"While you remain inactive, those men will live — your man among them. But should you move so much as a finger against us. Marsland will die — and the others with him.
"I have heard it said" — Tremont laughed huskily — "that the agents of The Shadow bear charmed lives, like their master. This time, one is virtually dead. He can come to life, at my order. It is for you to decide."
The lawyer waited for The Shadow to speak. The man in the cloak seemed to be considering the matter.
"Should I die," added Tremont, as an afterthought, "you will defeat your own aim. My life is on one side of the scales. Marsland's life and the lives of the other men — there is the counterbalance!
"I can assure you that all are watchful; both here in New York and at Glendale. It is impossible for you to divine the extent of our preparations
"Orlinov is a man of steel. He is a spark, ready to ignite a magazine. Puff! All could be gone — lives, evidence, everything.
"Should you or any of your emissaries dare to approach the place from now on, Orlinov will not hesitate to strike. Our plans are nearing their culmination. Let them proceed, and your man Marsland will be restored to you, alive. Try to frustrate our methods, and he will die. Perhaps you, too, will perish."
Thus did Glade Tremont conclude his oration. As spokesmen for two other villains, Ivan Orlinov and Doctor Gerald Savette, he had done his work well. His proposal was one that The Shadow could hardly fail to accept.
Tremont felt that he had taken the measure of The Shadow. He knew that the man of the dark was not an agent of the law. He was dealing with a man who had freedom to act or to stand by, as he might prefer.
"One point more," added Tremont, as a quiet afterthought. "Perhaps you may have a wild dream of killing me and making a mad escape through the human wall that protects this house. That would be futile.