"When Louie woke up, the pair of them were gone. They didn't get away with anything."
"That's fortunate," said Stuart. He glanced at Hawthorne as he spoke. He saw that the real-estate man doubted Mayo's story. It made Stuart feel, more than before, that Hawthorne's disbelief in Mayo's statements was unfounded.
Comparing Mayo with Hawthorne — the former a successful man, the latter a man of doubtful business practices — Stuart felt that in case of controversy, he would prefer to side with Sherwood Mayo. The millionaire gave more details of the attempted burglary. They did not include an exact description of Louie's actions with the knife. Mayo mentioned that the Filipino had used his knowledge of jujutsu in disposing of the first invader; but he went no further with the details. It seemed evident to Stuart that Louie must have soft-pedaled that part of the story when he related his adventure to his employer.
The clock on the mantel began to chime nine. Stuart listened intently as the voice of an announcer cut in on the radio program.
"You have listened to a few melodies from " Days of Long Ago." Times are changing; and time is too precious to waste. Why wait? The watch you buy should keep perfect time. It should be on time all the time. Remember, the Paragon watch is the only watch — "
The rest of the announcement carried no emphasized words. Stuart was surprised at the ease with which he had picked up the secret message. Through his mind was flashing the sentence.
"Few days to wait. Keep on the watch."
It was the message that Harry Vincent had written him to expect. Stuart knew that it came from someone more important than Harry. In that he was right.
Without knowing its source, Stuart Bruxton had received a message from The Shadow!