When Burbank arrived, he was sent to Cranston's room. The millionaire gave the wireless operator a code message which he had written.
"Send this quickly," he said. "I answered a call this morning. Told them to wait for two hours. This will explain a lot of questions that will be asked. Bring me the reply."
Burbank made occasional visits to Cranston's room during the course of the afternoon. At five o'clock a messenger arrived with a large envelope from Fellows. The packet was brought to the millionaire's room.
The Shadow smiled with satisfaction as he drew out several pages of data along with the photograph of a man in the uniform of a British officer.
"Very quick work," he said musingly. "Now to get Weston to look into the box. That will be easy."
He took pencil and paper and wrote a careful message in longhand:
The box which was installed last night is an improved device to aid transmission. We are ready to test it. Open the front of the box, press the button on the side, and look in. You will see intermittent lights. Make sure that they change regularly. When you use the key, have some one else look in the box while you are operating, to make sure that the lights are regular. Since Duncan is asleep, you may intrust that simple duty to Major Weston. Your previous messages have been difficult to receive because of static. The new device, if it functions correctly, will over come that difficulty. Explain the matter to Major Weston.
The Shadow rapidly translated the writing into code. He rang the bell for Richards and dispatched the valet to the wireless room with the message.
Five minutes later the door of Lamont Cranston's room opened softly. Richards was standing in the hall, but he heard nothing. He did not even see the form that slipped silently up the stairs to the sending station in the tower — a form attired in a dark dressing gown.
Burbank was seated at a table on which stood a small screen. The room was dark. The wireless operator looked up as some one touched his shoulder. It was Lamont Cranston.