There had been only one Houdini — a master of his art. Strong and powerful, he had used his amazing ingenuity to its utmost in that escape. Now The Shadow, weakened from his terrible fall into the hold of the ship, was confronted by the same problem that had taxed the skill of Houdini.
With The Shadow, it meant life or death. Unless his mighty mind could divine the only possible way of overcoming the hold of this machine, unless his weary muscles could respond to the efforts that were demanded, The Shadow would perish!
Time, too, was short. The Shadow, with wired ropes about his wrists, had been restrained while unconscious. He had gained no opportunity to fight against the bonds when they had been placed upon him.
His arms were already wearied from the strain which they had undergone. For he had dangled long before his consciousness had returned to him!
There he hung. His fingers could not reach the knots upon his wrists. They were more than a foot below the cross beam of the rack. It was humanly impossible to move upward. Nor could his feet avail him, for they barely touched the floor!
Buried alive in the hollow of the deep-set Chinese junk, The Shadow faced the most terrible situation in his long career.
Free, he could struggle against odds that were seemingly unconquerable. Bound with ordinary restraints, he could fight his way free. But he was now in the grasp of the powerful device that was the greatest machination ever designed by a subtle, Oriental mind!
Could, The Shadow meet this formidable test — the one that Houdini alone had undergone successfully?
His motionless, hanging body, with its still shadow stretched across the floor, betokened complete helplessness. The longer that it remained in that position, the more The Shadow’s strength would dwindle. That was the most sinister factor of this horrible Chinese torture rack.
At last, The Shadow moved. In the silence of that room, broken only by a soft lapping of tiny waves against the wooden sides of the Pung-Shoon, the hands of The Shadow clutched above his head. Futilely at first, they finally succeeded in gripping the rope that led to the beam above.