Only the clerk remained in the lobby. He was half asleep. At times he roused himself and glanced toward the front; then, gradually, his head lowered.
It was during one of these lapses that the clerk’s eyes became suddenly focused upon a pillar midway between the revolving door and the desk.
A dull light projected from the top of the pillar, and its rays illuminated the entire post. As the clerk was watching, he saw a human shadow move slowly across the post!
Astounded, the man looked toward the floor. There he saw the same shadow; lengthening in an uncanny fashion.
It grew, then dwindled as it continued its even progress toward the interior of the lobby.
The clerk gripped the edge of the desk and shuddered as he watched that mysterious blot travel silently toward the darkened stairway.
Wildly, he sought to discover the living form that the weird shadow represented. He could observe nothing but that moving blackness.
As the gliding shadow reached the bottom of the stairway, it rose against the wall. There, for a brief moment, the clerk fancied that it took on a human form.
Upright, the mass of blackness shrank and seemed to assume a solidity. Then it merged with the darkness — and was gone.
What could it be?