Answering shots responded. There was a cry as Shamlin fell. With an oath, Jeremiah Benson emptied his revolver toward the corner, shooting straight at the last flash of flame. ALL became silent. Benson reached the lamp. He pulled the cord. He looked about the room. On the floor, in opposite corners of the room, lay the bodies of Shamlin and Harmon. It was Harmon who had fired from the corner. His shots had clipped his crony, Shamlin!
Benson, in return, had fatally injured Harmon. Only now did the old man realize his mistake. Where was Grady? There was no sign of him at the window.
Where was Hawthorne? He had disappeared.
As Benson stood, bewildered, a figure arose from behind a chair. The man bore the features of Paul Hawthorne; but he acted with a precision that Hawthorne had never shown.
Long arms shot forward and caught Jeremiah Benson by the throat. With a twist, the clutching hands hurled the old man to the floor. Benson's gun fell from his helpless fingers. The scoundrel lay stunned. From the lips of Paul Hawthorne came a low, mocking laugh. It was the laugh of The Shadow. He was the man whom the killers had sought to capture.
The Shadow, master of disguise, had played the part of Paul Hawthorne. Waiting the closing of the trap, he had trapped the trappers!
With a contemptuous look at the form of Jeremiah Benson, The Shadow strode from the cottage. He returned, garbed in cloak and hat that he had brought from Hawthorne's car. Jeremiah Benson, unarmed and bewildered, was sitting up when he saw the strange figure enter. There was a low, whispered command.
With hands raised; with the muzzle of an automatic pressing between his shoulders, Jeremiah Benson was forced out into the night.
Several minutes later, a car arrived in front of the cottage. Hawthorne clambered from it and uttered an exclamation of surprise when he recognized his own automobile parked in front.
"Here's my car!" he cried. "I wonder how it got here? Who could have taken it from the station?" He rushed into the cottage, followed by the man who had come with him. At the entrance, Hawthorne stopped. His voice became a stammer. His face blanched as he saw the bodies of Harmon and Shamlin lying on the floor.