It was the method of Ling Soo, the crafty leader of the Wu-Fan. So did he mark the men whose lives he sought.
An invisible paste, spread upon the surface of the metal dragon, had reached the forehead of Hugo Barnes. Within an hour after its application, the bloodlike spot had come there. It had shown on Cleve Branch, too, when he had appeared as himself instead of Hugo Barnes!
Since then, members of the Wu-Fan had been watching. Clever, shrewd and stealthy, they had not missed a single move which Cleve Branch had made!
The sight of that mark meant that quick reports must be given of every place the marked man went. All with whom he communicated, likewise, must be named.
Reports were even now on the way to Ling Soo, that the leader might issue orders to his secret followers. The eyes of Ling Soo were everywhere!
It was strange, Cleve thought, as he strode along, that with all these impressions of concealed observers, he saw no traces of The Shadow. He had fancied, last night, that the mysterious man had been in Ling Soo’s anteroom. But he had been mistaken. Only Ling Soo and Foy had been there.
CLEVE was approaching the Hoang-Ho Cafe. He reached the side entrance. There he paused. Despite the creepy feeling of watchers from the darkness, he hurried up the stairs and gained the door to Moy Chen’s hidden room.
Cleve knew the secret of that door, now — a certain lightly tapped signal, a moment of waiting, and the way would be clear.
Eagerly waiting by the door, he listened for all sounds. He fancied that someone might be creeping up the stairs by which he had come. Cleve was about to return and look. Then the door slid open, and he stepped to the passage. A few moments later he had reached the security of Moy Chen’s windowless sanctum.
It was nearly nine o’clock now. An hour before the meeting time!