is played out, Mr. Jerome. All of your comrades have gone before you, and now you and I have come to the hall of judgment. The High Gods shall decide between us. Perhaps They will condemn us both. Who knows?"

He paused, turning to stare along the passage.

"Behind us the way is closed," he continued serenely. "Ahead lies the place of trial. You will observe that the passage seems to end. This is but an illusion—what looks like solid floor is in (Continued on page 93)