The lights gleamed on. The Shadow was standing by the gilded throne. Henri Zayata had fallen headforemost to the floor. With one contemptuous look at the writhing figure, The Shadow took his seat in the throne of Charn.
It was he who gave the orders now!
Cowed by his automatics, the other men obeyed his command to line against the wall. There, with arms upraised, they stood helpless, from Chandra, the Burmese, to Winthrop Morgan, the lawyer. The worshipers of Kali had found their new master.
At The Shadow’s order, Harry Vincent advanced and led Margaret Glendenning to the side of the room. The Shadow pressed another knob on the throne. The wall opened. Harry and the girl entered. The knob was pressed again. The wall closed.
Zayata’s intended victims were leaving by a secret elevator, which The Shadow had controlled from the throne. The man in black had discovered Zayata’s own exit from the place a path which led to another street, away from the alleyway patrolled by the police.
THE clanging at the metal gate was becoming tremendous. With a soft, taunting laugh, The Shadow touched the final control. The gate slid up. The lights went out as Cardona and his men surged in to make their raid.
Their flashlights revealed the worshipers of Kali lined against the wall. They also showed the prostrate form of Henri Zayata, moaning but motionless.
The lights did not disclose the man in black. The Shadow, master of darkness, had left the throne of Charn, and had disappeared!
Henri Zayata struggled to rise. Failing, he uttered a shrill, weird cry. It was his last hopeless command to his dupes — a signal that they should fight for their lives. Freed from the menace of The Shadow, the evil men flung themselves upon the police, in obedience to their master’s call.
Some drew guns; others leaped to the wall to seize improvised weapons. The temple was filled with flashes of flame as Cardona and his men resisted this massed attack. It was an amazing effort, but a futile one.